Pregnancy Scare with Multiple Specifics! Help!

[owlchick557]

I had unprotected sex on the last day of my placebo pills for my birth control. He did not ejaculate before or during the entire session. Normally I wouldn't stress, but I was on antibiotics for most of the month and I took my birth control pills pretty lazily (every day but not at the exact same minute as I usually do). It's been a little over a week and my nipples, but not breasts, are really tender. I read that antibiotoics rarely affect birth control, but I can't help but freak out. Please help calm me down or tell me that my fears are real! SOS

[owlchick557]

I forgot to add that for whatever reason, I don't get a period with my birth control so I wouldn't really be sure if I've missed one or not

[Redskies]

The most current research indicates that nearly all antibiotics are not likely to interfere with the pill - the one important exception is antibiotics which are prescribed for TB. Did the doctor or pharmacist who prescribed and gave you antibiotics know that you also take the pill, and what instructions did they give you?

It depends what you mean by "lazily": the pill doesn't have to be taken at the exact same minute every day in order to be effective, but it does need to be taken within a time window. For a combined pill, you have 12 hours before a pill is considered late (although it's a very good idea to be as regular as possible with the time you take it, to help prevent mistakes!); a progestin-only minipill should be taken within 3 hours of the usual time.

As your partner didn't ejaculate, you both also used Withdrawal as a method of contraception, along with the probable protection from your pill.

Breast tenderness can be caused by lots of different things, including hormonal changes during your cycle and being pre-menstrual. Plus, as you've had some kind of infection, that can make the body overall more achy or tender.

If you're concerned about pregnancy, the way to know for sure is to take a pregnancy test, rather than worrying and trying to guess from any kind of symptoms. The earliest you can generally expect a test result to be accurate is 14 days after the risk, but you should follow the instructions that come with each individual test.

In the meantime, for help calming yourself down, we have lots of suggestions in Self-Care a La Carte. What things there do you think might help you?

For the future, it's a good idea to use condoms while you're taking antibiotics and for 7 days afterwards, just to be extra-sure, and so you don't find yourself in a place where you're worrying like this. We're big fans of adding condom usage anyway, for STI prevention and the extra protection from pregnancy Do you need any information or would you like to talk about anything to do with condom usage?