Scarleteen

Hi, I know that the first week of the pack is the most dangerous time to miss pills.

I fell asleep later than usual and took my pill about 2.5-3 hours later than I normally do (9pm is my pill time). Am I still all the way protected?

I'm on a combo pill that is not low dose. My leaflet says if a pill is missed in the first week, to take it when I remember and no extra protection is needed - but other websites say it's super dangerous.

Bear with me for all the questions. I recently decided that I stress too much about BCP and have scheduled an appointment for Nexplanon. It's not for a month, though.

Thanks!

Taking a pill 3 hours later than usual isn't a missed pill. When you're on any combination pill, it isn't even late: a pill isn't considered late until it's been at least 12 hours past the time you would usually take it. So you're all good. (Also - and other staff/vols here have talked about this before with you - unless the websites you're looking at are the manufacturer's website for your pill brand or another reputable sexual health resource, the information on those sites isn't likely to be accurate or fact-checked.)

I'm glad to hear you're switching to another method of BC that will hopefully put your mind at ease. Backing up with condoms can help with that too: you mentioned in the past that you were going to talk to your partner about doing that, have you managed to have that conversation yet?

Yep - and we are good on that front!

Glad to hear it.

Last question - promise! If you take a pill less than 12 hours late does that still put you at perfect use (or as close as you can get, I know "perfect use" is calculated closely in a clinic), or does that knock you down to the 91% typical use?

Oops - forgot to add where I got that info (Dr. Jackson, Bedsider.org)

I hope this isn't against the rules to post. If it is, sorry.

"First, the short answer: If you miss a pill, you should take the pill you missed as soon as you can. If you take the pill less than 24 hours after you were supposed to and it's not the first week of a new pack, you don't need a back-up method—just take the pill you missed and relax. If it's the first week of a new pack of pills, you'll want to use a back-up method like condoms if you have sex in the 7 days after missing your pill."

Because the effectiveness of the pill isn't calculated by day or even by month, but by year, it's not really possible to answer that question. What we can say, though, is that taking one pill a few hours later than usual isn't going to impact the effectiveness much, if at all. To boot, you're backing up with condoms, and that's what backup methods are there for: to prevent pregnancy in case something happens with your pill.

Per the quote from Bedsider that you posted, we do make it clear in our guidelines that we aren't responsible for clarifying any contradictory information found on other websites. If you want to know why their information states what it does, you'll have to ask them. I will say though that your pill leaflet makes it clear that you don't need to take any extra precautions here, and so I would go with that over anything else you find.

Cool. Understood - thanks!

Logically, the kind people who make the leaflet for OTC would want me to get pregnant. I read the darn thing 10 times now. The only thing it mentions is starting a pill pack a day late which is dangerous or obvious reasons. It makes sense to follow instructions for medication that is prescribed for me. Thanks!

Yep, when in doubt, always follow the directions from the manufacturer and/or the person who prescribed it to you.