Switching birth control pills is it still effective?

[Steynjie]

Ive looked at other questions but none of them is exactly like mine. I really need your help

I was on my first pack of pills ever. I used Triphasil and then realised it was effecting my skin and giving me pimples. After 21 days I went back to the nurse and she gave me other pills- Nordette. I still had one yellow pill left of the Triphasil before the red/inactive pills started. I didn't drink that because my nurse told me I should start with the Nordette that night and so I did. But my bf has this pregnancy scare anxiety (we've never had sex and it would be something as simple as me bumping my hand against his side of his pants and then he'll ask me if there was something wet or I have to wash my hands just to be safe eventhough nothing was wet and everything was all dry) so he wanted me to just have my period so that he knows I'm not pregnant. But I've already started with the new pack (just drank one) so instead of drinking the last yellow one in Triphasil I drank the first one in the Nordette pack and then I went back to the Triphasil inactive pills for 6pills (6days) can that affect the effectiveness of the pill? Can I get pregnant? It's not like I stopped in the middle of the pack. I also want to know that because I've switched do I still have to wait 7days before I'm safe again? And what exactly happend in the week of the inactive pills?

[Heather]

You know, the biggest thing I'd tell you here is that it's on your boyfriend to manage his anxiety, and his own body, not for him to try and manage YOUR body, or ask YOU to do things with it, rather than doing things with his own -- like abstaining from sex that freaks him out, or using a condom -- or for you to try and manage his fears. If he can't do any of that for himself, then what that tells you is that he's someone who isn't ready to be sexual with a partner in these ways, and when that's the case, your best choice will always be not to be sexual with someone like that.

Too, if he has an anxiety disorder, like OCD -- which sounds possible -- that, too, is for him to manage for himself, not ask you to manage for him. Asking you to wash your hands when you bump him because of his (what sounds like) anxiety disorder just isn't sound or fair. It's not the way to manage a mental health issue with a partner or to ask them to manage with us.

I don't have any real sense of what you've done with the two different pills here: it's just a bit too tangled for me to make sense of. But, if you didn't miss any active pills -- of either brand -- and didn't take a placebo period (the time without active pills) of more than seven days, and used pills as directed by your prescribing healthcare provider, you should have and have had the level of effectiveness oral contraceptives can provide.

[Steynjie]

Thank you so much for answering
What I did is I drank one of the active pills from the new brand pack instead of the last one in the old brand pack and then I switched over to the placebo pills from my old brand pack. Can that affect the effectiveness?

[Sam W]

Hi steynjie,

If that's the case, as Heather said above there is no reason to think your pills were compromised.

It sounds like it might be time for you an your boyfriend to have a talk about what you're both comfortable with when it comes to sex, and what boundaries you're going to set around it to limit the chances of it stressing either of you out. Would you like some information on how to have that conversation?

[Steynjie]

Hey there thank you for helping me. How can I have a conversation with him? How can I help him deal with his anxiety? What can I say?
Sorry for all the question and answering them

[Sam W]

Hi steynjie,

You're welcome And those are actually helpful questions to ask for yourself. So, the thing to remember is that you can only support him so much around his anxiety. The main person he needs to be getting support from is someone like a counselor, who is trained to help people understand and manage their anxiety.

Something you can do is talk with him about setting limits around sexual stuff. That might help him (and you) have less anxiety around things like pregnancy or STIs. We have a few articles that can help you get started with that conversation:
Be a Blabbermouth! The Whats, Whys and Hows of Talking About Sex With a Partner
NO Pregnancy Risks
Yes, No, Maybe So: A Sexual Inventory Stocklist