Scarleteen

Hello! I'm on Diane 35 and on the first pill of this month's pack I wasn't sure if If I took it or not (I feel silly about that, definitely paying more attention now) and because I know how important it is to start a new pack on time, I thought "better safe than sorry" and took another one (borrowed it from an extra pack) and am on track with my current pack. I want to know if that was okay, or if I actually screwed up . Would that put me at elevated risk from sex I had one day before my last withdrawal bleed? I've been using condoms at all times too.

Hi Kim,

If you took the replacement pill within 12 hours of when you generally take your pill, it would not even be considered late, so the effectiveness would not be compromised. Too, if you're always backing up with condoms, that further decreases your chances of pregnancy by a significant amount anyway.

I definitely didn't take it late, but it is likely that it took two pills on that first day, would that have an effect? I am not having sex this cycle at all, i'm mostly worried about decreased effectiveness on the sex I had on my placebo week.

Taking more pills than you needed to won't compromise your contraceptive coverage at all. It's important to keep the hormone levels high enough consistently - which is why taking it every day is important - but a bit extra doesn't do anything different or extra.

The only thing you don't want to do is to miss a different day - for example, taking 2 in one day and then none on a different active pill day, because that "none" day would count as a missed pill, which obviously you don't want to do

Taking two pills in one day, as a rare accident, is no problem at all. It's possible the small amount of extra hormone could give some people some slight side-effects (which again, doesn't have any impact on effectiveness), but equally, plenty of people would notice no difference at all.

Thank you! Also, one more question: is my pill intake on the first week of a new pack actually relevant for pregnancy protection on sex I had one day before my last withdrawal bleeding if I haven't had sex after that? Or were those activities covered by the last pack?

Hi Kim, I'm inclined to say that how you take your pills in the first week of a new pack is only relevant for any sex you have going forward from that point, not sex you had before your last withdrawal bleed, but I'm not 100% certain so I'll double check with some of our other staff members and get back to you! You can always ask a pharmacist this kind of question as well, as they'll have the most up to date info regarding your pill and how it should be used.

Making sure your first day's pill is taken is important for continued protection, and remembering that sperm can live for days in hospitable environments, risk would be lower but not zero should your body ovulate soon after a withdrawal bleed for whatever reason. (Also, we always suggest per the rest of the pack if you miss any pills or you know you won't be at perfect use to make sure to use a back-up to be on the safe side). That said though, you didn't miss a pill you took two, which means you're protected as normal.

Alright! Well I used condoms correctly every time I had sex, and by the looks of things I am fully covered by the pill as well (so I shouldn't ovulate any time soon), a lot of stuff would have to go wrong for me to be at pregnancy risk, so no worries here . Thank you!