Scarleteen

Hi there,

I take the combined 21-day pill, everyday at 8.30am, I have a question. On Friday(24th nov) I took my pill at the usual time, that same night I went out drinking with my friends, I had a bit too much and I vomited once that night around 1am so about 16/17 hours after taking Friday’s pill, is this an issue? Would my contraception be affected? Also, the next day (sat 25th nov) I was quite hungover and nauseated, so I decided to not take my next pill until I felt better to prevent throwing it back up, I eventually took it at 12.30pm so around 4 hours after my usual time, is this also an issue? I know that a pill isn’t usually late until 12 hours after your usual time, but I’d just like some confirmation as to if my contraception was affected at all.

P.s, this blip happened during the end of my second week of the pack, I’m now half way through my third week of pills, I also haven’t missed any other pills during this cycle and have took all the others on time and still currently doing so.

Thank you for your help!

To confirm the answer to your question, I searched "vomiting + pill" on the main Scarleteen website. The second thing that came up was this advice column: http://www.scarleteen.com/article/advic ... ntrol_pill. In the answer, Sarah writes: "Generally, if you throw up less than 2-3 hours after taking a pill, you should assume that the pill may not have made it into your system." Using this information, we can assume
that vomiting 16-17 hours after taking your pill will not complicate its effectiveness. But to be safe, you can always use a back-up method of birth control, such as condoms.

In regards to your question about the pill you took 4 hours late the next day, sounds like you already know the answer!