Scarleteen

Hi all!
So, I just got prescribed birth control. Yay! I went to the pharmacy and got them, three packs of combination pills. Fast forward to this weekend, I had to transport them back and forth a bit due to not knowing exactly when my period would start. This means travelling for brief stints in the Canadian winter cold (just below 0 degrees). These brief house-to-car and car-to-house travels aren't what have me especially worried though. It's what comes after...
My pill packs sat in my coat pocket in the shade on a hot pool deck for about ten hours over the weekend. On deck in the direct sunlight, temperature reached about 38 degrees Celsius. Can't say what the temperature was like in the shade, but it was unpleasantly hot and humid for all of us who were there. The package says to store the pills between 15 and 30 degrees.
The blister packs look alright to me, no distortion or clouding of the plastic. But I'm worried now... Will these pills likely be ineffective for me? I'm worried, I don't want to rely on these pills when they might not be working! But ideally I'd also not like to have wasted three whole months of pills just because of the one silly mistake.
Advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Hi Geraniumkisses,

If you didn't notice any distortion or other issues with the pack or the pills, it's unlikely there were compromised by the heat, but there's no way for us to know for sure. However, if you're feeling worried about it and want to be extra careful, there are two things you can. One is call your pharmacist and ask their advice on the matter, and the other is to be sure to back up with condoms if you choose to the sexual in the near future. Do those steps sound doable?

Okay, good! That's a relief!
I've always planned to use condoms in conjunction with the birth control pills anyway, so this sounds very doable.
Thank you!!

You're welcome! And I'm glad to hear you're planning on using condoms regardless, as that's something we recommend to help people stay as safe as possible.