Scarleteen

hi. i just wanted to start off this post by saying thank you to the team of scarleteen for always helping us out when we need it, even the uncomfortable questions and themes that need to be discussed. i’m sure it might be a lot sometimes. so thank you for caring enough about the wellbeing of people to talk us through our questions and hard times. <3
now for my question. so i take the lo loestrin pill. i just started so its my first pack. i was on an active pill (maybe day 20 or 21) when i noticed i had period cramps. then i started having old blood come out about two pills later. that usually happens on the last day or the day after my period ends. so did the birth control ever stop ovulation? or do i have to have at least one full pill pack before this works? can i have “unprotected” sex during this time or should i just wait until everything dies down? am i protected?!

Thanks so much for such lovely attribution! <3

We can't predict what your BCPs did or didn't do, alas: there's just no way for us to know. But in terms of if you have the full effectiveness of your pill or not yet, that depends on two major things:
1) If you started that pill either on day one of your last menstrual period OR on or before the first Sunday AFTER it started, and
2) You have been taking all of your pill as directed and haven't missed any...

....then it's a pretty sure thing you had full effectiveness by the end of the first week of taking them, if not sooner.

On the other hand, if either of those things were NOT the case, then I'd assume you do NOT have full effectiveness yet and I'd back up with another method.

Just FYI, I always suggest still using condoms for pill users. I know you've mentioned you and your boyfriend feel closer without condoms, but I'd encourage you to rethink that and see if you both can't recognize that that's....well, that's just not really a thing: condoms don't get in the way of intimacy. Plenty of us experience exactly the same amount (for lack of a better word) of intimacy when we use condoms as when we don't. In a word, I think thinking they get in the way is a head trip or based in poor attitudes about condoms, not in reality about intimacy. Honestly, if anything, I'd make an argument that condoms help increase intimacy because we often have to communicate a little more when they're in the mix AND because they're an act of taking care of each other.

Not only does the pill not give you any protection against infections, it's super easy to wind up missing a couple pills sometimes, especially when you're new to taking it (for young people new to the pill, specifically, it can be as low in effectiveness as 30% effective or so: learning pill compliance just often takes some time), and you often just can't beat the peace of mind using a backup method, especially the only one that protects you from STIs and other infections, can give.