January 9, 2006

Kontraceptive Question Korner!*

For the past week I have been taking my birth control pills one day ahead of schedule. What can I say? I live for the future. I took my Monday pill on Sunday and I took Tuesday’s pill today. I’m trying to figure out how this happened. Possible explanations: a.) took two pills in one day by mistake; b.) traversed a wormhole and then space curved back over on itself; c.) briefly lapsed into an undiagnosed multiple personality, also on the Pill; d.) neglected to calculate variations between menstrual cycle and Gregorian calendar and forgot to take the special Leap Pill that I need to take once every four years, or months, or… something.

But really I think I just took two pills in one day by mistake, most likely sometime over the holidays when I had a lot of days off and the weekends were long. I do remember one day around 10 am where I glanced at my pill card and thought, oh my stars! A pill untook! and popped it, because Heaven knows, I need to keep my skin clear. I’ve checked online and asked around enough to know there isn’t any immediate problem, but now I’m wondering what the hell to do when I get to the end of the pack. Do I just skip a day when I get to the Mystery Pills in the final week? Will my Start Day be henceforth one day ahead? Can I fix all this if I fly west to Japan? Any ideas? Anyone?

And lest you worry that I’m letting a bunch of online strangers tinker with my pharmaceutically-regulated woman-rhythms, I am waiting to hear back from my doctor about this. Just thought I’d share in the meantime.

*Kutesy title spelling intended to evade Google searches by kurious folks, konfused teens, or extremist kooks.

Posted by Wendy | Monday, 2:28 PM | send link

Comments

Don't worry. As far as birth control screw ups go, yours is very minor. (I should know. I work at Planned Parenthood and I've heard them all.) Anyway, the mystery pills the end of your pack are just placebos, (sometimes they have iron in them) so don't worry about skipping them. You could just have a pill-less day at the end and restart your next pack on your usual start day. Or you could move your start time up one day. Either way would be fine. Although if you want to do the travel ahead thing I hear Australia is lovely this time of year...

Posted by: amber at January 9, 2006 02:58 PM

I never take my Mystery Pills, or Green pills as I call them, even though they are no longer green. Once upon a time there were only like 3 different brands of pills and all the inactive ones were green.

Anyway, depending on what brand you take, they are either inert, or the might contain a little bit of estrogen (Mircette).

If you want to get back on your same schedule, those'd be the ones to skip.

Posted by: Kat at January 9, 2006 05:33 PM

um.. yeah, what they said.

it's been a while since i did pills... long days and bad math led me to Depo Provera. No "green/mystery" pills, and no need for ponies, plugs, or other accoutrements to conquer "aunt flo"! Woo hoo!

Posted by: eekanif at January 10, 2006 11:42 AM

I just lost a pill in my car and have had the exact same questions! They have so many minute, detailed instructions on what to do if you forget to take a pill, but not one word on what do if you LOSE one! And I have two green pills and some yellow ones!

Posted by: jennifer at January 10, 2006 07:21 PM

I think you should go consult a pharmacist at Target about this problem.

Posted by: Phineas Jones at January 10, 2006 08:42 PM

Sounds so Groundhog Day....all I can say is I'm happy my man's unit is tied off.

Posted by: Karen Rani at January 11, 2006 09:26 AM

I do believe this is the beginning of what they call "ghetto birth control" practices. Once you start taking five in one day to make up for the week that you missed - then you're playing with fire. Just don't watch "Cribs" on MTV while you're taking any pills of any kind 'cause that'll really fuck you up.

Posted by: Bibfash at January 11, 2006 11:08 AM

I'm pretty sure that the entire universe was balancing on you taking your pills in the absolute correct manner. I'm sure you are to blame for the wildfires in Texas and flooding in N. California. As for what to do now... well, I just don't know how this problem can ever be fixed.

*I'm sure by now you have heard from your doctor and everything is hunky dory.

Posted by: Amy M. at January 11, 2006 12:38 PM

Wow. You are a lucky girl - when I take two of those suckers too close together I get nausea and pukin'. I think if you just skip a placebo and start on your regular day, you should be OK...

As a regular lurker, let me just say that I bought your book and loved it, and am now loving the blog.

Posted by: Erin at January 11, 2006 03:15 PM

Based on my ten, long-ass years of taking the pill, I would say to continue taking it normally and start a new pack on your normal start day. I would use a backup method if you have sex.

Incidentally, I've just finished my first cycle with the Ring, and can I tell you how awesome it is to not have to remember this stuff?

Posted by: Jen at January 11, 2006 04:34 PM

as said above, just skip a green pill if you want to get back on the schedule.

i switched around my start date for vacation reasons the other month - you can just start your next pack on the day you normally would or any day you would favor.

a friend of mine always skipped her green pills and therefore always skipped her period. if you do that you're supposed to have a period at least 4 times a year - just like the new packs that are regulated like that.

Posted by: jenny at January 11, 2006 11:14 PM

I love the kutesy title. And I agree with Phineas; why not consult a Target pharmacist to make sure? Better yet, how about SprWal-Mart?

Posted by: Jess at January 12, 2006 01:48 PM

Man, I thought I was the ONLY spaz when I looked at my pills yesterday (Wednesday) and saw that I was on my Monday pill. I was convinced all I was knocked up all morning today.

It's the holidays that does it, I think. Life is so out of whack for so many reasons that those little routines like stopping babies before they start just don't happen like they should.

Posted by: Melissa at January 12, 2006 02:25 PM

I concur with the "have an extra period day" folks.

Oh,and I would have spelled it Kwestion. Because I always go one step too far.

Posted by: DisneyGirl at January 12, 2006 05:09 PM

Oh, you got the Leap Year packet by mistake.

Posted by: tourquoise at January 13, 2006 06:57 PM

I've always wondered about the will-nilly replacing of 'C' for 'K' in advertisements. The worst one I ever saw was for Krazy Klown Kollege! It's disturbing to me...

Posted by: Maureen at January 14, 2006 12:24 PM

Five years ago, my wedding and honeymoon were going to be during my period. Not too much fun, if you ask me. Under my doctor's okay, I was able to shift everything by about a week by starting the pills early or late (I can't remember). Anyway, you should be able to extend your placebo time to eight days instead of seven. Check with your doctor or NP, of course, but you should be able to ensure that all is right with the world.

Posted by: Cheryl at January 14, 2006 07:27 PM

I like the idea of going to Japan. Sounds like a good excuse to take a vacation to me.

Posted by: Britt at January 15, 2006 04:43 PM

Wendy, what's it like in the future? Do you have a hovercraft?

Posted by: Betsy at January 16, 2006 02:59 PM

Just fly to Japan.

Totally enjoying the book, by the way.

Posted by: Sarah at January 18, 2006 12:35 AM

Wendy -

Here's some perspective from someone who's played around a lot with her pill taking. (but also realize I have 3 kids so...) Just kidding, I do have 3 kids but they were all PLANNED. My Dr. told me that it is not a big deal if you skip a pill and it is even less of a big deal if you take more than one in one day. If you skip one day entirely your chances of getting pregnant are still extraordinarily low. Your hormone levels will be fine by taking the 2 in one day anyway - especially because different types of pills have different levels of hormones anyways (because some women can't handle higher doses and get something akin to morning sickness, which is a sick joke when you actually aren't pregnant). At any rate you can start the pill on any day you damn well please. Any day after your period starts! Do you want to know what my somewhat sexist gynecologist told me? Men want you to start taking them on Sunday and they are prescribed that way so that you would rarely have a period on a weekend - the time when men are most likely to want to have sex with you! So he told me "you can start it any day you want but I'd stick with the Sunday thing because most men really appreciate the side effect". That made me not want to go back there. One whacky friend I have has a husband who HATES periods and so she takes her constantly - in other words she never takes the "sugar" pills and never has a period. Her 80 year old gyno told her that would be okay for the same reason the other dude told me I should always do a sunday start. But personally, I suspect this is part of the reason why she's practially a psycho at this point and hormonal as all hell. Hope that helps!

Posted by: Lezlee Hays at January 18, 2006 01:21 AM

Aieeeeeeeeeeeee! If you are in the middle of a heterosexual relationship that involves oodles of mink-like sex, I'd deploy the secondary sperm slaying plan (whatever that may be). It is possible to live Anna's sad maxim "One Fling Leads to a Mother" if you miss a pill. Likely? No. Possible. Yep. It ackchooly happint to me. (Seriously.) But that, as they say, is another story.

Yours in mink-like struggle,
Anna

Posted by: Anna at January 19, 2006 01:52 PM

I had a "scare" a while back. What I learned from that incident, from what it's worth, is that if you miss more than seven days in a row of active pills, you should use a form of back-up protection for the following week.

Posted by: Mo at January 19, 2006 04:47 PM

just throw the pills away, eat m&m's instead and don't have sex for a while.

Posted by: lee at January 24, 2006 07:30 PM

Been on Yasmin for 5 mnths, this last month I had my periond around the 4-8th of Jan and whilst on leave I ran out of tablets. I did not take tablets for 9 days, I had a bit of spotting and only had sex 2x once with a condom and the second time my partner did not even climax (ejaculate) what are the chances of me being pregnant. I started my pill again on the 19th of Jan and have been taking them normally.
On the 26th I felt something strange in my system like I was ovulating. Do you think I should go for a pregnancy test?

Posted by: Cher at January 30, 2006 01:31 AM

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Kontraceptive Question Korner!*

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