Not ANOTHER pill thread!

Jen-Y · 2nd April 2008, 12:49am

Yes, it is.

I've been on the pill for years now and to be honest have always been a bit shit with it. I pretty much always manage to take one a day but its never at the same time every day. Like i tend to take it before i goto bed, but sometimes thats 11pm and sometimes its 5am if i've been out. Does it REALLY make much different if you take them at only roughly the same time every night? like give or take 4 hours or so?

fallen_nemesis · 2nd April 2008, 1:15am

is it the mini pill or is it the combined one?

If it's the combined one like microgynon 30 or something you have 12 hours after your usual time to take it. New research though has shown that if you miss one like half way through a pack and have taken all of your previous pack and started your next pack on the day you should after your pill free week then you're also protected and should take it when you remember and the next one at the correct time. So I should think 6 hours therefore is ok

Sounds like my taking them. I take them before bed, but I've seen me waking up in the middle of the night and diving out of bed as I've just remembered I forgot to take it.

I'd never fucking manage on the mini pill where you have a 4 hour window!

Jen-Y · 2nd April 2008, 1:26am

Its the combined one i'm on aswell. Its just these horror stories i hear about folk having babies even though they were on the pill and I wonder if they got pregnant because they took it but just not well enough!

Pier Angeli · 2nd April 2008, 8:14am

Sounds like me, haha. I'm not too bad on weeknights taking it but at the weekends it can be any time from 11pm at night (I usually take it before bed) or the next afternoon. I've never had a real pregnancy scare though so either I'm very, very lucky or all the guys I've been with have been firing blanks

Haha. But I think with my pill as long as you've had a complete packet before the current one you're covered anyway.

Sour Girl · 2nd April 2008, 9:32am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jen-Y

Yes, it is.

I've been on the pill for years now and to be honest have always been a bit shit with it. I pretty much always manage to take one a day but its never at the same time every day. Like i tend to take it before i goto bed, but sometimes thats 11pm and sometimes its 5am if i've been out. Does it REALLY make much different if you take them at only roughly the same time every night? like give or take 4 hours or so?

I do the same and have been fine for over 4 years i think you do have a time in which you can take it if you forget at your regular time

alice_in_a_maze · 2nd April 2008, 9:39am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jen-Y

I pretty much always manage to take one a day but its never at the same time every day. Like i tend to take it before i goto bed, but sometimes thats 11pm and sometimes its 5am if i've been out.

For 10 years I've been doing this too!

At times I'm a good bit more than 4 hours out, but so far I've been dandy.
Thank you luck/fate/whatever.
Every month I think, right, I'm always taking it on time from now on. But I never do.

If your more than 10 hours out, that's when the odds become stacked against you (but again, I've always been fine).

fallen_nemesis · 2nd April 2008, 9:46am

Quote:

Originally Posted by alice_in_a_maze

For 10 years I've been doing this too!

At times I'm a good bit more than 4 hours out, but so far I've been dandy.
Thank you luck/fate/whatever.
Every month I think, right, I'm always taking it on time from now on. But I never do.

If your more than 10 hours out, that's when the odds become stacked against you (but again, I've always been fine).

again it totally depends what pill you're on.

Mini pill it's a 4 hour window. Combined it's 12.

You people seriously scare me with your pill taking habits!!

Helter Skelter · 2nd April 2008, 10:10am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jen-Y

Its the combined one i'm on aswell. Its just these horror stories i hear about folk having babies even though they were on the pill and I wonder if they got pregnant because they took it but just not well enough!

If you're on the combined pill you should be fine.

I would have thought that stories like that would be more due to people having an upset stomach, therefore having their pill pass through their system too quickly and not being absorbed effectively. Or, if they've been out on a bender and thrown up at the end of the night/during their hangover the next day, again not allowing their pill to be absorbed properly.

I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people forget to use extra protection after something like that has happened.

Rhöna of the Rhein · 2nd April 2008, 11:47am

it's for precisely this reason that I gave up on the pill. was freakin' out that my taking it at random times would have... adverse consequences.

i'm on the implant now, it's ace.

Bunnylingus · 2nd April 2008, 12:44pm

See if you miss a couple because you forgot to go home, is like a week that you aren't safe for?

I can never remember.

System_Star · 2nd April 2008, 12:50pm

As long as it is within the 12 hours you set yourself, you're fine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunnylingus

See if you miss a couple because you forgot to go home, is like a week that you aren't safe for?

I can never remember.

Depends where it is in your pack that you miss it. If it is within the first or last 7 days of the pack that is when you are more at risk.

The pharmacist can tell you more as they have wee charts that tell you how at risk you are and how many pills you can feasible miss before you will have to take the morning after pill or whatever.

bikuki · 2nd April 2008, 1:09pm

If you miss a pill before you ovulate (the 14th day before your period starts) you're at higher risk - however if you don't miss a pill before you ovulate, you almost definitely won't actually release an egg, so you won't get pregnant. However it is possible to ovulate even if you've been 100% with your pills, so you should keep on taking them even after day 14 (the pills have other effects than just stopping ovulation).
Sorry if that was rather poorly explained

The combined pill can have a window of up to 12 hours, but it's really recommended to be roughly the same time every day to minimise the chance of ovulation. They say you should take it in the morning, because if you forget at night then fall asleep you might not rememeber until the next morning, which will may be over the 12 hour limit. If you're having lots of problems then maybe you should talk to your GP or the Sandyford about alternative contraception such as the Depo jag or Impanon.

McLeary · 2nd April 2008, 2:06pm

Check all you birds with dud ovens who are pish at taking the pill but still not getting up the duff.

I JEST.

JUST GET BRI TO WRAP HIS JUNK, JEN-Y.

fallen_nemesis · 2nd April 2008, 2:45pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunnylingus

See if you miss a couple because you forgot to go home, is like a week that you aren't safe for?

I can never remember.

NO! that's totally not how it works!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Helter Skelter

If you're on the combined pill you should be fine.

I would have thought that stories like that would be more due to people having an upset stomach, therefore having their pill pass through their system too quickly and not being absorbed effectively. Or, if they've been out on a bender and thrown up at the end of the night/during their hangover the next day, again not allowing their pill to be absorbed properly.

I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people forget to use extra protection after something like that has happened.

The things you've pointed out above only apply up to a few hours after taking your pill. If it's more than that it's already been absorbed and you're safe. If it's within the first hour or 2 then the leaflet recommends you take another one then your next one at your usual time.

The only other thing I can think of is if you're taking certain antibiotics you're recommended to keep taking your pills but use condoms for the perios you're on the antibiotics and for 7 days after as they interfere with the pill. Your docot should tell you this at the time though,, but you can ask your pharmacist when you pick up the prescription.

*despairs*

how are half of you not up the duff?! It terrifies me that some folk can be on a tablet and not read up on it properly or think it's ok to totally push the boundaries by assuming they're protected by not taking it for days.

GAH!

sorry , end of safe sex lecture

Seriously though, I'd be well paranoid and checking just to be sure to be sure if that was me.

As Vicki said too, why don't you try Implanon or the jag if you can't remember to take your tablets. That's yousorted for years in the case of Implanon, and a month at a time for the injection.

bikuki · 2nd April 2008, 2:51pm

I forgot to take my pill for the first time in about 5 years (I was up late studying and I was so knackered by the time I went to bed that I totally forgot until I woke up the next morning) - I completely freaked even though it was in my last week

I honestly don't know how everyone can be so chilled about it.