One hour?

[havefaith]

Kay, here's the deal.

 

I got on birth control (ortho-tricyclenLo) in January after a pregnancy scare, making this my third cycle of birth control.

 

My scare has taught me to be absolutely religious-- we double on protection, using a condom every single time along with my use of the pill. Also I have an alarm on my phone and take the pill the exact same time - I'm talking exact same minute - every day, just so I don't have to ever go through any of it again.

 

Anyways, I've heard it said that you can be a little off with your pill, but a few nights ago (it was the first day of my new month cycle) I was so dead asleep I slept right through my pill alarm. Great. I took the pill EXACTLY ONE HOUR later than my normal time, 7:30. The next day I just went back to my normal time.

 

Now I would think that one hour difference is okay, but I want to know: is there ANY ANY remote chance that taking that pill an hour late could throw off my protection? The way I figure, if one hour could mess it up that badly, we would either have lots of pregnant people or lots of people who needed to start the pill allll over again. I think this must be a coincedence, but I have some dull weird cramping in my lower abdomen (started around the time I messed up the pill... but also been having a lot of gas, so that might explain that.)

 

Thanks for your responses in advance.

[ilovecats]

Taking your pill an hour late is perfectly okay.Trust me.I once was an hour late taking my birth control pill and I called my gynocologist and she said that it was fine.Just try not to forget too much.

[CarnelianButterfly]

Just keep up what you're doing. One hour shouldn't hurt, but if you miss it until the next day, then you should be very careful if you have sex.

 

The reason for the need to be so sure of the time is that the hormonal dosages on the low options are almost the minimal amount to simulate pregnancy, you need to be more careful then if it were the higher dose. I take the higher dose so I'm not as worried that my hormone levels will drop due to an hour variation day to day.

 

I thinks its great that you use condoms still, you're not only preventing pregnancy, but you're protecting yourself from exposure to most STIs.

[ReadyorNot]

I always take my pill at 10pm.... when I go to bed... I wasnt working for 4 months and took it anywhere from 10pm to 4am like every night... never got pregnant... My bf was living with us and I was having sex like every night... no condoms....

 

Im not saying this was a smart choice... but I am saying that you are fine with an hour late...

[newlydumped]

I wouldn't worry about missing it by an hour. I have never been steady about the time I take my pill (though I do make sure that I take it every day), and my ex and I were having sex for months without a condom. I am sure that you are fine.

[orgasmictofu]

When you start a new cycle, my understanding of it is that you can be upto 24 hours late in taking the pill and then just go back to your regular schedule. Anymore than 24 hours and you should use a backup for 7 days.

[RayKay]

If it's the combined pill (two hormones) then an hour is fine. Technically it's not a missed pill until you are 12 hours late taking it, but for best effectiveness you should take it very close to same time everday. An hour late is fine. A day late would be another matter, and you would have to follow the precautions in the package and make sure to use condoms for the next week as well.

 

Also, I noticed it was the FIRST pill of your cycle and you still started it the same day as intended, so it really is fine, it won't matter. If you had missed it would be another matter as that is a riskier time to miss taking it altogether, but it's fine to start it at another time at the start of any cycle. For example some women feel nauseous taking the pill in morning, so they are told that the next cycle they should start taking it at night before bed, which is 12 hours later then the last time but as long as they take it at night for the cycle, it's fine.