I take Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo Birth Control Pills....I have no idea what I was thinking, but this Sunday instead of taking the dark green "reminder" pills, i started a whole new pack....Does anyone know if i am safe from preganancy....
If i am not mistaken, i think that I will be ok, buti just wont have a period this month...please help as this is driving me crazy... and my doc is out till after Turkey Day! Thanks!
I did that on purpose so I wouldn't get my period on my honeymoon. You can actually do this on a monthly basis if you want to skip your period entirely. As long as you didn't skip an 'active' pill, you should be fine.
you're fine. I never take the fake pills. doctor prescribes me to just go on to the next active pack so that I can skip painful periods.
Like Rebecca, I took them to avoid my cycle on the honeymoon. I have heard people do this all the time but just to give you my insight, my period still came a few days later than it normally would have. Just be prepared until you get back into the swing of things. :o)
You will be fine and just as protected. As others have said this is done intentionally sometimes to avoid a period during a particular time. Just keep going with this pill pack and throw away the placebos that you skipped. But since you are on a triphasic lo pill, you are more likely to experience breakthrough bleeding than if you had been on a monophasic pill. Breakthrough bleeding is not a concern, just a nuisance. It does not affect pregnancy protection either.
Don't worry! The other smart ladies were absolutely right. Just continue with the new pack. I did this many times on purpose!
Skipping the placebo pills won't make you more likely to get pregnant. They're placebos. :-) Starting a brand new pack means you're still taking full force pills. It'll just be longer in between your periods although, as others have mentioned, you might have some spotting before you reach the next week of placebos.
I recently did the same thing. I had some breakthough bleeding though. As long as you take the regular pills, you should be fine. The "reminder" ones are ok to miss.
I used to work at a pharmacy, and the "reminder" pills have no active ingredient in them, which is why you get a period. In fact, we had many women who would regularly skip them, and go months without a period, though I wouldn't necessarily recommend that.
If you'd like to avoid taking hormonal birth control, you can look into "Fertility Awareness Method" or "Natural Family Planning", to learn your body's signs and symptoms of ovulation/fertility (the book "Taking Charge of Your Fertility is an excellent place to start). This way you can avoid pregnancy without resorting to hormones, that may mess up your system or cause complications further down the road.