Anytime you want to adjust your prescription, it is best to check with a doctor or read your patient information brochure first (just for next time...or check with us, OK?).
What happens when you bleed during the week of inactive pills is not a menstrual period. Women who use hormonal contraception do not have menstrual periods; the bleeding is actually withdrawal bleeding (just called a "period"). Your body is "withdrawing" from the absence of hormones.
The first week of pills is crucial to take, and not miss any, because your body has been without hormones for 7 days. Then, when you do not take the next two doses...your body will begin to "kick in" with its own hormones. Your body's own hormones are what causes a woman to ovulate (among a million other things). This compares to taking the pill, which actually works to prohibit ovulation, as well as make your cervical mucus and uterine lining less appealing to sperm.
So, when you miss those first few pills, your body is in gear to begin its cycle, and is the reason whenever you miss pills -- even if you are purposefully trying to "adjust" --- you also need to make adjustments in your birth control methods by using backup birth control to make sure your adjustments have had time to become effective. It takes approx. 7 days for the effectiveness of your pills (and any adjustments you make) to be at their highest effectiveness at preventing pregnancy (99%). When you miss pills, especially on consecutive days, this effectiveness rate decreases.
With all of this said...the likelihood of you ovulating on this one particular day is extremely low. Sperm can live inside a woman's body for 3-5 days (when not using birth control pills, for the reasons mentioned above regarding "appealing environment for sperm"), so that opens the window of possible pregnancy to the following 3-5 days as well.
Please know...although all the information I provided suggests it is possible for you to become pregnant, it is NOT AT ALL LIKELY that you would become pregnant in this one time, small window occurrence. Just as it is possible to become pregnant when using birth control pills, as 1 in 100 women will become pregnant every year when using the combination pill (99% effectiveness rate).
I'm not sure if this additional information helped you or not, but please be careful with any future self-adjustments on any prescription drug you take, and be sure to read the instructions to know of any possible side effects of consequences of not taking a drug exactly as prescribed. Take care!
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Anytime you want to adjust your prescription, it is best to check with a doctor or read your patient information brochure first (just for next time...or check with us, OK?).
What happens when you bleed during the week of inactive pills is not a menstrual period. Women who use hormonal contraception do not have menstrual periods; the bleeding is actually withdrawal bleeding (just called a "period"). Your body is "withdrawing" from the absence of hormones.
The first week of pills is crucial to take, and not miss any, because your body has been without hormones for 7 days. Then, when you do not take the next two doses...your body will begin to "kick in" with its own hormones. Your body's own hormones are what causes a woman to ovulate (among a million other things). This compares to taking the pill, which actually works to prohibit ovulation, as well as make your cervical mucus and uterine lining less appealing to sperm.
So, when you miss those first few pills, your body is in gear to begin its cycle, and is the reason whenever you miss pills -- even if you are purposefully trying to "adjust" --- you also need to make adjustments in your birth control methods by using backup birth control to make sure your adjustments have had time to become effective. It takes approx. 7 days for the effectiveness of your pills (and any adjustments you make) to be at their highest effectiveness at preventing pregnancy (99%). When you miss pills, especially on consecutive days, this effectiveness rate decreases.
With all of this said...the likelihood of you ovulating on this one particular day is extremely low. Sperm can live inside a woman's body for 3-5 days (when not using birth control pills, for the reasons mentioned above regarding "appealing environment for sperm"), so that opens the window of possible pregnancy to the following 3-5 days as well.
Please know...although all the information I provided suggests it is possible for you to become pregnant, it is NOT AT ALL LIKELY that you would become pregnant in this one time, small window occurrence. Just as it is possible to become pregnant when using birth control pills, as 1 in 100 women will become pregnant every year when using the combination pill (99% effectiveness rate).
I'm not sure if this additional information helped you or not, but please be careful with any future self-adjustments on any prescription drug you take, and be sure to read the instructions to know of any possible side effects of consequences of not taking a drug exactly as prescribed. Take care!
March 31, 2011 - 8:07pmThis Comment
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