maggie,
Anytime you miss pills, especially 3 or more in-a-row, and then have unprotected intercourse, there is a chance for pregnancy.
When you called your pharmacist, did s/he recommend that you consider using emergency contraception (Plan B or Plan B One Step)? Next time, I would recommend calling your prescribing doctor's office instead of the pharmacist, as your doctor or nurse would have undoubtedly recommended emergency contraception in your case.
I do not believe it matters what week you were on, or what week you should have been taking, in hindsight, since you missed so many pills and needed to start a new pack, anyways. Your pharmacist was right, that when you miss 3 or more pills in-a-row, you throw out that pack, use back-up protection (condom), and start a new pill pack on your normal "start date". You should use back-up protection for the next 7 days after your new pill pack (I hope your pharmacist said this, right?!)
You should not be surprised by any spotting, as the abrupt stopping and starting of your pills have caused your body's hormones to be slightly off (the pills contain synthetic hormones, and once stopped, your body then "kicks in" to start production of its natural hormones to begin process of ovulation...then when synthetic hormones are re-introduced, your body needs to make adjustments which can cause spotting).
You may just spot, have light bleeding, have a period..or even have a late period. (Please know, when women use the pill, they don't actually have a "period" or menstrual bleeding, but the bleeding experienced is from the withdrawal of hormones, called "withdrawal bleeding", during the 7 days of inactive pills).
If you do not have a regular "period", you may want to call your doctor and/or take a home pregnancy test after your missed period, just to be sure.
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maggie,
Anytime you miss pills, especially 3 or more in-a-row, and then have unprotected intercourse, there is a chance for pregnancy.
When you called your pharmacist, did s/he recommend that you consider using emergency contraception (Plan B or Plan B One Step)? Next time, I would recommend calling your prescribing doctor's office instead of the pharmacist, as your doctor or nurse would have undoubtedly recommended emergency contraception in your case.
I do not believe it matters what week you were on, or what week you should have been taking, in hindsight, since you missed so many pills and needed to start a new pack, anyways. Your pharmacist was right, that when you miss 3 or more pills in-a-row, you throw out that pack, use back-up protection (condom), and start a new pill pack on your normal "start date". You should use back-up protection for the next 7 days after your new pill pack (I hope your pharmacist said this, right?!)
You should not be surprised by any spotting, as the abrupt stopping and starting of your pills have caused your body's hormones to be slightly off (the pills contain synthetic hormones, and once stopped, your body then "kicks in" to start production of its natural hormones to begin process of ovulation...then when synthetic hormones are re-introduced, your body needs to make adjustments which can cause spotting).
You may just spot, have light bleeding, have a period..or even have a late period. (Please know, when women use the pill, they don't actually have a "period" or menstrual bleeding, but the bleeding experienced is from the withdrawal of hormones, called "withdrawal bleeding", during the 7 days of inactive pills).
If you do not have a regular "period", you may want to call your doctor and/or take a home pregnancy test after your missed period, just to be sure.
September 29, 2009 - 2:20pmThis Comment
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