How to take birth control pills
Birth control pills come in packs. The most common type has 3 weeks of hormone pills. Some packs have sugar pills for the fourth week. During that fourth no-hormone week, you have your menstrual period. After the fourth week (28 days), you start a new pack.
Another method is to take the active hormone pills continuously for 3 months. This is followed by 7 days of sugar pills. You then start a new pack of pills. Your doctor can prescribe this as an unlabelled use. If you have breakthrough bleeding during the 3 months, your health professional will prescribe extra estrogen.
How to start your first pack of pills
There are several ways you can start taking your first pack of pills:
- Quick start. During your medical appointment, take your first pill as soon as you get the pack from your health professional. Take the second pill the next day. During the first 7 days of pills, use a backup method of birth control, like a condom or diaphragm.
- Sunday start. Pick a Sunday to take your first pill, so that you do not have periods on the weekends. During the first 7 days of pills, use a backup method of birth control, like a condom or diaphragm.
- Fifth-day start. On the fifth day of your menstrual period, take your first pill.
Your daily pill routine
Take your hormone pills every day, at about the same time of day. To stay on track and prevent pregnancy, try these easy tricks:1
- Pick a time. Link up your "pill time" with something you do every day, like brushing your teeth, eating a meal, or going to bed.
- Use your calendar. Mark the days you will start new packs. You might even want to cross off each day you take your pill.
- Check again. Each morning, check your pack to be sure you took yesterday's pill. If you find you've missed one, take it right away.
| Author: | Merrill Hayden Carrie Henley | Last Updated: August 16, 2006 |
| Medical Review: | Adam Husney, MD - Family Medicine Joy Melnikow, MD, MPH - Family Medicine Kirtly Jones, MD - Obstetrics and Gynecology Femi Olatunbosun, MB, FRCSC - Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Medicine | |
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