OP: I lost a pill.... what do I do?

I would recommend that you "borrow" one from next month and stay on schedule if you really want to keep that particular day. As you refill, you can keep borrowing. Or, perhaps, the nurse in your doctor's office can give you a sample pack or some from stock. Or. a friend ON THE SAME PILL, may have a little stash of extras.

As a practical matter, what you describe would put you at little risk - but there is some and the first pill of the month is important. Deep in the literature, not generally available to patients, are charts of the time limits for taking pills and maintaining effectiveness. This indicates the time at which the hormones in your bloodstream fall below the therapeutic level and you risk ovulating. For most pills I am aware of it runs from eight to eighteen hours for the AVERAGE woman. You really should not start the month on a downer. So, you can take the first pill of your next cycle on time and then shift the time of taking your pill, say, four hours each day until you are back on schedule. May interrupt some other things until you get back but this is a safe approach if you cannot dig up an extra pill.

Brandye

Posted: 29 Sep 22:01

My gyno has always told me, just take the next days...if you lose one. Your period will come 1 day sooner. Assuming you are a Sunday start, come the last Sat. of your pack you just won't have an extra placebo to take. And then start again normally on the next day...and your period will or should come the same day it always had pre-missing pills.

So rather than going a day with no pill (like when you lose one) simply take the next days, and everything will just be bumped up one day. And you will just be 1 placebo short at the end...thats what she always told me.

Now...if you miss 2 or more, then things get screwed up, and you are supposed to throw the rest out and just start with a brand new pack. (thats what the kind I take says in the directions anyway...)

SugarAddict

Posted: 29 Sep 22:01

God ..all these problems you dear ladies have; glad I have only to shave every day. We blokes do get off so lightly!!

maupassant

Posted: 29 Sep 22:01

Not sure I quite understood this... so for example I usually take my pill at 8pm...so i take my day 1 pill of the next pack at 8pm, day 2 at 4pm, day 3 at 12pm, etc?

But this would lead to me having to wake up in the middle of the night to take a pill! :confused:

Damn it....those pills are so tiny...they just slip right out of your hand!! Maybe I'll just buy a spare pack and keep it aside for when these accidents happen. It seems the easier option! At least they don't expire fast!

sexy_angel

Posted: 29 Sep 22:02

I dunno why you'd have to change your time you take it? My gyno just said...take the next days. And you'll just be 1 day short once you get to the placebos. But it won't really matter, because then you will be starting a new pack. You'll just get your period 1 day earlier, and maybe last 1 day longer just for that cycle.

SugarAddict

Posted: 29 Sep 22:02

Each woman's body processes the pill a bit differently. The times I stated above are what are calculated to be the times beyond 24 hours at which 95% of women will have the hormone level in their bloodstream fall below "therapeutic." In other words, when ovulation may be triggered. My sticky on Take Only As Directed describes how this works. It also explains why the ring requires lower hormone levels.

Sugar's , gyn is quite correct in the usual case - no big deal. But if your metabolism is faster than the usual woman's and you go more than several hours beyond your daily dose time, you will be at risk.

Brandye

Posted: 29 Sep 22:03

i was thinking....i still have slightly less than half a pack left....if i had to purposely miss a pill....would this make things easier? I'm currently already being cautious because my gynae said that till my body adjusts to the change in pills there's a risk of pregnancy anyway.

so if i just 'pretend i forgot to take one' in the middle of the pack instead of at the end then it shouldn't be so complicated right?

if i understood correctly...the problem with missing a pill at the end or start of the pack is because that is an important one right? correct me if i'm wrong please!!! :o

sexy_angel

Posted: 29 Sep 22:03

I dunno why you'd have to change your time you take it? My gyno just said...take the next days. And you'll just be 1 day short once you get to the placebos. But it won't really matter, because then you will be starting a new pack. You'll just get your period 1 day earlier, and maybe last 1 day longer just for that cycle.

SugarAddict

Posted: 29 Sep 22:03

> if i understood correctly...the problem with missing a pill at the end or start of the pack is because that is an important one right? correct me if i'm wrong please!!! :o

Well I don't know what you mean by important or not, they are all important. Unless you are talking about the placbo "sugar/reminder pills".

It would help if we knew what kind you were taking. I myself take the tri-phasil kind that have 3 levels of hormones, each week they increase. And then I have 1 week of white "sugar" pills. They just keep you on track, you don't even really need to take those ones, there's nothing in them. So yes...if you lost a sugar pill it wouldn't matter at all. But the other ones are what have the hormones in them.

I told my gyno...I wish they would say what to do if you LOSE a pill in the directions. They don't. They only tell you what to do if you SKIP a pill or FORGET to take one. So thats why I asked her the last time I went. She said, just take the next days (and you will be 1 day short at the end of your pack) which are the sugar pills, so it doesn't matter. And then just start up a new pack like you would normally.

SugarAddict

Posted: 29 Sep 22:04

yes actually on my pack it does say what to do if you lose one :) and it says exactly that ....to take the last one....my problem was that I didn't want to shift the day I get my period as it really doesnt work out for me. The easiest thing to do is to just take one from another pack and keep that pack as a spare ....in case i lose any others :o ....although its the first one i lost in 4 years!!

oh well!

oh and by the way i take yasmin....don't know what type they are.... but its 3 weeks of pills and 1 week no pills

sexy_angel

Posted: 29 Sep 22:04

OK well I really don't know why having your period 1 day sooner would matter that much, but whatever floats your boat I guess lol. I mean it will be back to the "regular" day for your next pack of pills.

So you don't even take placebo pills for the no pill week? So you have the 21 day pack? Mine is 28...but it's basically the same sorta idea I guess.

I guess just having a spare pack would be ok. I just don't know how long I would hold on to it, for like expiration purposes ya know...I dunno how long they last or are good for? Like how often are you going to lose a pill...
So I'd just take one from the next day...get my period a day earlier...have 1 less placebo pill to take (or in your case one less day of taking a pill), and be back on track for the next month. That route sounds easiest and less wasteful to me, but thats just what I'd do.

SugarAddict

Posted: 29 Sep 22:05

thanks for all the replies and sorry for the confusion!! yes i'm on the 21 day pack.

ok i'm confused again.... i thought that if i get it one day earlier this time i would get it one day earlier every time for the following packs too no? i mean one pill would be missed. so everything shifts a day back....for all packs. please explain if i'm misunderstanding!! i dont mind getting it a day earlier just the once but wouldnt like the shift to be permanent.

basically i usually get it on a saturday which is perfect for me because i wont be at work if i get cramps and can just lie in bed....that's y 'the fuss'.

sexy_angel

Posted: 29 Sep 22:05