Love fushigi_na_chou
5:16 pm - 05/05/2012

Back up method required when going off HBC?
I'm considering going off of my HBC (I've been unhappy with the side effects, and the last time I discussed it with my doctor I had to stop her halfway out the door because she was too busy to actually care about anything I had to say; suffice it to say that I don't care enough to deal with her and would rather wait to make an appointment with a new gyno when my next pap is due), but was wondering if I should use a backup method during my placebo week since I would effectively be extending it by not starting a new pack. Thanks, everyone. :)
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misspaigeb 5th-May-2012 09:29 pm (UTC)
I would, just because sperm can live for up to 5 days I believe and if you did happen to ovulate after the placebo week it could allow for a window of possible pregnancy. It's not exactly a huge risk but if getting pregnant would be the absolute worst thing then I'd probably be extra cautious.
fushigi_na_chou 6th-May-2012 04:39 pm (UTC)
Alright, thanks. That's what I was thinking too, but I figured it couldn't hurt to get a second opinion. :)
kayeyem 5th-May-2012 09:32 pm (UTC)
Assuming you're on a pill that has 21 active pills followed by 7 placebo's, you shouldn't need back up protection until the end of your placebo week. When you stop taking the pills AFTER that time frame (the 21 active to 7 inactive ratio) then you need a different form of contraception.

Does that make sense? I'd probably start using back up protection anyway, since it's going to become the primary protection, but...if you don't want to, you do not have to (assuming that you have taken 21 active pills correctly before the placebo week) until the end of those pills. :)

atalanta0jess 6th-May-2012 03:19 pm (UTC)
I don't think this is true. Extending your placebo week is one of the riskiest HBC mistakes, because you could conceivably ovulate on day 8 or 9. If the OP had sex on day 6 or 7 of her placebo pills, the sperm could definitely still be around for day 8, when there is potential of ovulation. In fact, IIRC, for people who are TTC it is useful to have sex the day before ovulation, which just goes to show that you can indeed get pregnant quite well from sperm that are deposited before the egg is actually released.
fushigi_na_chou 6th-May-2012 04:41 pm (UTC)
Oh my goodness, do people really ovulate that soon after stopping their birth control? :o I know the last time I went off my birth control (for financial reasons), my period picked right up where it left off 28 days later (though since I wasn't using FAM at the time, there's no way for me to know if I actually ovulated or not, but still). Wow, I didn't know that. Thanks for that little tidbit of information; very important. ;)
atalanta0jess 6th-May-2012 10:01 pm (UTC)
It's one of those weird things...some people do ovulate that quickly. And then some people don't ovulate for months!
la_mia_cara 5th-May-2012 10:02 pm (UTC)
Yes, you should use backup protection, since it's theoretically possible (though quite unlikely) that you ovulate on the first day you should have started the new pack - and if you had sex the week before (your placebo week), there can still be live sperm inside you. Also, you can just not take the placebo pills, since they don't have any effect on your body :) (Sorry if you knew that already, it just sounded to me like you were planning on taking the placebo pills even though you will not start a new pack afterwards.)
archangelbeth 5th-May-2012 10:48 pm (UTC)
I would use a backup starting at your placebo week, yes. It's probable that the sperm would be dead (inhospitable environment) by the time your ovaries got around to waking up enough to ovulate -- but really hardy sperm and really enthusiastic ovaries could combine.
rosewein 6th-May-2012 08:10 pm (UTC)
I have heard, that when you come of birth control pills your very likely to become pregnant. something to do with your body trying to get back the baby it thinks you have lost. hormonal balance issues might rear there head later but that first month apparently its super easy to get pregnant.
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