Forgot to take the pill - what to do?

introduction

The pill is a hormonal contraceptive that is taken orally by women.

The woman's cycle is regulated by the hormones in the pill and, depending on the pill preparation, ovulation is prevented or the egg cell is prevented from implanting in the uterus.

To know and understand what happens if you forget the pill, one should first know how the pill works when taken correctly.

First of all, it is important to know that the pill differs from the so-called minipill, as it contains more hormones and therefore completely prevents ovulation, while the minipill only allows the egg cell to implant Mucous membrane the uterus prevents.

The pill is a hormone preparation and protects the woman over three ways before fertilization.

For one, the pill prevents ovulation. This means that the egg cell does not Ovary of the woman and therefore not in the uterus can nest.

However, it comes to one ovulation, the pill prevents that sperm penetrates through the wall of the egg cell, accordingly it comes to no fertilization.

Thirdly, the pill prevents the mucous membrane from building up. However, a fertilized egg needs a well-developed and built-up mucous membrane to nestle in it. If the mucous membrane is insufficiently built up, the egg cannot implant and the pregnancy is thus prevented.

overview

So if you take the pill regularly, it is extremely unlikely to become pregnant. It becomes problematic if you take the pill irregularly or if you forget to take the pill.If you forget to take the pill, it can lead to pregnancy. It is important to know that the man's sperm can survive in the woman's body for up to 5 days. For example, if the woman had intercourse with her partner on a Friday and forgets the pill on Sunday, she can still get pregnant, even if she uses condom contraception afterwards. The reason for this is the long survival time of the sperm inside the woman.

Basically, you can always consider together with the gynecologist whether it is reasonable or sensible for the woman to take the morning-after pill.If there is absolutely no desire to have children and the pill has been forgotten, you can always contact your gynecologist or a pharmacist to get the morning-after pill. It is important that the morning-after pill is most effective when it is taken as quickly as possible. The morning-after pill can still be effective for up to 3 days after unprotected intercourse, but it is most likely to work within the first 48 hours.

If there is no risk of pregnancy because the sexual act did not occur, there is also no need to take the morning-after pill. Rather, attention should be paid to the additional protection of a condom in future intercourse.

It is also important to know that forgetting the pill can lead to unwanted spotting or intermenstrual bleeding. In this case you should consult your gynecologist to rule out a possible pregnancy. In general, it is always possible that forgetting the pill will lead to pregnancy, even if the partner is also using a condom contraceptive. Therefore, whenever you forget a pill, you should visit the gynecologist to rule out pregnancy before taking the next packet.

Forget to take the pill on the first day

Usually, you take the pill prescribed by your gynecologist at the same time each day for 21 days. It doesn't matter whether you had intercourse every day or whether you only slept with your partner on one of the 21 days. After the 21 days there is a 7-day break. It is important not to extend this break under any circumstances, otherwise the pill will no longer offer any protection! For example, if you stopped taking the pill on Tuesday, you have to start again on Wednesday in 7 days. If you do not do this or if you only take the pill on Thursday, you have forgotten the pill and therefore no protection against pregnancy for the entire following month! The reason for this is ovulation, which normally only occurs in the first week after the end of your period (doctors speak of the 14th day because they count from the first day of your period), but ovulation can also occur earlier. If you then have intercourse, pregnancy cannot be prevented. It is therefore important not to forget the pill, but to take it regularly and at the right time.

Read also: Ovulation despite the pill

If you have forgotten the pill on the first day, it is also important to observe the time window. Overall you have about 10 hours to "take" the pill. This means the following: If a woman always takes her pill at 2 p.m. and has forgotten the pill that day, she can only take the pill at 10 p.m. on the same day. The pill is still protected! If this woman does not take the pill until 8 a.m. the next day, she no longer has any protection because she forgot to take the pill in the next 10 hours possible. So there is a certain time window in which you can “forget” the pill. However, if this window is exceeded, the pill is no longer safe and additional contraception methods such as the condom should be used.

Above all, it should not be underestimated that the pill is always taking taken very precisely must be and that one has to Don't just change the first day of taking the pill freely because the pill was then practically forgotten and offers no protection.

Forgotten intake in the first week

If a patient forgets her pill in the first week, this means that the patient has no protection for at least 7 days after she forgot the pill, even if all further pills were then taken on time. If a patient forgets her pill in the 1st week, it may happen that the effect of the pill is not strong enough and thus ovulation is triggered, which is normally suppressed by the pill. If sexual intercourse subsequently occurs, the patient may become pregnant. However, it is important to know that if you forget the pill in the 1st week, protection is not given for at least 7 days. When the pill provides protection again, it also depends on how regularly the morning-after pill is taken. If a patient forgets her pill in the first week, full protection is restored after 7 days. However, if a patient has forgotten her pill not just once but two or three times, there is no protection until the patient has consistently taken the pill for 7 days at a time. When the pill is protected again depends not only on the number of days but also on how regularly and punctually a patient takes her pill.

It is also important to know that if a patient forgets their pill in the first week and ovulates is triggered, the patient can become pregnant even if she had unprotected sex a day or two before she forgot the pill. The reason for this is that the man's sperm survive in the woman for about 2-4 days and during this time swim towards the fallopian tubes (tuba uterina) to fuse with a potential egg in the woman. If a patient has unprotected intercourse on day 1 and forgets her pill on day 2, ovulation may occur on day 3. Since the sperm are still alive at this time and are located in the area of ​​the fallopian tube, it is possible that they can penetrate the egg and thus a pregnancy occurs.

The same also applies in the event that a patient forgets her pill on day 1 of the first week and has unprotected intercourse on day 2. Since the pill has lost its effectiveness, the egg cell and sperm can now fuse, which can then lead to pregnancy. When a pill has protection again is sometimes represented quite differently by each manufacturer. Therefore, you should study the package insert for your own pill very carefully to find out when the pill will again provide adequate protection. In addition, care should be taken that if a pill is forgotten in the first week, no further pill is forgotten, otherwise the pill may lose its complete protection. In general, however, it can be said that if the pill is forgotten once in the first week, but is then taken regularly and punctually every day, it should fulfill its full protective function after 7 days. However, if a patient wants to be absolutely sure not to become pregnant, it is advisable to use a condom as a contraceptive.

Please also read our article on this Pill doesn't work

Morning-after pill

If a patient forgets her pill in the first week, the pill loses its effectiveness and can lead to ovulation and thus fertilization of the egg.

Thus, pregnancy can occur if the pill is forgotten in the 1st week.
There are two ways in which a patient becomes pregnant if she forgot the pill in the first week: On the one hand, she can become pregnant if she had unprotected intercourse within 7 days of forgetting to take it. On the other hand, she can become pregnant if she had unprotected intercourse a day or two before forgetting to take the pill, since the sperm can survive in the female genital tract for about 3-4 days.
If the patient realizes that she forgot a pill in the first week and had intercourse shortly before or shortly after without using a condom, the patient should consider the possibility that she may be pregnant.

If a patient wants to rule out the possibility of getting pregnant despite forgetting the pill, there is the option of purchasing the morning-after pill in a pharmacy or hospital. It is important that the morning-after pill works best, especially shortly after intercourse, so it should be taken within the first 24 to 48 hours, as this is where it is most likely to prevent pregnancy.
However, if a patient has forgotten the pill and has not had unprotected intercourse before or after, it is also not necessary to take the pill afterwards. It is much better to use a condom as a contraceptive afterwards, as this can avoid pregnancy without the patient being exposed to hormonal stress from the morning-after pill.

Read more on the topic: Effect of the morning-after pill.

Forgot to take in the second week

In principle, it makes no difference whether you forgot to take the pill in the first or in the second week. As soon as you forget to take the pill one day and don't think about taking the pill for the next 10 hours, you have to be careful during sexual intercourse due to the lack of contraception. An additional contraceptive, such as a condom, should be used for the entire rest of the time.

There are also doctors who assume after 7 days of taking the pill that a safe act of love is guaranteed again even without a condom. However, if you want to be sure that you will not get pregnant after forgetting the pill, you should also use a condom for the remaining days. After the bleeding and from the start of the new packet, it is safe to use contraception without condoms, as the pill then fulfills its full protective function again.

Forgot to take in the third week

Even if you forget to take the pill in the third week, it is important to additionally use a condom as contraception, as the pill is no longer safe. For example, if you forgot to take the last pill, you shouldn't worry about taking the pill. Here it is also okay to stop taking the pill one day early. However, it is important to start the new package exactly one week later! That means, if you had actually taken the pill until Wednesday, but forgot it and therefore only took it until Tuesday, that you then start the next week with the new packet on Wednesday! Not like the weeks before on Thursday.

If you do not do this, you have forgotten the pill and no longer protected, as the pill can then no longer take on a preventive function. The reason for this is that forgetting the pill can lead to ovulation. If you have intercourse the day before, on the same day or a few days after, the egg may be fertilized and implanted in the uterus. It is therefore important to always adhere to the exact daily plan for the pill and to always use double prevention in case of inaccuracies!

Forgot the pill several times

You don't have the pill just once, but forgotten several times, absolutely have to double prevention namely the complete time! The 7 day rule, according to which you have enough protection even without a condom after 7 days of taking the pills correctly, does not apply here. Here, too, it is important to see a gynecologist after completing the pill packet for a pregnancy to exclude.