T O P I C R E V I E W
ricky18
Member # 98906
posted 11-04-2012 09:00 PM
I'm probably going to come off a bit hysteric in this, so please bear with me! So I've been on birth control since November 2010, starting with aviane and then I had to change to orsythia this past summer. My university's pharmacy switched all aviane users to orsythia abruptly and assured us that they're basically the exact same dosage and I haven't experienced anything particularly different since I've switched. Anyways, I take the pill at the exact same time since I've started, missing it only two or three times in the first year that I started, but I've been very good about it for the past year. My boyfriend and I have been together for a year and we've always used condoms because even though I'm on BC, we wanted to be as safe as possible. This past weekend in the moment/we didn't have any condoms, he entered me without one. He wasn't inside me for very long before we got too scared and stopped, probably a minute max, and he didn't get in very deep, but I saw once we stopped that there was pre-cum. Despite how consistent I am about taking my BC and how he wasn't inside me for very long, I know that there's still a chance I could get pregnant. Any advice? Am I being paranoid? This just happened yesterday afternoon so I still have time to take Plan B, should I? Has this happened to any of you before? Help...
Redskies
Member # 79774
posted 11-04-2012 09:33 PM
Hi ricky18, and welcome to Scarleteen! In the incident you describe above, you're using two methods of birth control together: the pill, and withdrawal. From this article http://www.scarleteen.com/article/reproduction/the_buddy_system_effectiveness_rates_for_backing_up_your_birth_control_with_a_s you can see that the effectiveness rate for that is 99.98% with perfect use and 97.84% with typical use. That means that pregnancy is really, really unlikely. Just the pill used by itself, used correctly, is effective contraception, although you're correct that it's not perfect. Using condoms with the pill, like it sounds you usually do, is suggested so that there's still a method of contraception there (the condom) if someone makes a mistake with their pills that would make them less effective. Do you feel like you have enough information about how your pill works and how effective it is? Whether or not to take emergency contraception is your choice, but if you've been taking your pill correctly and have no reason to think it didn't work (eg, throwing it straight back up), EC isn't going to add to your protection. The hormonal effects EC would have on your reproductive cycle are already being done by your regular pill. There's also a couple of sentences about that at the bottom of the article I linked you to above. Just as an extra, if you're having sex, and particularly unprotected sex, it's wise to be getting regular sexual health testing and check-ups. Does that help?