effective

Are these side effects of the pill...or am I pregnant?

NEED-ANSWERS asks:

Hi, I am on Ortho Tricyclen Lo, and I have been taking them for almost a month now. I am on my placebo pills, but haven't had my period yet. Is that supposed to happen? On day 3 of taking my pills, I had unprotected sex with my boyfriend, and three weeks later I have been feeling very sick, low energy, nauseated and bloated, and have been very moody. I'm hoping it's side effects of the pill, but I'm not sure.

She's five days late: are condoms REALLY effective?

John B asks:

My girlfriend and I had sex about a week and a half before her period was due with a spermicidal condom on. Now she five days late and I'm really worried. We took a pregnancy test and it came out negative. I keep hearing that you can take a HPT after a missed period but, isn't there still a certain amount of days you need to wait regardless of a missed period? My worry, even after we took the HPT is that we had sex so close to her period that the test wouldn't be accurate for another week or so. Also, do spermicidal condoms work pretty well?