My friend just started the birth-control pill and she says she’s supposed to take it every day at nearly the same time for it to work properly. Every day, even weekends, she wakes up and takes the pill between 7:00 and 7:05. One day, she overslept and wound up taking it at 8:00, and started to get a bit nervous.
Not personally having access to the instruction manual, I turn here. What, exactly, is the window of time someone has to take the pill every day? Is it five minutes, an hour, or what? And, with Daylight Savings Time fast approaching, will that hour’s difference change its effectiveness?
With the progesterone only pill (mini-pill, POP) you have a 3 hour window, with the combined oestrogen/progesterone pill (COCP) you have a 12 hour window.
So no, 1 hour shouldn’t affect it too much.
The problem (especially with the mini pill) is taking it at 7 then taking it at 8, then taking it at 9, then taking it at 10 etc.
Taking it at approximately the same time of day (with breakfast, say) should help you to remember it more easily. It should also keep the hormone levels from fluctuating too much, and so reduce adverse side effects like mood swings, migraine and spotting.
So unless this is some new type of pill, Daylight Savings won’t be a problem.
For the mini-pill they usually recommend you take it at lunch time, in case you oversleep, but also because it has to be taken in a certain time frame before sex, the details of which I can’t remember.
OK, I have a somewhat similar question (not to hijack this thread, but I need answers, and here’s where I may get them):
My girlfriend usually takes her pill at 6 or 7 at night. Last night she forgot, so she said she’d just take last night’s pill this morning and then take today’s pill at the regular time and go from there. From the information irishgirl provided, that may affect the effectiveness of the pill. How long will it take so it’s, you know, “safe” again?
The pill I take says that if you miss a pill you can take it as soon as you remember and then take your next pill at the regular time with no problems. If you miss two pills the instructions get more complicated depending on the time of month it is. It also tells you how long you should use a back up method of birth control if you mess up.
Some pills are more sensitive to skipping then others.