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What Can Be Done If Missed A Second Last Active Pill In The Levlen ED Contraceptive Pill?

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Posted on Fri, 29 Nov 2013
Twitter Fri, 29 Nov 2013 Answered on
Twitter Wed, 18 Dec 2013 Last reviewed on
Question : Hello, could someone please tell what I need to do if I have missed the second last active pill in the Levlen ED contraceptive pill? Today is Friday, I missed Thursdays pill but only just noticed it now when I was looking at my packet. I took Fridays as normal but hadn't noticed this morning that I had missed the day before. Tomorrow is meant to be my sugar pill start of the week. I just took Thursdays then, about 36 hours later than I should have. So this is how it went: Wednesday morning: took pill as normal Thursday morning: missed pill (but didn't notice) Friday morning: took pill as normal Friday night at 8pm: noticed on my pill packet that I had missed Thursdays! My husband and I had sex today about 3pm. What do I do to ensure I don't get pregnant? Please help as soon as you can. Thankyou, XXXXXXX
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Answered by Dr. Aarti Abraham (5 hours later)
Brief Answer: TAKE AN EXTRA PILL TODAY, DO NOT WORRY. Detailed Answer: Hello Thanks for trusting us with your health concern. Hope this qualifies as ' soon ' enough !! Do not panic. In case of missing one pill, take it the next day. So you missed Thursday's pill, right ? Today is Friday, and you already took the pill meant for Friday today morning. SO right now, just take one more pill - that would be the one you missed, which was supposed to be taken on Thursday. That would keep you as protected as you were earlier. Do not worry at all. The situation would have been more complicated, and the risk of getting pregnant would have been higher, if you had skipped two pills. That is not the case. Continue the rest of the pack as normal ( the sugar pill week that is left ), and start a new pack when you do. Do not worry, as missing one pill is common, and the situation is not as bad as you think ! Birth control pills are an excellent mode of contraception, the failure rate is less than 1 %, and this would not be altered by missing one pill, provided you take it the next day itself ( today for you ). In case you DO skip a period ( this is alluding to the less than 1 % chance scenario ) - take a pregnancy test. All the best Please feel free to ask for further clarifications.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Follow up: Dr. Aarti Abraham (35 minutes later)
Oh thankyou so much for your fast reply. You've calmed me down a bit. So yes, I took Thursdays pill tonight (Friday night here) as soon as I noticed I had missed it but yes, I had taken Fridays this morning. So it was only the Thursdays that I had missed. I'm just extra worried because of the fact that my husband and I were together this afternoon before I noticed I had missed Thursdays pill and it was 36 hours before I took Thursdays. I do have another query though - everywhere else I have read says to skip the sugar pills and go straight to the next active pills. I'm due for the first sugar pill tomorrow - so should I start my next pack of active pills or should I start my sugar pills tomorrow like you said? And also, am I at a higher risk being at the end of my packet? I know the position of the cycle determines the risk factor and I've read the very start and towards the end is a higher risk. Is that right? Thankyou!
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Answered by Dr. Aarti Abraham (10 minutes later)
Brief Answer: DETAILED BELOW Detailed Answer: Hello again. Firstly, starting a new pack back to back ( discarding the sugar pills ) is what is recommended if you had missed TWO pills, instead of just one. If you have missed one pill, you just take two the next day, and carry on the remainder of the pack. Here is a link, just one of many published by reputed scientific bodies, that will reassure you on this matter - http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/contraception-guide/Pages/miss-combined-pill.aspx Also, yes, missing a pill towards the beginning of the cycle is a greater risk, towards the end is one too, but yours is just BEFORE the placebo pills begin ( technically week 4 ). So you are not as much at risk, as you would have been , say , at the beginning of week 3 ( if you had 7 more hormonal pills to go ). Take care
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Dr. Aarti Abraham

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What Can Be Done If Missed A Second Last Active Pill In The Levlen ED Contraceptive Pill?

Brief Answer: TAKE AN EXTRA PILL TODAY, DO NOT WORRY. Detailed Answer: Hello Thanks for trusting us with your health concern. Hope this qualifies as ' soon ' enough !! Do not panic. In case of missing one pill, take it the next day. So you missed Thursday's pill, right ? Today is Friday, and you already took the pill meant for Friday today morning. SO right now, just take one more pill - that would be the one you missed, which was supposed to be taken on Thursday. That would keep you as protected as you were earlier. Do not worry at all. The situation would have been more complicated, and the risk of getting pregnant would have been higher, if you had skipped two pills. That is not the case. Continue the rest of the pack as normal ( the sugar pill week that is left ), and start a new pack when you do. Do not worry, as missing one pill is common, and the situation is not as bad as you think ! Birth control pills are an excellent mode of contraception, the failure rate is less than 1 %, and this would not be altered by missing one pill, provided you take it the next day itself ( today for you ). In case you DO skip a period ( this is alluding to the less than 1 % chance scenario ) - take a pregnancy test. All the best Please feel free to ask for further clarifications.