Some women find that taking their pill with a snack or a meal reduces this risk, Drs Owens and Ross note. The most common side effect of doubling up is nausea, due to the high level of hormones.

Then, take your next pill when you usually would. Once you realise you missed your regularly scheduled pill, take it immediately, Drs. How do I “double up,” and are there any side effects? READ MORE: Is Your Birth Control REALLY Making You Gain Weight? If you’ve had sex after forgetting to take your pill, consider taking emergency contraception. If you take progestin-only birth control and you’re more than three hours late taking it, use backup birth control until you’ve taken the pill on time for two consecutive days, Dr Owens recommends. Or don’t have sex until then, Dr Owens suggests. If you haven’t had sex but missed more than one pill (again, during this cycle or between this cycle and the last one), use a condom when you have sex.Ĭontinue using added protection until you have taken seven hormonal (read: not sugar pills) in a row. If you missed another pill during your last cycle or earlier in your current cycle and you’ve had unprotected sex, you may want to take emergency contraception if you’ve had unprotected sex, she explains. “Since combined oral contraceptives prevent ovulation, you don’t necessarily need backup birth control or emergency contraception unless you have missed more than one pill,” Dr Owens says. READ MORE: Everything You Need To Know About The Mini-Pillĭo I need to use backup or emergency contraception? Typically, progestin-only pill packs don’t contain sugar pills, so definitely follow precautions if you miss any of your pills. If you have progestin-only birth control and you’re more than three hours late taking it, you can get pregnant. These do not contain hormones, so they don’t affect your odds of avoiding pregnancy. If you miss a placebo or sugar pill, don’t sweat it. If your pill is the kind that contains progestin and oestrogen (which is what most women take, btw), “you’re at highest risk if you missed a pill in the first week of a new pack and had sex in the last five days,” Dr Owens explains. If you’re taking combined contraceptive pills… READ MORE: Wait, How Exactly Do Birth Control Pills Work Again? If you *do* know the type you take, keep reading for the specific info that pertains to you. If you’re still not sure what kind of pill you have, talk to your healthcare provider.

If one week has different coloured pills, you’re likely on combination birth control. If all of the pills are the same, they’re likely progestin-only, says Dr Lauren Owens, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the University of Michigan. If that last bullet point left you scratching your head, look at the pack. This increases the risk of pregnancy to varying amounts, depending on two things: The effectiveness of your trusty pill plummets even further if you inadvertently miss a dose.

I took my birth control 2 hours late