Please Help Asap!!

Hi rachel,
don't know about the energy thing,but you need to use a back up method while on the pill.No method is 100%effective and to be absolutely sure,always use condoms or contraceptive gel,especially the first three months.I don't have any experience with the tri-phasic pills,so I can't tell you what to expect.Hopefully,someone who does will respond.Good luck to you!Patty

I was on ortho lo awhile. I did get bursts of energy but I think I was happy in general. i'd say that you should sue a back method because you just started it. But after a week (some say a month or 3) it should be doing it's job just fine, even if you don't have a period. Just make sure you get one next month of whatever to make sure you're not pregnant.

Pattyv, I think you are making people really paranoid saying you need to use a back-up method when you are on the pill. It really is (if taken properly) about 99.9% effective. Yes, nothing is perfect, but its a lot to ask people to take a pill every single day and then to use condoms as well! I mean, if you think 1 chance in 1000 is a lot, you probably spend a lot of money on lotto tickets! The main reason to use condoms when you are on the pill is to prevent stds, really. If you have an upset stomach or take antibiotics, then you need to be careful for the rest of that month though.

Sorry wendy but patty is right.

Most pills are only 98-99% effective meaning one or two women will get pregnant each year even though they have taken the pill exactly as instructed, also pill doesn't protect against std's/sti's either.


Rachel, if you don't take the pill on the first day of your period, use back up ie condoms for 7 days and you will be protected as the b/c will have taken effect by then.

Ps girls, all this info is included in the pamphlet that comes in the box with your birth control.

A 1 in 1000 chance is only good if you are not the 1000th chance.As qouted quite often by hotsafrick-"the pill is 99% effective taken correctly 100% of the time!!!"seeing some of these posts is proof that this is not the case.Patty

Well, it seems to me that if you believe that you would be better off not taking the pill, there is no point in messing up your body with all those hormones if you still have to use a condom! Actually 1 in 1000 is really very small odds, that would mean that if there were 100 women, one of them would get pregnant every 10 years. I think the 98 or 99 % is only for the mini pill, the combined pill is 99.9% I was always told. And I think a lot of women who do get pregnant when they are on the pill probably lie and say they didn't ever forget to take it, when really they did forget.

Nope 98-99% is for the regular pill - I had to take the mini pill and that is only 95%.

Birth control pills (or patch or shot) is really a back for most people in case the condom falls off or breaks or in case they have that one night of passion where they errrrrrrrr forget.
Or in the case of a long term relationship, where fideltity has been proved and they no longer want to bother with condoms all the time.

But for most young people, why take the risk of using only one method? I mean what if - typical post- you were having a cuddle and his willy touched your area, it might have had pre-cum on it - you run the risk of getting pregnant small chance but who knows, now if you were on birth control too, you really wouldn't have to worry at all.

The basis is to just ensure you are as wll protected as possible - what is wrong with that?

Sorry, I can't see that taking a pill every single day and all the exrta hormones is worth it just as a back-up! But you are right, if you are not in a monogamous trusting relationship then you need to use condoms, but to me that is for stds, not as birth control. I went on the pill way before aids was invented, for instance, and I have hardly ever used condoms. To be honest, I really hate them! Anytime you have sex it is a tiny risk of something, but that is just life, it is like getting on an airplane or crossing the street, you just need to be aware that you are taking a risk I guess. It sounds like i'm advocating risky behaviour, but that isn't it, just that I don't think you can wrap yourself in cotton wool and think that you can be safe from everything. Personally, I think I have been lucky in limiting the number of partners I have had and also to be very choosy about the sort of men they are. Anyway, I have always been on the pill, except when I was celibate or for a year when my lover had a vasectomy, and I have never gotten pregnant. I think if I had to use condoms I would have just stopped having sex entirely or become a lesbian!

Wendy you can be choosy about your partner but have they always been choosy about their past partners?
It is impossible for you to have gone on the pill before aids was invented - it has been around for hundreds of years but only in the last 30 or 40 years has it really come to light.

I'm glad you have been lucky, but think if one person avoids condoms because of what you said and gets infected how would you feel?

Always advise on the side of caution unless expressing your own opinion, that way you can't be held liable.

Me personally I hate condoms plus i'm allergic to regular ones, but it didn't stop me from wanting to protect myself.

If your gonna go it do it safe, if your gonna go rock climbing - then you wear a safety harness and a back up line as well as protective gear.

The first case of aids was diagnosed in 1981, but didn't really register in the general population until about 1986 or so. And I said that condoms should be used to avoid diseases. But once you are in a relationship, or get married, are you really going to use condoms forever. I am just being realistic. It's fine to give advice, but it is like saying, "abstain", people won't do it if it is too extreme. What I said is that to use condoms as well as the pill to avoid pregnancy is overkill. And i've never seen the point in rock climbing but you know what? I drive a 1960s sportscar that doesn't have any seatbelts. Go figure.

Look I refuse to argue the issue.
The point I am making is if you want to take risks fine, but don't encourage it in other people. A vast amount of people who read these boards are young, impressionable and not in any longterm fixed relationship. They have no way of knowing if their partner has had any other or how many other partners.
And yes you are totally right, if it is too extreme people will not do it, they will not abstain, curiosity is too great, therefore they should be encouraged to do it as safely as possible.
I feel you are just being provoking and trying to find excuses for an arguement, this isn't the place for it.

I didn't suggest you try rock climbing - it was an analogy, and as to what car you drive boo sucks - 50years ago people didn't care as much about safety nor were there the same risks - for starters there weren't as many cars on the road

Hey I don't want to debate this, people have to make their own decisions. But there are two things going on, one is birth control and the other is diseases. So if people sleep around or if they are in monogamous relationships they have different worries. I know you didn't suggest I try rock climbing, you obviously didnt get the irony.

Aids has been around for many,many years.There were other names for it or people just said that someone died of consumption or pneumonia or various other ailments.There wasn't a name for it,but rather many names.It was in 1981 that the virus was isolated and identified.I was working in a hospital in chicago and took care of many of the first identified aids patients in chicago.Those were very scary times and continue to be in light of complacency on many people's parts,thinking they are not at risk.This is not the hiv/aids forum,so,i'll stop now.Patty

True patty it isn't, but it is still a very real risk to anyone having unprotected sex.
Thank you for replying

Wow...Well, thanks everyone for the debate. It's good to see everyone's view points. But, even though I am young, I don't like being seen as an impressionable, immature youngin who doesnt have a clue as to what she wants from life, etc, etc. But anyways! Thanks again.