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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-25-2003
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5
Fri, 05-21-2004 - 11:04am
Hello Everyone. I have a question. My boyfriend and I have been together for a while now and we have discussed not using condoms anymore. Even though I am on birth control I am always scared when he does it inside me. I am supposed to get my period next week and I heard that a week before your period is your most fertile time. Is that correct? If not can anyone tell me the days, so we can be extra careful and use condoms those days?

Thanks in advance for any help.
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-01-2003
In reply to: kitlinham
Fri, 05-21-2004 - 3:34pm
Hi! Now I am no expert of BCP but when I first started taking them I thought all I had to do was take them at the same time everyday. Yet the more I look into it the more things I find you have to be careful about. Now from what I know, if you are on the pill and using them correctly it shouldn't matter when you have sex...even if it is your most fertile time. But I could be wrong so don't take my word on it. Good Luck!
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-30-2004
In reply to: kitlinham
Sat, 05-22-2004 - 3:34pm
While on the pill, you don't ovulate, so unless you just started the pill, or aren't taking them 100% correct, you should be just fine. Typically, a womans fertile time is mid way through her cycle (ie, if she has a 28 day cycle, she would ovulate on day 14, and be fertile roughly from day 13-16.) So as far as I know, since you aren't ovulating while on the pill, you technically don't have a fertil time. I am no expert, but I am pretty sure I am right :)
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
In reply to: kitlinham
Sat, 05-22-2004 - 10:02pm
Everyone's cycle is different....for a 28 day cycle ovulation is around day 14 of the cycle....this website can help you look for the signs to see if you are ovulating

http://www.tcoyf.com/

If you take the pill correctly,don't miss any you should be protected no matter what day of your cycle you have sex.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
In reply to: kitlinham
Sat, 05-22-2004 - 10:30pm
Right on everybody! ;) If a woman is taking the pill correctly--meaning at the same time every day, starting and finishing packs on time, not taking medications or herbal supplements that interfere with the absorption or metabolism of the hormones, and treating pills taken 2 or fewer hours before vomiting or diarrhea as missed pills (and if pills are missed or medications are being used, backup is required for at least seven days)--she should not be ovulating unless she falls into the 1% for whom the pill is not effective. That means no fertile days! None! Zip! The pill is intended to be used as birth control without necessary use of any other method. What the pill -doesn't- do, though, is protect you from STD's. If both parties haven't been tested since their last partners, that'd be the most prudent course of action before abandoning the condoms (your only defense against STD's).

And on the week-before-your-period-28-day-cycle-thread, those kinds of things are different for every woman. While the "average" cycle is 28 days, they can be anywhere from 21-40 days or more, and ovulation doesn't have to always fall in the middle. Typically ovulation is 12-14 days prior to a period (and that too is an average), but if for some reason a woman were to ovulate late...that would also move her period to later and she might find herself fertile when she wasn't expecting to be unless she was charting her fertility signs. So it's never safe to assume when ovulation is occurring without some sort of physical proof (temperature shift, mucous changes, cervical position changes, etc.)

And with all that being said, if you're not comfortable using the pill all by itself as adequate protection, you can keep using condoms all you want!

Good luck!

Judie
Co-cl for Birth Control
Judie Cl for Birth Control 
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: kitlinham
Sat, 05-22-2004 - 11:01pm
Just my two cents: if you want to ditch condoms and you're still uncomfortable with relying solely on the pill, you might try another form of additional birth control (besides the condom). You could try spermicide or a diaphram. That could help you have some piece of mind and that way you don't have to hassle with condoms. Hope that helps.