Need EMERGENCY advice---in tears

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-06-2003
Need EMERGENCY advice---in tears
10
Wed, 08-11-2004 - 6:28pm
Hello ladies,

This is my first time posting anything on this board although I find all advice given very thoughtful and informative. Anyways I am in a bit of a dilemma and I really need some help. Well I have been on Alesse for a little over a year now and have been faithful to a tee with taking it up until this cycle. Well I went away for the weekend to visit my boyfirend and inadvertently forgot my pills, so I did not start on my normal Sunday start (at 4pm) and instead started on Monday (at 4 pm). So I was a whole day late with beginning my new pack of pills which I know (from this board) is the WORST time to miss a pill. Anyways I had unprotected sex with my bf on Saturday and Sunday night/early Monday morning(midnight) because we were kind of drunk and my inhibitions went out the door unfortunately. Sigh, I dont knwo what to do. I really dont have a way to get EC and dont even know how effective it would be now on Wednesday. I am only 19 and live at home and am scared to death of getting pregnant, every time I think about it, I burst into tears. I've been thinking about just using my pack of birth control as EC since I heard I could take 10 pills over 12 hours as an equivalent to EC but then I would be missing a whole lot of pills and Alesse is expensive as it is. Anyway I just wanted to know how likely it is that I will be pregnant because of the sex I had this past weekend; I knwo that my risk of getting pregnant is a lot greater than it would normally be had I taken my pills correctly but I'm just wondering in what ballpark the chances of me getting pregant is, very likely/likely/not very likely. PLEASE HELP, thanks in advance

Jaime

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-04-2003
Wed, 08-11-2004 - 6:39pm
Welcome! I would not advice you to take 10 pills!!! There are some birth control pills that can be used as EC, but not all! So unless you call your pharmacist and ask them what pills can be used as EC and if yours are safe to do that (you might want to ask too how you can get it if your pills do not qualify). Although this is a critical period when needing to start your pills, the chances of ovulating are probably slim. You most likely still have a hostile environment created by the pill and therefore sperm should not live that long, and probably not long enough for you to ovulate, but thats just an opinion and its hard to say what the odds really are. I would ease your mind and just hope for the best. You still have at least 20-something days until you get your period and that much worrying can do damage to your health. So i'd call a pharmacist and ask about EC and also ask what the chances might be that you ovulate if you forgot your first pill. Also, i'd use backup for at least a week!! Good luck to you and let us know how it goes.
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-11-2004
Wed, 08-11-2004 - 6:51pm
Emergency contraception can be used up to 5 days after unprotected sex, so it is still possible if you hurry. If you want to use Alesse rather than Plan B, then the dose is 5 pills, then 5 more 12 hours later. It may be expensive to give up a pack for this, but it's cheaper than a baby would be.
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-06-2003
Wed, 08-11-2004 - 6:54pm
Thanks dani06wc for your quick reply. Well I got the info on taking 10 Alesse broken up into two doses of 5 over 12 hours from an emergency contraception website. I dont plan on having any more sex for the month but I'm just TERRIFIED that I really screwed up and got pregnant because of this idiotic mistake. I am not sure but I think one needs a prescription to get EC and I dont really want my parents knowing about all of this which they would if I went back to my gyno seeing htat I went there last month for my annual checkup. Anyways any more advice from anyone would be helpful. BTW thanks for somewhat putting my mind at ease, I know stressing myself out for a month isnt going to do me any good. Thanks again :-)

Jaime

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-06-2003
Wed, 08-11-2004 - 7:00pm
Thanks KellyAnn for your reply, yes I believe you are right that the cost of a child by far outweighs the cost of pills but I'm also a broke college student and a pack of pills is like 46 something a month. That's why I wanted to know that chances of me getting pregnant, anyways the stress is doing me in so it's better to be safe than sorry. Thanks again for your advice
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-30-2003
Wed, 08-11-2004 - 8:29pm
Hi camicat03, Welcome!

I agree with Dani that if your last IC with your BF was on Sunday night his sperm would probably be dead by the time you ovulate, if you ovulate. Sperm can live only a few hours in unfertile conditions and it would probably take several days for you to become fertile. That is why I think you are probably ok. But, there are no guarantees. If your last IC was Sunday night you are at about the 72 hour point after which EC becomes less effective.

If you do decide to use Aleese as EC as the EC website: http://ec.princeton.edu/ says to do and you are without pills for the last 10 days of your regular pill cycle, your period should arrive a day or two after your last active pills. When you begin your next pack of pills I would use back-up for the first 7 days of correct pill usage while your hormonal protection is being reestablished. You'll let us know how you're doing, right?

(((Hugs!)))

      Jill

    

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-06-2003
Wed, 08-11-2004 - 8:57pm
Thanks so much, cl-dancer. I was going to just go to try and get an emergency appt with my gyno tomorrow for the EC but since it's already close to 72 hours now, I am confused. Someone else said it was effective for 5 days but from you and other sites, I see 3 days. Anyways I am going to pray really hard and hope that I am not pregnant and that I can squeeze into my doc to get the EC...Also I have one more question, I have been having some spotting since Monday when I took my late pill and my scheduled Monday pill, is this because I'm ovulating. I'm still a little confused about everything. Thanks for your help in this time; I feel a bit better about everything (at least I'm not crying every other hour). Thanks again

Jaime

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-30-2003
Wed, 08-11-2004 - 9:33pm
Hi Jamie,

If you doubled up and took your sunday and monday pills together on Monday when you remembered, that may be what started your spotting. If you started spotting on monday I wouldn't think it likely (if you will ovulate at all) that you ovulated that soon. EC is only somewhat effective on the 4th and 5th days. I'm glad that you are going to get to see your doctor. Let us know what s/he says. I know it's difficult but try not to worry you can make yourself sick and worrying never helps.

Hugs,

      Jill

    

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-06-2003
Wed, 08-11-2004 - 9:52pm
Thanks Jill, I will let everyone know how it turns out. Thanks again for all your help, you have truly helped me especially in the worry dept. I mean I now realize worrying will not make the situation better. Thanks so much again :-)

Jaime

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Wed, 08-11-2004 - 10:07pm
Emergency contraception is most effective the earlier that it is used. I think it's something like 89% effective (for Plan B) if used within 72 hours, and the effectiveness decreases each day. The effectiveness _does not_ drop to zero on day 5, but it's less than 89%.

Honey, I'd stop worrying about the money. Many of us have been broke college students, but you don't want to tack "single mom" on top of broke college student, do you? And how hard would that be to explain to your parents? You may be able to get EC or another refill of Alesse with a phone call (1-800-not-2-late can tell you where you can get it), you probably don't need an actual visit to the gyn, but if you do you do. That's MINOR when you compare it with possibly being pregnant at a time in your life when you're not prepared for it. And praying won't make it not happen, I'm afraid.

Even though it seems the risk may be low, we've said on this board for a long time, though not recently, it's better safe than pregnant. And any time you screw up your pills, whether it's not taking them or taking too many (and in the case of EC), that can definitely cause some irregular bleeding--it's a response to the hormonal fluctuation and not necessarily an indicator of anything else.

Good luck, make a phone call if need be!

Judie
Co-cl for Birth Control
Judie Cl for Birth Control 
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-11-2004
Thu, 08-12-2004 - 12:01pm
Birth control pills shouldn't be $46 a month? I think Levlite is the generic form which should be cheaper if you're paying full price at a pharmacy. You might also want to check with the health services at your school, or at Planned Parenthood. You should be able to get pills from one of those sources for much less than you're paying now.