Do I really have to wait a whole month?

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-20-2003
Do I really have to wait a whole month?
1
Wed, 09-29-2004 - 1:37am
Hi everyone! I came on here to see if anyone could help me with this. I just went to the Dr. today and got the pill. I read all of the directions and stuff and it said that you have to wait util the Sunday after your period starts. Okay so today is Wednesday. and I had my period the middle of last week. But a sunday already passed.Do I have to really wait a whole month before I start taking this or can I take it this Sunday? I mean I know it won't be effective until all of the pills are gone. But I don't want to have to wait a whole month just to take them ad then wait another month on top of that to be protected. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

~Alee978
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Wed, 09-29-2004 - 7:33am
They don't just tell you that to make you miserable, you know! ;) I'm teasing you... The same thing happened to me when I started the pill, I made the appointment for right after my period, I got the pills, and then I couldn't take them for three weeks!

Unless it's a special case okayed by your doctor, you should wait until after your next period. The reason for doing this is because during your period your natural hormones are at their lowest level. Your body isn't gearing up for ovulation at that time, so it's the best time to start the pill to try to minimize the hormonal upheaval and head off ovulation before the process begins. If you start later, it's possible that you'll be adding synthetic hormones on top of a considerable amount of natural hormones and that may be more than you want (for comfort)! It also means that you might ovulate anyway, which could give you two periods in one cycle, one from ovulation and the other being a regular withdrawal bleed from the pill.

We always advise women to follow the instructions in their patient information unless their doctors say it's okay otherwise! I know it's hard to wait, but it's probably best that way.

Good luck!

Judie
Co-cl for Birth Control
Judie Cl for Birth Control