Q's about green pills on 28 day cycle

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-03-2004
Q's about green pills on 28 day cycle
4
Mon, 11-08-2004 - 11:11am

Hey all!


Got a couple of questions for you.

Hugs, Vicky

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-30-2003
Mon, 11-08-2004 - 1:29pm
Hi Vicky,

If I were you and just starting BCPs I would take the placebo pills. You don't have to but they are there to help keep you in the habit of taking your pills every day. They also provide a reminder of when to start the next pack, the day after taking pill 28, which is 7 days after taking the last active pill in the pack. It is very important that you go no more than 7 24-hour days without hormones otherwise you loose your protection and have to use back-up until you have taken 7 active pills consecutively and correctly. You only need to worry about day one or the first Sunday when you are starting your first pack. Every subsequent pack follows pill 28 in the old one so all you need do is set the dial to pill one.

After your body adjusts to the hormones in your pills, which usually takes about 3 cycles, Aunt Flo typically arrives somewhere between days 2 and 5 of your placebos. It will take a few more cycles for her to develop a pattern so be prepared for a bit of uncertainty at first. Let us know how you're doing, ok?

Good luck,

      Jill

    

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-03-2004
Mon, 11-08-2004 - 3:14pm

Okay, that sounds fine.

Hugs, Vicky

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-14-2004
Mon, 11-08-2004 - 4:43pm
Generally, unless you want to move Day 1 of your cycle to a different day of the week, take all 7 of the placebo pills and then start your new pack. You can go up to 7 days, or less than 7 days, without hormones and still be protected.

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-30-2003
Mon, 11-08-2004 - 6:36pm
"Do I continue taking the remaining 4 green placebo pills, or do I automatically start the hormone pills (aka a new pack) the very first day of my period."

Take all your placebo pills. Now that you have started BCPs your cycles are controlled by the hormones in your pills. You don't have to worry about day one any more, unless you were to stop your pills and then start them all over again.

"Maybe I'm getting confused because I actually started the pills on Day 1 of my period, and I don't have to start a new pack on day"

Exactly, don't worry about day one. From now on it's 21 actives and 7 placebos, 21 actives and 7 placebos and so on.

Good luck,

      Jill