Missing a pill...Ovulation?

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-13-2004
Missing a pill...Ovulation?
6
Thu, 11-11-2004 - 1:02pm

Okay here is the questions and it may seem silly.


I am a routine kind of woman, I take my pill the same time every day.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-14-2004
Thu, 11-11-2004 - 1:44pm
It sounds like to me that your missing pills prompted your hormones levels to drop low enough to trigger bleeding. Chances are, you`ll keep spotting until your next cycle starts...

You could have ovulated, yes. But bleeding isn`t generally a sign that you`re pregnant or anything. Maybe you dodged the bullet this time! Just to be safe, keep an eye out for any pregnancy symptoms in the coming weeks. If it eases your mind, in about 2 or 3 weeks, you could try a home pregnancy test and see what it has to say. But you definitely need to use protection until you`ve taken 7 pills consecutively and corrected, because you`re still at risk for pregnancy until you do so.

I hope things work out well for you!

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Thu, 11-11-2004 - 1:53pm
A couple of things here ...

1) Bleeding is not necessarily a sign of ovulation. When I miss pills - even just one! - i usually start to bleed the next day. I have been on the same pill (Alesse, which is also fairly low in hormones) for over 3 years, and so I am pretty sensitive to hormone changes. As I rarely am "with" my boyfriend if you know what I mean (it's an LDR and when we do see each other, we're usually exhausted!) this kind of bleeding is NOT necessarily a sign of ovulation. You might just be sensitive to hormone fluctuations.

2) Your "fertility predictor" is wrong. Women on the pill, when taking it correctly, do not have fertile days. We don't ovulate. Now that doesn't mean that *you* didn't - but it does mean a fertility predictor would be totally unable to predict *when* you did.

What week of pills were you in when you missed them? If it was the first week, you're probably *slightly* more likely to have ovulated. The first few pills and the last few are most important to take on time. Me being me, I definitely would worry if I were you, because having missed two pills in 3 days is never great. But there is also a chance that you didn't ovulate. It's really impossible to tell. If I were you, I'd probably just throw out the pack, let AF come, take a PG test, and then start a new pack - using back-up the whole time. But that's just my $0.02. Check your pill pack and see what it says.

Good luck! Hope i could help,

Caitlin

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-13-2004
Thu, 11-11-2004 - 4:15pm

It was the end of my first week.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Thu, 11-11-2004 - 5:11pm
"I know technically we don't ovulate since we are on the pill but if I was to it would be durring that time."

Do you say that because of your missed pills? Or because of the days counted by the fertility predictor? Because again, if you were to ovulate while on the Pill, there would be no way to predict when it would be, fertility predictor or not - counting days or whatever is not accurate when you're on the Pill. It's actually not very accurate anyway unless you're practicing FAM.

Are you just going to keep taking your Pill or are you going to end the week and start a new pack. I'm curious about what you've decided to do!

Caitlin

PS: Your sons are so cute!

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-13-2004
Thu, 11-11-2004 - 5:33pm

I think I am going to stop my pill, wait for my period and then start again.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-30-2003
Thu, 11-11-2004 - 7:10pm
Hi mom2taylor_kyle, welcome!

Congratulations on your recent wedding and your two beautiful boys!

I agree with Caitlin. Missing 2 pills in 3 days might have reduced your protection enough that your ovulation process started. If that happened it should take a few days for ov to occur and there is no accurate way to tell if or when that will happen unless you are charting your basal body temperature, cervical position and cervical fluid. You should be using an effective method of back-up until you have taken at least 7 active pills in your next pack consistently and correctly.

Have you considered switching to a lower maintenance form of hormonal contraception? Ortho Evra (the patch) http://www.orthoevra.com/ or NuvaRing (the ring) http://www.nuvaring.com/ are both very effective (99%) low maintenance methods. With Ortho Evra a series of three patches are worn for a week each and then there is a patch free week for your period. With NuvaRing a flexible two inch diameter ring is worn in the vagina for three weeks and removed for one and NuvaRing has the lowest dose of estrogen (15mcg) of any method available in the U.S. Let us know how you’re doing, ok?

Good luck,

      Jill