Is it working?

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-30-2004
Is it working?
1
Sat, 11-13-2004 - 10:07pm
I'm on the pill, its a generic brand of some kind. Was intially put on it to keep my period regular. Which in that respect its doing its job. I occasionally have been or have wanted to be sexually active, but I'm a very careful girl, and it freaks me out that I dont know for certain if the pill is actually going to keep me from getting pregnant. Is there anyway I can know if is? I've developed an intense dislike to condoms so I'm pretty much relying on the pill to keep me from accidents.
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-30-2003
Sun, 11-14-2004 - 12:13am
Hi kuriuskitten, welcome!

Oral contraceptives are 98-99% effective if taken correctly and the primary way the pill works is by suppressing ovulation. You should not be ovulating if the combined (estrogen/progestin) pill is working properly for you. The only sure way to tell you are ovulating (at the time it occurs) is to chart your fertile signs; basal body temperature, cervical position and cervical fluid. I very good book on the menstrual cycle and charting is Toni Weschler's Taking Charge of Your Fertility. It's available in libraries and bookstores. We have several members who, for peace of mind, chart their signs for a few weeks when switching pills just to make sure everything is working the way it’s supposed to.

I know condoms aren't the most popular of birth control methods but they are the only method that is effective against the spread of STDs. Careful is the thing to be here! So, unless you have both been tested and found free of all STDs you might want to continue using condoms until the two of you are tested and found disease free. Thanks for posting, Let us know how you're doing, ok?

Good luck,

      Jill