How to take birth control pills

Birth control pills come in packs. The most common type has 3 weeks of hormone pills. Some packs have sugar pills for the fourth week. During that fourth no-hormone week, you have your menstrual period. After the fourth week (28 days), you start a new pack.

Seasonique has 12 weeks (84 days) of estrogen/progestin pills followed by 7 days of low-estrogen pills.

Seasonale has 12 weeks of estrogen/progestin pills followed by 7 days of no-hormone pills. You have your menstrual period during the 7 days, which is every 3 months. You then start a new pack of pills. This dosing schedule changes your menstrual cycle to only 4 periods each year. If you have bothersome breakthrough bleeding during the 3 months, your health professional may prescribe extra estrogen.

Lybrel has 28 hormone pills. After finishing a pack, you start a new one the next day. Because you take a hormone pill every day of the month, you have no monthly periods. (But it is common to have unexpected spotting or bleeding, especially during the first year.)

How to start your first pack of pills

There are several ways you can start taking your first pack of pills:

• Quick start. During your medical appointment, take your first pill as soon as you get the pack from your health professional. Take the second pill the next day. During the first 7 days of pills, use a backup method of birth control, like a condom or diaphragm.
• Sunday start. Pick a Sunday to take your first pill, so that you do not have periods on the weekends. During the first 7 days of pills, use a backup method of birth control, like a condom or diaphragm.
• Fifth-day start. On the fifth day of your menstrual period, take your first pill.

Your daily pill routine

Take your hormone pills every day, at about the same time of day. To stay on track and prevent pregnancy, try these easy tricks:¹

• Pick a time. Link up your "pill time" with something you do every day, like brushing your teeth, eating a meal, or going to bed.
• Use your calendar. Mark the days you will start new packs. You might even want to cross off each day you take your pill.
• Check again. Each morning, check your pack to be sure you took yesterday's pill. If you find you've missed one, take it right away.

Citations

1. Hatcher RA, Nelson A (2004). Combined hormonal contraceptive methods. In RA Hatcher et al., eds., Contraceptive Technology, 18th ed., pp. 391–460. New York: Ardent Media.