Bigeme

Dammit. Well. She's on her period right now and she finishes the pills today or tomorrow I think. So does that mean I should wait an enitre month?

skycatcher

Well if anyone is still reading this I'd like to add a few things.

First off, if you're not sure or have to ask the question "How does this affect your birthcontrol?" then you should use a condom to be 100% sure.

Secondly, have you taken the time to read through the directions? My GF has been on the pill since before we had started dating (4 years ago) and anytime she has to take any types of drugs, I sit down and read the directions (the folded up piece of paper with all of the information on it) which is included for every medication. It will specifially state what affects it has on birthcontrol pills. If for some odd reason it does not say, you can read about sideaffects etc.

The only time I would not use a condom is if the directions specifically state that it will not have any affect on birthcontrol pills and/or the prescribing doctor implicitely states that it has no affect on the pill.

As always, if you're unsure, just rubber up for a while.

Depending on the pill she takes, the duration can vary. In my GF's case, for example, the pill will protect her for 24hrs after the forgets to take it, during the menstruation period, and for most mild antibiotics.

My stand has always been: If you're mature enough to have sex then you should be mature enough to talk about it. In this case, go to a doctor or physician, take the pills or the name of the pills, and ask. You have absolutely no right to be ashamed or to be shy about asking if you're having sex.

Just my $0.2

Bigeme

Alright yea thanks for the advice. The problem is that it is inconvienient to see a doctor here. She said the doctor didn't say anything about drug interactions and there's nothing on the bottle about that, but I don't know if they print those kinds of things. But, as someone pointed out, I could go see a pharmacist. I asked her the name of the drug like when she first started but she didn't know it and didn't have the bottle on hand. We talked about it and have had sex once sinces shes been on it with extra protection just in case. I was gone this weekend and when I came back she was on her period (Started monday at the latest I didn't really think to ask her what day she was on).

The issue is not whether or not to use extra protection. I plan on doing so for sometime until I figure it out, but how long should this one time be. I'm also do plan on talking to a doctor or pharacist or letting her do it if shes more comfortable. I just wanted to know if anyone had any experience with such things and could give me some grounds to go on.

I haven't read the directions. I'll be honest birth control along with many of the other workings of women are not something I know and understand very well. She's on the patch so its not like shes carrying pills around all the time and I rarely go to her room seeing as she lives in a dorm and I have a house, so I don't want to ask her to carry the directions around with her. I'll try to look them up on the internet.

Sorry about shitty grammar/typing I was kinda distracted just taking a study break as I wrote this.

Bigeme

Okay so, I read just about everything on the Orthoevra website. And I talked to her a little bit. She finished her antibiotics yesterday. Assuming shes still on her period now, and applies the patch correctly, then the website said that protection is immediate if applied on the last day of the period. They didn't list any specific antibiotics causing problems except for ampicillin and they said that if taken for less than 7 days while on the patch or more than 3 days prior to admistration of the patch, there was negligable affect.

Also, they said that if the patch wasn't applied at the correct time, to use contraceptives for 7 days. So, I figure that more than likely we are good to go since she finished the antibiotics before her cycle ended and the one she was taking wasn't listed as one of concern, but just to be safe we're going to use protection for a week.