You've been started birth control pills but you're not sure if you're taking it right
well not to worry because at the end of this video you're going to be a pro
trust me
now please remember that there are two types of contraceptive pills
combined oral contraceptive pills which we call COCs for short and
progesterone only pills which we call POPs for short now this video is going to
focus on POPs progesterone only contraceptive pills but in the near
future we'll be doing another video on the
combined oral contraceptive pill as well now if you're not sure which
contraceptive pill you've been prescribed then fear not because this
information is usually in the information leaflet that comes with it usually
in the first paragraph but if you've lost it or misplaced it I've also left a
useful link in the description below where you can check this now to help me
with this video I met with Jo an advanced nurse practitioner who really
knows her stuff when it comes to contraceptives she did a great job
simplifying things and making it easy to understand so I hope you find it helpful
let's first start with an easy question before we move on to the more
complicated ones so how effective is the progesterone only pill the progesterone only
pill is up to 99% effective providing you take it properly so that means
not missing any pills, not taking any medication that can potentially interact
with the pill or if you have any vomiting or diarrhea now I probably get
asked this question about twice a day in practice so I think a lot of the viewers
are going to find it helpful exactly how long does it take for the
progesterone on the pill to become effective and protect you from pregnancy
if you take the progesterone only pill within the first five days of your
menstrual cycle you will be protected against pregnancy straight away however
you can take the pill any time in your menstrual cycle but you would need to
either use condoms or abstain from sexual intercourse for a minimum of two
days until you will be protected against pregnancy that makes complete sense but
what about women who have a shorter menstrual cycle if you do have a short
menstrual cycle and you're period comes every 23 days or less and you start your
progesterone only pill on day 5 you may not have immediate contraceptive protection it is
important that you do use condoms or abstain from sexual intercourse for at
least two days Wow who knew that the progesterone only pill and contraceptive pills in general
were so complicated but I think that really helps simplify things I think it's also
important to remember that the contraceptive pill doesn't protect you
from sexually transmitted infections so to protect you from that you will need
to use condoms now moving back onto the progesterone only pill when should you
start taking it and what is considered a missed pill so I tell all my patients
when starting the pill to choose a convenient time to take it and just to keep taking
the pill every day until you don't need any contraception anymore so basically
don't take any breaks don't miss a pill and continue taking it as long as you
need contraceptive protection exactly it's important to remember that there
are two types of progesterone only pills, desogestrel pills which needs to
take within 12 hours at the same time every day and the other traditional
progesterone only pills which need to take within three hours at the same
time every day okay that makes sense but let's say for example someone is taking
desogestrel and it's now they're now 10 to 11 hours late and suddenly remember oh
no what do I do so they quickly take their missed pill but
then later on in the same day they're due to take their normal daily pill now
do you miss that pill or you take that pill in this example you take your
desogestrel pill at your regular time and as long as you're in the timeframes you do
not need to use any extra precautions well I guess that's some good news but
let's reverse it now bad news you've just missed your pill is it's gone past the
time frames that you said what do you now in terms of what to do now you
take your pill as soon as you remember only take one pill even if you miss more
than one take your next pill at your regular time even if it means that your
taking two pills on the same day one when you remember and one at your regular time
so I guess it's kind of like when you start the progesterone only pill mid
cycle so you have to use extra protection for the first 48 hours when
you remember to restart the pill so you're gonna have to use a condom
basically exactly thank you so much Jo I think everyone around the world who's
watching this is going to agree that you were really helpful and you really
helped simplify quite a confusing topic to additional points which I'd like to
raise which Jo mentioned earlier on in the video
the first one is diarrhoea and vomiting this can actually affect the absorption
of the progesterone only pill and in some circumstances this can make it
ineffective now it all depends on the timing and the
severity of it so I've left more information in the description below
because it is a bit complicated and I'd recommend everyone to read it the next
point is medication interactions certain medicines may interact with the
progesterone only pill and this can mean that it doesn't work properly now the
best thing to do is always read the information leaflet so you're more aware
of what interacts with it and also always let your pharmacist know all the
medicines that you're taking so they can check for interactions and give you
useful and appropriate advice on this and that's the end of the video I really
hope this helps simplify quite a confusing topic for you and if you have
any further questions I've left some really useful links in the description
below which should help answer it see you next week hey guys thanks for
watching this week's video make sure to click that like follow or subscribe
button now to stay up to date with new weekly videos
I think we're gonna have
Jo in more videos because she's doing a cracking job and I want loads of commission and I want that on film
if you think she's doing a cracking job leave a comment below
and also if you think that you shouldn't get
any commission for this video leave a comment I definitely need commission for this (LAUGHTER)
11 hours late and I messed up my lines, she's going to hit me in a minute
I nailed it (LAUGHTER)
cut, there was real frustration in that then
you're doing really good though
we did it
only took six hours and twenty minutes (LAUGHTER)
no I'm only joking she's a natural