If you’re less than 12 hours late taking a pill, take the pill as soon as you remember and then take any pills that follow as you would normally. Your protection from pregnancy shouldn’t be affected.
If more than 12 hours have passed since you forgot your pill, you may be at greater risk of getting pregnant. The more pills that you have forgotten to take, the more likely it is that your protection from pregnancy is reduced.
The risks of becoming pregnant are especially high if you forget to take a pill either at the beginning or at the end of a strip.
If you forget to take 1 pill during week 1 of your cycle, take the pill you missed as soon as you remember, even if this means having to take two pills at the same time. Take any pills that follow at the usual time and use extra contraception such as condoms for the next 7 days. If you had sex during the week before you missed a pill, or if you forget to start a new strip on time after the 7-day pill-free break, you could be pregnant. Let our clinician know and they can advise you.
Should you forget to take 1 pill during week 2 of your period, take the pill you forgot as soon as you remember, even if it means taking two pills at the same time. Take any pills that follow as you would normally. Your protection from pregnancy should not be affected, and you don’t need to use any additional contraception.
If you forget to take 1 pill in week 3 of your cycle, you can do one of two things.
Take the pill that you forgot as soon as you remember, even if it means taking two pills at the same time. Take any pills that follow at the usual time, but rather than take a 7-day pill-free break, move straight on to your next strip. It’s likely that you’ll get a withdrawal bleed at the end of the second strip, and you may also experience some spotting or breakthrough bleeding.
Alternatively, you can stop the strip and take a 7-day, pill-free break, making a note of the day on which you forgot to take your pill. If you’d prefer to start a new strip on a certain day of the week, make the pill-free period less than 7 days.
Either of these two methods should protect you from getting pregnant.
If you have forgotten any pills in a strip, and you don’t experience any bleeding during the first 7-day pill-free break, you may be pregnant. Send a message to our prescriber using your EveAdam account and they can advise you from there.