birth control pill question

I have a question about the birth control pill.  I am currently on Yaz and have been for about 6 months now.  Last month, I missed a pill but made it up the next day when i remembered.  I did this two times the entire month but on seperate weeks (both times making up the pill the next morning).  I also was not able to take it at the exact same time each night due to busy schedule.  I didnt take the pills too far apart-only by a couple of hours at the most and it was not all month long that i made this mistake.  For the most part, i took it on time. Last month I was not sexually active.  I got my period normally as I always do during the last 4 days of my pack on the "inactive" pills. After the inactive pills,I immediately started my new pack as usual. I have been on them for 6 days and each day I take them at 10am on the dot.  Would I need to use backup protection for this first week of the new pack because of the mistakes i made in the previous month? Or are the two months totally seperate and once i get my period is the cycle sort of "reset".  A second related question I also have is: is backup protection ever neccessary in the first week of a new pack of pills when they are taken at the smae time each day. thanks so much.

[Elaine Brown, MD]

Hi!
First off, let me just put in a disclaimer and say that you can never go wrong using a backup method.
Disclaimer number two--I have seen people who got pregnant even when they took all their pills at the right time/right day. Some things seem to be meant to be.

Now having said that, let me just throw out some generic information and say that the worst time to miss pills in your pack is in the first week of the pack--missing pills during this week can actually trigger ovulation, and that's obviously not a good thing! And always be sure to start them on your start day--if you start late, I would suggest a backup.
Missing pills later in the pack is less risky, and as long as no more than two pills in a row are missed, a woman should be OK as long as they are promptly made up.
If someone misses more than two, I would definitely recommend a backup method.

One last comment-- you may already know that missing pills can cause irregular bleeding, which can also be confusing--never hurts to check a pregnancy test if you're not sure.

Hope this helps!
Dr B

[unsure_scientist]

Thanks so much!  Quick clarification: Are the two months separate from each other? In other words, as long as I got my period during the inactive pill 4 days (yaz), and started my new next pack promptly and on time and continued this way, am I protected immediately?  I guess I am just wondering if the 4 days of "inactive pills" cause the same thing to happen as missing several active pills in a row.I'm assuming no, but I would rather just ask you for my own knowledge! Thanks again!