Missed pills, period started...can I be pregnant?

I went on vacation over the weekend and forgot to take 4 pills. This caused me to start my period on the 3rd day. Now I'm wondering if i may be pregnant, as I did have sex during the vacation before the bleeding started. What should i do? I haven't taken more pills since i'm bleeding because I'm not sure which pills to take now. And am also worried that if I did get pregnant, taking more pills would cause miscarriage which i dont wanna do. If i did get pregnant, would i still start my period? And how soon can I find out if I'm pregnant? Any help would be great. Thanks.

[maryheather]

just out of curiosity--at what point during your cycle did you miss your pills??? (what day #'s)...

[ajune]

I missed pills 14-17.

[Learner1]

How long ago did you miss them?  Did you have ur period?  If not, Id say wait til after your period & just start over again. Until then use condoms.

[maryheather]

You need to be careful, and don't have unprotected sex.  First, I would call my doctor, and ask the nurse what you asked us.  My opinion, is that you probably aren't pregnant because you had sex BEFORE the bleeding started.  However, you need to use another method of birth control until you have your next period.  It could be that the nurse tells you to go ahead and start another pack of pills...since you've already bled for a few days.  I don't know what they'll tell you.  All I can say is that you need to use another form of birth control until the doc/nurse tells you whether to wait a whole month or not.
In the future...when you skip more than one day, you could have breakthrough bleeding, because that's what the pill does...regulate the amount of hormone in your body.  When the hormone isn't there, you start your period.  Good luck--MH

[maryheather]

I think the nurse/doc would advise you to throw out that pack and start a new one...but that's just a guess.  You don't want to have your body start a 1/2 pack of pills.  Are you a Sunday starter?  And, are you still bleeding?

[ajune]

This has just happened this weekend, so I dont think i can take a HPT yet, can I? I just got home today and trying to decide if I should take my pill or miss a 5th in a row? Or start a new pack now? In the excitement of vacation I didnt even realize I hadnt brought my pills until I started the breakthrough bleeding. In the meantime i had 2 days of no pill/no protection sex before the bleeding started...

[ateague]

If you're really worried about being pregnant, you can take a hpt now since your period is over (or still going).  I don't think you are pregnant and my doctor told me continuing taking pills after you're pregnant will not cause you to m/c.  Pills prevent pregnancy in a number of ways but it does not kill the baby after it has already implanted in the wall of the uterus.  Take a test, see if you're pregnant, (which I doubt you are), and continue to take the pills if you're not pregnant.  If you know you've missed a pill or two, use a condom.  Try to be more careful in the future.

[Jah02e]

When I missed my pills once I also experienced breakthrough bleeding and the doctor advised me to wait until my next period to start a new pack.  If you start taking your pills now 4 days later after missing it won't do anything.  So just wait until your next period which should come as it normally would.  But then again, when I just recently decided to try and get pregnant I quit taking them in the middle and then I got breakthrough bleeding and then I didn't get my period and I ended up pregnant, but that is what I wanted...so becareful and don't have unprotected sex.  Anything can happen.

[my time]

I have heard of women getting pregnant on the pill when they have taken them regularly. So anything is possible. However if you did get a period I do not think you are pregnant. As far as being pregnant and still taking BC pills, (due to women not knowing), there was no data showing it affected the baby in a harmful way, (that I found). This was just discussing women who took pills during first 1-2 months. I reviewed some info because I recently thought I might have gotten pregnant on the pill. Just in case I would call the physician to see what you need to do in restarting your pills and get their thoughts. I would use a back up method until then.

[ateague]

The advice you're getting on here is excellent.  You don't have to go to the doctor because of this, save yourself some $$$ and call the nurse on the phone and they will tell you to start a new pack.  There's almost no way you're pregnant if this happened a few days ago and you're on your period now.  Usually you start the active pill on a Sunday (typically) so start the new pack this Sunday and let your period finish itself this week.  You're fine, and I have heard of if you miss a pill one day, take that missed pill and the new pill on the same day, but I've never heard of using your contraceptive pills as emergency ones.  I know you have to go to the health clinic for the emergency pill but I think it's the equivalent of 4-5 pills in one and I don't think it works the same way as the your regular bcp, but I could be wrong.  I know when my friend went to get them, she had terrible pains and cramps for a couple of days, and I don't think you need the emergency pill if your period came.  Good luck!

[AnnJ]

If the whole thing happened just 3 or 4 days ago, you are not pregnant...Unless you missed some pills previously, as well. It would not be possible to miscarry at this point, because implantation does not occur until 6-12 days after intercourse. You should either get some emergency contraception immediately if you don't want to get pregnant, or don't take any more pills if you do want to be pregnant. I have also heard that you can use reg bc pills for emergency contraception, but you should definitely ask your doctor about that before you try it. Since you were bleeding, it sounds like you brought on your AF early.

[jazz703]

i had unprotected sex last tuesday and sunday and i did not take my pills none last week could i be pregneat

[advicepleasexx347]

all together this ,month at the start of my pack i missed 5 pills...and after missing three i started bleeding not heavy bleeding tho like a period...it lasted three days...is this because of missing the pills or could i be pregnant? i keep feeling dizzy from time to time and a little sick please any advice would help? xxx

[tigtig127]

me and my boyfriend have been having unprotected sex since i have been on the pill for the past year. However i missed two pills in a row in week one when we went on vacation. I missed two pills in a row in week two due to a hectic work schedule i simply forgot. Last thursday i missed my pills on Thursday, Friday, n Saturday. I experienced a period one week early on Sunday. I also didnt take a pill that day. It was pretty short only lasting 3 days when its usually 5. i also had pinkish discharge afterwards which i've never had before. We're not necessarily tryna prevent pregnancy, i just wanted a predictable period (reason for being on the pill). I've been extrememly faigued for the past 2 weeks and also have been experiencing bouts of nausea daily. Could i be pregnant??

[nini1989]

hi, I've been on microgynon for approx 6 -7 months. the last break that i had I extended the break from 7days to 12days and had unprotected sex during this time (I only had a bleed of 3days during the extended 12day break - the bleed occurred between days that i had unprotected sex), however realised that I had put myself at serious risk of being preg and took an emergency pill on the 5th day - which was the last day i could've taken it. I finished the following pill packet last weds 15th feb and am due to start my pill today 22nd feb. This time i did not have a bleed at all til this morning and it isnt very heavy... should I still do a preg test?