Late on the pill

[Tori77]

I've been using the combined pill for at least 3 years now. I flew from London to Beijing on the 1st of November and arrived the next day, missing my pill. I then took two. Coming back on the 10th, I arrived home on the same day and continued taking the pill normally. On the 15 and 16th, I had sex with my boyfriend. On the 20th, I was a couple of hours late in taking my pill. Today is supposed to be period day, but it hasn't shown up, despite the fact that it's usually like clockwork. It it possible that travel, different diet, jetlag, stress etc affected my period or is it more likely that I'm pregnant?

[Tori77]

Thank you Dr. Brown! My period decided to show up the next day after I posted this question, to my great relief, so you were right :) Indeed, they should include some guidance on how to take the pill when travel in their instructions!

Thank you again for taking the time to reply :)

Viktorija

[Elaine Brown, MD]

Hi!
If you were my patient, I would advise you that the travel and stress has probably affected your cycle.  You will probably get your period late this cycle, or certainly by next cycle.  A pregnancy test is not a bad idea, and they are usually positive by the time of the missed period.
For peace of mind I often recommend testing weekly until you have a normal period.
They don't give good instructions for how to take the pill when you are back and forth across the dateline!  I used to encounter that flying from States to the south pacific.
You did as well as I ever did on sorting out how to take them.
You are UNLIKELY to be pregnant.
Good luck!
Dr B