it's never screwed me up. i have a friend that hardly ever stops for a period because of how awful her cramps can be.

I've done it a few times and never had any problems, except my next bleed would be SLIGHTLY heavier

I do that quite regularly. The only thing that changes is I get more boob pains, but that goes away once I go on my pill free week.

It's okay for you to be ignorant on the subject, you're a boy lol!

That's exactly what it is. :)

i'd say it is safe/normal. though you shouldn't be having sex while taking the sugar pills as they're just sugar and don't have anything in them to stop you getting pregnant. you don't really need to take the sugar pills either. you can just leave them in the pack. they're just there as a reminder to keep taking the actual birth pills.

It is perfectly safe to have sex when you are on your week off from the pill, on your week off, withdrawl from the pill fools your body into thinking that you have ovulated but the egg wasn't fertilised, which is why you bleed.

my doctor told me don't have sex whilst off the pill as it's not as effective. i'd rather heed her advice than get pregnant. also not many blokes want to have sex with you while you're bleeding anyway.

They don't generally do everyday pills in the UK, so you just have to remember to restart the pill after a week. I'd prefer sugar!

hrmm. well i guess that's why she told me that then. i dunno. i just did what she said lol. whatever helps not to have a kid i'm not prepared for ;D

LOL, do as they say! Always as they say!

friend of mine's just had a kid and she was all "but i'm on the pill!" except she'd forget to take it for two three days and have sex during that time with no condom 8| she didn't seem to think following the instructions was necessary for them to work apparently.

If you miss any pills at all at the beginning or end of the 21 active pills, or more than one at in the middle, you're not protected for at least a week, I think (seem to recall being told that by a GP). It's just a bit thick to not follow the instructions. I always took mine religiously

yeah see that's what i remember being told, so i basically went away thinking "right, so no next during sugar pills and no sex if i miss a day accidentally" lol. but if you're only going to take it every now and then why would you expect it to work? silly womenz.

One of my friends had lots of completely unprotected sex, didn't even ATTEMPT to use condoms or get the pill. Then she arranged to get the injection and was surprised when she got pregnant before then. Some people are frankly a bit too dim to be allowed to have sex.

Another thing to remember is that a lot of antibiotics completely negate the pill. A good friend of mine was on birth control and ended up getting pregnant because she was taking antibiotics at the same time.

yeah that too. not that i'm on antibiotics much, but a doctor's sposed to remind you when they give you antibiotics if you're on the pill. mine always does lol.

That's not true. No doctor I know would say that. :P

It's explained here - http://www.scarleteen.com/article/advice/quick_hits_questions_and_answers_on_the_pill

well when i asked she said it takes a week before it's effective, and when i asked does it lose effectiveness when i'm on the placebo bit she said it wasn't a good idea to have sex during that period. this was five years ago, and maybe she just thought sex whilst on your period was wrong or something, lol, but either way she said don't so i didn't and just assumed it wasn't as effective.

Every doctor I've ever been to as well as my pharmacist tells me that antibiotics (although only certain ones, I'm not sure the difference) will lessen the effectiveness of the birth control pill. The pharmacy even puts a sticker on the bottle.. ya know, one that says "Take with food" and then one that says "Lessens effectiveness of birth control pills" :P.

The one that stands out in my mind that they always are sure to mention it'll hurt is azithromycin. Although, to be fair, all I can find is that it "may decrease", never that it "will decrease". Either way, I'd rather be safe than sorry!

(WebMD: click and then go to the interactions tab.)

All my DRs and pharmacist tell me the same thing.

My 'that's not true' was in response to what Ev said about the pill not being effective during the placebo period... not the antibiotics thing (antibiotics DO interfere with the pill and other additional contraception should be used when a girl is on antibiotics). :P

But the way the thread has progressed it looks as if I was saying the antibiotics thing isn't true. :-/

The stickers are a good idea though. I don't think they do that here.

Err, I meant to reply that to Oprah Noodlemantra, not you Alison. Just so you know! :P

Oh, good, I was a little confused.

My doctor and my pill insert (Yasmin) says it is fine to have sex on your pill free/sugar pill week. And I've never gotten pregnant so it must work!