On the combined pill, how important is it to take it at exactly the same time every day?

Question

Say if you choose to take it at 8:00 A.M., and then on weekends want to sleep in, and take it at 11 or 12. Is the effectiveness compromised at all? How long after your chosen time is it still effective?

I just finished my first pack and I took them all at exactly 8 A.M. I even set my alarm on weekends, got up, took my pill, and went back to bed. I forgot one, one morning, and took it at 11:30. It is a huge nuisance to have to get up early on weekends, but I'm afraid that any other time of day is no good for me.

I am almost always out of the house after I leave for school in the morning. I don't come home after school and then at night I come home at 10. I could take it then, when I get home, but on weekends if I'm at a party, perhaps I've been drinking and forget... I've heard that on the combined pill you have a 12 hour window of effectiveness.

Answer 1

You MUST take it at the same time EVERY DAY to ensure the same effectiveness level.

You also risk breakthrough bleeding by being inconsistent with the time you take it. That has happened to me.

Answer 2

I think the main reason that it's recommended that you take the pill at the same time each day is to keep you on a schedule which will improve the likelihood that you'll remember to take it every single day. It's probably best, just in terms of developing a habitual routine, that you try to keep it pretty much at the same time. But, if it's taken like an hour or 2 later, I don't think that that will alter it's effectiveness.

Answer 3

They need to be taken at the same time everyday. Why don't you just take them at lunch time, or at bedtime. It will still be effective if you take it a couple of hours late, but the effectiveness is based on taking them correctly. You are better to take it 2 hours late than a day late, but your best bet is to take them on time.