How to Remember to Take Birth Control Pills

Taking birth control pills at the same time every day is crucial to making sure that you do not have an unwanted pregnancy. While you might be able to take a forgotten birth control pill as soon as you remember or double up the next day, the odds of your becoming pregnant increase by doing this. If you want to avoid becoming pregnant, then you need to remember to take your birth control pills every day at the same time. Here is how to remember to take birth control pills.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Birth control pills
• Cell phone with alarm feature (optional)

1. Understand how birth control pills work. Birth control pills are hormones that trick your body into believing that you are already pregnant. You will only ovulate if your hormone levels drop below a certain level. Taking birth control pills every 24 hours ensures that this never happens. However, if you happen to miss a pill during the time that your body would otherwise ovulate, your body might recognize that it is not pregnant and ovulate, leaving you susceptible to an unwanted pregnancy.

2. Accept that some women become pregnant even while taking birth control pills. Even though birth control pills are one of the most effective forms of birth control, they are not foolproof. If you do not take your birth control pills every day at the same time, you could become pregnant.

3. Choose birth control pills that come in 28-day packs. Birth control pills only need to be taken for 21 days, and then you can skip taking them for seven days while you have your period. Some women forget to go back on the birth control pills after taking the week off. For this reason, some birth control pills are available in 28-day packs. For the seven days off, you are taking an iron pill instead of a hormone. Choose this packaging so you get in the habit of taking a pill every single day.

4. Decide what time of day you can take the birth control pill to stay consistent. If you are up at 6:00 a.m. during the week but then sleep in to 10:00 a.m. on the weekends, then taking your birth control pills with breakfast is not going to be a good plan. Instead, think about what time of day you consistently do the same thing at the same time, such as eating lunch.

5. Build taking your birth control pills into your daily schedule. For example, if you always brush your teeth at 10:00 p.m. before going to bed, then taking your birth control pill at the same time will help you remember to take your birth control pills.

6. Set an alarm on your cell phone. Most cell phones come with an alarm feature. Set your cell phone to ring at the time that you are supposed to take your birth control pill. If you forget to take your birth control pill, then your cell phone can remind you.

7. Assess whether the time you have chosen is working. If you find that you keep forgetting to take your birth control pills, then consider choosing a different time of day to take your birth control pills.

Tips & Warnings

• If you fail to take your birth control pills every 24 hours, then you run the risk of becoming pregnant.
• Use another form of birth control if you are taking antibiotics. Antibiotics can make the birth control pill less effective.

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[andrea1114]

on 12/17/2009 Good ideas. In terms of reminders, If you have a smart phone that is google android based there is an app called pillbox alert that reminds you to take your medication. It is fully customizable and allows you to specify what you take and exactly when you take it. Certainly helps me remember to take my vitamins.