Is 1 month on the pill = 30 pills? or one packet?

was advised by my doctor to wait 1 month of pill taking on Levlen ED before i am protected from pregnancy. even though the leaflet says 14 days?

now i am confused about the term '1month' does this mean when i finish my 1st packet of active pills im protected? or must i take 30 active pills to be protected? after i finish my first packet i would have only taken a total of 21 active pills, does this count as a month?

also, because i stopped taking antibiotics 4 days before starting the pill, i was told it would be a week before the pills begin working. so minus the week out of my packet where the pills i took wouldn't have been 'as effective' that would be 19 active pills since my first few pills were placebos.

i have finished all the active beige pills in my first pack and am wondering if its safe to have unprotected sex

so confused!

First and foremost - it is NEVER "safe" to have unprotected sex. The Pill is not 100% effective, and it will never protect you from STI's, AIDS/HIV etc.

You will need to take the first blister pack of pills - 1 month - to be protected. Your doctor has taken into account your antibiotic use (which affects the efficacy of the pill) in his calculations. The month-long cycle of pills is made up of Sugar Pills and the Hormone Pills. The sugar pills are the ones you take when you have your period, the rest you take one a day, at EXACTLY the SAME time of day. If you miss one, you will need to again complete a full month properly before you are protected again.

Again, the Pill is NOT 100% effective and it is never safe to have unprotected sex.

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First and foremost - it is NEVER "safe" to have unprotected sex. The Pill is not 100% effective, and it will never protect you from STI's, AIDS/HIV etc.

You will need to take the first blister pack of pills - 1 month - to be protected. Your doctor has taken into account your antibiotic use (which affects the efficacy of the pill) in his calculations. The month-long cycle of pills is made up of Sugar Pills and the Hormone Pills. The sugar pills are the ones you take when you have your period, the rest you take one a day, at EXACTLY the SAME time of day. If you miss one, you will need to again complete a full month properly before you are protected again.

Again, the Pill is NOT 100% effective and it is never safe to have unprotected sex.

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Ditto xox

so after i have finished my last active pill in the packet, the pill is effective in my system?

i take them at exactly the same time everyday, so no problems there.

thankyou for your fast reply!

Technically, yes. But as limeslice has said it is not 100% effective, so other measures should be taken (Eg: Condoms) to avoid the risk of pregnancy/STD's etc.

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so after i have finished my last active pill in the packet, the pill is effective in my system?

i take them at exactly the same time everyday, so no problems there.

thankyou for your fast reply!

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Keep in mind that any medications - prescription or over the counter or illegal - can also interfere with the pill's efficacy. So again, even taking it as directed, it can be made useless by other things you are doing/consuming and you need to know that you cannot trust it to be infallible.