The Pill + Condoms

[xxlavenderxx.livejournal.com]

Is it safe to use both a condom and be on the pill? Would it be "extra safe" or should I just use condoms, because I'm worried about just taking the pill alone.

Thank you for any help.

Comments

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

My doctor thinks that "just condoms" are enough for me, and I take a drug that can cause birth defects in a fetus. That said, he also knows that I have thought long and hard about what I'd do in the event of pregnancy, and could handle it.

If I could take the pill, and could use only one thing, I'd use just the pill before I'd use just condoms. Condoms can break -- the night I first had intercourse, it broke -- while the pill doesn't break. However, sometimes illness or other drugs we take can make it less effective. But we mostly know what those drugs and illnesses are, and can use condoms as backup during those times.

Why wouldn't it be safe to use a condom and be on the pill at the same time?

[xxlavenderxx.livejournal.com]

I dunno. Would it be fine if i did? I'd like to use the pill but my partner and I are both rather parinoid (were both virgins) and want to use a condom as well.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

They don't react with each other. Condoms don't make pills less effective, pills don't damage condoms. It's a good combination.

And . . . old folks like us can't always read posts well when they're in tiny font. That's fine for personal journals, but in communities, it's more fair to use a standard font.

[xxlavenderxx.livejournal.com]

Sorry. I just naturally use it all the time..
Thank you for your help though.

[katlynel.livejournal.com]

The Pill is actually more effective than condoms when each are used alone. If you have no STI concerns, you might consider pairing the Pill with withdrawal.

[melebeth]

But there is nothing wrong with using pills and condoms together - it's the belt and suspenders approach. The pill protects you best against pregnancy and the condoms against disease. Dual method use is sensible and not at all uncommon.

[xxlavenderxx.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I had never really read/heard about it being done before, so wasn't sure if it was safe.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

Thinking about what you know about how each one works, though, and your body, I'm curious as to what you thought might be unsafe about it. I can see you're being careful, which is good.

[xxlavenderxx.livejournal.com]

i'm not quite sure. For some reason I thought certain things in the pill might change something inside my body that causes the condem to not work as well. It was more that I just rarely heard of them both being used, so I thought somehow they didn't work together.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

Lots and lots of people use the pill for birth control while using condoms for STD protection.

All condoms do is stop semen from getting from the man's penis into the woman's vagina. The woman's body will work the same way regardless of whether a condom is there.

[simplegirl.livejournal.com]

i was on the pill for 4 years and i used condoms when i was on my period. just "in case" but there is nothing wrong with using both.

[maranta.livejournal.com]

Yeah, using the combination of the two is a very smart idea. I don't know why more people don't do it. There is no 100% effective method of birth control, so it makes a lot of sense to use another method for backup protection if you really don't want to get pregnant.
However, just as an FYI: As long as you take the pill the same time every day without missing any pills, it's more effective than condoms alone are. If you do miss a pill, then its effectiveness is greatly reduced.