(no subject)

[pinkie-kat.livejournal.com]

What's the difference between starting the pill on the Sunday after your period or within the 24 hours of getting your period? Is there a better method?

My gyno told me to do the Sunday start, but I'm becoming antsy. However, I was planning on being extra careful and still waiting the month after starting the cycle before having sex without a condom (the package insert says when you do the immediate start, you can immediately have unprotected sex, if I'm not mistaken.)

So, what do you girls think?

Comments

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

Sunday's just for convenience's sake, I think. It's to give you a day to remember. Why would it be any different from starting on a Saturday or a Tuesday?

[strand3d.livejournal.com]

well, the big difference is the fact that if you start your pill on the first day of your period your pill become effective that day. If you wait until the sunday after your period starts, you need to use a backup method for one week.

[pinkie-kat.livejournal.com]

See, that's the part that confuses me and makes me a bit worried. It seems too good to be true that it becomes effective immediately. Why wouldn't everyone just start immediately?

Am I dumb for being paranoid?

[strand3d.livejournal.com]

Most people do start immediately. My doctor told me to start on the first day of my period, but i could start on a sunday if i wanted to. If you get on depo, they tell you to get your first shot when you're on your period so that your shot is effective immediatley.

It's okay to be paraniod. You can always use a backup method if you feel uncomfortable about it.

[pinkie-kat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I guess that's what I'll do. Start immediately but use backup for two weeks. That should do it. Thanks! :]

[the-lissa.livejournal.com]

I read that the reason Sunday start came about was that it would be less likely to get your period on the weekend, and the pill companies thought this was an important issue for women. I'd rather just start immediately, and have faster protection.

[mangofandango.livejournal.com]

I think another reason for the Sunday start is that that's the way the week is printed on the pill packs. They give you stickers and everything, but if you don't want to mess around with the days, pill packs are printed with the first pill on sunday.

I started on the 1st day too, it seems to make more sense.

[the-lissa.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but I think the pack started being printed like that because the companies were advocating Sunday Start.

[katlynel.livejournal.com]

The only reason to do a Sunday start is that it makes it easier to know where you are in your pill pack. This is extremely convenient -- since most pill packs are arranged in rows of seven, it's a lot easier to know where you should be in your pack if you can just read it like a calendar. Remember, you may take the Pill for years and years, and that first backup week is, well, only one week. I've done it both ways at different times, and frankly I found that being able to glance at my Pill pack and know where I was was extremely helpful and vastly outweighed the inconvenience of having to wait and use backup that first week.

[pinkie-kat.livejournal.com]

Oh, I know, it'd be much easier to orient myself. But my pill comes with 7 different stickers, each starting with a different day of the week, so you place the sticker accordingly to the day you started. So forgetting is not going to be a problem for me.

[katlynel.livejournal.com]

well, no, they always come with the stickers, that's not the issue. The point is that if you use a Sunday start, then you can glance at the pack, without looking at the days themselves, and you can read it like a calendar. Four pills gone, four days of the week gone. And you can calculate how much time you have left in your pack (if you're not looking at it) without having to think, "okay, well, I start on a Thursday and I have eleven pills left..." It just makes it a lot easier. I was a Sunday starter the first time I was on the pill, and the second time I took the pill I figured there was no reason to start on Sunday and it wouldn't be a problem at all to remember my pills if I did a first day start. I quickly found myself wishing countless times that I'd done a Sunday start again -- it had been such a help not just in remembering my pills (since I could tell at a glance if I'd missed), but also in calculating when I'd have my period. It was a lot easier to figure out, "okay, I got invited on this camping trip on these days, and I won't / will be on my period then." That kind of thing.

[righteousbean.livejournal.com]

I am on a Sunday start. I get my period on a Wednesday, every time. It is always gone by the weekend, which is good. I am not sure what the big difference is, but I am comfortable with my Sunday start and I haven't encountered any difficulties, etc. As for getting rid of condom use. Wait a bit, not everyone's body reacts the same. Better to be safe than sorry.

2 day period??

[zerogirl29.livejournal.com]

It comes wednesday and is gone by Friday?? It's only a 2-3 day period?? I'm considering starting on the pill, and that's just giving me more reason to.

Re: 2 day period??

[tardkitten.livejournal.com]

Man, for two years I had 2-3 day periods.
Then all of a sudden I was a victim of CRAMPS and week long periods.

It was like my world came crashing down on me.

I'm thinking about some form of bc as well. =)

Re: 2 day period??

[mangofandango.livejournal.com]

On the pill, mine would come around Sunday and was usually gone around Tuesday. So yeah, they really do tend to be shorter on the pill. I did spot for 2 weeks when I first started, but that's normal, and after that it evened right out.

Re: 2 day period??

[alien_sunset]

Yeah, I have very short periods on the pill as well, three to four days max.

And I’m a Sunday starter, so I never have to worry if I want to do something on the weekend, because I usually get my period Tues night/Wed morning and I’m done by Friday night, so it’s incredibly convenient.

[bijouxamour.livejournal.com]

You really can start whenever you want- Sunday start always seemed a bit ridiculous to me. I mean, what's so special about starting a pack on a sunday and having to wait for effectiveness? I just take a permanent marker and write the days I will actually be taking the pill over the days that the packet says.