Can you start taking the pill anytime or does it have to be the first day of your period? (2023)

By Attia @ Planned Parenthood | Oct. 28, 2019, 12:57 p.m.

Category: Birth Control

(Video) On what day of my period can I start taking my birth control pill? | Planned Parenthood Video

Can you start going on the pill on the second day? I don’t know when my first day officially started. It was light last night, but my heavy flow started today. I am picking up my birth control pill prescription today and I wanted to know if I would have to wait for another month to get started or not.

You can start taking birth control pills as soon as you get them — any day of the week, and anytime during your menstrual cycle. But when you’ll be protected from pregnancy depends on when you start and the kind of pill you’re using. You may need to use a backup birth control method (like condoms) for up to 7 days.

There are 2 types of birth control pills: combination pills and progestin-only pills.

Combination pills (also called COCs):

• Combination pills have the hormones estrogen and progestin — these are the most common types of birth control pills.
• If you start taking combination pills within 5 days after your period starts, you’ll be protected from pregnancy right away. So for example: if you get your period Monday morning, you can start the pill anytime until Saturday morning and be protected from pregnancy right away.
• If you start combination pills any other time in your menstrual cycle, you need to take the pill for 7 days before you’re protected from pregnancy. Use another method of birth control — like a condom — if you have penis-in-vagina sex during your first week on the pill.

Progestin-only pills (also called POPs or mini pills):

• Progestin-only pills have 1 kind of hormone (progestin) — these pills don’t have any estrogen.
• You’ll be protected from pregnancy after 48 hours (2 days) on the pill. If you have penis-in-vagina sex during those first 2 days, use another method of birth control, like a condom.
• You must take progestin-only pills at the same time every day. If you take your pill more than 3 hours past your usual time, use a backup method of birth control for the next 48 hours (2 days).
• There's one new type of progestin-only pill called Slynd that works a little differently. If you start taking Slynd within the first 5 days of your period, you’ll be protected from pregnancy right away. If you start taking Slynd at any other time in your cycle, use another method of birth control (likecondoms) if you have penis-in-vagina sex during the first 7 days. And you don’t need to take Slynd within the same 3 hours every day, like you do with other progestin-only pills.

So there’s no need to wait for the first day of your period to start taking your birth control pills — you can start whenever you like! At the longest, you’ll only have to wait 7 days for the pills to start being effective — just make sure you're using a backup method like condoms during those days.

Tags: birth control, the pill, starting the pill