Lovely asked
I’ve been using the Tri-Sprintec birth control pill. I have never missed a pill and always take them every day! So Thursday I am on week 2 and I took a 'Thursday week 3 pill' by accident, but then got back on track (meaning took the correct Friday pill and so on). Now, I still have the week 2 Thursday pill. So, what do I do? Am I at risk for pregnancy?
At a glance
- In this situation, I would recommend continuing with your “Week 2” tablets until they are completely finished, then the “Week 3” tablets, then your placebo week like normal.
- You never had a drug free day, so failure is unlikely, but I would still recommend a backup method of contraception for a few days if you are sexually active.
Answer
Hello and thank you for reaching out to us.
I can certainly understand your anxiety when it comes to a mistake with any sort of birth control as it can result in, well, potentially life-changing consequences.
Tri-Sprintec (also known as Ortho Tri-Cyclen, Tri-Previfem, TriNessa, and others) is known as a multi-phasic birth control pill, meaning each week of pills contains a different level of hormones. Let’s look at the differences between the weeks.
Week 1: Each tablet contains 0.180 mg of norgestimate and 0.035 mg of ethinyl estradiol.
Week 2: Each tablet contains 0.215 mg of norgestimate and 0.035 mg of ethinyl estradiol.
Week 3: Each tablet contains 0.250 mg of norgestimate and 0.035 mg of ethinyl estradiol.
Week 4: Placebo tablets. These contain no active drug but are there to help you to remember to take one every day so that you are on track to start your next pack.
When you mistakenly took a week 3 tablet instead of a week two tablet, you actually took a tablet with a slightly greater amount of norgestimate. It still contains the active drug, so you never went without it. I think that you made the correct choice, to resume your “week 2” tablet the next day. I would recommend finishing all of your "week 2" tablets entirely, then the remainder of your "week 3" tablets (substituting your "week 2" tablet for the missing 'week 3' tablet when you get there).
Again, you never had a day without coverage, so I don’t believe that you will have any issues and you are likely not at an increased risk of pregnancy.
However, you may experience some side effects this cycle due to the change, like spotting or breakthrough bleeding. This should resolve by your next cycle though.
Even though you are likely not at an increased risk of pregnancy, anytime birth control isn't taken 100% in the manner you are supposed to, I always like to think it's better to be safe than sorry since I cannot say that with 100% certainty that there is no risk of pregnancy. It would be improper of me not to mention the possibility of birth control failure. Since birth control failure can have huge consequences, if you are sexually active, it may be a good idea to use backup contraception for a few days, just to be safe.
