Hello everybody! I’m new on this app and nice to meet everyone I just started birth control yesterday and I am a little bit clueless about it and I have a few questions In my country you can buy it at the pharmacy with no prescription I bought the Yasmin combination pill which the pharmacist recommended She recommended to start within first 5 days of my period but I started yesterday which was the last (6th) day of my period I took my first pill yesterday at 9:15 pm And today at 11:15 pm I would like to ask - when am I protected ? - is it safe to have unprotected sex ? (I know it’s safe but would just like to hear some reassurance and from everyone’s personal experience) My boyfriend and I have been together 7 months and have been having unprotected sex without any form of protection (I know it’s very stupid, this is why I had to start birth control because neither of us enjoy condoms and I don’t want us to be constantly worried when my period is a few days late) And last question is what side effects should I expect ? Healthcare is very hard to get and very expensive in my country but almost everything is over the counter here (even testosterone, ozempic, etc you can get almost anything without a prescription) so there isn’t a professional I can get in contact with Thank you for any advice or suggestions!

Since you didn’t start within 5 days of the start of your period, you will have to wait 7 days to be protected. If you mean is it safe to have unprotected sex now, no. You’re not protected yet. If you mean in general… well it is risky unless you’re sure your partner doesn’t have any STIs and is completely faithful. As far as side effects, it’s hard to say which ones you will get. Everyone is different. Your pills should have had a pamphlet that lists common side effects. Or you can Google them.

@pug_lady okay thank you!!! Tw : discussing weight I really hope I don’t gain weight Is it possible the pill it self will make me have acne or gain weight ??

@spain10 Both are possible but there’s no way to tell for sure. Yasmin is actually supposed to be good for acne. As far as weight gain, the pill doesn’t actually cause weight gain. They just increase appetite for some people and they gain due to eating more. You may gain a little water weight but that’s usually not significant.

Did you take a pregnancy test before starting the pill?

@aurielle yes my period was 3 days late and I took 2 pregnancy tests on the second day I was late and haven’t had sex since the negative pregnancy test, so pregnant I am not (I hope so haha 😅 unless both tests were broken or not working)

You’ll be protected once you take the 8th pill and as long as you use your pills correctly you will always be protected, even during break weeks. Make sure you read your pamphlet because it has these basic instructions you should know about beforehand xx TW weight The pill is not associated with direct weight gain, it’s been scientifically researched and only the depo is linked to it.