Diarrhea, birth control, pregnancy I’ve had diarrhea all morning and haven’t been able to take my pill. What can I do to make it subside so I can? I really don’t think I’m sick (last time I had diarrhea was when I was 7) worried I’m pregnant as I messed up my birth control 2 weeks ago, took plan B but felt what seemed like ovulation cramping before I took it, have had like 5 pregnancy symptoms including loose stools leading up to today, etc. Took a test yesterday and it was negative but could have been too early as it was only 2 days after what looked like implantation bleeding. (1) how can I stop the diarrhea to take my pill if I’m not pregnant (2) when should I take my remaining 2 pregnancy tests

Diarrhea only affects the pill if it is 6+ trips to the bathroom in 24 hours with completely liquid stool. If that’s the case, I would try taking eating foods with probiotics in them and an anti-diarrheal like Pepto-bismol or Imodium. Breakthrough bleeding/bleeding in general is a completely normal side effect of the pill, how do you think it may have looked like implantation bleeding?

^ to add on, if there is a concern for pregnancy, take a test 3 weeks after the unprotected sex.

@Lemongrass_ thanks, I appreciate it. I’ve had breakthrough bleeding before but it was different… more pinkish and lasted a day and a half. I’ve also been having horrible hormonal symptoms that I’ve never had before on the pill and that would perfectly line up with pregnancy symptoms based on the timing. Maybe it’s from the plan B but I stopped plan B symptoms completely a few days after and then this started around 2 weeks later.

5/6+ episodes of completely liquid stool within 24 hours of taking a pill will count as a missed pill. Multiple episodes of completely liquid stool everyday for several days in a row will also affect your protection. Loose stools don’t count. If your diarrhoea has been as severe as described above within 24 hours of taking yesterday’s pill then it’s yesterday’s pill that has been affected. You can take todays pill whenever you want, again unless it’s as severe as described above within 24 hours of taking todays pill your pill isn’t affected. But until it’s been that severe you’re fine. You can get over the counter treatment in a pharmacy to help stop the diarrhoea. Tests are accurate 3 weeks after unprotected sex. I’m not sure why taking 3 is necessary? What do you mean by messed up taking your pill ? What pill are you on? Cramps and irregular bleeding are common side effects of the pill. Breakthrough bleeding can be any kind of bleeding. Very faint pink/red to dark brown/black and light spotting to heavy bleeding, lasting hours to weeks. The horrible hormonal symptoms are most likely side effects from the plan b. Some people experience side effects for weeks or even months.

@bLuerose9 you can see my previous post, I had a drug related thing and missed several days of my pill before sex with a new boyfriend (I hadn’t been super vigilant on the pill because I hadn’t had to before this relationship). I’ve had side effects like sensitivity to smell, sore boobs, fatigue, hunger, being really horny, loose stools then diarrhea, headaches, etc which I’ve never had before together or for as long

@theluckyone I’m sorry that happened to you. As said in that post if you’re on a combined pill and had taken at least 7 pills correctly before missing those pills, your protection shouldn’t have been affected. The side effects of the pill are essentially the same as pregnancy symptoms as well as common side effects of plan b. Missing pills can increase the chances of side effects. If you get a negative pregnancy test 3 weeks after sex, regardless of side effects, the test is accurate at that point. If you’re worried about your protection currently, use condoms until you’re comfortable going without.