Expert: Lyndsay Mercier - 6/20/2008

Question
I am a little worried at the moment.  I take my pills at night and missed one on a Tuesday, but remembered the next morning.  I had also had intercouse that night.  I continued on my regular schedule after that, but began spotting on Thursday.  I am on the Yaz and was on the last full week of pills when I forgot to take a pill.  I am now on the inactive pills and am still just barely spotting.  Could I be pregnant?  What should I do if I continue to spot after I start a new pack of pills.  Would I know this early if I was pregnant - it's only been a week?

Answer
Leigh,

Sorry for the late response, my computer was down all weekend!

In regards to your question, I'm not 100 percent sure, but I believe that the final week of your pills is the "safest" time to have missed a pill. Usually, when you miss a pill, you should take two the next day when you remember (one for the missed one, and one for the current day) and then should use a backup method like condoms for one week.

Since it didn't quite happen that way, there is a small chance that you could be pregnant. Since its only been a week, it will be too soon to tell for sure. A pregnancy test will only be accurate when your period is at least a week late. The spotting is probably a good thing; probably a light period which can happen on birth control pills, especially Yaz. You most likely have nothing to worry about, but if you still haven't had a "full" period in a week, I'd take a pregnancy test just to be sure.

Hope I could help,

Lyndsay