Expert: Brigid Kowalczyk - 6/23/2006

Question
I've been on Mircette (generic: Kariva) for 3 years now... and a week ago, I totally screwed up my pill schedule... Instead of taking the last of my active pills (the 3rd week), I took the first of the inactive pills... and then - to compound the problem - when I realized my mistake the next evening, I went ahead and took the last active pill... and then the rest of the days have followed as normal... So basically, I just switched those two pills - taking the inactive one early, and the active one late.. Do I need to use a backup method?  And if so, for how long?  THANKS.

Answer
It is never a good idea to mess up when taking the pill because it is supposed to be taken EXACTLY as it's prescribed.  However, the scenario you described doesn't sound like a disaster and I would continue and finish the pack and make a firm resolution to watch better next month.  If you get sloppy with your regimine you could get pregnant.