Medical Questions » Contraception Questions » Question No. 219
| Question: | I have been taking the contraceptive pill continuously, missing out the sugar pills, so that I don' t have a period. How can you tell if you have fallen pregnant while on the pill if you take it this way? |
| Answer: | Many women have started taking the active contraceptive pills constantly in order to stop the inconvenience of their menstrual periods, having a break only every few months to give themselves an occasional period. This can only be done with the constant-dose pills, and not those that have two or three different doses during the month.
It is quite safe to do this, and it has no effect on the future health or fertility of the woman, but you have raised a common concern, in that there is no longer that monthly reassurance that you are not pregnant. If you miss even one pill, have an episode of diarrhoea or take antibiotics that affect the function of the pill, you may fall pregnant.
The only way to be sure is to stop the pill and see if you have a period, or perform a pregnancy test on your urine. There is no other simple solution other than returning to talcing the pill on a monthly cycle rather than constantly.
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