Birth control pill

Getting the birth control pill over the counter means you can buy it without ever talking to a health care provider. You can get the pill right off the shelf at the drug store and other retail locations, probably next to the condoms and the lube. The only difference between getting the birth control pill over the counter and getting it with a prescription is how you get it. They work the same way. Whether you get the pill over the counter or with a prescription, it’s a pill that you take once a day that works by releasing hormones to prevent pregnancy before it starts. The birth control pill is NOT an abortion pill and it’s NOT emergency contraception either.

Nope. Right now, there is only one brand pill that’s been approved for sale over the counter without a prescription. It’s called Opill and it’s a progestin-only birth control pill, or mini-pill. You take one pill every day, and it releases a small amount of progestin into your body to prevent pregnancy. Opill doesn’t have estrogen in it, so pretty much anyone can use it safely. There is another type and brand of birth control pill that contains estrogen and progestin that is going through the process to become available OTC, but it may be a few more years before that happens.

There are so many reasons! Getting your birth control pills over-the-counter (OTC) means you can start and stop using them on your own, allowing you to prevent pregnancy on your own terms. Getting the pill OTC could also save you time and money since you don’t have to see a doctor to get them. They are as safe as other medications that are sold over the counter (that’s why the FDA approved them for OTC use!). The biggest medical associations like the  American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Medical Association, and the  American Academy of Family Physicians agree that birth control should be available over the counter. Also, birth control pills have been available OTC all over the world for decades.

No, not yet. While one progestin-only pill, named Opill, was approved for sale over the counter by the FDA, you can’t actually go to the store and get it yet. Now that it’s approved, the manufacturers have to get to work to make it affordable and accessible for everyone! We don’t know yet when it’ll be available (or exactly how much it’ll cost) but you can follow @Bedsider on social for updates on OTC pills (and more!).

There are so many options for birth control that you can access right now, including ones that are already available OTC without a prescription and ones you can order and have delivered to your door! And you can still get a prescription for your birth control pills from a health care provider. Our method explorer is a great place to learn about all your birth control options and find a method you love today. And if you’re ready to access your birth control pill OTC, follow us on social @Bedsider and we’ll let you know as soon as it’s available!

While the Paragard and hormonal methods that don’t contain estrogen—the shot, the Mirena IUD, the implant and the mini-pill—are safe for people who are postpartum to use immediately after giving birth, combination pills, which contain estrogen, shouldn’t be used until three weeks after giving birth, since estrogen can increase a postpartum person’s risk of blood clots.

It depends on what type of pill you’re on and how far into the pill pack you are. If you’re on the combination pill, and it’s been 48 hours or less since your last pill, just take it as soon as you remember. Take the pill you missed even if that means you’re taking two at the same time. If you take two pills at once, you might feel nauseated, so try taking them with food. If it’s been more than 48 hours since your last pill, take one of the missed pills as soon as you remember, leaving the other one in the pack. Then take today’s dose at the time you normally would AND use a back-up method of birth control, like condoms, every time you have sex for the next seven days. The first week of your pills is the most important to prevent ovulation. If you miss a pill in the first week, that’s a bigger deal than a missed pill in a later week. In addition to taking your missed pill ASAP, you will also need to use a back-up method of birth control every time you have sex for the next seven days. If you’re on any brand of mini-pill (also called the progestin-only pill) besides Slynd, there are totally different rules. If you’re more than 3 hours late taking a pill during any week of your pill pack, you could get pregnant if you have unprotected sex, and you need to use a back-up method for 48 hours.

One of the main ways hormonal birth control prevents pregnancy is by stopping ovulation—so the egg never leaves the carton, so to speak. The pill, the patch, the ring, and the shot are most reliable at blocking ovulation, so people using these methods may have fewer ovarian cysts. If you tend to get ovarian cysts, your provider may recommend one of these methods to prevent future cysts. /The progestin-only or mini-pill has an unpredictable effect on ovulation and may lead to more cysts. These almost always disappear on their own, but if you’ve had problems with cysts in the past, the mini-pill may not be the best contraception for you.

That depends on whether you have insurance and, if so, what kind, but the average is around $25 per month. You might be able to pay less if you use a generic rather than brand-name pill or if you can find an online pharmacy that offers cheaper prices. Be sure to ask your provider about those options.

If you’re on Medicaid you can probably get on the pill for free and private insurance probably covers everything except for your copay.

Also, check with the family planning clinics around you and find out if they offer free or low cost birth control pills. Most do.

Check out our pill page for more information!

Basically you need to figure out what time it is in your home time zone and take it at that time. For example, if you live in Washington, DC, and you travel to Spain, which is 6 hours ahead, you should take your pill 6 hours later in the day than you normally would. So if you take your pill at 9AM in DC, you should take it at 3PM in Spain.

If you use our pill reminder system, you’re good to go while traveling; we’ll always send the reminder based on your home time zone.

If you remember your pill by setting an alarm on your phone, however, make sure to adjust it as needed when you’re on the road. If it’s easier (for example, if your usual pill time falls in the middle of the night wherever you’re visiting), you can change your schedule, as long as you don’t go more than 24 hours without a pill. So, if you live in DC and you go to Spain and want to stay on a 9AM schedule, it’s totally fine to take your next pill at 9AM Spanish time (18 hours after your last East Coast pill). But if you’re taking a progestin-only pill (also called the mini pill), the rules are different. You need to take it within 3 hours of your normal time or you’ve missed that dose. So even if that means taking it late at night, you have to stick to your regular schedule.

Also, if you’re traveling long enough that you’ll be starting a new pack of pills while you’re gone, don’t forget to stick them in your suitcase!

Yes, it’s absolutely safe to take two pills in one day, including taking two pills at once. That said, the most effective and best way to take your birth control pill is to take one every day (and if you’re taking the mini-pill, it’s extra important to take it at the same time every day). Regularly taking more than one pill a day won’t make your birth control more effective.

However, if you miss a pill, take it as soon as you remember, even if that means it’s at the same time as your next regularly scheduled dose. You might feel nauseated if you have to do this, especially if you need to take two pills at once, so take your pills with food.

That’s fine—the easiest thing is probably to finish out your current pack on schedule and start the next pack at the time you prefer. In that case you shouldn’t need any backup.

If you can’t wait for your next pack, just make sure you don’t allow more than 24 hours to pass between pills. So, for example, if you want to switch from morning to afternoon, you have to take 2 pills in one day—one at the old time and one at the new time. That’s probably better than waiting 36 hours and worrying about backup for a week! Only catch is you may also have to relabel your pill pack, because if you take the “Wednesday” pill on Tuesday night and forget to change the rest of the pack, confusion may abound.