Asked by: Rafia Subiaurre
medical health birth control

How hot is too hot for birth control pills?

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Turning up the heat: If you leave your packofpills in an environment that's too hot(above86°) or too cold (below 59°) for a few hours,youcould render the meds useless. "High or low tempscandegrade the hormones and reduce their effectiveness,"Hill-Besinquesays.


Simply so, what temperature is too hot for birth control?

Hate to break it to you, but you should.Asit turns out, storing your pills the wrong way couldmesswith their effectiveness. Most medication should be stored in adryplace at room temperature, ideally somewhere between68to 77 degrees. Drugs exposed to temps far outsidetherange can loose potency.

Also Know, can birth control be left in the cold? Cold medication like Sudafed and painrelieverslike Tylenol won't interfere with your birth controlpills— so as long as you were taking your birthcontrolcorrectly, you can feel confident that it wasworking toprotect you from pregnancy.

Similarly, can heat ruin birth control pills?

The humidity (which can breakdown the drug)andtemperature change from a steamy shower put your pillsatrisk, according to Dr. Long. Contrary to its name, themedicinecabinet is one of the worst places to store drugsbecausethe moisture and heat from the shower cancreepinside.

What can make birth control ineffective?

7 Things That Can Make Birth Control Pills Fail

  • Missing a pill or starting a pack late.
  • If you have inflammatory bowel disease or otherdigestivedisorders.
  • Taking certain seizure or migraine medications.
  • Not taking your progestin-only pill at the same timeeveryday.
  • Taking certain antibiotics.
  • Or antiretroviral medications.

Related Question Answers

Lionel Idini

Professional

Can you keep birth control in your purse?

You stored your birth control in thewrongplace.
Usually, that means putting them next toyourtoothbrush rather than in your purse. TheNuvaRing,however, should be stored at room temperature or intherefrigerator.

Mahayub Yates

Professional

Does birth control raise body temperature?

Oral contraceptives alter sleep and raisebodytemperature in young women. Chronic administration ofsyntheticsteroids, as occurs in women taking oralcontraceptives, mayaffect these regulatory systemsdifferently from endogenousoestrogen and progesterone.

Ronda Ortiz De Mendivil

Professional

Can birth control fail if taken correctly?

While birth control pills are generallyveryeffective, they can sometimes fail topreventpregnancies if a person does not usethemcorrectly and consistently.

Randee Laguardia

Explainer

Does birth control go bad?

Technically, after the expiration date, themedicationsmay become less potent. Most birth control pillstend toexpire after one to five years, but there's a catch: "Weknow thatmost medications are still effective after theirexpiration date,"Dr. White says.

Bud Beuckelmann

Explainer

Is it okay to take birth control late?

Is the Birth Control pill still effective, ifyoutake it two hours after the time you are supposedtotake it? In most cases, if you take your pill 2hourslate it's still effective. However, if you'retakingprogestin-only pills, it's best to take them at thesametime every day.

Lucrezia Kunecke

Explainer

What temperature should medicine be stored at?

A medication that should be stored atroomtemperature means between 15 to 25 degrees Celsius;cooltemperature means between 8 to 15 degreesCelsius;refrigeration means between 2 to 8 degrees Celsius; andfreezingtemperature means -10 to -25 degreesCelsius.

Matheo Caruncho

Pundit

What do you do if you lose your birth control pack?

Your doctor may suggest one of these firstthreeoptions:
  1. Take the next pill. Keep moving along in your pack, bysimplytaking the next active pill.
  2. Take the last pill of your pack.
  3. Take a spare pill.
  4. If you lose a placebo pill.

Andranik Christoforidis

Pundit

How do you take birth control pills correctly?

For 91-day combination pills, takeonepill at the same time every day for 84 days. During thelastweek, take one non-hormonal birth control pill,orone that only contains estrogen, at the same time every dayforseven days. If you're taking mini-pills, takeonepill each day.

Sabela Pokhmelkin

Pundit

What medicines cancel out birth control?

Some of these medications increase the breakdown ofthehormones in birth control pills.

These drugs include:
  • Carbamazepine (Carbatrol, Epitol, Equetro, Tegretol)
  • Felbamate (Felbatol)
  • Oxcarbazepine (Trileptal)
  • Phenobarbital (Luminal)
  • Phenytoin (Dilantin, Phenytek)
  • Primidone (Mysoline)
  • Topiramate (Topamax)

Huong Olmedillas

Pundit

Does alcohol affect the pill?

There's a bit of good news for women who takedailybirth control pills and enjoy drinkingalcoholicbeverages from time to time: Alcohol doesn'thave an impacton the effectiveness of birth control. But,alcohol doeshave an impact on your behavior and judgment.This can leadto a less effective birth control.

Annick Essafi

Pundit

Does tea affect birth control pills?

Birth control pills can decrease how quicklythebody breaks down caffeine. Taking green tea alongwithbirth control pills can cause jitteriness, headache,fastheartbeat, and other side effects.

Cezarina Umilio

Teacher

Can stress cause birth control to fail?

Research has shown that women who are stressedouttend to, on average, wind up with less effectivebirthcontrol than those who aren't consistentlystressed out.Because stress can become sooverwhelming at times that itactually causes you to stoptaking your contraceptivehabitually.

Nouradine Hamid

Teacher

Can you put pills in the freezer?

All medicines must be stored in a cool, dry place,awayfrom sunlight and moisture. Some medicines require specialstorageconditions such as in the refrigerator, or eventhefreezer. Another problem is that the medicines mayfreezeinadvertently, becoming damaged by the solid water crystalsthatform.

Anthony Cerro,

Teacher

Can I get pregnant on the pill?

Yes. Although birth control pills have ahighsuccess rate, they can fail and you can getpregnantwhile on the pill. Certain factors increase yourrisk ofgetting pregnant, even if you're on birthcontrol.Keep these factors in mind if you're sexually activeand want toprevent an unplanned pregnancy.

Clair Arboledas

Teacher

Does vitamin C affect birth control pills?

It is suggested that high dose vitamin Cmayactually increase the dose of oestrogen being absorbed, whichwouldhave no effect on the contraceptive effect ofthepill. In other words taking vitamin C while onthepill has no effect on the contraceptive benefitsofthe pill.

Tonny Starken

Reviewer

How long does it take for your body to get used to the pill?

Your birth control could be to blame.Itcan take two to three months for your body toadjustto the hormones in a new birth control pill(or otherform or hormonal birth control like the patch or shot),and thatcan mean side effects like acne or weight gain(though thisis usually water retention, not extrafat).

Estitxu Gasbers

Reviewer

Can melatonin affect birth control pills?

The combination of birth controlandmelatonin may alter the effectiveness of birthcontrolpills. Birth control pills increase thenaturalmelatonin in your body. Melatonin can alsointeractwith other medications, including bloodthinners,immunosuppressants, and diabetes medications.

Cleveland Coteiro

Reviewer

Do condoms prevent 100 percent?

If you use condoms perfectly every single timeyouhave sex, they're 98% effective at preventing pregnancy.Butpeople aren't perfect, so in real life condoms are about85%effective — that means about 15 out of 100 peoplewhouse condoms as their only birth control method willgetpregnant each year.

Geraldin Thurling

Reviewer

Can anything make an IUD less effective?

Anticonvulsants that don't interact with birthcontrol:Gabapentin, levetiracetam, and tiagabine. Safestcontraceptionoptions: In most cases, the birth control shot(Depo-Provera),hormonal implant (Nexplanon), hormonal IUD(e.g.,Mirena, Kyleena), and copper IUD are all safeto usewith anticonvulsants.

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28th May, 2020

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