I just cooked a month's worth of medicine, ackkkk, what do I do?
Sooooooooo, yesterday a crew came to my house to do some work that would dry out the floor after a leaky toilet. They left a bunch of fans and an industrial strength de-humidifier in my bathroom, which they said will take the room up to about 100 degrees, and told me to keep the door closed and stay out of the room so that the stuff could do its work, which I complied with.
This morning I woke up and realized that my birth control pills have been in there all night——about 18 hours!
I read all the packaging, and I didn’t see anything that said to protect it from extreme heat, but it doesn’t seem like it would help. Are the still good?
References and reputable sources are preferred over non-fact based opinions. Thank you for your help.
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13 Answers
Usually there is something about storage on the package. It depends on the name of the medication. One type of birth control pill says do not store in the bathroom and tore between 59 and 86 degrees fahrenheit.
Check Web MD with the name of your specific medication.
You could also ask a pharmacist.
I would recommend calling you pharmacist and posing this question to him/her. That’s the kind of information they would know for sure, rather than risk the inaccurate internet.
The birth control pill my wife was on said on the box to keep below 25C thats about 77F . Would that be the same for every pill, i do not know maybe should scrap that pack and start fresh .
She fell pregnant while using birth control
I agree with Les. Call your pharmacist.
It is not worth the risk. I would take it to the pharmacy and buy another package. The cost will be far less than that of raising a child.
The pill is hormone based. If you get it too hot you will denature the hormones (protiens) and it will be ineffective. I would consider the pills you “cooked” as wasted and wouldn’t use them.
It’s probably ruined. I wouldn’t take the risk. Call your pharmacist, and you might need to call your doctor for a refill. Just explain the situation, they’re usually very helpful.
Separate the question of replacing ruined pills from the question of who pays for them. They’ll probably be out of pocket for you because the insurance company won’t pay twice. Dog is right. Don’t take chances.
New pills are obviously the safest bet. If you can’t afford a new pack just use back up for this month, condoms or spermacide, but I would finish the pack, I would not just stop. Keep in mind that we walk around with birth control pills in our purses, and that they are shipped through the mail on hot summer days.
I would bring the package to the pharmacy as well. That way they can verify and vouch for the pills in case there is a question on the insurance side.
100 degrees for less than 24 hours? It’s probably OK. I don’t think women who live in hot climates without air conditioning have any increase in OCP failures compared to women whose pills are kept cooler. But just for peace of mind, you may want to replace the pack.
100 degrees is not extreme heat for birth control pills. It is actually a relatively cool temperature for some parts of the country including eastern California and Arizona.
That is the about the same temperature as your blood in daytime.
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