Basic questions about birth control pill (the 21-day type)?

A few basic questions about birth control pills, the 21-day type (very tiny pills), since neither me nor my girlfriend is much knowledgeable about the issue. My question is, if she starts taking the pill on a daily basis, is she protected from pregnancy from day one after taking the pill? Or how many days will she have to take the pill for it to take effect? Does the pill have to be taken by her exactly at the same time each day? At the end of the 21-day regime, my understanding is that she is supposed to take a 7-day break to have her period before starting another 21-day pack. Is she is still considered 鈥渟afe鈥?from pregnancy during this 7-day period? Thanks in advance.

She should wait a week or two before having sex after she starts taking the pill. The same time every day is best, but as long as she takes one daily she should be fine. She would be safe to have sex during the seven days she is off of the pill.

You should be aware that while she is on the pill she might be extra sensitive and on edge. It can give her nausea, headaches, lower her sex drive and possibly even make her gain weight. I am totally not myself when I'm on the pill and my husband can see a difference in my mood within a week of my taking it. As a result I stopped taking the pill and we use a combination of condoms and the pull out method ( which I know is not 100% effective but condoms just suck).

After taking the pill myself I would actually recommend the Nuvaring over the pill. It's pretty fail safe. She can put it in once a month and she can take it out and have a period or she can skip up to 3 periods at a time and just immediately put in a new ring after she takes the old one out. You'll feel it a little when you're having sex, but I was much less nauseated and even less moody on the Nuvaring vs the pill. I think it takes effect faster than the pill too, because you put the entire month's dose of hormone in at once and your body slowly absorbs it rather than taking a little hormone every day.

If you don't want to deal with the side effects of birth control pills or the ring, she could always try an IUD. I have friends that have really liked those, but it's supposed to hurt to have them put in and taken out.

Hope this helped answer some questions!

During the first week of taking them it's a good idea to use secondary protection, you can only be max 4 hours late taking the pill, she must take it regularly and on time for optimum protection, yes you have 7 sugar pills after 21 active pills she is suppose to bleed, you will be safe for those 7 days.