Forgetting to take Cilest

Cilest is over 99% effective if you take the pill correctly. This means that you take every pill in the cycle at the same time of day every day for 21 days. It is easy to forget to take a pill but missing pills have serious consequences and reduce the effectiveness of the pill. The major cause of pregnancy whilst on the contraceptive pill is incorrect use of the pill.

Missing one pill

If you have missed just one pill, take that missed pill when you realize you have forgotten it. Although this may mean that you take more than one pill per day, this should not cause you any harm and you should continue with the rest of the pack as normal. You should still be protected from pregnancy if you follow the above instructions.

Missing two or more pills

There is a higher risk of pregnancy if you miss two or more pills. You need to take the last missed pill and disregard the previously missed ones. You will need to use extra contraception for the next seven days, as you are not protected from pregnancy, due to the number of missed pills. You should continue the rest of the strip as normal but if you did have unprotected sex in the missed pill days, you may be pregnant.

Check to see how many pills are left in the pack. If there are less than seven follow the instructions above but when you get to the end of the pack, you need to start the next pack immediately so you will not have a pill free week and a withdrawal bleed. You will also need extra protection for the next seven days. If you had unprotected sex during the time that you missed pills, you could potentially be pregnant.

Losing a pill

If you lose a pill, there are two things you can do. You can take the last pill from your strip instead and then continue the pack as normal. This will make your cycle one day shorter but you will still be protected from pregnancy in doing so. You can also take a pill from another strip and then keep that strip as a spare strip of pills in case you lose another one in the future. It is advised that you follow one of these two methods rather than simply skip the lost pill, as you need to take a pill every day in order for the contraceptive pill to be 99% effective.

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