Planned Parenthood

Someone asked us:

Hi! I know this might be a bit of a silly question, but I fast for religious reasons, however I am on birth control and I was wondering if fasting affects the effectiveness of the pill? Thanks!

This isn’t a silly question at all! I’m really glad you asked, because people of all major religions use birth control, and lots of people fast for both religious or personal reasons.

The answer depends what your fasting involves and what kind of pill you take. If you don’t count taking your pill as eating or drinking so you continue to take your pill as usual then there shouldn’t be any problems. In general, eating a limited diet or going an extended period without eating doesn’t mess with your birth control.

If you do count taking your pill as eating or drinking and want to switch what time you take your pill (to after sunset, for example), in most cases, that’s totally fine and your pill will be just as effective, as long as you’re taking a pill each day.

But if you take progestin-only pills, timing is more important. Progestin-only pill users need to take their pill within the same 3-hour window every day or else it won’t work. If you want to switch what time you take it, you’ll need to use a back-up birth control method, like a condom, for the first two days after you change the time you take your pill.

If you’re fasting for more than 24 hours and miss one or more pills, take our quiz to find out what to do next.

If you don’t want to worry about figuring out how to keep your pill use in line with regular fasting, you can also think about other birth control methods that you don’t take orally - like the patch, ring, shot, implant, or IUD.

-Emily at Planned Parenthood