Mental math has never been my strong suit, especially not first thing in the morning. So standing in my undies, staring at a birth control pill pack and trying to figure out which day I missed and how I should adjust for that was never a good start to my day. And hey, haven’t we all been there?
Photo credits: Planned Parenthood/Tumblr
12 Tricks to remember your birth control
1. So I had to smile when I saw this on Reddit, posted by eelamme: “I was having trouble taking my birth control pills at the same time every day so I switched my alarm tone to the sound of a baby screaming and crying. Have not taken it late since.”
Brilliant! And the conversation didn’t stop there. If these don’t get you to remember to take your pills, at least they’ll make you laugh!
Music to your ovaries
2. “I already take daily pills for my anxiety and panic attacks so it’s really no bother for me to add another pill. I have my alarm set to ‘I Wanna be Sedated’ by the Ramones. It’s practically Pavlovian by now.” – helloiamsilver
3. “Mine plays Justin Bieber’s ‘Baby.’ It works on two levels: One, I veryyyy quickly turn it off and take my pill because I’m seriously embarrassed that my phone is playing the song. And two, it reminds me that I don’t want to have a baby.” – sirensandsailors
4. “Fortunately, clear skin was one of the benefits of going on the pill, so I changed my alarm memo to, ‘Damn girl, you’re looking fine.’ Early morning consensual catcalls from my phone kept me in the habit.” – uglyloveling
Another reason to keep the lights off
5. “I heard from a patient once she put glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling above her bed so she’d be reminded to take her pill each night. I thought this was a cool and subtle way to jog the memory.” – underoosfordays
6. “I keep it in my bedside table and pop one before I pull the light switch.” – bunnyish
Pill pop and you don’t stop
7. “I have a hard time developing new habits so I just attached it to an existing one. My pack sits next to my toothbrush and I take it before I brush every night. I never forget to brush, otherwise my mouth feels gross.” – pprbckwrtr
8. “I always take my pill with my nightly Singulair… if I forget one, I forget them both that way and then wake up in a few hours too stuffy to breathe.” – jytal
9. “I kept some of them in my locked cabinet at work — marked as diet pills.” – anniebme
Two minds are better than one (or three)
10. “My girlfriend uses Google Calendar and has a recurring event setup. And she’s added me on the event as well so I can remind her too :)” – shadow703793
11. “I have an alarm on my phone for when I take it, and my boyfriend has one on his for 15 minutes later so he can check with me that I took it. That way I can’t forget and he can also be certain that I’m taking it properly. Team effort :)” – technicolournurd
Talk techy to me
12. “I also use an app called WomanLog, where I can set alarms and reminders.” – spacecowgirl
Do you have a good way to remember to take your pill?
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