I left Yaz (b/c pill) in a hot car. Should I be worried?

June 23, 2010 6:01 AM

I left my birth control pill Yaz in a hot car for about 3 hours. The pill was in my wallet, and I put the wallet in the dashboard. It was around high 70's outside. I left it in the car when I went for a hike in the Yosemite national park about 2 weeks ago. The pill felt warm when I came back to the car and took it. I didn't think too much about it, but all of the sudden yesterday I thought of it and now I'm worried. Is this pack of pill still good? Or is it useless? I would love to just switch to a new pack, but I had unprotected sex on Saturday night(3 days ago), so it's already late. I'm going to do the pregnancy check next Monday or so. Am I worrying too much? Or should I be worried?
posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness (7 answers total)

The same thing happened to me when I was on Yasmin years ago. I called the manufacturer and was told they were fine (it was closer to two hours, and the temps were over 90 that day).
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 6:03 AM on June 23, 2010

"Store at 25° C (77° F); excursions permitted to 15–30° C (59–86° F) [See USP Controlled Room Temperature]."
http://berlex.bayerhealthcare.com/html/products/pi/fhc/YAZ_PI.pdf?WT.mc_id=www.berlex.com
posted by edd at 6:23 AM on June 23, 2010

Once I left a Nuva Ring in my black car, in very hot weather. I didn't know you weren't supposed to. I used it (they last a month, so it wasn't a one time deal) and didn't get pregnant...it's probably fine. But I pay more attention now.
posted by funfetti at 8:28 AM on June 23, 2010

You're probably fine, but ... please tell me you don't carry loose pills around in your wallet.
posted by shiny blue object at 9:27 AM on June 23, 2010

Do you want to be pregnant more than you want to take emergency contraception? Other folks have said some useful information, but my opinion is that if you're worried about it and your unprotected intercourse was less than 120 hours ago, taking ec would be helpful. I say this just as someone who really doesn't want to get pregnant and wouldn't take chances.
posted by verbyournouns at 9:45 AM on June 23, 2010

She probably means the little "pill wallet" that you store these things in.
posted by Precision at 5:01 PM on June 23, 2010

Meh, I've traveled to crazy hot countries with the pill and had lots of unprotected sex (with my boyfriend, not random people from those countries) and never got pregnant. Pharma companies do stability studies for ~2 years at 40C/75% relative humidity (hot and humid). They recommend storing it at room temperature, but it wouldn't be on the market if it degraded in hot weather.
posted by KateHasQuestions at 7:19 PM on June 23, 2010