silvercobra, I would honestly suggest you just skip this entire month altogether :/ If you decide to start the pill just a day late, you won't have that full month of protection. Maybe try explaining your situation at a local pharmacy; I suspect they might be able to help you out. If one doesn't work, perhaps try a few different ones. shadowfox49, I haven't actually heard of anyone around here using those injections, so I really doubt that’s an option in the States. And please, don't play fast and loose with your health like that. Either stay on the pill or don't take it at all—this middle ground you're looking at seems like the absolute worst way to handle it.
I suppose I’d suggest waiting another month if I were in your shoes, mostly because those breaks—assuming they even bother doing them, though I really don't see the point if there isn't a necessity—usually last about three months just to give your system enough time to actually clear everything out. Once you start the pill, I imagine you're pretty much safe from the very first tablet, especially since those days are non-fertile anyway, but I guess people say that first week carries a bit more risk; so, if you’re feeling particularly paranoid about it, maybe just hang tight through that initial week. Yeah, condoms are honestly the worst.🙂
Honestly, if you’re looking at it from a certain perspective, hypothyroidism—you know, when your thyroid just decides to take a permanent nap—might actually be one of the most manageable chronic conditions out there. 🙂 I mean, I deal with it myself, and I can't even begin to tell you how relieved I was once I finally pinpointed the actual cause behind everything I was going through. Most of my struggles were mental or emotional, and I want to be very clear about that—I am NOT losing my mind 🙂—but it turns out it was all physiological. It's relatively straightforward to manage, too; you just take a hormone replacement pill, which, granted, is something you'll have to do for the rest of your life, but if you get the dosage right, there aren't really any side effects. In fact, it honestly feels like your spirit and your body finally catch up with each other again 🙂 . I suppose I don't quite grasp why anyone would be hesitant to take medication if they're facing a chronic illness, really :/ If you leave hypothyroidism untreated, it can potentially shave about ten years off your life expectancy because it essentially drags your entire metabolism and whole system down to a crawl. It isn't some terrifying, catastrophic disease, especially if it's subclinical and doesn't show many symptoms, but that definitely shouldn't be an excuse to be irresponsible about your health!
Oh man, I can totally picture exactly how you're feeling right now. Personally, I absolutely love sex, but condoms have always been such a nuisance for me; honestly, if I could just take birth control without any drama, I’d be all over it, but I went through a bit of a rough patch for a while. I was dealing with this weird pain, like a vein in my leg was constantly "tightening" up, so I ended up going for ultrasounds and had blood clotting tests done three separate times, plus every other exam you can imagine, and everything came back perfectly normal. O.o It was so strange, but since everything checked out, I stayed on the pill, and thank goodness, those issues haven't come back. I remember feeling just utterly miserable when I genuinely thought I might never be able to use hormonal contraceptives again. An IUD is really off the table since you haven't gone through childbirth, and methods like tracking fertile days just don't work for me personally—I think I'd just live in a state of constant, paralyzing anxiety about the possibility of getting pregnant. Maybe you could try a little compromise? Like, maybe you use a diaphragm sometimes, and then your boyfriend uses a condom at other times? That way, you both get a little bit of what you want. 🙂 I've heard that using a diaphragm isn't even that big of a deal once you actually get used to the sensation.