You don't need to use another form of contraception, but it can help to decrease your chances of pregnancy to basicaly zero. But just the pills alone should be enough :)

a condom will help protect against sexually transmitted diseases. However, if you're nearing the end of your pack, that means your period is due soon!! You period always comes during the last week of your pack, this is a fairly consistent fact no matter what kind of pill you're on. Don't freak if you don't get it on the first day. Do you have sugar pills/placebo pills as a 4th week, or do you have 3-week packs?

Hi eiri ;p

thanks for the quick reply. I really appreciate it.
To answer your question, im using the 3 week packs of diane35.

Why is there a big difference between the 21 and 28 day pills? :p

The major difference is that on 21-day packs, there is a week that you are supposed to spend not taking any of the pills, or so I thought. Check your packages, they'll tell you more :) on 28 day packs, there is a week of "reminder" pills (placebo/sugar pills), instead of a week of no pills. They just help you to stay in the habit of taking a pill every day.

Hi elle, i've been on diane-35 for about a year. It has made my skin beautiful and perfect, I love my skin now. (i had moderate acne on my face and back before, which I hated.) it took about 7 months to go away completely though. Also, since the pill has taken all the hormonal grease and oil out of my skin, it has also taken it out of my hair and I only have to wash it once every 3 days.

The seven final pills in the 28 pack contain no hormones- they do absolutely nothing, they are just to keep you in the routine of taking your pill at the same time every day. The 21 pack just eliminates them because they are not necessary for your contraception to be effective. I usually take 2 or 3 21 packs in a row to skip my periods for a couple months.

I would like to switch to a different pill soon, as the diane has a slightly higher blood clot risk, but I am very afraid to come off it because I really can't take breaking out again. I don't want to be a slave to the diane forever though, so i'll have to try soon.