You said that your shot is due Aug. 5th, which means that you are covered until then and beyond by several days. The due date on shots is set within a range of days that keeps you protected at 99.9% so you should be well protected until that time.

It is not necessary to take Emergency Contraceptive as a preventative. EC works better when it is used at ovulation time (and since you have been taking Depo, you are not ovulating, and therefore would not need EC). Not only is it a waste to use EC then, it can also make you nauseous, have headaches or some other nuisance effect that you do not need to suffer through.

You do need to consider what you will be doing for good prevention if you don't take Depo any more. Using EC as your monthly contraception is definitely not recommended. I hope that you will find another effective method, if you don't want a pregnancy.

And you had the correct information - sperm can live up to 5-7 days inside the female body, so using the "rhythm method" means you need to take into accounty a week on each side of ovulation, and you need to be very sure when ovulation is happening in your body. This is why a good contraceptive method is best for most people.

Reviewed by Sexual Health Editorial Team