Marvelon

Type

Daily Contraceptive
Combined Pill

Active ingredients

Desogestrel 150mcg / Ethinylestradiol 30mcg

Pills

21 active

What is

Marvelon is a combined contraceptive pill used to prevent pregnancy. Each of the tablets contain two different female hormones; Desogestrel and Ethinylestradiol .

How does

Marvelon

work?

How often can I use

Marvelon

How to take

Marvelon

Marvelon comes in strips of 21 pills, each marked with a day of the week.

Take your pill at the same time every day.
Start by taking a pill marked with the correct day of the week.
Follow the direction of the arrows on the strip. Take one pill each day, until you have finished all 21 pills.
Swallow each pill whole, with water if necessary. Do not chew the pill.

Then have seven pill-free days

After you have taken all 21 pills in the strip, you have seven days when you take no pills. So, if you take the last pill of one pack on a Friday, you will take the first pill of your next pack on the Saturday of the following week.

Within a few days of taking the last pill from the strip, you should have a withdrawal bleed like a period. This bleed may not have finished when it is time to start your next strip of pills.

You don’t need to use extra contraception during these seven pill-free days – if you have taken your pills correctly and start the next strip of pills on time.

What if I miss taking the pill?

If you miss a pill, follow these instructions:

When were you due to take the missed pill?

Less than 12 hours ago

Take the delayed pill straight away and further pills as usual. This may mean taking two pills in one day.
Don’t worry, your contraceptive protection should not be reduced.

More than 12 hours ago, or you have missed more than one pill.

Take the most recently missed pill straight away.
Leave any earlier missed pills in the strip.
Take your further pills as usual. This may mean taking two pills in one day.
Use extra precautions (condoms, for instance) for the next 7 days.
Check how many pills are left in the strip after the most recently missed pill.

7 or more pills left in the pack

Don’t forget to use extra precautions for the next 7 days.
When you have finished the strip, leave the usual 7-day break before starting the next strip.
If you have missed one or more pills from the first week of your strip (days 1 to 7) and you had sex in that week, you could become pregnant. Contact the Hello Eve team or your regular health care provider and the emergency contraceptive might be recommended for you.

Fewer than 7 pills left in the pack

Don’t forget to use extra precautions for the next 7 days.
When you have finished the strip, leave the usual 7-day break before starting the next strip.
If you do not have a withdrawal bleed after you have finished the second strip, do a pregnancy test before starting another strip.
If you have missed one or more pills from the first week of your strip (days 1 to 7) and you had sex in that week, you could become pregnant.Contact your doctor, family planning nurse or pharmacist for advice as soon as possible.

If you have missed any of the pills in a strip, and you do not bleed in the first pill-free break, you may be pregnant. Contact your doctor or family planning clinic, or do a pregnancy test yourself.

What are the side effects?

Like all medicines, Marvelon can cause some side effects, however not everybody taking Marvelon will experience these side effects. The following are a list of side effects that have been associated with Marvelon;

Signs of a severe allergic reaction to Marvelon:

swelling of the face, lips, mouth, tongue or throat

Signs of breast cancer include:

dimpling of the skin
changes in the nipple
any lumps you can see or feel.

Signs of cancer of the cervix include:

vaginal discharge that smells and/or contains blood
unusual vaginal bleeding
pelvic pain
painful sex

Signs of severe liver problems include:

severe pain in your upper abdomen
yellow skin or eyes (jaundice)
inflammation of the liver (hepatitis)
your whole body starts itching
If you think you may have any of these, see a doctor straight away. You may need to stop taking Yasmin

Common side effects (between 1 and 10 in every 100 users may be affected):

depressive mood
headache, migraine
nausea
breast pain, breast tenderness, menstrual disorders, bleeding between periods, thick whitish vaginal discharge, vaginal yeast infection

Uncommon side effects (between 1 and 10 in every 1,000 users may be affected):

breast enlargement
altered interest in sex
high blood pressure, low blood pressure
vomiting, diarrhoea
acne, severe itching, skin rash, hair loss (alopecia)
vaginal infection
fluid retention
body weight changes

Rear side effects (between 1 and 10 in every 1,000 users may be affected):

hearing impairment
asthma
breast secretion
allergic reactions (hypersensitivity)
the skin conditions erythema nodosum (characterized by painful reddish skin nodules) or erythema multiforme (characterized by rash with target-shaped reddening or sores).
harmful blood clots in a vein or artery for example:

in a leg or foot (i.e. DVT)
in a lung (i.e. PE)
heart attack
stroke
mini-stroke or temporary stroke-like symptoms, known as a transient ischaemic attack (TIA)
blood clots in the liver, stomach/intestine, kidneys or eye.

The chance of having a blood clot may be higher if you have any other conditions that increase this risk.

For further reading, visit; https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/1359/smpc

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What are the risks?

Blood Clots

Combined contraceptive pills like Marvelon can increase your risk of developing blood clots compared to not using one. It is important to remember that the overall risk of a harmful blood clot due to Marvelon is small.

How to recognise a blood clot

swelling of one leg or along a vein in the leg or foot especially when accompanied by:

pain or tenderness in the leg which may be felt only when standing or walking
increased warmth in the affected leg

change in colour of the skin on the leg e.g. turning pale, red or blue

This could be signs of DEEP VEIN THROMBOSIS

If you experience any of these signs listed below, please seek urgent medical attention:

sudden unexplained breathlessness or rapid breathing;
sudden cough without an obvious cause, which may bring up blood;
severe light headedness or dizziness;
rapid or irregular heartbeat;
severe pain in your stomach;

If you are unsure, talk to a doctor as some of these symptoms such as coughing or being short of breath may be mistaken for a milder condition such as a respiratory tract infection (e.g. a ‘common cold

This could possibly be PULMONARY EMBOLISM.

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What is the effect of other medicines on

Marvelon

When not to use

Marvelon

When you should not use Marvelon If you suffer from any of the conditions below you should NOT use Marvelon. If you are still unsure after reading this section, you can speak to the Hello Eve Team or your regular healthcare provider.

If you have (or have ever had) a blood clot in a blood vessel of your legs (deep vein thrombosis, DVT), your lungs (pulmonary embolus, PE) or other organs.
If you know you have a disorder affecting your blood clotting – for instance, protein C deficiency, protein S deficiency, antithrombin-III deficiency, Factor V Leiden or antiphospholipid antibodies;
If you need an operation or if you are off your feet for a long time (see section ‘Blood clots’);
If you have ever had a heart attack or stroke
If you have (or have ever had) angina pectoris (a condition that causes severe chest pain and may be a first sign of a heart attack) or transient ischaemic attack (TIA – temporary stroke symptoms)
If you have any of the following diseases that may increase your risk of a clot in the arteries:

severe diabetes with blood vessel damage
very high blood pressure
a very high level of fat in the blood (cholesterol or triglycerides)
a condition known as hyperhomocysteinaemia

If you have (or have ever had) a type of migraine called ‘migraine with aura’
If you have (or have ever had) liver disease and your liver function is still not normal
If your kidneys are not working well (renal failure)
If you have (or have ever had) had a tumour in the liver
If you have (or have ever had) or if you are suspected of having breast cancer or cancer of the genital organs
If you have any unexplained bleeding from the vagina
If you are allergic to ethinylestradiol or desogestrel, or any of the other ingredients of this medicine. This may cause itching, rash or swelling.

Do not use Marvelon if you have hepatitis C and are taking the medicinal products containing ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir and dasabuvir

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Marvelon

Type

Active ingredients

Pills

What is

Marvelon

Daily contracpetive pill

From £5 / month

Emergency contracpetive pill

From £13

Hello Eve

Superintendent Pharmacist