Marvelon

Signs of a blood clot include:

• painful swelling in your leg
• sudden chest pain
• difficulty breathing.

Signs of heart attack or stroke include:

• a migraine for the first time, or a migraine that is worse than normal
• any sudden changes to your eyesight (such as loss of vision or blurred vision)
• dizziness, fainting, collapse or seizures
• sudden weakness or numbness in one side or part of your body
• slurred speech or any other difficulties affecting your speech
• sudden sharp pains in your chest which may reach your left arm or sharp pains in your stomach.

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 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).

If you think you may have any of these, see a doctor straight away. You may need to stop taking Marvelon.

To prevent pregnancy, always take Marvelon exactly as described below. Check with your doctor or family planning nurse if you are not sure.

1) Take Marvelon every day for 21 days

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.

2) 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 – as long as you have taken your pills correctly and start the next strip of pills on time.

3) Then start your next strip

Start taking your next strip of Marvelon after the seven pill-free days – even if you are still bleeding. Always start the new strip on time. As long as you take Marvelon correctly, you will always start each new strip on the same day of the week.

• If you are currently on a 21-day Pill: start taking Marvelon the next day after the end of the previous strip. You will have contraceptive protection with your first pill but you will not have a bleed until after you finish your first strip of Marvelon.
• If you are currently on a 28-day Pill: start taking Marvelon the day after your last active pill. You will have contraceptive protection with your first pill. You will not have a bleed until after you finish your first strip of Marvelon.
• Or if you are taking a progestogen-only Pill (mini-Pill or POP): start Marvelon on the first day of bleeding, even if you have already taken the POP for that day. You will have contraceptive cover straight away. If you don’t usually have any bleeding while you are taking a progestogen-only Pill, you can stop taking it any day and start Marvelon the next day. You will need to use extra contraception, such as a condom, for seven days.

If you have just had a baby, ask your doctor for advice about contraception.

If you are not breast-feeding:

• you can start taking Marvelon three weeks after the birth or,
• you can start taking Marvelon more than three weeks after the birth but you need to use extra contraception, such as a condom until you have taken the first seven pills correctly.
• If you have had sex since the birth there is a chance that you could be pregnant, you should therefore use another form of contraception, such as a condom. In this case, take your first Marvelon pill on the first day of your next period.