Combined Contraceptive Pill

Levest

Tablets

  • Reduces pre-mentrual symptoms
  • Prevents unwanted pregnancy 
  • Commonly precribed
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£14.99

Levest Medical Information

Levest coated tablets are a combined oral contraceptive and belongs to a group of products often referred to as “the Pill”. You take it to stop you getting pregnant.

Levest contains two hormones: oestrogen (Ethinylestradiol) and progestogen (Levonorgestrel). These hormones prevent you from getting pregnant by working in three ways: by preventing an egg being released from your ovaries; by making the fluid (mucus) in your cervix thicker, which makes it more difficult for sperm to enter the womb; and by preventing the lining of your womb thickening enough for an egg to grow in it. Levest is a 21-day Pill – you take one each day for 21 days, followed by 7 days when you take no pills.

The benefits of taking the Pill include: ·

- it is one of the most reliable reversible methods of contraception if used correctly ·

- it doesn't interrupt sex ·

- it usually makes your periods regular, lighter and less painful ·

- it may help with pre-menstrual symptoms.

Take Levest every day for 21 days Levest 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 – as long as you have taken your pills correctly and start the next strip of pills on time.

Then start your next strip Start taking your next strip of Levest after the seven pill-free days – even if you are still bleeding.

Always start the new strip on time.

As long as you take Levest correctly, you will always start each new strip on the same day of the week.

Starting Levest As a new user or starting the Pill again after a break

It is best to take your first Levest pill on the first day of your next period. By starting in this way, you will have contraceptive protection with your first pill.

• If you are allergic ethinylestradiol or levonorgestrel or any of the other ingredients of this medicine

• 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 

• 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 breast cancer

• If you have ever had a severe liver disease, and you have been told by your doctor that your liver function test results are not yet back to normal

• If you have ever had liver tumours

• If you have hepatitis C and are taking medicinal products containing ombitasvir/paritaprevir/ritonavir, dasabuvir, glecaprevir/pibrentasvir or sofosbuvir/velpatasvir/voxilaprevir

Common side effects (may affect up to 1 in 10 people)

· feeling sick

· stomach ache

· putting on weight

· headaches

· depressive moods or mood swings

· sore or painful breasts

Uncommon side effects (may affect up to 1 in 100 people)

· being sick and stomach upsets

· fluid retention

· migraine

· loss of interest in sex

· breast enlargement

· skin rash, which may be itchy

Rare side effects (may affect up to 1 in 1,000 people)

· poor tolerance of contact lenses

· losing weight

· increase of interest in sex

· vaginal or breast discharge

· allergic reactions

· allergic reactions which can sometimes be severe with swelling of the skin and/or mucous membranes (erythema nodosum & erythema multiforme)

See other combined contraception products