Mercilon

To take Mercilon, follow the arrows and days of the week marked on the blister strips. When you take Mercilon, you should:

• take 1 Mercilon pill at the same time every day for 21 days. Set a daily alarm to remind you when to take it, so you do not miss any days.
• swallow each Mercilon pill whole, do not chew it. You can take the pill with water if this helps.

After 21 days, you’ll finish your strip of Mercilon pills. You then have 7 days where you do not take any pills.

During this 7 day break, you’ll have a withdrawal bleed, similar to your period. If you have not missed any pills, you’ll be protected from pregnancy during this break.

The next day after your 7 day break, start your new strip of 21 Mercilon pills, even if you are still bleeding.

If you vomit or have severe diarrhoea within 2 hours of taking Mercilon, you may not be protected against pregnancy. You should speak to your doctor or pharmacist for advice.

When do I start taking Mercilon?

You should start taking Mercilon on the first day of your period, which is also the first day of your menstrual cycle. This will protect you from getting pregnant from the first pill. You can also start taking Mercilon on days 2 to 5 of your period and you will be protected straight away.

If you start taking Mercilon on day 6 or after, you’ll need to take it for 7 days before it protects you from pregnancy. You should use condoms for extra contraception during these 7 days for protection. You should also take a pregnancy test 3 weeks after you last had unprotected sex to make sure you were not pregnant before starting Mercilon.

What do I do if I forget to take Mercilon?

If you forget to take Mercilon, it may make your pill less effective. A pill is considered as being missed if it is taken 24 or more hours after the usual time.

• If you have only missed one pill, take it as soon as you remember, even if you have to take 2 pills at once. Continue to take the rest of your pack as usual. You’ll still be protected against pregnancy.
• If you have missed 2 to 7 pills, take the most recently missed pill as soon as you remember and leave any previous pills in the strip. This may mean taking 2 pills at once. Continue to take the rest of your pack as usual. But if you have fewer than 7 pills left in the pack, start a new pack without taking a pill free break. You will need to use extra contraception such as condoms for seven days as you may be at risk of pregnancy.
• If you miss 2 or more pills in the first week of your packet, or if you miss 8 or more pills you may need emergency contraception from a healthcare professional.

Speak to your doctor or pharmacist for advice if you are unsure about what to do after missing a Mercilon pill.

What do I do if I take Mercilon twice?

If you take Mercilon twice because you missed a pill, you should be ok. But if you take too much Mercilon, you might throw up or have vaginal bleeding. In this case, speak to your doctor for advice.

Can pregnant or breastfeeding women take Mercilon?

If you’re pregnant, you should not take Mercilon. If you think you might be pregnant, you should take a pregnancy test to check if you’re positive before you stop taking Mercilon.

You might be able to use Mercilon if you are breastfeeding, but this will depend on when you gave birth. Your doctor may recommend an alternative method of contraception, such as the progesterone only pill or mini pill.

What should I watch out for if I want to stop taking Mercilon?

If you want to stop taking Mercilon, you’ll need to use a different form of contraception if you do not want to become pregnant. You may have some vaginal bleeding for a few days after your last Mercilon pill. You should speak to your doctor or pharmacist about other types of contraception.

When you take Mercilon, you may experience some side effects. Common side effects of Mercilon include:

• headache
• weight gain
• breast tenderness or breast pain
• mood changes
• nausea

Uncommon side effects of Mercilon include:

• migraine
• fluid retention
• low sex drive
• vomiting
• diarrhoea
• skin rash or hives
• breast enlargement

Rare side effects of Mercilon include:

• breakthrough bleeding (bleeding between periods)
• difficulty wearing contact lenses
• allergic reaction
• weight loss
• high sex drive
• blood clots
• breast cancer or cervical cancer

You can report any side effects using the MHRA Yellow Card Scheme in the Google Play or Apple App Store.

Does the risk of thrombosis increase?

When you take Mercilon, your risk of blood clots (thrombosis) does increase slightly. Some of the places you can get a blood clot include:

• leg (deep vein thrombosis or DVT)
• lungs (pulmonary embolism)
• eye (retinal vein thrombosis)
• heart (heart attack)
• brain (stroke)

You can find out more about thrombosis in the patient information leaflet that comes in your pack of Mercilon pills.

Mercilon can interact with some medicines. This means it may make Mercilon or the other medicine less effective if you take them together. You should speak to your doctor before you take Mercilon if you take any medicines for:

• epilepsy (primidone, phenytoin, phenobarbital, carbamazepine, oxcarbazepine, topiramate, felbamate, modafinil)
• tuberculosis (rifampicin)
• HIV infections (ritonavir, nelfinavir, nevirapine, efavirenz)
• high blood pressure (bosentan)
• low mood (St. John’s wort)
• fungal infections (griseofulvin)
• hepatitis C infection (boceprevir, telaprevir)

The active ingredients in each Mercilon pill are 150 micrograms of the progestogen desogestrel, and 20 micrograms of the oestrogen ethinyl estradiol.

The other ingredients in Mercilon are dl-alpha-tocopherol, potato starch, povidone, stearic acid, aerosol, and lactose.

If you have an allergy to any of the ingredients, please speak to your doctor for advice before taking Mercilon.

How should Mercilon be stored?

Store your Mercilon pills below 25°C in its original pack. This protects your Mercilon pills from light and moisture.

How must Mercilon be disposed of?

To dispose of Mercilon, take your unused pills to a nearby pharmacy. Do not put your Mercilon pills in the bin or down the drain at home.

What does Mercilon look like?

Mercilon pills are white, round, and biconvex. A Mercilon pill is 6mm in diameter. You can see TR4 printed on one side of a Mercilon pill and Organon* on the other side.

In which pack sizes is Mercilon available?

Mercilon pills come in packs of 3 blister strips. Each blister strip contains 21 Mercilon pills.

Information on the manufacturer

The marketing authorisation holder for Mercilon is Organon Pharma (UK) Limited, Hertford Road, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, EN11 9BU, UK.

The manufacturer of Mercilon is N.V. Organon, P.O. Box 20, 5340 BH Oss, The Netherlands.