What Makes Norgeston Less Effective?

The pill can be made ineffective by a number of things. Firstly, if you forget to take the contraceptive pill on time, you will not be protected from pregnancy. If the pill is more than three hours late, you run the risk of falling pregnant because you have disrupted the constant flow of hormones into your body. Make sure you remember to take a pill every day at the same time each day.

Another way that can make the pill less effective is if you take certain medications in conjunction with the pill. Some medications can stop the pill from working properly and you will not be protected from pregnancy. You should always tell your doctor what medication you are using so that they can check that it will not have and adverse effect on the pill. The pill can also affect how other medications work such as ciclosporin and lamotrigine. The pill can cause an increase or decrease in the levels of these drugs in your blood so the doctor may have to change your dosage.

If you use any medication to treat epilepsy or HIV, the pill will not work. Certain antibiotics and antifungal medications will also lower the effectiveness of the pill. Medications such as bosentan, which treats high blood pressure, sedatives and drugs to treat vomiting, will also have a similar effect. Also, un-prescribed medications can also affect the pill such as St Johns wort. If you are using any of these medications for the short term, you can use additional contraception during and for seven days after the medication. However, if you are using the medications for the long term, you should consider another method of contraception.

The pill can also be ineffective if you have suffered from diarrhoea or vomiting. The pill may not have been fully absorbed into your blood stream and you might not be protected from pregnancy. If you are sick within two hours of taking the pill, take another pill as soon as possible within the three hours. If you do not manage to take another pill or you keep throwing up, use additional contraception for the seven days after recovery. The same can be applied to diarrhoea.

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