ills on Wednesday morning and 2 pills on Thursday morning. On Friday morning you're back on schedule and you take 1 pill.
• You COULD BECOME PREGNANT if you have sex during the 7 days after you restart your pills. You MUST use a nonhormonal birth-control method (such as condoms and/or spermicide) as a back-up for those 7 days.
3 or more missed pills • Contact your health care professional for further advice. Keep taking one pill every day until you reach your health care professional. Do not take the missed pills.
• You COULD BECOME PREGNANT if you have sex during the 7 days after you restart your pills. You MUST use a nonhormonal birth-control method (such as condoms and/or spermicide) as a back-up for those 7 days.
FINALLY, IF YOU ARE STILL NOT SURE WHAT TO DO ABOUT THE PILLS YOU HAVE MISSED
Use a BACK-UP NONHORMONAL BIRTH-CONTROL METHOD anytime you have sex.
KEEP TAKING ONE PILL EACH DAY until you can reach your health care professional.
PREGNANCY DUE TO PILL FAILURE
The incidence of pill failure resulting in pregnancy is approximately 1-2% per year (1 to 2 pregnancies per 100 women per year of use) if taken every day as directed, but the average failure rate is approximately 5% per year (5 pregnancies per 100 women per year of use) including women who do not always take the pill exactly as directed without missing any pills. If you do become pregnant, the risk to the fetus is minimal, but you should stop taking your pills and discuss the pregnancy with your health care professional.
PREGNANCY AFTER STOPPING THE PILL
If you do not desire pregnancy, you should use another method of birth-control immediately after stopping LYBREL. A pregnancy can occur within days after stopping LYBREL.
There does not appear to be any increase in birth defects in newborn babies when pregnancy occurs soon after stopping the pill.
There may be some delay in becoming pregnant after you stop using oral contraceptives, especially if you had irregular menstrual cycles before you used oral contraceptives. It may be advisable to postpone conception until you begin menstruating regularly once you have stopped taking the pill and desire pregnancy.
OVERDOSAGE
Overdosage may cause nausea, vomiting, breast tenderness, dizziness, abdominal pain, and fatigue/drowsiness. Withdrawal bleeding may occur in females. In case of overdosage, contact your health care professional or pharmacist.
OTHER INFORMATION
Your health care professional will take a medical and family history before prescribing oral contraceptives and will examine you. The physical examination may be delayed to another time if you request it and the health care professional believes that it is appropriate to postpone it. You should be reexamined at least once a year. Be sure to inform your health care professional if there is a family history of any of the conditions listed previously in this leaflet. Be sure to keep all appointments with your health care professional, because this is a time to determine if there are early signs of side effects of oral contraceptive use.
Do not use the drug for any condition other than the one for which it was prescribed. This drug has been prescribed specifically for you; do not give it to others who may want birth-control pills.
HEALTH BENEFITS FROM ORAL CONTRACEPTIVES
In addition to preventing pregnancy, some information suggests that the use of oral contraceptives provide certain other benefits. The benefi
