• Each strip of Cerazette contains 28 tablets – 4 weeks supply.

• Take your tablet each day at about the same time. Swallow the tablet whole, with water.

• Arrows are printed on the front of the strip, between the tablets. The days of the week are printed on the back of the strip. Each day corresponds with one tablet.

• Every time you start a new strip of Cerazette, take a tablet from the top row. Don’t start with just any tablet. For example if you start on a Wednesday, you must take the tablet

• from the top row marked (on the back) with WED.

• Continue to take one tablet every day until the pack is empty, always following the direction indicated by the arrows. By looking at the back of your pack you can easily check if you have already taken your tablet on a particular day.

• You may have some vaginal bleeding during the use of Cerazette but you must continue to take your tablets as normal.

• When a strip is empty, you must start with a new strip of Cerazette on the next day without interruption and without waiting for a bleed.

Consult your Patient Information Leaflet for more detailed instructions on taking Cerazette.

The active substance is: desogestrel (75 microgram).

The other ingredients are: colloidal anhydrous silica; all-rac-α-tocopherol; maize starch; povidone; stearic acid; hypromellose; macrogol 400; talc; titanium dioxide (E171); lactose monohydrate.

Do not take Cerazette:

• if you are allergic to desogestrel, or any of the other ingredients of Cerazette

• if you have a thrombosis. Thrombosis is the formation of a blood clot in a blood vessel [e.g. of the legs (deep venous thrombosis) or the lungs (pulmonary embolism)].

• if you have or have had jaundice (yellowing of the skin) or severe liver disease and your liver is still not working normally.

• if you have or if you are suspected of having a cancer that grows under the influence of sex-steroids, such as certain types of breast cancer.

• if you have any unexplained vaginal bleeding.

If any of these conditions apply to you, tell your doctor before you start to use Cerazette. Your doctor may advise you to use a non-hormonal method of birth control.

Before you start Cerazette tell your doctor or Family Planning Nurse, if:

• you have ever had breast cancer.

• you have liver cancer, since a possible effect of Cerazette cannot be excluded

• you have ever had a thrombosis.

• you have diabetes.

• you suffer from epilepsy (see section ‘Other medicines and Cerazette’).

• you have tuberculosis (see section ‘Other medicines and Cerazette’).

• you have high blood pressure.

• you have or have had chloasma (yellowish-brown pigmentation patches on the skin, particularly of the face); if so, avoid too much exposure to the sun or ultraviolet radiation.

• When Cerazette is used in the presence of any of these conditions, you may need to be kept under close observation. Your doctor can explain what to do.

It is important to regularly check your breasts when using Cerazette.  

See your doctor immediately if you notice possible signs of a thrombosis.

Do not use Cerazette if you are pregnant, or think you may be pregnant.

Some medicines may stop Cerazette from working properly. These include medicines used for the treatment of:

• epilepsy (e.g. primidone, phenytoin, carbamazepine, oxcarbazepine, felbamate and phenobarbital)

• tuberculosis (e.g. rifampicin)

• HIV infections (e.g. ritonavir), or other infectious diseases (e.g. griseofulvin)

• stomach upset (medical charcoal)

• depressive moods (the herbal remedy St. John’s Wort)

Cerazette contains lactose (milk sugar). Please contact your doctor before taking Cerazette if you have been told by your doctor that you are intolerant to some sugars.