Femodene ED 168 Tablets

To prevent pregnancy, always take Femodene ED as instructed.

Each foil memo strip contains 28 tablets: 21 small active tablets in 3 rows and 7 larger inactive tablets in the last row.Your pack contains 3 foil memo strips with 3 sets of 7 self-adhesive strips showing the days of the week, corresponding to the 3 rows of ‘active’ pills.

Take Femodene ED every day for 28 days:

• Find the set of self-adhesive strips. Each strip starts with a different day of the week. Peel off a strip that starts with your starting day. For instance, if you start the tablets on a Wednesday, use a strip that starts with ‘Wed’.

• Stick the strip along the top of the foil memo-strip so that the first day is above the pill marked ‘start'.

• You can now see on which day you have to take each tablet.

• Take your pill at the same time every day.

• Follow the direction of the arrows on the strip. Take one pill each day, until you have finished all 28 pills.

• Each pill must be swallowed whole without chewing and should be taken with water if you have difficulty swallowing pills.

Start taking your next strip of Femodene ED the day after you finish the 28-day cycle; it is important to not leave a gap between packs. As long as you take Femodene ED correctly, you will always start each new strip on the same day of the week. For more information on taking Femodene ED, consult the Patient Information Leaflet.

Each box of Femodene ED contains three strips of 28 tablets with three sets of 7 self-adhesive strips showing the days of the week.

Each strip of Femodene ED contains 21 white sugar-coated tablets containing 75 micrograms of the progestogen gestodene and 30 micrograms of the oestrogen ethinylestradiol and 7 larger, white, inactive tablets.

Femodene ED also contains the inactive ingredients:

Lactose, maize starch, povidone, sodium calcium edetate, magnesium stearate (E572), sucrose, macrogol 6000, calcium carbonate (E170), talc, montan glycol wax.

Due to its intended function as a contraceptive pill, Femodene may affect your body’s normal blood clotting processes and functions, so it is advisable to consult the Patient Information guide before beginning to take Femodene ED. Femodene is safe to use for the vast majority of healthy women though it is recommended that you evaluate the benefits and negatives of this medication and understand that there is a small proportion of the population for whom it would not be suitable.

Do not take Femodene ED:

• If you have ever had issues with blood clots in any organs, for example, deep vein thrombosis in your legs or a pulmonary embolism in your lungs.

• 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 have ever suffered from a cardiac arrest or have had a stroke.

• If you require any type of invasive operation or if your job or lifestyle requires you to be off your feet for extended periods of time.

• Certain illnesses such as angina pectoris or transient ischaemic attack, which cause serious chest pain and temporary stroke symptoms, respectively.

• If you’re afflicted by any disease which exacerbates arterial clotting such as:

  • Type 1 or 2 diabetes that has led to damaged blood vessels;

  • Hyperhomocysteinemia, whose symptoms consist of very high levels of fat in the bloodstream;

  • Very high blood pressure levels;

• If you have (or have ever had) migraines or a type of a migraine called ‘a 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 are allergic (hypersensitive) to any of the ingredients in Femodene ED.

• If you have Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis (chronic inflammatory bowel disease).

• If you have systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE – a disease affecting your natural defence system).

• If you have a haemolytic-uraemic syndrome (HUS – a disorder of blood clotting causing failure of the kidneys).

• If you have sickle cell anaemia (an inherited disease of the red blood cells).

• If you have inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis).

• If you have just given birth, you are at an increased risk of blood clots.

• If you have an inflammation of the veins under the skin (superficial thrombophlebitis).

• If you have varicose veins.

• If you have diabetes.

• If you or your close family have ever had problems with your heart or circulation, such as high blood pressure.

• If you or your close family have ever had problems with blood clotting.

• If you have the inherited disease called porphyria.

• If you are overweight (obese).

• If you have any illness that worsened during pregnancy or previous use of the Pill.

Always tell your doctor, pharmacist or dentist that you’re taking Femodene ED if you ever need to take another medicine at the same time. Some medicines can have an influence on the blood levels of Femodene ED and can stop it from working properly – for example:

• some medicines used to treat epilepsy;

• some medicines used to treat HIV and Hepatitis C virus infections (so-called protease inhibitors and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors);

• griseofulvin (an anti-fungal medicine);

• certain antibiotics;

• certain sedatives (called ‘barbiturates’);

• St. John’s Wort (a herbal remedy).

Femodene ED contains lactose and sucrose - if you have been told by your doctor that you have an intolerance to some sugars, contact your doctor before using Femodene ED.

Do not use Femodene ED if you are pregnant. If you are breastfeeding, your doctor or family planning nurse may advise you not to take Femodene ED.  They will be able to suggest alternative contraception.