Description

Cerazette is used to prevent pregnancy.

• There are 2 main kinds of hormone contraceptive.

– The combined pill, “The Pill”, which contains 2 types of female sex hormone an oestrogen and a progestogen,
– The progestogen-only pill, POP, which doesn’t contain an oestrogen.
• Cerazette is a progestogen-only-pill (POP).
• Cerazette contains a small amount of one type of female sex hormone, the progestogen desogestrel.
• Most POPs work primarily by preventing the sperm cells from entering the womb but they do not always prevent the egg cell from ripening, which is the main way that combined pills work.
• Cerazette is different from most POPs in having a dose that in most cases prevents the egg cell from ripening. As a result, Cerazette is a highly effective contraceptive.
• In contrast to the combined pill, Cerazette can be used by women who do not tolerate oestrogens and by women who are breast feeding.
• A disadvantage is that vaginal bleeding may occur at irregular intervals during the use of Cerazette. On the other hand you may not have any bleeding at all.

Uses / Instructions

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, (see section 4 ‘Possible side effects) 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.

Warnings

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.

See patient information leaflet for more details.

Side Effects

Common: may affect up to 1 in 10 women

• mood altered, depressed mood, decreased sexual drive (libido)
• headache
• nausea
• acne
• breast pain; irregular or no menstruation
• increased body weight

See patient information leaflet for a full list of side effects.

Ingredients

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