Levonelle

The morning after pill Levonelle can be taken to prevent unwanted pregnancies if it’s within 72 hours of the unprotected intercourse. The quicker you take it, the better. It’s often taken if there has been a problem with their usual type of contraceptive, for example because they forgot to take the pill or their condom broke. Treatment consists of a single dose.

The active ingredient in Levonelle is a hormone found in many conventional contraceptive pills, called levonorgestrel. Levonelle contains 1.5mg of this hormone, which prevents pregnancy by stopping your ovaries from releasing an egg as well as preventing fertilisation of a released egg.

Levonelle is available on the NHS, as well as from various sources online. Zava can provide you with a prescription and send your medication to your preferred address. Please be careful when ordering prescription medication online and check the legitimacy of any website by ensuring the service has been approved by the Care Quality Commission.

You can also buy Generic Levonelle using our service. It has the same active ingredient as branded Levonelle - levonorgestrel.

The morning after pill Levonelle is an effective way of preventing pregnancy if taken within the required time frame. However, it’s not 100% effective and should be used for emergency contraception only.

Using regular contraception, like a condom or normal contraceptive pill, is a safer way of preventing pregnancy. Levonelle is not effective after ovulation, and in an emergency, the copper coil (intrauterine device - IUD) is the most effective way to prevent pregnancy, which involves a small device made of copper and plastic being fitted into your womb.

Levonelle is most effective when taken during the first 12 hours after intercourse and will generally prevent 84% of all possible pregnancies if taken within three days as advised. If you had unprotected sex more than 3 days ago, then Levonelle is not suitable for you. You may wish to discuss alternative treatment options with your local doctor. With an intrauterine contraceptive coil or the alternative morning after pill EllaOne you will still be able to take preventative steps to avoid pregnancy.

Levonelle is only suitable for preventing pregnancies within 72 hours of intercourse and can not be used to terminate a pregnancy. Levonelle can be taken while breastfeeding. Studies have found no evidence that this morning after pill can harm your baby, but small amounts of the active ingredient may pass into your breast milk. If this worries you, you should take the pill straight away after breastfeeding, so when you next breastfeed your body has already started to process it. You can also get in touch with our doctors for further advice.

Levonelle is generally not suitable for patients with Crohn’s disease or any other condition affecting the way you absorb food as this can make it less effective. You must also discuss the possibility of taking Levonelle with your doctor if you have ever had an ectopic pregnancy, have problems with your liver or have suffered from inflammations of the fallopian tubes in the past. If you are under the age of 16, you need to visit your local doctor or family planning clinic to obtain a morning after pill.

Levonelle is also less effective for people with a BMI over 26 or weight over 70kg. While people in these groups could take it, one tablet of Levonelle isn’t the most suitable. If you’re in this group, the IUD is advised or in terms of tablets, EllaOne is more effective or sometimes a higher dose of Levonelle may be recommended.

Certain types of medication may interact with Levonelle. This includes barbiturates, epilepsy medication and drugs used to treat tuberculosis. Some HIV treatments can also interfere with Levonelle, the same goes for ciclosporin. You should also be careful when taking medicines to treat fungal infections, such as griseofulvin. As with the ordinary contraceptive pill, taking the herbal remedy St. John’s Wort can lessen the effectiveness of your contraceptive. Please make sure you indicate which medications you are taking regularly or whether you have recently finished a course of medication when ordering Levonelle from Zava or any any other doctor service or pharmacy.

If you need to take Levonelle because you've forgotten to take your contraceptive pill, you can continue taking it as usual. Just take one pill per day, at the usual time, even on the day of emergency contraceptive treatment. If you’re not sure how to take your pill, read our contraceptive pill page or ask a Zava Doctor for advice.

No. It’s really important you use regular contraception, instead of relying on emergency contraception methods after intercourse. Regular contraception, such as using condoms, an intrauterine device, or contraceptive pill, generally has a lot less side effects and is much more effective.

You should also bear in mind, that unprotected sex puts you at danger of contracting sexually transmitted diseases like chlamydia or HIV. If you have recently had sex with a partner whose sexual health status is unknown, you should consider getting tested for sexually transmitted infections.

Levonelle may cause your menstrual cycle to be irregular. If you are unsure as to whether Levonelle has worked, or if you have any strange or sudden pain in your abdomen, you must consult a doctor immediately. Your doctor will need to establish whether you're pregnant and rule out the possibility of an ectopic pregnancy.

If your period is more than 7 days late, you should tell your doctor too. Even if you think it has worked, it’s still a good idea to take a pregnancy test – you can take this from the first day of a missed period or 3 weeks after unprotected sex.

These occur in around or more than 1 in 10 women:

• Feeling sick
• Tiredness
• Headaches
• Irregular bleeding - including that your period might occur earlier or later. Most women do have their period within 5 to 7 days of their normal time

Between 1 in 10 and 1 in 100 will also experience these side effects:

• Being sick
• Changes to your period, including being more than 7 days late (but, if this happens, you should tell a doctor)
• breast tenderness
• diarrhoea
• dizziness

Most side effects resolve a few days after taking Levonelle.

In very rare cases, women experience an allergic reaction to Levonelle. Symptoms of an allergic reaction include an itchy rash, difficulty breathing, and facial swelling.

If you throw up or experience severe diarrhoea within three hours of taking the pill, you may need to take another dose. There is a possibility that the active ingredient has not been absorbed yet, making the treatment ineffective. Please contact your doctor to discuss how to proceed.