Noriday

Noriday contains the active ingredient norethisterone. It is sometimes recommended to people who can’t take the combined oral contraceptive pill for any reason.

You should not take Noriday if you:

• are or think you may be pregnant
• have or have had hormone-dependent cancer of the breast, cervix, womb or vagina
• have or have had a blood clot (thrombosis)
• have inflamed veins
• have or ever had acute or severe chronic liver disease such as liver tumours or jaundice
• have active liver disease
• have heart disease
• have had a stroke
• have unexplained vaginal bleeding
• have never had a period or suffer from lack of periods (amenorrhoea)
• have suffered from itching of the whole body during pregnancy (pruritis)
• experienced jaundice during pregnancy where the cause was not identified
• have fat metabolism disorders
• are allergic to norethisterone or any of the other ingredients of Noriday.

Noriday is not recommended to women with certain medical conditions. Before you start taking it you should talk to your doctor if you have or have ever had any of the following:

• multiple sclerosis
• diabetes (or you have a family history of diabetes)
• epilepsy
• migraine headaches
• depression
• heart problems
• kidney problems
• liver disease
• high blood pressure
• asthma
• varicose veins
• porphyria (a rare inherited blood disease)
• gallstones
• muscle twitches (tetany)
• otosclerosis (an inherited form of deafness).

If you wear contact lenses, or are obese, or have history of pre-eclampsia and are more than 35 years of age you should tell your doctor before taking Noriday.

Certain medicines may interact with Noriday and stop it from working properly. Medicines used to treat conditions including depression, epilepsy, HIV infection, AIDS, bacterial and fungal infections, sleep problems, and anxiety may interfere with Noriday.

If you take any of the following medicines, your doctor may advise you against taking Noriday, or tell you to use an additional form of contraception such as condoms, or recommend another form of contraception. Make sure that you tell your doctor if you take any of these medicines:

Medicines to treat epilepsy:

• carbamazepine
• oxacarbazepine
• phenytoin
• primidone
• topiramate
• phenobarbital (also used to treat insomnia and anxiety).

Medicines used to treat HIV and AIDS:

• nelfinavir
• nevirapine
• ritonavir.

Medicines used to treat bacterial infections:

• rifabutin
• rifampicin
• ampicillin
• doxycycline
• griseofulvin (fungal infection)

Medicine to treat narcolepsy (falling asleep during the day)
modafinil.

Tell your doctor if you are taking corticosteroids (used to treat inflammatory conditions including asthma, eczema and hay fever) as Noriday might affect how well they work.

To make sure that Noriday works as effectively as possible, you must take it exactly as instructed by your doctor.

To get the maximum protection against pregnancy, you should start taking Noriday on the first day of your next period. For the first seven days you should use an additional form of contraception such as condoms to ensure that you are protected against getting pregnant.

Noriday must be taken around the same time every day, within a three hour (maximum) window, and swallowed whole with water.

To help you to remember to take your pill every day, each pack of 28 Noriday contraceptive pills is printed with the days of the week. Once you’ve finished one pack, start the next one the following day. You don’t need to take a break between packs to have your period and must take them every day to ensure that you’re protected against pregnancy.

If you forget to take your pill and don’t remember until over three hours after you should have taken it, take one as soon as you remember then carry on taking one at the same time each day as normal. If this means taking two pills in one day, that’s fine. Make sure that you use an additional barrier contraceptive such as a cap with spermicide or a condom for the next seven days when having sex.

If you are ill with vomiting or diarrhoea, Noriday might not work as well so keep taking your pills but also use a condom when you have sex for the next week to be on the safe side.

Noriday is 99% effective against pregnancy when taken correctly every day.

As with all medicines, Noriday can cause side effects in some, though not all, people taking the medicine.

Some side effects of Noriday can be serious, and if you experience any of the following symptoms while taking the tablets, stop taking Noriday and seek medical help straight away. The following symptoms could be the warning signs of a blood clot (thrombosis) which can be extremely serious if not treated:

• a sudden and severe pain in the chest
• breathlessness
• a severe headache that lasts for a long time
• a one sided swelling or severe pain in your calf
• visual disturbances
• muddled speech
• weakness in any part of you
• numbness anywhere
• fainting or collapsing.

Also get immediate medical help if you notice your skin or the whites of your eyes turning yellow (jaundice).

Although every woman is already at risk of breast cancer, there is a slightly higher occurrence of the disease in women who are taking oral contraceptive pills.

However, scientists don’t know for sure if taking contraceptive pills actually increases the risk of developing breast cancer or whether it is just identified sooner because women on the pill have more medical check-ups.