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How to Use
Take this medicine with food to help prevent nausea that might occur during the first few weeks. Nausea usually disappears with continued use or if the medicine is taken at bedtime.
When you
begin to use Ortho tricyclen, your body will require at least 7 days to adjust before a pregnancy will be prevented. You will need to use an additional birth control method for at least 7 days. Some d
octors recommend using an additional method of birth control for the first cycle (or 3 weeks) to ensure full protection. Follow the advice of your doctor or other health care professional.
Tr
y to take the doses no more than 24 hours apart to reduce the possibility of side effects and to prevent pregnancy.
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What special precautions should I follow?
Pregnancy¡XOrtho tricyclen are not recommended for use during pregnancy and should be discontinued if you become pregnant or think you are pregnant. When Ortho tricyclen were accidently taken early in
pregnancy, problems in the fetus did not occur. Women who are not breast-feeding may begin to take Ortho tricyclen two weeks after having a baby.
Breast-feeding¡XOrtho tricyclen pass into the
breast milk and can change the content or lower the amount of breast milk. Also, they may shorten a woman's ability to breast-feed by about 1 month, especially when the mother is only partially breast
-feeding.
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Precautions while Using this Medicine
Cigarette smoking increases the risk of serious side effects from Ortho tricyclen, including heart attacks, blood clots, and strokes. This risk is higher for women over 35 years old and heavy smokers
(15 or more cigarettes per day). If you take Ortho tricyclen, you should not smoke.
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What is this medicine
Ortho tricyclen (birth-control pills) are used to prevent pregnancy. Estrogen and progestin are two female sex hormones. Combinations of estrogen and progestin work by preventing the release of eggs f
rom the ovaries (ovulation) and changing the cervical mucus and the lining of the uterus. Ortho tricyclen are a very effective method of birth control, but they do not prevent the spread of AIDS and o
ther sexually transmitted diseases.
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How should you take this medication?
Ortho tricyclen come in packets of 21 or 28 tablets to take by mouth once a day. To avoid upset stomach, take Ortho tricyclen with food or milk. Take the tablet routinely at the same time every day (e
.g., after dinner or at bedtime) to help you remember to take the tablet regularly. Missing doses increases your risk of becoming pregnant.
When first starting on this medicine, use an additi
onal method of birth control until you have correctly taken 7 days' worth of medicine.
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Side Effects
Healthy women who do not smoke cigarettes have almost no chance of having a severe side effect from taking Ortho tricyclen. For most women, more problems occur because of pregnancy than will occur fro
m taking Ortho tricyclen. But for some women who have special health problems, Ortho tricyclen can cause some unwanted effects. Some of these unwanted effects include benign (not cancerous) liver tumo
rs, liver cancer, or blood clots or related problems, such as a stroke. Although these effects are very rare, they can be serious enough to cause death. You may want to discuss these effects with your
doctor.
If you suspect that you may have become pregnant, stop taking this medicine immediately and check with your doctor.
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