Mercilon comes in strips of 21 pills, with a day of the week marked alongside each pill. You should take the pills according to the correct day of the week, and follow the direction of the arrows on the strip.

If you start to take Mercilon on the first day of your period, your protection from pregnancy is immediate.

If your period has already started, start taking Mercilon on day 5 of your cycle whether your bleeding has stopped or not. You’ll need to use additional contraception, such as condoms, for the first 7 days, while the pill takes effect in the body.

Take 1 pill at the same time every day, until you have used all 21 pills. You can swallow the pills with water if you’d prefer to, but don’t chew them.

After you’ve taken all 21 pills, have a 7-day pill-free break. So if you take the last pill from the strip on a Friday, take the first pill from the new strip on the Saturday of the following week.

A few days after taking the last pill from the strip, you should get a withdrawal bleed, like a period. This bleed may still be continuing when you start your next strip of pills; this is fine - even if you’re still bleeding, start your new strip of pills.

You should always read the patient information leaflet that comes with your treatment before using Mercilon.

Yes. Besides taking Mercilon for 21 days and then having a 7-day break from it, you can also take it as a 28-day pill or on a more extended basis.

As a 28-day pill, you take a pill every day, with no breaks in between strips of pills. If you decide to go with extended use, you take 1 pill every day for 9 weeks, and then have either a 4 or 7 day break from pills.

If you would prefer to take Mercilon in these ways, let our clinician know during your consultation, and they can advise you.

If less than 12 hours have passed since you missed a pill, don’t worry. Your protection from pregnancy shouldn’t be affected. Just take the pill you missed immediately (so two pills in one day if you have to).

In the event that more than 12 hours have passed, or if you have missed more than one pill, take the pill you missed most recently immediately. Leave any pills you missed earlier than this in the strip. Then take any subsequent pills as you normally would (this may involve taking two pills in one day). You should use extra contraception, such as condoms, for the next 7 days.

Depending on how many pills there are left in your pack - more or fewer than 7 - you might need to skip the pill free break at the end. Refer to the instruction leaflet for more info on what to do.

Yes, but you should discuss it with a doctor first, as it involves taking the pill in a slightly different way.

If you want to delay your period, finish the strip of pills you’re taking, and then start the next strip the day after, without taking a pill-free break. Once you’ve finished this strip, take 7 pill-free days as you usually would, and then start your next strip of pills. You may get some bleeding or spotting on the days that you take the pill, but this is nothing to worry about.

Headache, sore or tender breasts, nausea and abdominal pain are all common side effects when taking the combined pill. These symptoms are often mild, and disappear after a few weeks. But if you find that they persist, or if you get any side effects that cause you more discomfort, let our clinician know. They may recommend that you switch to a different pill, and can advise you on alternatives that may be more suitable for you.

If you experience severe side effects which are more severe, you should seek emergency medical attention at a hospital. You can find more information about this in the patient information leaflet that comes with your treatment.

There’s no significant evidence that Mercilon, or other combined pills, lead to any considerable weight gain.^[2]

Some women may put on a bit of weight when they first start to use a combined pill, but usually, any gains in weight are caused by factors which don’t relate to the pill itself.

Using the combined pill can cause greater water retention in the body initially, but any extra weight that you put on due to this isn’t very much, and shouldn’t last for any more than a few months.

Some women have reported depression and experiences of low mood whilst using hormonal contraceptive pills, including Mercilon.

If you find that these symptoms don’t go away, let our clinician know, and they can suggest alternative pills that might be better for you.

If you have a family history of hormone-related hair loss, or if you are sensitive to hormones in a particular contraceptive pill, you may experience hair loss.

But any hair loss that you might experience from taking contraceptive pills tends to be temporary, and should stop after a few months once your body has got used to the pill.

If your family does have a history of hair loss, you should look for pills that have more oestrogen than progesterone in them. These pills have less androgen in them, which is a hormone that can speed up hair loss in women. Our prescriber can discuss this in more detail with you during your consultation.

Yasmin, like Mercilon, is a 21-day combined pill, and there’s no difference between the two in terms of how they work.

Because they’re not made by the same companies (Yasmin is made by Bayer, while Mercilon is made by Merck Sharp and Dohme) the pills themselves may differ in appearance, and the packaging isn’t the same. But the only significant difference between the two is the hormones that are in them.

Both pills contain ethinylestradiol, which is a form of oestrogen, but they have two different forms of progesterone in them. Mercilon contains a progestogen called desogestrel, whereas Yasmin contains a progestogen known as drospirenone.

Besides its primary role in Yasmin pills as a hormone that prevents pregnancy, drospirenone has shown to be particularly effective at treating symptoms of acne. So if you’re looking for a 21-day pill that offers protection from pregnancy but also has the added benefit of helping to tackle acne (in some cases), Yasmin may be an especially suitable option for you.

Mercilon contains a lower dose of oestrogen than some other pills, so if you’re sensitive to oestrogen, or to the side effects that it can cause, it may be a particularly appropriate pill for you.

So it’s really a question of your medical background, and what sort of symptoms and side effects you’re prone to, when it comes to which pill is best for you.

Marvelon is a 21-day combined pill that’s also made by Merck Sharp and Dohme, and you use it in the same way as Mercilon.

Marvelon contains slightly more oestrogen than Mercilon (30mcg rather than 20mcg) so it may be a suitable option for you if you’re less sensitive to oestrogen and its side effects.

With an EveAdam subscription, it’s easy.

You can switch whenever you want to. Just log into your account, and send our clinician a message. They’ll take any symptoms or side effects you may be experiencing into account and suggest alternative pills that may suit you better.