Marvelon comes in strips of 21 pills, each marked with a day of the week.

• Take your pill at the same time every day.
• Start by taking a pill marked with the correct day of the week.
• Follow the direction of the arrows on the strip. Take one pill each day, until you have finished all 21 pills.
• Swallow each pill whole, with water if necessary. Do not chew the pill.

Then have seven pill-free days

After you have taken all 21 pills in the strip, you have seven days when you take no pills. So if you take the last pill of one pack on a Friday, you will take the first pill of your next pack on the Saturday of the following week.
Within a few days of taking the last pill from the strip, you should have a withdrawal bleed like a period. This bleed may not have finished when it is time to start your next strip of pills. You don’t need to use extra contraception during these seven pill-free days – as long as you have taken your pills correctly and start the next strip of pills on time.

Then start your next strip
Start taking your next strip of Marvelon after the seven pill-free days – even if you are still bleeding. Always start the new strip on time. As long as you take Marvelon correctly, you will always start each new strip on the same day of the week.

Starting Marvelon
As a new user or starting the Pill again after a break

• Or if your period has already begun start taking Marvelon on day 5 (counting the first day of your
  period as day 1) whether or not your bleeding has stopped. You must also use extra contraception, such as condoms, until you have taken the first seven pills correctly.
• Either take your first Marvelon pill on the first day of your next period. By starting in this way,
  you will have contraceptive protection with your first pill.

Changing to Marvelon from another contraceptive Pill

• If you are currently on a 21-day Pill: start taking Marvelon the next day after the end of the previous strip. You will have contraceptive protection with your first pill but you will not have a bleed until after you finish your first strip of Marvelon.
• If you are currently on a 28-day Pill: start taking Marvelon the day after your last active pill. You will have contraceptive protection with your first pill. You will not have a bleed until after you finish your first strip of Marvelon.
• Or if you are taking a progestogen-only Pill (mini-Pill or POP): start Marvelon on the first day of bleeding, even if you have already taken the POP for that day. You will have contraceptive cover straight away. If you don’t usually have any bleeding while you are taking a progestogen-only Pill, you can stop taking it any day and start Marvelon the next day. You will need to use extra contraception, such as a condom, for seven days.

Changing to Marvelon from a progestogen-only injection, implant or progestogen releasing intrauterine device (IUD)

Start taking Marvelon when your next injection is due or on the day that your implant or IUD is removed. Make sure you also use an additional contraceptive method, such as a condom, for the first 7 days that you are taking Marvelon.

Starting Marvelon after a miscarriage or abortion

If you have had a miscarriage or an abortion, your doctor may tell you to start taking Marvelon straight away. This means that you will have contraceptive protection with your first pill.

Contraception after having a baby

If you have just had a baby, ask your doctor for advice about contraception.

▪ If you have (or have ever had) a blood clot in a blood vessel of your legs (deep vein thrombosis, DVT), your lungs (pulmonary embolus, PE) or other organs

▪ If you know you have a disorder affecting your blood clotting – for instance, protein C deficiency, protein S deficiency, antithrombin-III deficiency, Factor V Leiden or antiphospholipid antibodies

▪ If you need an operation or if you are off your feet for a long time  

▪ If you have ever had a heart attack or stroke

▪ If you have (or have ever had) angina pectoris (a condition that causes severe chest pain and may be a first sign of a heart attack) or transient ischaemic attack (TIA – temporary stroke symptoms)

▪ If you have any of the following diseases that may increase your risk of a clot in the arteries:

- severe diabetes with blood vessel damage 

- very high blood pressure

- a very high level of fat in the blood (cholesterol or triglycerides)

- a condition known as hyperhomocysteinaemia

▪ If you have (or have ever had) a type of migraine called ‘migraine with aura’

▪ If you have or have ever had breast cancer

▪ If you have ever had a severe liver disease, and you have been told by your doctor that your liver function test results are not yet back to normal

▪ If you have ever had liver tumours

▪ If you are allergic (hypersensitive) to any of the ingredients in Mercilon

• If you have hepatitis C and are taking the medicinal products containing ombitasvir / paritaprevir / ritonavir, dasabuvir,glecaprevir / pibrentasvir or sofosbuvir / velpatasvir / voxilaprevir 

Very common: may affect more than 1 in 10 women

• Headaches including migraines (but if it is severe, or the headache is unusual or long lasting, see a doctor as soon as possible)

• Breakthrough bleeding or spotting.

Common: may affect up to 1 in 10 women

• Infections of the vagina including thrush

• Feeling sick (nausea) or being sick (vomiting)

• Stomach pain or cramps

• Changes in weight

• Change in mood including depression or low mood

• Dizziness

• Nervousness

• Change in sex drive

• Acne

• Sore, painful or tender breasts

• Changes in the secretion from the breast, enlargement of breasts.

Uncommon: may affect up to 1 in 100 women

• Diarrhoea

• Changes in appetite

• Change in menstrual flow

• Rash

• Brown patches on your face or body (chloasma) 

• Hives (urticaria)

• Fluid retention resulting in swollen ankles, hands or feet

• Increase in blood pressure

• Changes in the fat levels in your blood (e.g. high triglyceride levels).

Rare: may affect up to 1 in 1000 women

• Change in glucose tolerance

• Contact lenses may feel uncomfortable

• Painful red lumps on skin (erythema nodosum)

• Pink-red blotches on skin (erythema multiforme)

• Period pain (dysmenorrhea), lack/absence of periods (amenorrhea)

• Vaginal discharge.

Very rare: may affect up to 1 in 10,000 women

• Inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis)

• New gallbladder disease and worsening of existing gallbladder disease

• Worsening of chorea (a nerve disease causing sudden movements of the body)

• Worsening of systemic lupus erythematosus

• Problems at the back of your eye which may cause partial or complete loss of vision (retinal vein thrombosis)

• Worsening of porphyria (a rare disease of the blood pigments)

• Liver tumour.

Not known: frequency cannot be estimated from the available data

• Worsening of varicose veins

• Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis (Inflammatory bowel disease)

• Bloating

• Herpes gestationis (skin rash with fluid-filled blisters during pregnancy).

https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/files/pil.1359.pdf