Health Library

Emergency contraceptive kit (By mouth)

Prevents pregnancy after unprotected sex or after failure of another birth control method. This kit contains a patient information book, a urine pregnancy test, and 4 emergency contraceptive tablets.

Brand Name(s):

When This Medicine Should Not Be Used:

How to Use This Medicine:

Tablet

• If the pregnancy test is positive, do not take the pills in the Preven? kit.
• Your doctor will tell you how much of this medicine to use and how often. Do not use more medicine or use it more often than your doctor tells you to.
• This kit should come with a patient instruction book. Read this and be sure you understand everything in it.
• Take 2 tablets as soon as possible after unprotected sex, unless directed otherwise by your doctor. Take the other 2 tablets exactly 12 hours after you take the first 2 tablets.
• The tablets need to be taken within 72 hours after unprotected sex. They work best if taken with 24 hours.
• If you vomit within one hour of taking the tablets, call your doctor for instructions.
• The urine pregnancy test is used to find out if you were already pregnant before you had unprotected sex. It will not detect a pregnancy resulting from sex within the past 72 hours.
• To use the urine pregnancy test stick, take off the protective cap covering the absorbent tip. Sit on the toilet and hold the test stick with the absorbent tip pointing down. When you begin to urinate, place the tip of the test stick into the urine as you pass it for at least 5 seconds. Do not get the windows on the test stick wet. When finished, lay the test stick on a flat surface with the windows facing up.
• Wait 3 minutes before reading the pregnancy test stick. Do not wait longer than 20 minutes.
• When the pregnancy test stick is ready to be read, a pink/purple line will appear in the square control window. If there is any pink/purple line in the round result window, you are pregnant. It does not matter how dark the lines are.
• If a line does not appear in the square control window, the pregnancy test did not work properly. Talk to your doctor.

How to Store and Dispose of This Medicine:

• Store the kit at room temperature in a closed container, away from heat, moisture, and direct light.
• Keep all medicine away from children and never share your medicine with anyone.

Drugs and Foods to Avoid:

Ask your doctor or pharmacist before using any other medicine, including over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal products.

• Make sure your doctor knows if you are also taking vitamin C supplements, cyclosporine (Neoral®, Sandimmune®), or theophylline (Theo-Dur®, Slo-Bid®).
• Tell your doctor about any medicines you are taking to treat seizures, infection, or depression.

Warnings While Using This Medicine:

• If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, talk to your doctor before taking this medicine.
• Make sure your doctor knows if you have severe headaches (including migraine), unexplained vaginal bleeding, diabetes, angina, pulmonary hypertension, heart rhythm problems, or other heart or circulation problems.
• Make sure your doctor knows if you have severe diarrhea.
• Tell your doctor if you need to be on bedrest for a prolonged period of time (such as recovering from surgery, injury, or illness) or if you have recently had a baby.
• Tell your doctor if you are over 35 years old or if you drink alcohol or smoke.
• This kit is for the emergency prevention of pregnancy. This should not be your regular method of birth control.
• This medicine will not protect you from sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis, herpes, or HIV (the virus that causes AIDS).
• Most women will have a normal period on time after using this medicine. However, it is normal to have some irregular bleeding or spotting or for your period to start a few days earlier or later than usual.
• If your period does not start within 21 days after using this medicine, call your doctor. Also, if your period starts but the bleeding lasts longer than normal, call your doctor.

Possible Side Effects While Using This Medicine:

Call your doctor right away if you notice any of these side effects:

• Crushing chest pain or heaviness in the chest
• Pain in the lower leg
• Severe pain or tenderness in the stomach area
• Sharp chest pain, coughing up blood, or sudden shortness of breath
• Sudden severe headache, weakness or numbness (especially on one side of the face or body), or problems with speech
• Vision or eye problems, including double vision, protruding eyeballs, blurred vision, change in ability to see colors, or partial or complete loss of vision

If you notice these less serious side effects, talk with your doctor:

• Breast tenderness
• Dizziness
• Headache
• Menstrual irregularities
• Nausea, vomiting

Last Updated: 6/12/2013