Gedarel 20/150 or 30/150 (Ethinylestradiol / Desogestrel) Combined Pill – 3 Months (63 Tablets)

Gedarel is a prescription-only combined oral contraceptive pill. Each tablet contains two hormones: ethinylestradiol (an oestrogen) and desogestrel (a progestogen). It comes in two strengths — Gedarel 20/150 and Gedarel 30/150 — which differ in the amount of oestrogen. You take one tablet a day for 21 days, then have a 7-day break. At Ways Pharmacy, Gedarel is supplied only after a pharmacist has assessed your health, checked a recent blood pressure reading and confirmed that a combined pill is suitable for you. The pharmacist will advise which strength suits you.

How to access this medicine

1. Start your free online assessment. Complete a short questionnaire and confirm your identity by uploading photo ID or showing it on a video call. For a combined pill you also give your height and weight and upload a photo of a blood pressure monitor reading taken in the last 3 months. If you do not have one, you can have your blood pressure checked free of charge at our Holborn pharmacy.
2. Pharmacist reviews and speaks with you. A GPhC-registered pharmacist contacts you by phone or video to confirm whether this medicine is suitable for you. They go through your medical and family history, smoking, weight, migraine and other medicines, and explain how to take the pill and what to do if you miss one. If your blood pressure cannot be confirmed, a combined pill will not be supplied; the pharmacist may suggest a progestogen-only pill instead.
3. If suitable, order and pay on this page. Once the pharmacist confirms the medicine is suitable, you select the pack and check out on this page, or call 020 8106 7084. If it is not suitable — including when the pharmacist recommends advice only — you pay nothing and the pharmacist explains your other options. If you have already paid and the pharmacist finds the medicine is not suitable, you receive a full refund.
4. We post your medicine or you collect it. Once approved, orders placed by 3pm on a weekday are posted the same day (see our shipping policy), or you can collect from our Holborn pharmacy.

There is no separate consultation fee. If the medicine you chose is not suitable, the pharmacist may suggest another option.

If you are 16 or 17, you can consult online without a parent or guardian. If you are under 16, contraception is available only through a face-to-face consultation with the pharmacist, on your own, at our Holborn pharmacy. Young people's confidentiality is respected, in line with national guidance.

About this medicine

Dosage

• Take one tablet every day at about the same time for 21 days, following the arrows on the strip
• Then stop for 7 days. You will usually have a bleed during this break.
• Start the next strip on day 8, even if you are still bleeding
• If you miss a tablet, follow the patient information leaflet, and speak to a pharmacist promptly if you are unsure or have had sex — you may need emergency contraception

The pharmacist will explain when to start, whether you need extra contraception, such as condoms, for the first few days, and whether another way of taking the pill is suitable for you.

A first supply is up to 3 months. After a review confirming the pill still suits you — including an up-to-date blood pressure reading, up to 12 months can be supplied at a time, and you can then order more than one pack at a time. Your blood pressure is checked again at each review.

See our contraceptive pill service for other pill options.

Warnings and who should not take this medicine

• Anyone who is or might be pregnant, or who gave birth less than 6 weeks ago
• A previous blood clot (DVT or pulmonary embolism), a close relative who had a blood clot at a young age, or a condition that raises your clot risk
• A heart attack, stroke or angina, now or in the past
• Migraine with aura
• Raised or uncontrolled blood pressure
• Smoking if you are aged 35 or over, or a BMI of 35 or more
• Breast cancer, or severe liver disease or liver tumours
• Unexplained vaginal bleeding
• Diabetes with complications affecting the eyes, kidneys, nerves or blood vessels
• Medicines that make the pill less effective, such as some epilepsy medicines, rifampicin, rifabutin, some HIV medicines and St John's wort — tell the pharmacist everything you take

Pills containing desogestrel, such as Gedarel, are associated with a higher risk of blood clots than pills containing levonorgestrel. The overall risk is still small, and the pharmacist will discuss it with you. The pill does not protect against sexually transmitted infections — see our STI testing service.

Possible side effects

Nausea, headache, breast tenderness, mood changes and spotting or bleeding between periods are the most common, especially in the first few months. Serious problems such as blood clots, stroke and heart attack are rare. Stop taking the pill and call 999 or go to A&E if you get chest pain, sudden breathlessness or coughing up blood, a painful swollen leg, or a sudden severe headache, weakness or change in your sight.

Regulatory information

• Legal status: Prescription-only medicine (POM), supplied under a Patient Group Direction after pharmacist assessment
• Pharmacy: Ways Pharmacy, 77 Southampton Row, London WC1B 4ET · GPhC-registered premises 9012227
• Patient information leaflet: electronic Medicines Compendium (emc)
• Report suspected side effects through the MHRA Yellow Card Scheme

This page gives factual information about a prescription-only medicine and is not an advertisement to the public. It is supplied only after a pharmacist has assessed that it is suitable for you.