If you are nearsighted or wear contact lenses, you may develop vision problems or trouble wearing your contact lenses. Contact your eye doctor if these problems occur.
Do not use this medication if you smoke cigarettes/use tobacco and are over 35 years old. Smoking raises your risk of stroke, heart attack, blood clots, and high blood pressure from hormonal birth control (such as the pill, patch, ring). The risk of these serious problems increases with age and with the number of cigarettes you smoke. Do not smoke or use tobacco.
Warnings:
Do not use this medication if you smoke cigarettes/use tobacco and are over 35 years old. Smoking raises your risk of stroke, heart attack, blood clots, and high blood pressure from hormonal birth control (such as the pill, patch, ring). The risk of these serious problems increases with age and with the number of cigarettes you smoke. Do not smoke or use tobacco.
Combination oral contraceptives act by suppression of gonadotropins. Although the primary mechanism of this action is inhibition of ovulation, other alterations include changes in the cervical mucus (which increase the difficulty of sperm entry into the uterus) and changes in the endometrium (which reduce the likelihood of implantation).
No specific investigation of the absolute bioavailability of levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol tablets in humans has been conducted. However, literature indicates that levonorgestrel is rapidly and completely absorbed after oral administration (bioavailability nearly 100%) and is not subject to first-pass metabolism. Ethinyl estradiol is rapidly and almost completely absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract but, due to first-pass metabolism in gut mucosa and liver, the bioavailability of ethinyl estradiol is approximately 43%.
Table 1: Mean ± SD Pharmacokinetic Parameters Following A Single Dose Administration of Two Tablets of Levonorgestrel and Ethinyl Estradiol Tablets in Healthy Female Subjects Under Fasting Conditions
AnalyteAUCt
( mean ± SD )Cmax
( mean ± SD )Tmax
( mean ± SD )T1 / 2
( mean ± SD )Levonorgestrel60.8 ± 25.6 ng*hr/mL5.6 ± 1.5 ng/mL1.4 ± 0.3 hours29.8 ± 8.3 hoursEthinyl estradiol1307 ± 361 pg*hr/mL145 ± 45 pg/mL1.6 ± 0.5 hours15.4 ± 3.2 hours
The effect of food on the rate and the extent of levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol absorption following oral administration of levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol tablets has not been evaluated.
Sources:
https://www.webmd.com/drugs/2/drug-1058-374/levonorgestrel-ethinyl-estradiol-oral/levonorgestrel-ethinyl-estradiol-13-week-contraceptive-oral/details
https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/fda/fdaDrugXsl.cfm?setid=068199a9-ef22-4061-bb76-1ee58f726018