About Period Delay Treatment: If you need to put your period on hold then you can get medication which can delay your period for up to 17 days.
How Do The Tablets Work? Periods are triggered every month by a drop in progesterone levels. The tablets work by keeping your hormone level high, which can delay your period for up to 17 days.
How Do I Take The Tablets? If we prescribe your period delay tablets, you would take one tablet three times a day. You would start three days before your period is due and continue taking them for up to 14 days afterwards (17 days in total). If you start the course fewer than three days before your period is due, it might not work and you’ll still have bleeding or spotting.
What Are The Side Effects Of The Tablets? Side effects are unusual but the most common ones are spotting, irregular bleeding, sore breasts, a lower sex drive and an upset stomach. Sometimes, these tablets can worsen migraine, diabetes, depression and epilepsy. The longer you take the tablets for, the more likely you’ll experience side effects. For the full information on side effects and how to take the medicine, it’s important to read the Patient Information Leaflet that comes with your tablets.
Important Safety Information These tablets can increase the risk of developing blood clots, so stay hydrated and move around as much as possible if you’re flying or on a long journey. If you’ve got a history of blood clots, this medicine is not suitable for you, so please talk to your GP. It’s important that you tell us which other medicines you’re taking — whether they’re prescription or medicines you’ve bought without a prescription. We need to know so that we only prescribe period delay tablets if suitable for you. Treatment is not suitable for people on certain medicines or with certain conditions. If you get any symptoms of blood clots then seek urgent medical attention (blood clots in the leg usually show up as painful tenderness and swelling in the calf. In extremely rare cases, there can be sudden shortness of breath).
What If I’m Pregnant, Just Given Birth or Breastfeeding? If you’re pregnant, could be pregnant, or you’re trying to get pregnant, do not use this service. If you’ve given birth within the last six weeks, do not use this service. If you’re breastfeeding there may be a temporary reduction in your milk if you take these period delay tablets.
Do I Still Need to Use Contraception? These tablets are not a contraceptive. You’ll need to use barrier contraception, like condoms, if you don’t have a long acting reversible contraceptive in place, like the coil or an implant. But if you’re taking the progesterone-only pill (POP or the mini pill), keep taking it and it will continue to act as a contraceptive. You should not take period delay tablets if you’re already using the combined pill. Standard combined pills can be taken back to back, missing the pill-free week, to skip a period.
Applying For Period Delay Treatment
If you have read all the information above and wish to request period delay treatment, please complete the questionnaire below.
PLEASE ALLOW AT 14 DAYS FOR THIS REQUEST TO BE PROCESSED, BEARING IN MIND THAT IF YOU ARE GIVEN PERIOD DELAY TREATMENT THEN YOU SHOULD BEGIN TAKING THE TABLETS 3 DAYS BEFORE YOUR PERIOD IS DUE.