Unlike most commercially available contraceptive pills, using Qlaira does not require of you to have a seven-day break from using the treatment.
The pills should therefore be taken daily for 28 consecutive days, and after one package ends, you should immediately start the next one. This innovative way of taking hormones takes into account the natural fluctuations in the levels of oestrogen and progesterone during the ovulation cycle, and therefore it does not cause drastic changes in the content of hormones, which makes it one of the most natural means of contraception. No interruption in its use also means a lack of withdrawal reactions.
Each blister pack of Qlaira contains four types of pills with different amounts of hormones, which form a sort of easy-to-use calendar. Each cycle consists of tablets of different colours, which must be taken consecutively every day:
- 2 dark yellow tablets containing 3 mg of estradiol
- 5 bright red tablets containing 2 mg of estradiol and 2 mg of dienogest
- 17 light yellow pills containing 2 mg of estradiol and 2 mg of dienogest
- 2 dark red tablets containing 1 mg of estradiol
- 2 white pills containing no hormones – placebo
Bleeding associated with a decrease in hormone levels usually begins after taking the second dark red pill, or in the course of taking white tablets, and it may last until the beginning of the next package. In some patients, the bleeding persists even after the adoption of the first tablets from a new package.