PATIENT INFORMATION
SLYND
(slind)
(drospirenone) tablets, for oral use
Progestin pills help to
lower the chance of becoming pregnant when taken as directed. They do not
protect against HIV infection (AIDS) and other sexually transmitted diseases
(STDs).
What is SLYND?
SLYND is a birth control pill
(oral contraceptive) also called a POP (progestin only pill) that is used by
females who can become pregnant to prevent pregnancy.
The progestin drospirenone may
increase potassium levels in your blood. You should not take SLYND if you have
kidney, liver or adrenal disease because this could cause serious heart
problems as well as other health problems. Other medicines may also increase
potassium levels in your blood. If you are currently on daily, long-term
treatment for a chronic health condition with any of the medicines listed
below, talk to your healthcare provider about whether SLYND is right for you.
If you take any of the medicines listed below for a chronic health condition
you should have a blood test to check the potassium level in your blood before
you start taking SLYND and during the first month that you take SLYND.
- medicines to treat fungal infections, such as
ketoconazole, itraconazole, or voriconazole
- medicines to treat Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
infection or Hepatitis C infection, such as indinavir or boceprevir
- clarithromycin
How does SLYND work for
contraception?
Your chance of getting pregnant
depends on how well you follow the directions for taking your birth control
pills. The better you follow the directions, the less chance you have of
getting pregnant.
Based on the results of one
clinical study of a 28-day regimen of SLYND about 4 out of 100 females may get
pregnant within the first year they use SLYND.
The following chart shows the
chance of getting pregnant for females who use different methods of birth
control. Each box on the chart contains a list of birth control methods that
are similar in effectiveness. The most effective methods are at the top of the
chart. The box on the bottom of the chart shows the chance of getting pregnant
for females who do not use birth control and are trying to get pregnant.
Do not take SLYND if you:
- have kidney disease or kidney failure.
- have reduced adrenal gland function (adrenal
insufficiency).
- have or have had cervical cancer or any cancer that is
sensitive to female hormones.
- have liver disease, including liver tumors.
- have unexplained vaginal bleeding.
Tell your healthcare provider
if you have or have had any of these conditions. Your healthcare provider can
suggest a different method of birth control.
If any of these conditions
happen while you are taking SLYND, stop taking SLYND right away and talk to
your healthcare provider. Use non-hormonal contraception when you stop taking
SLYND.
Before you take SLYND, tell
your healthcare provider about all of your medical conditions, including if
you:
- are pregnant or think you may be pregnant.
- have ever had blood clots in your legs (deep vein
thrombosis), lungs (pulmonary embolism) or a stroke or heart attack (myocardial
infarction).
- have or have had depression
Tell your healthcare
provider about all the medicine you take including
prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins and herbal supplements,
such as St. John's Wort.
SLYND may affect the way other medicines work, and other
medicines may affect how well SLYND works.
Know the medicines you take. Keep a list of them to show
your healthcare provider and pharmacist when you get a new medicine.
How should I take SLYND?
Read the detailed Instructions for Use at the end of this
Patient Information leaflet about the right way to take SLYND.
What are the possible serious side effects of SLYND?
SLYND may cause serious side effects, including:
- High potassium levels in your blood (hyperkalemia).
Certain medicines and conditions can also increase the potassium levels in your
blood. Your healthcare provider may check the potassium levels in your blood
before and during treatment with SLYND. Call you healthcare provider or go
to a hospital emergency room right away if you have signs or symptoms of high
potassium levels in your blood including:
- weakness or numbness in an arm or leg
- palpitations (feel like your heart is racing or
fluttering) or irregular heartbeat
- nausea
- vomiting
- severe pain in your chest
- shortness of breath.
- Blood clot forming in blood vessels (thromboembolism
problems). Tell your healthcare provider if you have had a blood clot. Tell
your healthcare provider if you plan to have surgery or are not able to be
active due to illness or injury. Call your healthcare provider or go to a
hospital emergency room right away if you have:
- leg pain that will not go away
- a sudden, severe headache unlike your usual headaches
- sudden, severe shortness of breath
- sudden change in vision or blindness
- chest pain
- weakness or numbness in your arm or leg
- trouble speaking
- Bone loss. It is not known if the decrease in a
sex hormone that happens with SLYND can result in decreased bone density (bone
loss).
- Cervical cancer. See “Do birth control pills cause
cancer?”
- Liver problems, including rare liver tumors. Call
your healthcare provider right away if you have yellowing of your skin or eyes.
- Ectopic pregnancy (pregnancy in your tubes). If
you get pregnant while using SLYND, you might have an ectopic pregnancy. That
means that the pregnancy is not in the uterus. Ectopic pregnancy is a medical
emergency that often requires surgery. If you have severe abdominal (belly)
pain, call your healthcare provider or go to a hospital emergency room right
away.
- Risk of high blood sugar levels in people with
diabetes. If you have diabetes, you may need to monitor your blood sugar
level more often or adjust your diabetes medicine.
- Changes in menstrual bleeding. Irregular vaginal
bleeding, especially between menstrual periods, and irregular periods or the
absence of menstrual periods are common side effects of SLYND, but can
sometimes be serious. Tell your healthcare provider if you have any of these
changes in menstrual bleeding.
- Depression, especially if you have had depression in
the past. Call your healthcare provider immediately if you have any
thoughts of harming yourself.
What are the most common side effects of SLYND?
The most common side effects of SLYND include:
- acne
- menstrual cramps
- headache
- nausea
- breast pain and tenderness
- severe vaginal bleeding
- weight gain
- less sexual desire
These are not all the possible side effects of SLYND.
Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects.
You may report side effects to FDA at 1800-FDA-1088.
What else should I know about taking SLYND?
- If you are scheduled for any lab tests, tell your
healthcare provider you are taking SLYND. Certain blood tests may be affected
by SLYND.
How should I store SLYND?
- Store SLYND at room temperature between 68°F to 77°F
(20°C to 25°C).
- Keep SLYND and all medicines out of the reach of
children.
General information about the safe and effective use
of SLYND.
Medicines are sometimes prescribed for purposes other
than those listed in a Patient Information leaflet. Do not use SLYND for a
condition for which it was not prescribed. Do not give SLYND to other people,
even if they have the same symptoms that you have. It may harm them. You can
ask your pharmacist or healthcare provider for information about SLYND that is
written for health professionals.
Do birth control pills cause cancer?
Hormonal contraceptives do not appear to cause breast
cancer. However if you have breast cancer now, have had it in the past, or you
have (or have had) another cancer that may be sensitive to hormones, do not use
hormonal contraceptives.
Women who use hormonal contraceptives may have a higher
chance of getting cervical cancer. However, this may be due to other reasons
such as having more sexual partners and exposure to the human papilloma virus
(HPV).
What if I want to become pregnant?
You may stop taking SLYND whenever you wish. Consider a
visit with your healthcare provider for a pre-pregnancy checkup before you stop
taking SLYND.
What should I know about my period when taking SLYND?
Some females may miss a period. Irregular vaginal
bleeding or spotting may happen while you are taking SLYND, especially during
the first few months of use. If the irregular vaginal bleeding or spotting
continues or happens again after you have had regular menstrual cycles call
your healthcare provider. It is important to continue taking your pills on a
regular schedule to prevent a pregnancy.
What if I miss my scheduled period when using SLYND?
Some females miss periods on hormonal birth control, even
when they are not pregnant. However, if you go 2 or more months in a row
without a period, or you miss your period after a month where you did not use
all of your SLYND correctly, call you healthcare provider because you may be
pregnant. Also call your healthcare provider if you have symptoms of pregnancy
such as morning sickness or unusual breast tenderness. Stop taking SLYND if you
are pregnant.
What are the ingredients in SLYND?
White tablets
Active ingredient: drospirenone
Inactive ingredients: microcrystalline cellulose,
anhydrous lactose, colloidal silicon dioxide, magnesium stearate, polyvinyl
alcohol partially hydrolyzed, talc, titanium dioxide, and polyethylene glycol.
Green tablets
Inactive ingredients: lactose monohydrate, corn
starch, povidone 30000, colloidal silicon dioxide, magnesium stearate,
hypromellose, talc, titanium dioxide, polysorbate 2910, triacetin, FD&C
blue #2, aluminum lake, and yellow ferric oxide.
Instructions For Use
SLYND
(slind) (drospirenone) tablets, for oral use
Important Information about taking SLYND
Before you start taking SLYND
- Decide what time of day you want to take your pill. It is
important to take it at the same time every day and in the order as directed on
your blister pack.
- Have backup contraception (condoms or spermicide)
available.
How to take SLYND
- Take 1 pill every day at the same time. Take the pills in
the order directed on your blister pack.
- Both the white pills and the green pills should be
swallowed whole.
- Do not skip your pills, even if you do not have sex
often. If you miss pills (including starting the blister pack late) you
could get pregnant. The more pills you miss, the more likely you are to get
pregnant.
- If you have trouble remembering to take SLYND, talk to
your healthcare provider. When you first start taking SLYND, spotting or light
bleeding in between your periods may occur. Contact your healthcare provider if
this does not go away after a few months.
- You may feel sick to your stomach (nauseous), especially
during the first few months of taking SLYND. If you feel sick to your stomach,
do not stop taking the pill. The problem will usually go away. If your nausea
does not go away, call your healthcare provider.
- Missing pills can also cause spotting or light bleeding,
even when you take the missed pills later. On the days you take 2 pills to make
up for missed pills (see below), you could also feel a little sick to your
stomach.
- Some females miss periods on hormonal birth control, even
when they are not pregnant. However, if you miss a period and have not taken
SLYND according to directions, or miss 2 periods in a row, or feel like you may
be pregnant, call your healthcare provider. If you have a positive pregnancy
test, you should stop taking SLYND.
- If you have vomiting or diarrhea within 3 to 4 hours of
taking your pill, take a new pill (the pill scheduled for the next day) from
your blister pack within 12 hours of the usual time you take your pill, if
possible. Continue taking all your remaining pills in order. Start the first
pill of your next blister pack the day after finishing your current blister pack.
This will be 1 day earlier than originally scheduled. Continue on your new
schedule.
- If you have vomiting or diarrhea for more than 1 day,
your birth control pills may not work as well. If you have sex within 7 days
after 1 or more days of vomiting or having diarrhea, use an additional form of
birth control, like condoms or spermicide, as back-up contraception.
When should I start taking SLYND?
If you start taking SLYND and you are not currently
using a hormonal birth control method:
- Start SLYND on the first day (Day 1) of your natural
menstrual period (Day 1 Start). Your healthcare provider should tell you when
to start taking your birth control pill.
If you start taking SLYND and you are switching from
another birth control pill:
- Start your new SLYND blister pack on the same day that
you would start the next pack of your previous birth control method.
- Do not continue taking the pills from your previous birth
control pack.
If you start taking SLYND and you are switching from a
vaginal ring or transdermal patch:
- Start taking SLYND on the day you would have inserted the
next ring or applied the next patch.
If you start taking SLYND and you are switching from a
progestin-only method such as an implant or injection:
- Start taking SLYND on the day of removal of your implant
or on the day when you would have had your next injection.
If you start taking SLYND and you are switching from
an intrauterine device or system (IUD or IUS):
- Start taking SLYND on the day of removal of your IUD or
IUS.
Keep a calendar to track your period:
SLYND Day 1 Start:
You will use a Day 1 Start if your healthcare
provider told you to take your first pill (Day 1) on the first day of your
period.
- Take 1 pill every day in the order of the blister pack,
at the same time each day, for 28 days.
- After taking the last pill on Day 28 from the blister pack,
start taking the first pill from a new pack, on the same day of the week as the
first pack. Take the first pill in the new pack whether or not you are having
your period.
Instructions for using your pill blister pack:
Step 1. Look at your SLYND pill pack. See Figure A.
The SLYND pill pack has:
- 24 white (active) pills with hormone for Week 1
through Week 3 and the first 3 days of Week 4 (Days 1-24)
- 4 green (inactive) pills without hormones for the
last 4 days of Week 4 (Days 25-28).
FIGURE A
Step 2.
Place the day label strip (see Figure
B) that starts with the first day of your period (Day 1) on top of the pill
blister pack over “Place the label here”. See Figure C. For example, if your
period begins on Monday, place the day label strip with Monday as the first day
on the top of your pill pack. See Figure C.
FIGURE B
FIGURE C
Step 3.
Remove the white pill by
pressing the pill through the foil in the bottom of the pill blister pack.
Continue taking the white pills for 24 days.
Step 4.
In the middle of Week 4 start
taking the green pills. Take the green pill for 4 days. Your period should
start during this time.
Step 5.
When you have taken all of the
green pills in your pill pack, get a new pill pack and start taking the white
pills from the new pill blister pack at your usual time the following day,
starting with the Day 1 pill.
For a Day 1 start:
- Begin your next pill pack on
the same day of the week as your first cycle pill pack.
What should I do if I miss
any SLYND pills?
If you miss 1 white pill
(active pills):
- Take it as soon as you remember. Take the next pill at
your regular time. This means you may take 2 pills in 1 day.
- Then continue taking 1 pill every day until you finish
the pack.
- You do not need to use a back-up birth control method if
you have sex.
If you miss 2 or more white
pills (active pills), follow these steps:
- Take a pill as soon as you remember. Take the next pill
at your regular time. This means you may take 2 pills in 1 day.
- Then continue to take 1 pill every day until you finish
the pack (this will mean one or more missed white pills will remain in the
blister pack).
- Use a non-hormonal birth control method (such as a condom
or spermicide) as a back-up if you have sex during the first 7 days after
missing your pills.
If you miss 1 or more green pills (inactive pill):
- You do not need to take 1 or more missed green pills.
Take the next green pill at your regular time, every day until you finish the
pack (this means 1 or more missed green pill will remain in the blister pack).
If you have any questions or are unsure about the
information in this leaflet, call your healthcare provider. You can ask
your healthcare provider or pharmacist for information about SLYND that is written
for health professionals.
This Patient Information and Instructions for Use has
been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.