Qlaira Dosage/Direction for Use

Method of administration: Oral use.
Dosage regimen: How to take Qlaira: Combined oral contraceptives, when taken correctly, have a failure rate of approximately 1% per year. The failure rate may increase when pills are missed or taken incorrectly.
Tablets must be taken in the order directed on the package every day at about the same time with some liquid as needed. Tablet taking is continuous. One tablet is to be taken daily for 28 consecutive days. Each subsequent pack is started the day after the last tablet of the previous calendar pack.
How to start Qlaira: Tablet-taking has to start on day 1 of the woman's natural cycle (i.e. the first day of her menstrual bleeding).
Management of missed tablets: Missed hormone-free white film-coated tablets can be disregarded. However, they should be discarded to avoid unintentionally prolonging the hormone-free white tablet phase.
The following advice only refers to missed hormone-containing tablets: If the user is less than 12 hours late in taking any active tablet, contraceptive protection is not reduced. The woman should take the tablet as soon as she remembers and should take further tablets at the usual time.
If she is more than 12 hours late in taking any active tablet, contraceptive protection may be reduced. The user should take the last missed tablet as soon as she remembers, even if this means taking two tablets at the same time. She then continues to take tablets at her usual time.
Depending on the day of the cycle on which the tablet has been missed (see chart as follows for details), back-up contraceptive measures (e.g. a barrier method such as a condom) have to be used according to the following principles: See Table 1.

Click on icon to see table/diagram/image

Not more than two tablets are to be taken on a given day.
If a woman has forgotten to start a new calendar pack, or if she has missed one or more tablets during days 3-9 of the calendar pack, she may already be pregnant (provided she has had intercourse in the 7 days before the oversight). The more tablets (especially those with the two combined hormones on days 3-24) are missed and the closer they are to the hormone-free tablet phase, the higher the risk of a pregnancy.
If the woman missed tablets and subsequently has no withdrawal bleed at the end of the calendar pack/beginning of new calendar pack, the possibility of a pregnancy should be considered.
Advice in case of gastro-intestinal disturbances: In case of severe gastro-intestinal disturbances, absorption may not be complete and additional contraceptive measures should be taken.
If vomiting occurs within 3-4 hours after taking a hormone-containing tablet, the advice concerning missed tablets, as given in 'Management of missed tablets' as previously mentioned, is applicable.
Additional information on special populations: Children and adolescents: Qlaira is only indicated after menarche.
Geriatric patients: Not applicable. Qlaira is not indicated after menopause.
Patients with hepatic impairment: Qlaira is contraindicated in women with severe hepatic diseases. See also 'Contraindications'.
Patients with renal impairment: Qlaira has not been specifically studied in renally impaired patients. Available data do not suggest a change in treatment in this patient population.