Sunya

What type of pill is Sunya?

Sunya is what’s known as a ‘monophasic’ pill, which means that each pill in a strip has the same amount of hormones in it. It’s also sometimes referred to as a ‘21-day pill’, because you take one pill every day for 21 days (and then have a 7-day pill-free break).

How does Sunya work?

Like other combined pills, Sunya takes a tri-pronged approach to stopping pregnancy (it does three things).

The two hormones in it stop your ovaries from releasing an egg (ovulating) to protect you from pregnancy.

The mucus in the neck of the womb is also made thicker. This makes it harder for sperm to travel to and fertilise an egg.

And while the mucus in the cervix gets thicker, the lining of the uterus is made thinner. The uterine lining thickens naturally as your cycle progresses, and then breaks down when you have your period. But by keeping it thin, the combined pill makes it trickier for an egg to latch on to the uterine lining and develop.

When the uterine lining is thinner, it normally makes your periods lighter, and less sore too.

How effective is Sunya?

Very. If you take it correctly, it’s over 99% effective. To break this down: for every 100 women that take Sunya over a 12 month period perfectly, less than one will get pregnant.

If you make mistakes when you take it or if you miss pills here and there, it’s not quite as effective: around 91%. So around nine women in every 100 will get pregnant over the course of a year. So it’s very important that you take it as instructed in the leaflet that comes with your pill.

How to take Sunya

If you start taking Sunya on the first day of your period, you’ll get immediate protection from pregnancy. You can also start to take it on days 2-5 of your cycle, but you’ll need to use additional contraception such as condoms for the first seven days.

Take one pill every day for 21 days at the same time. You can take Sunya either with or without food. Whichever you prefer.

Next to each pill is printed the day of the week. If you start taking Sunya on a Wednesday for example, take the pill with ‘Wednesday’ printed next to it. Follow the direction of the arrow on the strip until you’ve taken all 21 pills.

Once you’ve taken all 21 pills, take a 7-day, ‘pill-free’ break. Over this 7-day break, you should experience a bleed. On the ‘eighth’ day (that is, the day after your 7-day break), start a new strip, even if you’re still bleeding. This should mean that you start a new strip on the same day of the week each time.

What do I do if I forget to take a pill?

If you forget to take one pill during week 1 of your cycle, take the pill you missed as soon as you remember, even if this means having to take two pills at the same time. Take any pills that follow at the usual time and use extra contraception such as condoms for the next seven days. If you had sex during the week before you missed a pill, or if you forget to start a new strip on time after the 7-day pill-free break, you could be pregnant. Let our clinician know and they can advise you.

Should you forget to take one pill during week 2 of your period, take the pill you forgot as soon as you remember, even if it means taking two pills at the same time. Take any pills that follow as you would normally. Your protection from pregnancy should not be affected, and you don’t need to use any additional contraception.

If you forget to take one pill in week 3 of your cycle, you can do one of two things.

Take the pill that you forgot as soon as you remember, even if it means taking two pills at the same time. Take any pills that follow at the usual time, but rather than take a 7-day pill-free break, move straight on to your next strip. It’s likely that you’ll get a withdrawal bleed at the end of the second strip, and you may also experience some spotting or breakthrough bleeding.

Alternatively, you can stop the strip and take a 7-day, pill-free break, making a note of the day on which you forgot to take your pill. If you’d prefer to start a new strip on a certain day of the week, make the pill-free period less than seven days.

Either of these two methods should protect you from getting pregnant.

If you have forgotten any pills in a strip, and you don’t experience any bleeding during the first 7-day pill-free break, you may be pregnant. Send a message to our prescriber using your Treated account and they can advise you from there.

Medically reviewed by

Dr Daniel Atkinson

GP Clinical Lead

on August 02, 2022.

Meet Daniel