Zoely

Zoely is a tablet you take daily to prevent pregnancy. It’s a combined contraceptive pill, so it contains two active ingredients that protect you against pregnancy. One of them mimics the effects of the hormone oestrogen and the other mimics the effects of progesterone. You take it everyday, without a break, although four of the pills in the blister pack are placebos. The period (or ‘withdrawal bleed’ if you want to use the super-correct terminology) you get on Zoely is shorter and less intense than on other pills like Yasmin, so it’s a good choice if you want to avoid heavier bleeding.

Zoely contains two active ingredients, 2.5mg of nomegestrol acetate and 1.5mg of estradiol. Nomegestrol is a progestin, a manmade ingredient that works in a similar way to the female hormone progesterone. Estradiol is a synthetic version of the hormone oestrogen. Both of the active ingredients in Zoely work together to stop you from getting pregnant. The estradiol in Zoely stops your ovaries from releasing an egg. The progestin thickens your cervical mucus to stop sperm from entering. It also thins the lining of your uterus to stop a fertilised egg from implanting there.

There is only one dose of Zoely, with 2.5mg of nomegestrol and 1.5mg of estradiol. It comes in 28 pill strips so it’s always taken once per day, without a break. (But because there are four inactive pills in each strip, these sort of work like a break for your body.) There aren’t any other pills available at the moment that contain nomegestrol, which is the progestogen hormone in Zoely. And the oestrogen in Zoely, estradiol, is usually found in HRT pills rather than contraceptive pills. So Zoely is pretty unique. But there are other pills that contain a very similar set of hormones that will work in a very similar way if Zoely doesn’t turn out to be right for you.

Zoely comes in a blister pack with 28 tablets. 24 of them are white, and these are the active pills. Four of them are yellow and placebos, so they don’t contain any active ingredients and shouldn’t have any effect on your body. All the pills are numbered and there are day of the week stickers to make taking them really easy.

• So, if you take your first pill on a Monday, take the one in the top left labelled start and stick your day of the week sticker to the top of the pack, so you remember when you started taking it.
• The arrows and numbers show you which pill to take next.
• As soon as you’ve finished that pack, you start a new one.
• Try to take Zoely at around the same time every day. The routine will make it easier to remember and make sure it’s giving you the best protection. You can take it with or without food and water.
• Most people have their withdrawal bleeding while they’re taking the yellow placebos. ^[1]

Zoely starts working almost immediately. It reaches its peak levels of concentration in the blood about two hours after you take it.^[1] But this doesn’t always mean it gives you fully effective contraception immediately. That depends on the method you’re switching from.

If you haven’t used a hormonal contraceptive in the past month, you don’t need to use an extra method like a condom if you’re having sex.

If you’re switching from another combined contraceptive (like a combined pill, the ring or the patch) then you don’t need another method of contraception, as long as you take Zoely immediately after the last active pill, or immediately after your last method is removed. If you have a break, you’ll need to wait seven days before Zoely is fully effective.

When changing from a progestin-only method (like the mini-pill, implant, IUS or injection), you need to wait seven days after starting on Zoely to have sex, or use another form of contraception for extra protection during that time. If you’ve had a baby in the last 28 days, Zoely is also effective straight away. If it’s been longer, you’ll need an extra method or to wait those seven days.

Our clinicians are always available if you have any questions. We can also give you personalised advice on how to take Zoely if you’ve recently given birth or switching from something else.

Remembering to take your pills everyday can be tricky, so you might want to set alarms or use an app to help you remember. If you forget to take your pill but it’s been less than 24 hours, take it straight away. Then keep taking your dose at your normal time. Do this even if it means taking two pills at once. Zoely should still be effective.

If you forget to take your pill and it’s been more than 24 hours, Zoely might not work as well in preventing pregnancy. What you need to do next depends on where you are in the cycle of taking your pills. If you’re on day 1-7 of taking the pills with active ingredients, you’ll need to use an extra method of protection like a condom. If you’re on day 8-17 of taking the active pills, you should still be protected. You don’t need to use an extra contraceptive method unless you’ve missed more than one pill.

If you’re on day 18-24 of taking your active tablets, take the missed pill right away and then pick one of two options. You can skip taking the placebos after your active pills are finished. You can also start on the placebos right away but for no more than three days, so that you’ve only missed four days of pills with active ingredients. Then start on the next blister.

Don’t worry if you miss a yellow placebo pill, as they don’t protect you against pregnancy, just go onto the next pill. If you have missed more than one pill or you can’t remember, use an extra method of contraception until you’ve taken Zoely perfectly for seven days. Our clinicians are always on hand if you need advice.

You can use Zoely to delay your period. If your withdrawal bleeding is due during an event that you want to enjoy fully, you can skip the yellow placebos and go straight onto the active pills in the next pack. When you want your period to start, just take the placebos and start on a third pack.

You can also change the day your withdrawal bleeding is due by reducing the number of placebos you take until your period falls on the day you want.

Sometimes people miss periods on Zoely. If this happens more than once, contact your clinician. If you’ve taken it perfectly, it’s unlikely that you’re pregnant. ^[1]