The most common side effects include headache, nausea (feeling sick), breast tenderness, and irregular uterine bleeding.[6][4]
Norelgestromin/ethinylestradiol is a transdermal patch (a patch that delivers a medicine across the skin).[6] For the first three weeks of the menstrual cycle a new patch should be applied every week, followed by a fourth week, which is patch-free.[6] The patch-free interval must not be longer than seven days; otherwise, additional non-hormonal contraceptive methods must be used, such as condoms.[6] Transdermal patches must always be applied on the same day of the week to the buttock, abdomen (belly), upper arm or upper back.[6] The same area of skin should not be used for two consecutive patches.[6] Norelgestromin/ethinylestradiol may work less well in women weighing 198 pounds (90 kg) or more.[6]
Norelgestromin/ethinylestradiol was approved for medical use in the United States in November 2001, and in the European Union in August 2002.[8][6] It is available as a generic medication.[4][9]
Medical uses
In the United States norelgestromin/ethinylestradiol is indicated for the prevention of pregnancy in women with a BMI < 30 kg/m2 for whom a transdermal delivery system is an appropriate method of contraception.[4]
In the European Union, norelgestromin/ethinylestradiol is indicated for use as female contraception.[6]
^ abcdefghij"Evra EPAR". European Medicines Agency (EMA). 5 August 2008. Retrieved 4 July 2020. Text was copied from this source which is copyright European Medicines Agency. Reproduction is authorized provided the source is acknowledged.
^Graziottin A (2006). "A review of transdermal hormonal contraception : focus on the ethinylestradiol/norelgestromin contraceptive patch". Treatments in Endocrinology. 5 (6): 359–65. doi:10.2165/00024677-200605060-00004. PMID17107221. S2CID21033630.