Triphasil

What type of pill is Triphasil?

Triphasil is a phasic pill, which is a pill that contains at least two or three different coloured pills in a strip. Each of these types of pills contain different amounts of hormones. By taking different quantities of hormones during your cycle, phasic pills can help to keep your hormone levels consistent.

You take an ‘active’ pill every day for 21 days, followed by seven hormone-free inactive pills, to give you a break before starting the next cycle.

How effective is Triphasil?

Provided it’s taken as instructed, Triphasil is over 99% effective.

To put this into context, for every 100 women that take Triphasil over the period of a year, just one will get pregnant.

But if you miss pills from time to time or if you make mistakes when you’re using it, this protection drops. For every 100 women that take it over 12 months, nine will become pregnant. So about 91% effective. If you take it as instructed in the information leaflet that comes with your pill though, you shouldn’t have anything to worry about.

Are phasic pills like Triphasil more effective than monophasic pills?

Monophasic pills, like Levlen and Microgynon, only contain one dose of hormones in each pill, rather than the three that are in phasic pills like Triphasil.

Women who’ve been unable to get menstrual symptoms under control with monophasic pills might find that phasic pills work better for them.

In terms of effectiveness, research has shown that there’s no difference between them and overall, you’re just as likely to get side effects with monophasic pills as you are with phasic pills. So really it’s down to how it works for you individually.

Some women will find that they get more side effects with monophasic pills than phasic pills and vice versa. We can talk through both options with you, and advise you about which pill is more suitable for you, based on your medical background and any symptoms or side effects you may experience.

How to take Triphasil

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

Take one pill at the same time each day, in the correct order as shown on the strips.

Once you’ve taken the 21 active pills, you’ll take the seven red, hormone-free pills. You should experience a bleed during this period. So long as you’ve taken the 21 active pills correctly and on time, you don’t need to use any extra contraception during this time.

Once the blister is finished and you’ve taken the 7 inactive pills, start a new strip on the next day. You may still be bleeding at this point. Don’t worry about this. Just start your next strip of pills regardless.

Provided you’re taking Triphasil as instructed, you’ll always start a new strip on the same day of the week.

Triphasil missed pill: what you should do

If you’re less than 12 hours late in taking a pill, take it immediately. This may mean taking two pills at once. Take any pills that follow at the usual time. Your protection from pregnancy shouldn’t be reduced.

If you’re more than 12 hours late taking a pill, or you’ve missed more than one pill, your protection from pregnancy may be impacted.

In the event that you’ve missed a pill during the first week of your period, you’ll also need to use an extra method of contraception, like condoms, for the next 7 days. If you’ve had sex during this week, you could be pregnant.

If you miss a pill during the second week of your period, take it as soon as you remember. This may mean taking two pills at the same time. Take any pills that follow as you would usually. So long as pills have been taken correctly during the seven days before the missed pill, you don’t need to use any additional forms of contraception. But if this isn’t the case, or if you’ve missed more than one pill, you should use another method of contraception for the next seven days.

Should you miss a pill during the third week of your period, take the pill you missed most recently as soon as you can, even if you have to take two pills at the same time. Any pills that follow, just take them at the usual time. But rather than taking the seven inactive pills at the end of the strip, start a new strip of active pills immediately after finishing the previous ones (in other words, skip the red pills). It’s unlikely that you’ll get any withdrawal bleeding until you’ve reached the end of the second strip, but you may experience some spotting or breakthrough bleeding on the days you are taking the pills.

Alternatively, if you miss a pill during the third week of your cycle, stop taking pills from your current strip. Then take a break from any pills for up to seven days, including days on which you forgot to take pills, and then continue with a new strip as normal.

If you’ve missed pills and don’t get a withdrawal bleed during the first, pill-free break, you may be pregnant. Contact our clinician via your Treated account and they can guide you through the next steps.

What dose of hormones does each Triphasil pill contain?

A pack of Triphasil pills contains three different doses of hormones: 30 micrograms (mcg) ethinylestradiol and 50mcg levonorgestrel, 40mcg ethinylestradiol and 75 mcg levonorgestrel, and 30mcg ethinylestradiol and 125mcg levonorgestrel.

Each strip contains six brown active tablets, five white active tablets, ten yellow active tablets and seven inactive red tablets. The six brown tablets are the 30mcg/50mcg dose, the five white tablets are the 40mcg/75mcg dose, and the yellow ochre tablets are the 30mcg/125mcg dose. The seven inactive tablets are hormone-free, meaning that they contain no active ingredients and are essentially the same as taking nothing at all. Taking the inactive pills might help you keep track of your regimen.

Because there are different quantities of hormones in each strip, it’s especially important that you take the pills in the right order to ensure that you get maximum protection from pregnancy.