Levora-28^®

Levora-28® uses a combination of two hormones, estrogen and progestin, to prevent pregnancy. In every pack of Levora-28®, there are 21 active pills that contain a mix of estrogen and progestin. There are also seven inactive or “reminder” pills. These don’t contain any hormones, but it’s a good idea to take them anyway to stay on track.

Levora-28® works in three ways. First, the pill prevents ovulation — the process where one of your ovaries releases an egg each month. It also thickens your cervical mucus, which makes it harder for sperm to swim to the egg. At the same time, it thins the lining of your uterus. In the unlikely event that an egg is released and fertilized, it’s difficult for it to attach to the thinned lining.

If you begin taking Levora-28® within five days of starting your period, you’ll be protected right away. If you start at any other point in your cycle, you should use another contraceptive method for seven days.

If you miss a pill, take it as soon as you remember. If you miss two or more pills in a pack, use a backup method (such as condoms) for seven days. You should also use a backup method if you start your new pack late (by 48 hours or more).

As with all oral contraceptives, Levora-28® birth control does not protect against sexually transmitted infections (STIs). You can reduce your risk of contracting or transmitting an STI by using a latex or polyurethane condom every time you have sex.

Like other oral contraceptives, Levora-28® increases the risk of blood clots, heart attack, and stroke in certain women. Serious blood clots are more likely for women over the age of 35 and for people who are obese or smoke. You shouldn't take Levora-28® if you have severe diabetes, heart problems, uncontrolled high blood pressure, or if you’ve had breast cancer.

The most common side effects for oral contraceptives are nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, bloating, and breast tenderness. You may also experience a change in flow and certain women experience a difficulty wearing contact lenses. These side effects typically go away after 3 months of contraceptive use.

Certain medications can make oral contraceptives less effective. HIV drugs, anti-seizure medications, Rifampin, Griseofulvin, and St. John’s Wort can all interact with the pill. It's important to let your healthcare provider know of any other medications or supplements you are taking before starting to use this medication.

Any weight gain you experience when starting this medication is likely due to fluid retention, and should decrease after your body adjusts. If you experience significant weight gain or loss after starting a new contraceptive, it's important to let your healthcare provider know.

While not originally intended to treat acne, studies have found that some birth control medications can reduce breakouts and inflammation. If you're interested in learning more about what birth control might help your acne symptoms, visit our Birth Control for Acne page to get started.

Yes. It’s safe to skip your period on a combination birth control pill like Levora. In fact, the bleeding you experience on the pill isn’t actually a period at all. It’s called a withdrawal bleed. The withdrawal bleed is a built-in feature of the pill, but it’s not strictly necessarily from a health standpoint.

To skip your period on Levora birth control, simply start a new pack instead of taking the reminder pills. The main drawback to skipping your period for months at a time is that you may experience breakthrough bleeding. This happens when your uterus sheds some of its lining. While often inconvenient, it's completely normal. To reduce breakthrough bleeding, some women find it useful to take a week of placebo pills and have a period every three months.

Your Nurx medical provider will partner with you to find the best care for your symptoms and medical concerns. As medically appropriate, a Nurx provider may prescribe birth control to help manage symptoms associated with PMS (Premenstrual syndrome) and/or PMDD (Premenstrual dysphoric disorder), or to help with cycle control (delayed period). In some cases, birth control may also be used to help manage symptoms of endometriosis and/or PCOS (Polycystic ovary syndrome), to assist with improving acne. While the use of birth control is considered “off-label” for these listed purposes, a licensed Nurx clinician may prescribe birth control if they deem doing so medically appropriate.

Consultation
Anyone who requests a birth control prescription will be charged a $28 consultation fee. Please note that at this time, we do not submit claims to insurance for the medical consult fee.

Medication
For those with health insurance, your prescription will be free in most cases if it is covered by your health insurance, and we accept your plan. Insurance companies set the “copay” for prescriptions and depending on your plan and the prescription, this will usually be $0. Please connect with your insurance company if you would like to learn more about your copay. If you do have a copay, Nurx will authorize a $30 hold at checkout. If your copay is over $30, you will receive a notification to approve the updated amount.

Support Fee
Nurx will charge a flat $3 support fee each month one or more of your orders are processed. This fee covers your unlimited, on-demand access to our customer care team as well as certain processing fees. This fee will only be charged once in any month, even if you have multiple orders processed that month. This fee applies whether the order is filled through Nurx or at your local pharmacy. If your order is filled via Nurx, the support fee is billed at the time of fulfillment. If your prescription is sent to a local pharmacy, a support fee will be applied at that time. In the future, the support fee will be applied on a cadence that matches your medication refill cadence.

Yes, we accept most forms of private health insurance for medications. If you’d like to know if we accept your health insurance plan, please connect with our team at [email protected]. Please note that at this time, we do not submit claims to insurance for the medical consult fee.
Nurx does not accept any federal or state government insurance plans, such as Medicare, Medicaid, Tricare, or any of their affiliated managed care plans, nor can Nurx service such patients. We recommend that you find a local provider in your community that participates in your government payer program.