Heather^®

Heather® works by preventing the egg from being fertilized and thickening cervical mucus, which prevents sperm from traveling to the egg. Heather® also changes the lining of the uterus to make it more difficult for an egg to attach to the cervical wall.

Heather® birth control should be stored at room temperature and away from sunlight. Users are advised to take Heather® at the same time every day in order for the product to be fully effective. If you miss a dose or are more than three hours late taking your pill, consider using backup birth control for the next 48 hours.

Women with arterial disease, breast cancer, or ovarian cysts are cautioned against using Heather®. As with any medication, it's wise to consult with your healthcare provider to discuss your risks or any possible conflicts with other medications.

Women should not smoke while using Heather®, as smoking raises your risk of heart attack, blood clots, and high blood pressure.

Allergic reactions are rare, but if you experience rash, swelling, or trouble breathing, stop taking Heather® and get help as soon as possible.

Heather® is effective as long as it is taken consistently. Ideally, you'll begin taking Heather® on the first day of your period. If you begin taking Heather® later, consider using a backup birth control method (barrier method, spermicide) for the next 48 hours.

Every person is different, and almost every form of birth control comes with side effects. Some of the lighter side effects that you may experience while taking Heather® include nausea, vomiting, breast tenderness, swelling of the feet and ankles, bloating, and weight change. These are typically mild and fade in a few months.

More severe side effects include lumps in your breast, severe abdominal pain, a racing heartbeat, pain in your chest, difficulty breathing, blood clots, and severe mood swings or depression. If you experience any severe side effects while taking Heather®, stop taking the pills and consult your medical provider. In the interim, use backup birth control to prevent pregnancy.

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.

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.