Primolut N Tablets 5mg (Norethisterone)

Bringing on a late or missed period is not one of the uses in the UK prescribing information for Primolut N (Bayer plc). A late period can mean pregnancy, and Primolut N must not be taken if you are pregnant or might be: take a pregnancy test and see a doctor first.

Norethisterone is a progestogen hormone. The UK prescribing information for Primolut N (Bayer plc) lists delaying a period, heavy periods, heavy irregular bleeding from the womb, painful periods, premenstrual syndrome and endometriosis. Primolut N is not a contraceptive.

It can delay a period: “postponement of menstruation” is one of its UK uses, and the NHS Specialist Pharmacy Service says norethisterone is the only progestogen licensed in the UK to delay periods. It is not a contraceptive, so it does not protect against pregnancy while you take it. How and for how long is your doctor’s decision.

The UK prescribing information for Primolut N (Bayer plc) lists headache, nausea and fluid retention as common, and bleeding or spotting as very common in endometriosis treatment. Less often: migraine, allergic reactions, rash, changes in vision and breathlessness. Because part of it turns into an estrogen, the blood-clot warnings of the combined pill also apply.

In the UK prescribing information for Primolut N (Bayer plc), the common side effects are headache, nausea and fluid retention (swelling). In endometriosis treatment, spotting and lighter periods are very common, and no periods at all is common.

Not for everyone. The UK prescribing information for Primolut N (Bayer plc) says it must not be taken in pregnancy or while breastfeeding, or by anyone who has had a blood clot without a clear cause, has a high risk of clots, has active or recent clot disease in an artery such as angina or a heart attack, has or has had warning signs of a clot such as a mini-stroke, has migraines with aura, has severe liver disease or a liver tumour, or has a hormone-sensitive cancer. Part of it turns into an estrogen, so the combined pill’s blood-clot warnings apply. That is why we dispense it only on prescription.

It depends on what a doctor is treating. The UK prescribing information for Primolut N (Bayer plc) gives different courses for six uses: heavy irregular bleeding from the womb, premenstrual syndrome, postponing a period, endometriosis, heavy periods and painful periods. Which one applies depends on a doctor’s diagnosis, so the length of the course is for your prescriber. That is why the number isn’t on our page: taking a hormone for the wrong length of time, without a doctor, is the risk we want you to avoid.

The UK prescribing information gives no time of day; the tablets are swallowed whole with some liquid. When in your cycle to start depends on what it is being used for, and that differs between its uses, so your prescriber sets it.

No. Postponing a period is one of its uses in the UK prescribing information, but that course starts before the period is due; the prescribing information describes no use for stopping a period that has already started. For heavy, irregular bleeding from the womb, a condition a doctor diagnoses, it says “Bleeding is arrested usually within 1-3 days.”

It depends on the use. For heavy, irregular bleeding from the womb, the UK prescribing information says “Bleeding is arrested usually within 1-3 days.” When a course ends, bleeding like a normal period follows: within 2 to 4 days after that course, and 2 to 3 days after a course to postpone a period. For its other uses it gives no figure.

Primolut N is not what this question is looking for. Bringing on a period is not one of the uses in Primolut N’s UK prescribing information. If your period is late and you could be pregnant, take a pregnancy test and see a doctor before taking anything.