Like all medicines, Marvelon/Marvelon 28 can have side effects, although not everybody gets them.
Tell the doctor if the patient notices any unwanted effect, especially if severe or persistent, or if there is a change in the health that she thinks might be caused by the Pill.
Serious reactions seen with the Pill, as well as the related symptoms, are described in 'The Pill and Thrombosis' and 'The Pill and Cancer' under Precautions.
Common (occurring in more than one per 100 users): depressed mood, mood changes; headache; nausea, abdominal pain; breast pain, breast tenderness; increase in body weight.
Uncommon (occurring in more than one per 1000 users but not more than one per 100 users): fluid retention; decreased sexual drive; migraine; vomiting, diarrhoea; rash, hives; breast enlargement.
Rare (occurring in less than one per 1000 users): hypersensitivity reactions; blood clot in a vein; blood clot in an artery; increased sexual drive; contact lens intolerance; erythema nodosum, erythema multiforme (these are skin conditions); breast secretion, vaginal secretion; decrease in body weight.
Unknown (frequency cannot be estimated from the available data): angioedema, particularly in patients who already have a (family) history of angioedema.
If the patient notices any side effects not mentioned in this monograph, please inform the doctor or pharmacist.