Lybrel (levonorgestrel/Ethinyl estradiol) was acombination birth control pill.
Each pack contains 365 pills made up of 90 micrograms of levonorgestrel and 20 micrograms of Ethinylestradiol.
The Lybrel brand name was discontinued in 2014 and is no longer being manufactured by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Jonathan Nourok / Getty Images
It was replaced by a generic brand name levonorgestrel-ethinyl estradiol.
Lybrel was neither taken off the market for safety reasons nor recalled by the FDA.
Jonathan Nourok / Getty Images
Mechanism of Action
Lybrel works like any other combination birth controlpill.
As long as you take your Lybrel pill every day, you will not have your period.
Lybrel does not permanently affectfertilityonce you stopped taking it.
Research shows that 99% of women who stopped Lybrel had their periods restored within 90 days.
Withdrawal Bleeding
Women will sometimes worry if they continue to have monthly bleeding when first starting Lybrel.
What is important to realize is that the bleeding is not part of your normal fertility cycle.
Research also showed that women who used Lybrel for three months reported less pre-menstrual and period-related pain.
Lybrel is as effective as other oral contraceptives, boasting anefficacy rateof 91% to 99.7%.
With typical use, only nine of every 100 women will become pregnant during the first year of use.
From a broader perspective, Lybrel and the generics have the same side effects as otherhormonal contraceptive methods.
However, the lower doses of hormones used in Lybrel may cause spotting in some women.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.FPL for approved NDA 21-864.
2006;107(4 suppl):3S.
doi:10.1097/00006250-200604001-00007
Bonnema RA, Spencer AL.The new extended-cycle levonorgestrel-ethinyl estradiol oral contraceptives.Clin Med Insights Reprod Health.
2011;5:49-54. doi:10.4137/CMRH.S5030
Bonnema RA, Spencer AL.The new extended-cycle levonorgestrel-ethinyl estradiol oral contraceptives.
Clin Med Insights Reprod Health.
2006;74(6):439-445. doi:10.1016/j.contraception.2006.07.005
Lybrel [package insert].
2014;(7):CD004695.
2008;77(2):222-225.
