Period Delay Service
Sheffield & Rotherham
Holiday, wedding, exam or big event coming up? Our pharmacist prescribers offer a private, confidential consultation to help you delay your period, with treatment supplied on the same day if it is safe and suitable for you.
Don't let your period
get in the way
This service may suit you if you:
- have a holiday, honeymoon, wedding, sporting event, exam or religious occasion planned
- have fairly regular periods and know roughly when the next one is due
- are aged 16 or over
- aren't on a combined pill you could take back-to-back (see below)
How it works
Everything happens face-to-face with our pharmacist prescriber at the pharmacy.
Book
Book online or call 01909 268 001. Try to book at least a week before your period is due.
Consultation
A private chat about your health, periods and medicines. We check your blood pressure and BMI.
Decision
If treatment is suitable, we prescribe and supply it the same day. If not, we explain why and discuss other options.
Start on time
Treatment usually starts about 3 days before your period is due.
What does it cost?
- Private pharmacist consultation
- Blood pressure and BMI check
- Treatment supplied if suitable
- Advice and aftercare
Treatment is only supplied if our pharmacist prescriber decides it is clinically suitable for you. No charge for treatment if it isn't suitable.
How period delay works
The medicine usually used is norethisterone, a prescription-only progestogen (a man-made version of the hormone progesterone). While you take it, it keeps the lining of the womb in place so your period doesn't start.
Usual dose
One 5mg tablet three times a day, starting about 3 days before your period is due.
How long
Usually taken for no longer than 10 to 14 days in total. Our pharmacist will advise what is right for you.
When your period comes
Your period usually starts 2 to 3 days after you stop taking it.
Not a contraceptive
It will not stop you getting pregnant. Use condoms or your usual contraception.
Possible side effects
Headache, feeling sick, breast tenderness, bloating, mood changes, changes in sex drive or spotting.
Get urgent help if
You have pain or swelling in one leg, chest pain, sudden breathlessness, coughing up blood, a sudden severe headache or changes in vision.
Exclusions — we can't supply if
Show all 19 exclusions
- You are under 16
- Your BMI is over 35
- Your blood pressure is over 140/90
- You have ever had a blood clot (DVT or pulmonary embolism)
- A parent, brother, sister or child had a blood clot before age 45
- You have a known clotting disorder (thrombophilia)
- You smoke and are aged 35 or over
- You have migraine with aura
- You have had a stroke or mini-stroke (TIA), heart attack, angina or other heart or circulation disease
- You have diabetes with circulation, eye, kidney or nerve complications
- You have, or have had, severe liver disease or a liver tumour
- You had jaundice or severe itching during a pregnancy
- You have, or have had, breast cancer or another hormone-sensitive cancer
- You have porphyria
- You have unexplained vaginal bleeding
- You are pregnant or could be pregnant
- You are breastfeeding
- You have had major surgery recently, have surgery planned in the next 6 weeks, or are immobile (for example a leg in plaster)
- You take medicines that interact, such as carbamazepine, phenytoin, primidone, oxcarbazepine, topiramate, rifampicin, some HIV or hepatitis C medicines, ciclosporin or St John's wort
We'll also discuss long-haul flights and other clot risk factors. If treatment isn't suitable, we'll talk you through other options.
Already on the pill?
If you take a combined contraceptive pill, you may be able to delay your period by taking packs back-to-back and skipping the break. This depends on your pill, and it doesn't apply to the progestogen-only ("mini") pill. Speak to our pharmacist first.
Common questions
Book your period delay consultation
Private, confidential and no GP appointment needed. Serving Sheffield, Rotherham, Worksop and nearby villages.
7–8 The Square, Kiveton Park, Sheffield S26 5QN — GPhC Reg No. 1102063
Kiveton Pharmacy