Starting
How to take Trust pills for the first time
Quick answer
Start Trust (levonorgestrel + ethinylestradiol) with the first light-colored tablet, ideally on day 1 to 5 of your period. Take one tablet a day at the same time, following the arrows: 21 hormone tablets, then 7 brown iron tablets. Start the next pack the very next day. Started after day 5? Use condoms for 7 days.[src]
Before pill one
- Get a reseta (Prescription. All birth control pills need one in the Philippines.). Trust is a prescription medicine, and pharmacies like Watsons and TGP list it as prescription required.[src][src] A pack costs from ₱59.50, or it may be free at your health center.
- Pick a time you will not miss. Tie it to something you already do every day: brushing your teeth at night, your morning coffee, your phone charger. Set an alarm or use our pill tracker.
- Read the strip. A Trust pack has 28 tablets: 21 light-colored hormone tablets and 7 brown iron tablets, with days or arrows printed on the foil.[src]
Your first pack, step by step
- Choose your start day. Day 1 to 5 of your period means no backup is needed. Any other day is fine if you are reasonably sure you are not pregnant, but use condoms or avoid sex for the next 7 days.[src] No period right now? Read starting without menstruation.
- Take the first hormone tablet, the one marked as the start of the strip, not a brown one. Swallow it with water, with or without food.
- Follow the arrows, one tablet a day, at about the same time. Do not jump around the strip to match the printed days; just keep going in the arrow order.
- Days 22 to 28: the brown tablets. Keep taking them. They are iron, not hormones, and your bleed usually comes during these days.[src] Read what the brown pills are.
Pack 2: no gap
The day after your last brown tablet, start the first hormone tablet of a new pack, even if you are still bleeding. There is never an empty day on Trust. This is the step people most often get wrong, and WHO treats a late new pack like missed hormone pills.[src] Buy your next pack during week 3 so you are never caught without one.
Forgot a pill? On Trust, take it as soon as you remember. WHO says 1 or 2 missed hormone pills carry little or no risk.[src] For more than that, use the Missed Pill Helper.
What the first 3 months feel like
Spotting between bleeds, sore breasts, mild nausea and headaches are common in the first months and usually settle.[src] Taking the pill at night can help with nausea. Give it 3 packs before judging. Get urgent care for chest pain, a swollen painful leg, sudden breathlessness or a severe headache with vision changes.[src]
Three legal routes
Get a prescription
Trust needs a prescription in the Philippines. Pick the route that suits you. For adults 18 and over.
Free at a health center
Barangay health centers, RHUs, DOH hospitals and Likhaan. Subject to supply.
See an OB-GYN in person
Clinic visit, prescription in hand. Bring it to any licensed pharmacy.
Online consult
A licensed doctor by video or chat. From ₱700 on some platforms.
Online consult options
For adults 18 and over. Fees are set by each provider and can change.
Frequently asked questions
Paano inumin ang Trust pills sa unang beses?
Simulan sa unang light-colored na tableta sa araw 1 hanggang 5 ng regla. Isa araw-araw sa parehong oras, sundan ang arrows: 21 hormone tablets, tapos 7 brown na iron tablets. Simulan ang bagong pack kinabukasan, walang pahinga.
Morning or night: when should I take Trust?
Either works. Pick the time you are least likely to forget. If the pill makes you a little nauseous at first, taking it at night may help.
Am I protected during my first week?
If you started on day 1 to 5 of your period, WHO says you need no backup. If you started on any other day, use condoms for the first 7 days.
This guide is for information. Talk to a doctor before starting, stopping or switching birth control.
Sources
- Family Planning: A Global Handbook for Providers, WHO and Johns Hopkins CCP
- Managing missed pills (Family Planning Handbook), WHO and Johns Hopkins CCP
- Trust pill listing: Prescription Required, Watsons PH
- Rx Trust pill listing, TGP
- Combined pill: risks and side effects, NHS