Browse the corpus

©2013 UpToDate ® Print Email How to use birth control pills for emergency contraception Brand name First dose Second dose Take these pills as soon as possible after unprotected sex. Emergency contraception works up to 5 days after unprotected sex. The sooner you take it, the better it will work. Take these pills 12 hours after taking the first set of pills. Alesse 5 pink pills 5 pink pills Aviane 5 orange pills 5 orange pills Cryselle 4 white pills 4 white pills Enpresse 4 orange pills 4 orange pills Jolessa 4 pink pills 4 pink pills Lessina 5 pink pills 5 pink pills Levlen 4 light orange pills 4 light orange pills Levlite 5 pink pills 5 pink pills Levora 4 white pills 4 white pills Lo/Ovral 4 white pills 4 white pills Low-Ogestrel 4 white pills 4 white pills Lutera 5 white pills 5 white pills Lybrel 6 yellow pills 6 yellow pills Nordette 4 light orange pills 4 light orange pills Ogestrel 2 white pills 2 white pills Ovral 2 white pills 2 white pills Ovrette 20 yellow pills 20 yellow pills Portia 4 pink pills 4 pink pills Quasense 4 white pills 4 white pills Seasonale 4 pink pills 4 pink pills Seasonique 4 blue-green pills 4 blue-green pills Tri-Levlen 4 yellow pills 4 yellow pills Triphasil 4 yellow pills 4 yellow pills Trivora 4 pink pills 4 pink pills If you want to use birth control pills for emergency contraception, you must take two doses 12 hours apart. Find the brand name of the pills you take in the left-hand column. Then see the second and third columns to find out how many of which color pills to take for that brand name. Keep in mind that birth control pills work but are less effective than Plan B® One-Step or Next Choice®, and they are more likely to cause nausea and vomiting.