When to Take Pills

  • The best time to take pills is between 6 to 11 weeks of pregnancy.

  • Not sure how far along you are? Count from the FIRST day of your last period. Use a calendar or a gestational age calculator.

    • If you're 6-11 weeks, the pills work 98% of the time.

    • If you're only 4 weeks pregnant, the pills work 85% of the time. This means 15 out of 100 people using pills stay pregnant after taking pills.

      • We recommend you WAIT to take the pills until you are 6 weeks pregnant, for the best chance to work.

    • Over 12 weeks? See INeedAnA.com to find a procedure appointment.

How to Take Pills

Note: the following is general medical information, available to the public, not personal medical advice. If you have allergies to medicines listed below, contact us.

First:

Get ready: you will need comfort medications, drinks and snacks. Heating pad and hot baths help.

It is best to have a friend nearby who you can call on in case you want support.

When you take pills, you should be within a half hour of an emergency room, in the rare case you need to get care.

Step 1:
Take mifepristone (mife) first. Most people feel fine.

Some bleeding is common. Then wait 24-48 hours.

Step 2:
Take comfort medicines – makes your experience easier.

To prevent pain:
Take 4 ibuprofen (200 mg each: Advil or Motrin).

In addition, you can take 2 acetaminophen (500 mg each: Tylenol).

If you cannot take NSAIDS because of a medical condition, use acetaminophen 1000 mg every 6 hours.

To prevent nausea and vomiting:
Take 1-2 over the counter dimenhydrinate or meclizine (Dramamine) or diphenhydramine (Benadryl).

Wait 30 - 60 minutes.

Step 3:
Take 4 misoprostol (miso) pills – 2 between each cheek and gum.

Hold the pills in your cheeks for 30 minutes, then swish with water and swallow what is left.

You can put them in the vagina instead of the cheeks if you want. Pill fragments can stay in the vagina for a few days. The pills could be visible in a medical exam.

Many people prefer to keep their abortion private. No blood test or exam can detect pills, if taken in the cheeks.

Are you less than 9 weeks?
One dose of 4 pills is usually enough.

Are you between 9-11 weeks?
You need two doses of pills.

First, take 4 pills.

Then, 4 hours later, take 4 more pills — even if your bleeding has started already.

12 weeks or more?

Contact us through the app. We want to support you.

Don’t throw out your extra miso for 2 months! You may need them later.
Miso can help if you have heavy bleeding in a few days or weeks from now.

Side Effects

Normal: Feeling sick or diarrhea. Bleeding and cramping like a heavy period. Small or large clots. Vomiting. Fever and chills for the first day.

When to contact us:

  • No bleeding or only light bleeding 24 hours after taking miso.

  • Bleeding more than two maxi-pads per hour for more than two hours in a row.

  • Fever for more than a day.

  • Still feeling pregnant a week after pills.

Getting through the process

Use ibuprofen (four 200 mg tablets every 6-8 hours) for pain. Naproxen (Alleve) works well too. If you cannot take NSAIDS, use Tylenol or other pain medications.

  • You can add acetaminophen (1000 mg every 6 - 8 hours) if needed — it works well taken with ibuprofen.

    • Be careful to not use more than a maximum of 4000 mg of acetaminophen over 24 hours, including any other pills you may be taking.

  • Use anti-nausea meds if needed. They may make you sleepy.

  • Try heating pads, baths, or showers for comfort.

  • Stay hydrated – drink fluids.

  • Eat if you are hungry.

  • THC/cannabis is okay if it helps you.

  • Be cautious about alcohol – it can make you more nauseated.

How do I know it worked?

  1. Heavy period-like bleeding.

  2. Pregnancy symptoms go away in a week.

  3. Urine pregnancy test is negative 5 weeks later.

    It is normal for your pregnancy test to be positive if you test sooner than 5 weeks.

    It takes time for the hormones to wash out of your body.

What if it doesn’t work?

  • No bleeding or only light bleeding? Take another 4 miso tablets in your cheeks after 24 hours.

  • We need to hear from you if it doesn’t work, so we can help. Contact us if:

    • You only have light bleeding or no bleeding

    • You still feel pregnant a week later (pregnancy symptoms haven’t gone away)

    • Your urine pregnancy test is still positive 5 weeks later

What if I need help?

  • Check out our frequently asked questions for questions and answers.

  • Call or chat with us. Our chat link is at the bottom of our website, and under “contact us.” We give you our phone number and private link when you order your pills.

  • Urgent questions? We have clinicians on call to support you.

    • Filling 2 pads an hour for 2 hours in a row

    • Fever over 100.4F, lasting more than a day

    • The pills didn’t work – no bleeding after taking all the miso doses

    • Still feel pregnant after a week

    • Pregnancy test positive at 5 weeks.

  • If you have a medical emergency, you should call 911 and go to the nearest emergency room. Many people choose to keep the abortion pills private — emergency care of miscarriage is the same as emergency care of medication abortion.

Is my bleeding normal?

  • Bleeding on and off for days or weeks is okay.

  • Sometimes big clots can come days or weeks later – just like a miscarriage.

  • The first period after your abortion can be VERY heavy with clots.

  • Filling up two maxi-pads every hour for two hours in a row? That is not normal. Take 4 miso (2 between each cheek and gum) and contact us right away.