- Open 6 Days a Week
- +44 1206 322109
- Dedham Pharmacy, High Street, Dedham
Change your period for a holiday, wedding, or exam with help from the pharmacists at Dedham Pharmacy in Colchester.
Pharmacist-Led Consultation
No GP Referral Needed
Same Day Appointments
Treatment Supplied In Store
Period Delay Treatment
Schedule online or call our pharmacy. Same-day or next-day slots are often available; book a week ahead.
Consultation occurs in our private room at High Street Pharmacy, lasting about 10 minutes to review your history.
If suitable, you receive period delay medication during the visit, with clear instructions on dosage and duration included.
In practice, most people who ask about a period delay in Colchester have a fixed date they cannot move. Weddings, honeymoons, beach holidays, and long-haul flights come up most often.
Exams, sporting events, and competitions are the next most common reason. A heavy first day is hard to manage during a three-hour exam or a swim meet.
Religious observance is another reason. Ramadan, Hajj, and Umrah all raise questions about timing, and a short delay can make the trip easier.
Period delay is a short-term option, not a treatment for painful or heavy periods. If your periods are consistently disabling, speak to your GP about longer-term management.
Timing is the part people get wrong. You need to start the tablets three days before your period is due, so work backwards from that date and book your appointment in good time.
Your period starts when progesterone levels drop at the end of your cycle. That fall is what triggers the uterine lining to shed.
Period-delay tablets contain a synthetic progesterone. Taking them keeps progesterone levels high, so the drop that triggers your period is delayed.
The womb lining stays in place while you keep taking the tablets. Once you stop, levels fall and your period follows within a few days.
We supply Norethisterone 5 mg tablets, the standard treatment used across the UK for period delay.
Norethisterone is a progestogen that mimics the hormone your body produces in the second half of your cycle. It holds the womb lining in place and stops bleeding from starting.
Start three days before your period is due. Follow the dosing schedule until you want your period to arrive. Clear written instructions will guide you.
for a full treatment course, including your consultation.
Norethisterone can delay a period by up to 27 days. At Dedham, we supply courses of up to 17 days as a matter of policy, because shorter courses cover almost every holiday, wedding or exam date and keep the course as short as it needs to be. If you need longer than that, we will talk through the options with you or refer you to your GP.
Your period will usually return within about three days, occasionally a little longer, after you take the last tablet.
If you need to postpone your period more than once in a short space of time, book a review with your GP instead.
Most people take norethisterone tablets without trouble. When side effects happen, they are usually mild and settle once you stop.
Light spotting and temporary cycle irregularity are most commonly noticed. Breast tenderness is also frequently reported. Less common side effects include bloating, nausea, headaches, mood changes, acne, or changes in sex drive.
There is a small increase in blood clot risk with progestogen tablets. This is why we check your medical history before supplying.
Stop taking the tablets and seek urgent medical help if you get calf pain or swelling, chest pain, breathlessness, a sudden severe headache, changes to your vision, jaundice (yellowing of the skin or eyes), or sudden hearing changes. You can also report side effects directly via the MHRA Yellow Card scheme.
Our period delay service is for those 16 and older with a regular cycle. If you’re over 45, we’ll discuss clot risks in detail. Know the date of your next period.
Norethisterone is not for pregnant or breastfeeding individuals, those with certain health issues (like blood clots, heart disease, severe migraines, liver problems, or specific cancers), or those with unexplained bleeding or severe mental health conditions.
Avoid it if you have upcoming surgery or will be immobile for long periods. Stop 4-6 weeks before elective surgery and only restart once fully active again.
During your consultation, we’ll review clot risk factors like high BMI, smoking, age, diabetes, high cholesterol, and lupus.
Inform the pharmacist of all medications. Watch for interactions with tetracyclines, anti-inflammatories, epilepsy drugs, rifampicin, some HIV meds, and St John’s wort.
If on the combined contraceptive pill, you may not need extra tablets. Our pharmacist can guide you on using packs back-to-back.
Book online or call, and we will usually see you the same day, so a late realisation does not cost you the treatment window.
Our pharmacist supplies the medication directly after your consultation, which saves you waiting weeks for a routine surgery appointment.
Everything is discussed in a closed room away from the shop floor, so nothing is overheard at the counter.
You leave with your tablets in hand, not a prescription to take somewhere else and queue again.
We are a small team on Dedham High Street, so you speak to the same pharmacists each time you visit.
You get the start date, dosing schedule and stop date written down, which removes the guesswork from timing your course.
Mandeep Sandhu is the superintendent pharmacist and owner of Dedham Pharmacy, registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council under registration number 2064849.
With over a decade of experience in community pharmacy practice, Mandeep leads the clinical services at Dedham including the travel health clinic, weight management programme, and private consultation services.
Great having a pharmacy that is open late and during weekends. Quick and efficient, great service.
I see they were also offering a flu jab service, if that’s something you need.
Great having a pharmacy that is open late and during weekends. Quick and efficient, great service.
I see they were also offering a flu jab service, if that’s something you need.
Great having a pharmacy that is open late and during weekends. Quick and efficient, great service.
I see they were also offering a flu jab service, if that’s something you need.
Usually not needed. Running two pill packs back to back delays bleeding without extra medication. Our pharmacist will confirm what suits your brand.
Take it as soon as you remember, then carry on as normal. Missing doses or taking them late can cause breakthrough bleeding.
Yes. Alcohol does not stop norethisterone from working. Drink sensibly, as alcohol can worsen nausea and headaches if you already have them.
No. Your cycle returns to its normal pattern within a month of finishing the course. There is no lasting effect on fertility.
Once in any six months. If you need to delay again inside that window, we will refer you to your GP rather than supply a second course.
