Ortho Tri-Cyclen is a triphasic combination birth control pill. Each pack contains three weeks of different hormone pills and one week of placebo pill. Progestin and estrogen are both present in Ortho Tri-Cyclen, though the amount of progestin varies each week. Norgestimate (18,19-Dinor-17-pregn-4-en-20-yn-3-one,17-(acetyloxy)-13-ethyl-,oxime,(17α)-(+)-) is the progestin in Ortho Tri-Cyclen, and ethinyl estrodiol (19-nor-17α-pregna,1,3,5(10)-trien-20-yne-3,17-diol) is the estrogen in Ortho Tri-Cyclen, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
White Pills
The first week of Ortho Tri-Cyclen contains the white pills, according to the FDA. The white pills have 0.180mg of norgestimate and 0.035mg ethinyl estrodiol. Unlike the other pills in the Ortho Tri-Cyclen pack, the while pill doesn't contain artificial coloring. The white pills' inactive ingredients are titanium dioxide, purified water, polyethylene glycol, microcrystalline cellulose, magnesium stearate, lactose, hypromellose, croscarmellose sodium and carnauba wax.
Light Blue Pills
The second week of Ortho Tri-Cyclen has the light blue pills, which have more progestin than the white pills, according to the FDA. 0.215mg of norgestimate is present, while the amount of ethinyl estrodiol, 0.035mg, doesn't change from the previous week. The light blue pill gets its coloration from the FD & C Blue Number 2 Aluminum Lake. The light blue pills' inactive ingredients include titanium dioxide, purified water, polyethylene glycol, microcrystalline cellulose, magnesium stearate, lactose, hypromellose, croscarmellose sodium and carnauba wax.
Blue Pills
The blue pills are the third week of pills and the last week of hormone pills, according to the FDA. The hormone amounts in the blue pills are 0.250mg norgestimate and 0.035mg ethinyl estrodiol. Like the light blue pills, the blue pills contain FD &C Blue Number 2 Aluminum Lake. Additional ingredients of the Ortho Tri-Cyclen blue pill are titanium dioxide, purified water, polysorbate 80, polyethylene glycol, microcrystalline cellulose, magnesium stearate, lactose, hypromellose, croscarmellose sodium and carnauba wax.
Dark Green Pills
The last week of pills in an Ortho Tri-Cyclen pack is the dark green pills. These pills don't contain any hormones, according to the FDA, so a woman gets her period during this week. FD & C Blue Number 2 Aluminum Lake is also used in the dark green pills for coloring. The inactive ingredients used in the dark green pills are titanium dioxide, talc, purified water, pregelatinixed corn starch, polyethylene glycol, magnesium stearate, lactose, hypromellose and ferrixoxide.
