Antibiotic And Birth Control
Statistics indicate that women are poorly informed about the interferences of antibiotics on hormonal contraception. Myths have been created over the years and lots of stories now dominate the Internet with serious warnings about the inefficiency of birth control pills when administered in parallel with antibiotics. Reality is nevertheless different from the scientific point of view, and here are a few things that may help you better understand how things stand.
The action of hormonal pills is usually impaired by one antibiotic in particular: rifampin. There is a small percentage of female patients that experience a decreased effect for the pill when antibiotics and birth control are administrated simultaneously. Even if the incidence of such occurrences is reduced doctors advise for the use of a supplementary birth control method such as condoms. No one can really tell who is more exposed to this reduced efficiency until actually facing the situation.
Another issue worth considering in relation to the treatment with antibiotics and birth control pills is that of modern hormonal products that are in fact prone to lower effectiveness rates. The problem is that modern birth control products have very low hormonal combinations for a reduction of the side effects. Besides rifamin, you should also be cautious when using amoxacillin, penicillin, sulfonamide, ampicillin, minocycline, tetracycline and barbiturates.
Antibiotics and birth control pills represent an inconvenient medical combination because of the synthesis of the compounds in the liver. The antibiotics stimulate a more rapid breaking down of estrogens, and since these compounds are the main ingredients of birth control pills, the level of hormones in the blood will be lower. Although the situations when unplanned pregnancy appears in such conditions are not that numerous, caution is the best course of action.
So as to avoid future complications, drug manufacturers have developed the practice of specifying the potential problems of the antibiotic and birth control association in all usage instructions. It is also important to talk to the doctor whether you have to continue using the extra birth control method after the cessation of the antibiotic treatment or not.
Some women choose to stop taking their birth control pills while following a treatment with antibiotics, but this is hardly a solution given how difficult it is for the body to adapt to these sudden hormonal changes. Talk to the health care provider before administering any drug specifying the fact that you are on birth control pills. Besides antibiotics, other medications could also reduce the efficiency of the hormonal barrier.
