Problems of the Antibiotics and Birth Control Association in all Usage

December 15, 2009 by  
Filed under Pregnancy

Many unplanned pregnancies occur because women lack information on the possible consequences of combining antibiotics and birth control pills. 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 the following lines should help you understand that.

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.

Modern hormonal products seem to be more affected by the interactions between antibiotics and birth control. 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.

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Antibiotics and birth control pills do not make a good association because of the chemical reactions that take place in the liver. The antibiotics stimulate a more rapid breaking down of estrogens, and without a proper level of these chemicals in the blood, the efficiency of the birth control pills drops considerably. Caution is the best course of action under the circumstances, even if the incidence of unplanned pregnancies is not too high.

So as to avoid future complications, drug manufacturers have developed the practice of specifying the potential problems of the antibiotics and birth control association in all usage instructions. Check with your physician about the importance of continuing the supplementary birth control use after the end of the treatment with antibiotics.

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 doctor before taking 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.

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