Problems of the Antibiotics and Birth Control Association in all Usage
Statistics indicate that women are poorly informed about the interferences of antibiotics on hormonal contraception. You can read a lot on antibiotics and birth control now thanks to the development of the Internet, but there are some very resilient myths out there. Scientific reality is nevertheless a bit different, and here are a few things that may help you better understand how things stand.
Clinical studies indicate that only one antibiotic is proved to impair the action of the hormonal pill: rifampin, yet exceptions do exist. 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 an extra birth control method such as condoms. It is impossible to tell who will experience decreased efficiency, until it is too late.
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 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 since these compounds are the main ingredients of birth control pills, the level of hormones in the blood will be lower. 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.
Related posts:
- Brief Guideline of Antibiotics and Birth Control
- The Least In Birth Control Side Effect Problems
- The Least In Birth Control Side Effect Problems
- Birth Control Side Effects
- Birth Control Pill