Who Should Not Take This Medication
The levonorgestrel IUD should not be used by anyone who:
- is allergic to levonorgestrel or to any of the ingredients or components of the device
- is or may be pregnant
- has a bacterial infection of the heart valves
- has a genital infection
- has a poorly functioning immune system
- has abnormal cells in the cervix
- has abnormalities of the uterus that distort the shape of the uterus
- has acute liver disease or a liver tumour
- has cancer of the uterus or cervix
- has current or recurrent pelvic inflammatory disease
- has had an abortion complicated by an infection within the past 3 months
- has inflammation of the cervix
- has inflammation of the endometrium after pregnancy
- has leukemia or other cancers affecting the blood
- has recently had an abnormal growth of cells inside the uterus
- has unexplained bleeding of the uterus
- has a progestin-dependent cancer, including breast cancer
Can Antibiotics Affect My Birth Control
Does amoxicillin affect birth control? I used this antibiotic for my throat.
Nope! Antibiotics like amoxicillin wont change the effectiveness of your birth control. The antibiotic rifampin is the only exception it can lower the effectiveness of the pill, patch, and ring. So unless youre using one of those birth control methods and taking rifampin, which is a medicine used to treat tuberculosis, theres nothing to worry about.
There are, however, some other medicines besides antibiotics that can make birth control not work as well. So its very important to be open and honest with your nurse or doctor about what medicines youre on no matter if it was prescribed or not so they can give you the best care.
Perforation Of The Uterus
This risk sounds scary, and is when the Mirena makes a small hole in the wall of the womb. The chances of this happening are around 1 in 1000, which is rare.9 Perforation is more likely in women who are breastfeeding,10 due to low circulating levels of oestrogen which causes the uterus to be contracted and smaller. In women who have insertion between two days and three months after childbirth, risk of perforation is slightly higher as the uterus is soft, making it more susceptible to perforation.
Don’t Miss: One Time Dose Antibiotic For Uti
What Drugs And Food Should I Avoid While Taking Mirena
Avoid having more than one sex partner. The IUD can increase your risk of developing a serious pelvic infection, which is often caused by sexually transmitted disease. Levonorgestrel intrauterine system will not protect you from sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV and AIDS. Using a condom is the only way to help protect yourself from these diseases.
What Do I Need To Know About Rifamycins
Rifamycins are a class of antibiotics. The most commonly prescribed rifamycin is known by the name rifampin. Rifampin is not prescribed very commonly in the United States.
Rifamycins, are most commonly prescribed for the treatment of mycobacterial infections, including tuberculosis , or for treating travelersâ diarrhea caused by E. coli .
Rifampin can sometimes be used in combination with other antibiotics to treat other bacterial infections too . .)
Rifampin, can speed up the liverâs ability to break down molecules and medications, including hormonal birth controls, which are processed continually through the liver .
For this reason, anyone taking any form of hormonal contraceptive, like the pill, patch, ring, mini-pill, and the implant, who is prescribed rifampin treatment should note that their hormonal contraceptive will not be as effective, and may increase their likelihood of becoming pregnant .
Rifampin does not interact with other forms of birth control, such as the contraceptive shot, the copper IUD, and the hormonal IUD, meaning that you can continue to use these types of contraception while undergoing rifampin treatment .
Recommended Reading: Who Makes Fish Aid Antibiotics
How Does Mirena Work
Mirena birth control works by releasing levonorgestrel. This hormone thins the lining of the uterus. It also thickens the mucus in the cervix.
As a result, sperm has a hard time moving and surviving in the uterus. This prevents pregnancy.
The thinning of the uterine lining can also reduce or stop menstrual bleeding.
I Need To Take These Medications What Are My Options
If you are already on hormonal birth control and are about to start taking one of these medications, your provider will discuss birth control options with you to make sure your medications dont interact. The birth control shot, IUD, or implant may be your best bet.
If you are interested in starting hormonal birth control, be sure to let your provider know about your existing prescriptions. If you are taking one of the medications above and decide to stop, be aware that it could take up to 28 days after stopping before any hormonal birth control will be fully effective. In the meantime, you will need backup contraception.
Either way, your prescriber will be able to advise you on the safest birth control for you depending on what other meds you take or are about to start.
Don’t Miss: Do You Need Antibiotics For Bacterial Bronchitis
Do Antibiotics Make An Iud Less Effective
According to the NHS, most antibiotics do not affect contraception.
To date, the only types of antibiotic proven to impact hormonal contraception and may potentially make it less effective are rifampicin-like antibiotics which include rifampicin and rifabutin.
These drugs can be used to treat diseases, including tuberculosis and other bacterial infections. Medications interfering with birth control is more commonly seen with some types of hormonal contraception, including the pill, the vaginal ring, or the patch.
Natural Lubricants May Damage Condoms
Using a natural, oil-based lubricant during sex may make barrier birth control methods like condoms less reliable.
When using during sex, certain natural oils, like coconut oil or almond oil, can weaken latex condoms, making them less effective. These oils can sometimes even cause condoms to break.
To ensure that your latex condom stays in working order, you may want to try to use a water-based lubricant instead of an oil-based one.
If you want to use oil-based lubricants, you can try using non-latex condoms, such as condoms made from lambskin, as they can protect against pregnancy even if used with natural, fat-based lubricants.
Also Check: Antibiotics For Pets Over The Counter
Which Antibiotics Can Interfere With Birth Control
Rifampin is the only antibiotic that’s been proven to make hormonal birth control unreliable. Also known as Rifadin and Rimactane, it’s usually used to treat tuberculosis and other bacterial infections like meningitis.
To clarify, when we talk about hormonal birth control, we mean any type of birth control that uses hormones to keep you from getting pregnant. Note that you may hear birth control being called “contraception” or “contraceptives,” which are the medical terms.
A list of different birth control methods that put hormones into your body are:
- Birth control pills
- Birth control patches
- Birth control shots
- Vaginal rings
- Intrauterine devices
- Birth control implants
If you use the pill, the patch, or the ring, taking rifampin can make your birth control less effective, meaning there’s a chance that it may not stop you from getting pregnant.
If you start taking rifampin, you should also use a backup birth control method to lower your chances of getting pregnant.
Fortunately, most other antibiotics shouldn’t affect birth control at all. For example, this 2002 study, published in The Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, found that these antibiotics aren’t likely to interfere with hormonal birth control:
-
Ampicillin
-
Doxycycline
-
Metronidazole
Why Do People Think That Antibiotics Affect Contraceptives
Research has shown that with combined oral contraceptives, the estrogen component undergoes enterohepatic recirculation. This means that it is absorbed through the stomach wall and then metabolized in the liver to form inactive conjugates with glucuronide, which are then excreted back into the duodenum in the bile. Bacteria within our stomach and intestine then cleave these conjugates, and the active estrogen is then reabsorbed and can exert its effects.
Researchers also had a theory that if these bacteria were suppressed or killed then this would prevent these conjugates from being cleaved, which could result in lower than normal concentrations of estrogen which might cause contraceptive failure, increasing the risk of pregnancy.
However, subsequent research has shown two things. Firstly, the enterohepatic recirculation of estrogen is not important and large studies investigating women taking oral contraceptives in conjunction with non-enzyme inducing antibiotics have not shown any decreased levels of ethinyl estradiol nor an increased incidence of pregnancy. If diarrhea or vomiting does occur, then a woman should be advised to follow the seven-day rule, which means using other methods of contraception until seven active pills have been taken and the diarrhea has ceased.
Also Check: How Long After Taking Antibiotics Will My Tooth Stop Hurting
Can Antibiotics Cause Irregular Periods
Antibiotics don’t typically have any effect on your menstrual cycle. If you notice irregular periods around the time you’re taking antibiotics, it’s likely to be caused by illness or stress. They may not affect your period, but some antibiotics can make you more at risk for a yeast infection.
For more information, take a look at the pill package insert. It might say that women have had “contraceptive failure and breakthrough bleeding” after taking antibiotics like ampicillin.
Drugs like Rifampin interfere with birth control pills at the hormonal level. To understand why you need to know how birth control pills affect your hormones.
The Science Behind Hormonal Birth Control
Hormonal birth controls contain some combination of the hormones estrogen and progestin. Depending on which kind of birth control you use, these hormones work in your body to do at least one of the following:
-
Prevent ovulation. Each cycle, the ovary releases a mature egg. This release is called ovulation. The days around your ovulation are the only time during each menstrual cycle that you can get pregnant. If you don’t ovulate at all, you can’t get pregnant.
-
Keep sperm from making it to the uterus. Birth control can do this by causing your cervical mucus—you’ve probably heard this referred to as “vaginal discharge”— to get thicker. Thicker cervical mucus makes it incredibly hard for sperm to swim to an egg.
-
Make implantation unlikely. Hormonal birth control can make changes to your uterus lining that decrease the chances of a fertilized egg being implanted. Even if a sperm somehow makes it to an egg to fertilize it, you only get pregnant if it successfully implants in your uterine lining. No implantation, no pregnancy.
Rifampin can keep your birth control from doing its job by causing your liver to break down estrogen faster than it usually would. When estrogen gets broken down too quickly, it can’t drive the changes in your body that normally keep you from getting pregnant.
Note: Copper IUDs don’t use hormones to prevent pregnancy, so they won’t be affected by any medicine that may change your hormone levels.
You May Like: Antibiotics For Montezuma’s Revenge
Mirena Insertion And Removal
Women can have Mirena birth control inserted during a regular doctors visit. Mirena insertion takes about five minutes.
Doctors use a few tools to help insert the device but the insertion is not considered surgery.
Women should wait at least seven days after the start of their period to insert Mirena. Women who have just given birth, had a miscarriage or an abortion should wait at least six weeks.
A doctor or other trained health provider can remove Mirena at any time.
Eight out of 10 women who have had their Mirena IUD removed can get pregnant within a year, according to Bayers Mirena Handbook.
Health care providers must remove Mirena if it moves out of place. If a patient is not pregnant, she can get a new IUD inserted.
What Are The Side Effects Of Mirena
Get emergency medical help if you have signs of an allergic reaction: hives difficult breathing swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.
Get emergency medical help if you have severe pain in your lower stomach or side. This could be a sign of a tubal pregnancy.
The IUD may become embedded into the wall of the uterus, or may perforate in the uterus. If this occurs, the device may no longer prevent pregnancy, or it may move outside the uterus and cause scarring, infection, or damage to other organs. Your doctor may need to surgically remove the device.
- severe cramps or pelvic pain, pain during sexual intercourse
- extreme dizziness or light-headed feeling
- severe migraine headache
- heavy or ongoing vaginal bleeding, vaginal sores, vaginal discharge that is watery, foul-smelling discharge, or otherwise unusual
- pale skin, weakness, easy bruising or bleeding, fever, chills, or other signs of infection
- jaundice or
- sudden numbness or weakness , confusion, problems with vision, sensitivity to light.
Common side effects may include:
This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.
You May Like: Is Herpes Treatable With Antibiotics
How Should I Use This Medication
This device is placed inside the uterus by your doctor within 7 days after the start of your period. Your doctor will most likely perform a gynecological examination before the device is inserted to examine your uterus for correct placement and to rule out pregnancy or other gynecological conditions that would make using levonorgestrel undesirable.
The device is inserted during a routine office visit with your doctor and only takes a few minutes. You may have to go back to your doctor’s office about 4 to 12 weeks after the device is inserted to ensure it is in the right position, and then once a year thereafter or as directed by your doctor. The device can be left in place for up to 5 years, after which a decision must be made whether to replace the device with a new one or simply to remove the old device.
It is important to use this contraceptive device exactly as prescribed by your doctor.
Many things can affect the dose of medication that a person needs, such as body weight, other medical conditions, and other medications. If your doctor has recommended a dose different from the ones listed here, do not change the way that you are using the medication without consulting your doctor.
Do not dispose of medications in wastewater or in household garbage. Ask your pharmacist how to dispose of medications that are no longer needed or have expired.
How To Prevent Birth Control Ineffectiveness
Always talk with your doctor about birth control interactions before taking new medications, including vitamins or over-the-counter medications. Ask if the medication or supplement will interfere with your birth control effectiveness. Even if more research is needed, its generally better to err on the side of caution. You can use backup forms of birth control in addition to oral contraceptives when taking medications that interfere with the effectiveness.
If you forget to use a backup method, you can take over-the-counter emergency contraception for up to five days after intercourse. For long term medications, such as retrovirals, diabetes medications, or anticonvulsants, it is best to talk with your provider about other contraception methods, such as long-acting reversible contraception or injectable progesterone.
Recommended Reading: Best Antibiotic For Cut Infection
What If My Healthcare Provider Prescribes Rifampin For Me
If your healthcare provider does prescribe rifampin to you, be sure to let them know if you are using a hormonal contraceptive.
Unless otherwise stated by your healthcare provider, you can still continue to take your pills as usual every day. However, during this time, itâs important to use non-hormonal birth control methods, like external or internal condoms, or abstain from sex as backup protection during rifampin treatment .
If you use birth control pills, consider following the recommendations for what to do if you miss two or more pills:
-
Continue to use these non-hormonal backup methods for 7 days after you stop taking rifampin, provided you still have 7 hormone-containing pills left in your pack
-
If there are fewer than 7 hormonal pills left in the pack after you stop taking rifampin, skip the hormone-free pills and start a new pack, but still continue to use back-up contraception for the first 7 pills of the pack .
If you are using another form of hormonal contraceptive, like the patch or ring, speak to your healthcare provider.
Common Side Effects Of Mirena Include:
-
Pain, bleeding, or dizziness during and after placement. If these symptoms do not stop 30 minutes after placement, Mirena may not have been placed correctly. Your healthcare professional will examine you to see if Mirena needs to be removed or replaced.
-
Changes in bleeding. You may have bleeding and spotting between menstrual periods, especially during the first 3 to 6 months. Sometimes the bleeding is heavier than usual at first. However, the bleeding usually becomes lighter than usual and may be irregular. Call your healthcare professional if the bleeding remains heavier than usual or increases after it has been light for a while.
-
Missed menstrual periods. About 2 out of 10 women stop having periods after 1 year of Mirena use. If you have any concerns that you may be pregnant while using Mirena, do a urine pregnancy test and call your healthcare professional. If you do not have a period for 6 weeks during Mirena use, call your healthcare professional. When Mirena is removed, your menstrual periods should return.
-
Cysts on the ovary. Some women using Mirena develop a painful cyst on the ovary. These cysts usually disappear on their own in 2 to 3 months. However, cysts can cause pain and sometimes cysts will need surgery.
You May Like: Does Any Antibiotic Cure Chlamydia
Understand How Your Contraceptive Works
Excessive vomiting and/or diarrhea can also lower the effectiveness of the pill. If you are experiencing these symptoms, contact your healthcare provider for advice about additional methods of birth control. If you have any questions about birth control methods or potential interactions with other medications, talk to your healthcare provider. You will lower your chances of birth control failure if you have a proper and thorough understanding of how to use your contraceptive.
