The New Intimacy

Birth control and cold medicine?

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Contributor: Backseat Boohoo Backseat Boohoo
I went to bed last night with a slightly scratchy throat and a runny nose and woke up with the Head Cold From Hell. (This is completely unfair, because I have almost 2 dozen essays to write before Monday AND I have to give a presentation on Monday night AND I had the flu last month AND wtf is wrong with my body these days.)

I didn't take any medication beyond plain ibuprofen when I had the flu, and I just slept for 2 days. But colds are longer, and I know I'll be taking a LOT of cold medicine. Does cold medicine affect your hormonal BC?
02/14/2009
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Contributor: CaptainBunnyKilla CaptainBunnyKilla
Quote:
Originally posted by Backseat Boohoo
I went to bed last night with a slightly scratchy throat and a runny nose and woke up with the Head Cold From Hell. (This is completely unfair, because I have almost 2 dozen essays to write before Monday AND I have to give a presentation on Monday ... more
They don't interact in the sense that the cold medicine won't change the effectiveness of your birth control. Everything you put into your body "interacts", but cold medicine and hormonal BC shouldn't clash in any significant way. I wouldn't worry!
02/14/2009
Contributor: Backseat Boohoo Backseat Boohoo
Quote:
Originally posted by CaptainBunnyKilla
They don't interact in the sense that the cold medicine won't change the effectiveness of your birth control. Everything you put into your body "interacts", but cold medicine and hormonal BC shouldn't clash in any significant way. I wouldn't worry!
Ah, good. Thanks, sweetheart!
02/14/2009
Contributor: Adriana Ravenlust Adriana Ravenlust
Antibiotics are the ones to worry about.
02/14/2009
Contributor: CaptainBunnyKilla CaptainBunnyKilla
Quote:
Originally posted by Adriana Ravenlust
Antibiotics are the ones to worry about.
Word.
02/14/2009
Contributor: Backseat Boohoo Backseat Boohoo
Quote:
Originally posted by Adriana Ravenlust
Antibiotics are the ones to worry about.
They can also give you yeast infections. ::shivers::
02/14/2009
Contributor: Adriana Ravenlust Adriana Ravenlust
Quote:
Originally posted by Backseat Boohoo
They can also give you yeast infections. ::shivers::
And make your nipples turn colours. (True story heh)
02/15/2009
Contributor: Nashville Nashville
Quote:
Originally posted by Adriana Ravenlust
Antibiotics are the ones to worry about.
My sister had to go on antibiotics for a week and she actually got pregnant. Definitely need to worry about taking them when you're on BC.
02/15/2009
Contributor: Adriana Ravenlust Adriana Ravenlust
Quote:
Originally posted by Nashville
My sister had to go on antibiotics for a week and she actually got pregnant. Definitely need to worry about taking them when you're on BC.
It also seems to be something that doctors aren't really worried about for some reason.
02/15/2009
Contributor: Not Here Anymore f/k/a Happy Lady Not Here Anymore f/k/a Happy Lady
My pharmacist (a local person in a local shop) was ALWAYS reminding me that birth control pills are not nearly as effective - as in, not really effective at all - when combined with antibiotics. My doctor never said anything about it.
02/15/2009
Contributor: Beautiful Dreamer Beautiful Dreamer
The only antibiotic that has been proven in studies to significantly interfere with hormonal birth control is rifampin, which is not widely used. Just an FYI.
02/16/2009
Contributor: Gary Gary
I have never heard this before. This is something that should REALLY be made known to anyone relying on BC!
02/17/2009
Contributor: LikeSunshineDust LikeSunshineDust
Quote:
Originally posted by Beautiful Dreamer
The only antibiotic that has been proven in studies to significantly interfere with hormonal birth control is rifampin, which is not widely used. Just an FYI.
Studies don't always reflect reality though. Any antibiotic can interfere with your natural intestinal flora, which can in turn interfere with the absorption of drugs (like BC). It might not be to a significant extent, but it could still be enough to let you get pregnant. You're right about rifampin significantly interfering, but it interferes with the proteins that metabolize the BC, which is considered a major interaction.

This really should be something a doctor notifies the patient because they actually have time to mention it to them, but ironically, most doctors don't know a ton about the drugs they prescribe. At work (in a pharmacy), if I see a new prescription for antibiotic for a woman, I try to take the extra time to check the rest of her profile so I can advise her to use a backup method if she uses oral BC, but it's impossible to catch all of them.

I really don't mean to sound like a know-it-all. Just want to share some of my knowledge.
02/17/2009
Contributor: CaptainBunnyKilla CaptainBunnyKilla
Quote:
Originally posted by Beautiful Dreamer
The only antibiotic that has been proven in studies to significantly interfere with hormonal birth control is rifampin, which is not widely used. Just an FYI.
That's really interesting! The warnings about antibiotic use are plastered all over everything birth control related, so I assumed the clinical evidence was more robust... weird.
02/17/2009
Contributor: LikeSunshineDust LikeSunshineDust
Quote:
Originally posted by CaptainBunnyKilla
That's really interesting! The warnings about antibiotic use are plastered all over everything birth control related, so I assumed the clinical evidence was more robust... weird.
It's true that the studies don't support a connection, but think about it. It messes with your gut flora, which messes with the absorption and on top of that, can cause vomiting and diarrhea, which makes the BC get excreted faster. Look at the strength of the drugs in your BC. It's measured in tenths of a milligram. Only a little bit is needed to do the job, but if you mess with how much gets into your blood stream then it could render the dose ineffective.
02/17/2009