Marvelon and Other Medications

There are some medicines that should not be used in conjunction with the contraceptive pill because they can stop the pill from working properly. The pill can also affect other medications and cause an increase in their side effects. Therefore, you need to tell your doctor if you are using any medication because you don’t want to use a contraceptive pill that will not protect you from pregnancy.

Most antibiotics will affect the contraceptive pill and stop it from working. Medications such as Ampicillin and Rifampicin will reduce the effectiveness of the pill. You should also be aware that anti-fungal medications such as griseofulvin have similar effects. Certain sedatives can reduce the pills success such as barbiturates. Most medication that is used to treat epilepsy can also affect the pill and it will not protect you from pregnancy.

Some laxatives can also affect the pill because the pill may not have been absorbed into your blood stream properly. Medical charcoal can also reduce the pills effectiveness. It is not only prescribed medications that can affect the pill as some herbal remedies can reduce its effectiveness. The most common remedy known to cause this effect is St John’s Wort, which is used to treat depression. Therefore, if you are using any medication, you need to tell your doctor to make sure that the pill is going to work for you.

If you are going to be on any of these medications for the long term, you should consider using a different type of contraception that will not be affected by other medication. If you are only going to be using the pill for a short amount of time then you should use additional contraception until you have finished your medication and for seven days afterwards.

Sometimes, the pill can have an effect on other medications. Sometimes they can stop the medications from being effective. For example, if you are using insulin or anti-diabetic drugs, you may need to have your dose increased in order for the insulin to have an effect. Therefore, your doctor may decide to change your dose or you may need to use another method of contraception.

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