Are all hormonal BC methods affected by antibiotics? I'm currently on the pill because it's the cheapest method that works for us. However, I get sinus infections quite often after colds. Being an elementary teacher, well, I get a lot of colds! I'm so sick of worrying about my BC when I'm on antibiotics- especially since that's how we got DS I'd like to try the patch or the NuvaRing, but are they also less effective when on antibiotics?
And I just realized, why is there no birth control board??
Re: question about BC & antibiotics
I'm going to guess I won't get my insurance to pay much for that. We pay everything out of pocket until we reach our $4000 deductible. It's a crappy plan Hence my dilemna. All options I'd like are out of our price range.
It depends on the abx and the bcp. It is mostly oral birth control (so not patch, depo, or ring) that is affected and its mostly associated with rifampin, tetracyclines, and penicillins (amoxicillin). Of note: part of the reason that BC failure is associated with oral BC is due to the role that your GI flora play (so transdermal or other routes would bypass this) but also because there really are not a lot of studies available regarding other forms of hormonal contraception.
(Anecdotally, I've never had a problem with abx affecting my BCP, but every woman is different.)
Not all antibiotics affect BCP. So depending on what needs to be treated there are options to get BCP safe antibiotics.