Diindolylmethane and birth control

[sasuga-danika.livejournal.com]

I've been taking DIM (Diindolylmethane) as a supplement for the past 2 weeks. I'd seen information about it's ability to prevent breast cancer, and seeing as it runs rampant on both sides of my family, I decided to give it a go. I've LOVED my experience so far. Not only has it alieviated my cramps, I've been losing excess weight, waking up feeling refreshed, and my skin has gotten clearer. I haven't made any other changes in my life, so I have to assume it is the DIM.

I'm a little nervous about the effects it might have on my birth control pill. I know it helps regulate my hormones and controls "bad" estrogen, but should I worry about how it will interact with my birth control? Has anybody used DIM with birth control pills before?

Thanks!

Comments

[indigo-tide.livejournal.com]

I'd be surprised if it did counteract, since it is something found in vegetables. You'll have to let us know :P (jk)

That being said, I will have to look in to this for myself, just to help some of my own issues. Is it a supplement or something you need a Rx for?

[sasuga-danika.livejournal.com]

It's just a supplement. There are a few bioready pills available. I've been using the Source Naturals brand.

I've seen some information that says it *could* interact with the pill...but I haven't seen any anecdotal information. I'll name my first child Dim :P

[atalanta0jess.livejournal.com]

The fact that its natural definitely doesn't mean it doesn't counteract HBC.

This website (http://www.energeticnutrition.com/vitalzym/dim.html) doesn't necessarily look like the most reliable thing in the world, but it does say that DIM can reduce the effectiveness of birth control. Given that the way it supposedly works is by breaking down estradiol, and a major ingredient in birth control is estradiol, it definitely seems possible/likely. I guess it depends how much of it you were taking...but I don't know that there's any way for a lay person to figure out how much they were being effected.

It also seems to me that if you're looking to reduce concentrations of estradiol in your system, quitting the use of combined contraceptives would be a far larger step in the right direction than taking DIM, honestly. You're taking a supplement to break down a compound that you are ALSO taking in pill form. The only difference I can find is that in HBC, you're actually taking ethinylestradiol, which is harder for your body to break down.

OP, it seems like it definitely could interact with the pill, so depending on what level of risk you are willing to take, you may want to consider a secondary form of birth control. However, perhaps more relevant is the fact that you're taking two pills that are meant to essentially counteract each other. There could be something I don't know going on here, but I would at the very least have an in depth discussion with someone who knows more before I continued to use both. If you're concerned about the impacts of estrogen on your breast cancer risk, another contraceptive might be in order.

[archangelbeth]

As the FDA said (see my post below), the amounts in the supplement are an order of magnitude higher than the amount that one gets in natural veggies. Also, as said by atalanta0jess, "natural" doesn't mean "safe" or "doesn't interact." There are plenty of "natural" things that can screw anyone up! For instance, digitalis is foxglove and while digitalis has saved many lives -- in the appropriate dosage and purity -- it remains a poison in higher dosages.

I would consult a doctor before going on a DIM supplement.

[morgandee.livejournal.com]

Grapefruit counteracts.

[kaowolfie.livejournal.com]

It also increases absorption of some drugs, and decreases absorption of others. Fun!

Edit: Bleh, it looks like apple, orange, and lime juice can also interfere with drug absorption. Lime juice is one of my favorite seasonings, and I take a med that it may mess with; not fair!

[archangelbeth]

Interesting! I went googling and it does seem that the DIM stuff is a minimal toxic side effect thingie. Perhaps I should discuss the stuff with my doctor sometime; I would want to be more cautious because cruciferous veggies are believed to interfere with thyroid function, and I'm already hypothyroid.

Anyway, I went googling to answer your question.

http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/DOCKETS/DOCKETS/95s0316/rpt0018%20_01.pdf says "Diindolylmethane is not recommended for use by women taking oral contraceptives (birth control pills)." --that's from the would-be distributor's copy. The FDA takes the manufacturer to task for several poor-research reasons. I'd suggest trying to read through the PDF (it does have some technical stuff, which I mostly skimmed till I found the parts in english) and determine any of it is information that you'd want to base changes in your DIM regime on.

http://www.natural-progesterone-advisory-network.com/the-cruciferous-choice-diindolylmethane-or-i3c/ -- which is not a .gov site, and therefore may be subject to unknown advertising manipulation -- says "Regarding its safe use in young women, diindolylmethane has been initially tested during combined use with oral contraceptives. Based on its lack of enzyme induction or inhibition, no problem interactions were seen (32)." Footnote 32 is... Um, actually, it's not there! And the whole article seems to have been produced by the would-be manufacturer/distributor of the stuff, so... Hrm. Ah, I tracked the footnote to the source. http://www.dimfaq.com/site/cruchoice.htm lists the data for that as from a study by the company making DIM, BioResponse.

From all the clinical trials that DIM is part of, I think it's definitely got the interest of at least BioResponse. (Heh.) I may be persuaded to go dig around, later, in the footnotes at the dimfaq.com site there and see how many of them are really relevant and how many are spurious.

For now... I'd consult a doctor about it, and consider the use of backup contraceptive methods, depending on how pregnancy-adverse you are.