doxycycline and birth control pills

[dreamingforbaby.livejournal.com]

I went to my doctor last week to get a prescription for birth control pills (and she prescribed Ortho Tricyclen Lo for me). I have been taking doxycycline as an acne medication for the past two years, and I asked my doctor if it was safe to continue taking it while being on birth control (since she hadn't mentioned anything about it), and she said it was fine and she had several patients taking both drugs.

Now, my previous research had indicated to me otherwise, but I thought maybe I had been mistaken, so I figured my doctor knew what she was talking about. But then I went home and - voila! - one google search for "doxycycline and birth control" and I found hundreds of pages saying that taking doxycyline can reduce the effectiveness of birth control pills.

I'm going back to my doctor tomorrow to get a pelvic exam (my appointment got scheduled strangely so she didn't have time to give me the exam last week), and I intend to question her further about this, plus I think I will tell her that even if she says it's okay to take both medications I don't feel comfortable taking them together, so I'll discontinue using the doxycycline.

But I was wondering if anyone else has had this kind of experience with their doctor, or knows anything else about the effect of doxycycline on birth control pills (it worries me that she tells all her patients it's okay if it really might not be!).

She also said, in response to my other queries, that there was "controversial" evidence about the effect of antibiotics and birth control pills, i.e. she did not tell me I needed to use another method of contraception should I ever find myself taking antibiotics once I get on birth control, which goes against EVERYTHING I have read on this community and in other places I have been researching birth control! Really doesn't give me much faith in her anymore...

x-posted to birthcontrol

Comments

[pinkdramon.livejournal.com]

You say the Doxycycline is for acne treatment.

You MAY wind up not needing the doxycycline after going on birth control anyway. I was on *4* different prescriptions, just to keep my crazy out-of-control acne, under control.

Once I went on Yasmin, it pretty much went away. I don't need to take any of those 4 acne meds I was using anymore. No I wasn't taking Doxycycline; my antibiotic of choice was Minocycline. Sure I still get a zit here and there but it's NOTHING like what it was.

[queensugar.livejournal.com]

While it's unfortunate that your doctor didn't err on the side of caution in her advice to you, don't roast her quite yet. As this comment (http://community.livejournal.com/vaginapagina/7325155.html?thread=86408675#t86408675) from smallstar in our HBC FAQ notes, there is some questions surrounding the total effect of many kinds of antibiotics on HBC. That could be what she is referring to.

To demonstrate this, here is one article abstract (http://www.medscape.com/medline/abstract/11704183) that presents some of the conflicting evidence (except for the antibiotic Rifampin). However, it does note that a minority of individual women may experience hormonal decreases, and since it's impossible to determine who will experience that in advance, a cautious approach is advised -- and that's largely where your doctor has veered from the literature.

That study is also from 2001, so it's possible more concrete evidence has come out recently that I haven't seen.

[wildcat21.livejournal.com]

Like yourself I've been on doxycycline off and on for over 2 years for acne and am also on the pill. I've always used caution because I've always known that antibiotics + birth control = no go. I'm a PharmTech and I work in a hospital pharmacy and I'm also on my way to Pharmacy School so I have access to a lot of information... I wish I had the book in front of me now but I'm at home now... well the book I was reading at work was stating that it didn't interfere with hormonal bc which is the first time I've ever read it. So I guess it's up in the air but for me, it's better safe than sorry.

[salve-regina.livejournal.com]

i dont know about your particular situation, but i've had doctors that didnt know what they were talking about (aka drug interactions, etc). scary/ good?that we have the internet?