Cilest and Other Medications

Cilest may have an effect on any other medication you are taking. Sometimes the pill can increase the side effects of other medication or the pill can be rendered ineffective by your medication. Your doctor needs to know about any medications you are taking in order to make sure that there are not any interactions between your medication and the pill that could reduce the effectiveness of the contraception. There is no point taking the contraceptive pill if it is not going to protect you from pregnancy.

Medications that stop the pill working properly

A number of medications that are used to treat epilepsy reduce the success of the contraceptive pill. These include phenobarbitol, phenytoin, oxcarbazepine, Felbamate or primidone. Drugs used to treat HIV may also affect the pill. Sedatives such as barbiturates, anti fungal medications, modafinil for treating sleepiness, colesevelam for high cholesterol levels, metoclopramide for increased gut motility or bosentan for treating high blood pressure will all affect the pill.

Antibiotics are known to reduce the effectiveness of the pill. If you are taking Rifampicin and rifabutin, you will not be protected from pregnancy. These two antibiotics are used to treat tuberculosis so if you need to take a long-term course of them, you are advised to change to a different method of contraceptive that is not affected by the antibiotics.

What can the pill affect?

The pill can also affect other medications by increasing their concentration in the blood, which can cause a rise in adverse side effects. If you are taking medications to prevent transplant rejection such as ciclosporin, theophylline for asthma and emphysema, lamotrigine for epilepsy or prednisolone for reducing inflammation, then the pill will affect these medications.

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