What Makes Yasmin Less Effective?

Some medications can make the pill less effective because they interfere with the way that the pill works. Drugs used to treat epilepsy or HIV will render the pill ineffective. Certain antibiotics usually have this effect and all medication that is used to treat Tuberculosis will affect the pill. Medication used to treat high blood pressure such as bosentan will stop the pill from working properly. There are also some herbal remedies that can have a similar effect such as St Johns wort, so it is important that you tell your doctor about any type of medication that you are using so that they can make sure that it will not affect the pill and vice versa. Sometimes, the pill can affect other medication such as Ciclosporin and lamotrigine.

If you are going to be using the medication for only a short period of time, your doctor will most likely advise you to use additional contraception throughout your treatment and for one week after your treatment has finished. However, if the medication is needed for long-term use, you will most likely have to consider another method of contraception that is not affected by your medication because there is no point taking contraception that will not work.

Incorrect use of the pill will also lead to pregnancy. The pill works by maintaining a consistent level of hormones throughout your cycle so that you will not release an egg. If you do not use the pill correctly and skip pills, you disrupt this flow and the pill will not be as effective. Therefore incorrect use of the pill can lower your protection against pregnancy.

If you are sick or suffer from severe diarrhoea, the pill may not be effective especially if you do so 3-4 hours after taking the pill. The hormones may not have completely absorbed into your bloodstream. This means you have “missed” a pill so once you have vomited, take another pill from a reserve pack. If you manage to do so within 12 hours and you are not ill again, you should be protected from pregnancy but if this is not the case follow the instructions for a missed pill.

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