Loon-A-TiK Posted January 3, 2007 Share Posted January 3, 2007 i'm so sick of not knowing what to believe what it comes to lamictal and birth control. First, my in-depth reading on the subject came to the conclusion that progestin-only birth control was safer than traditional estrogen+progestin birth control when taken with lamictal, so i went on micronor, a progestin-only pill. then my first nurse practitioner (at planned parenthood) claimed it didn't matter. but i went on micronor anyway. now i'm reading that there is a slight difference, but one that i would accept considering the side effects of micronor. i read in the PI sheet for micronor that it is rare and serious if i miss a period for more than 45 days, and to consult my doctor right away. so today i went in to planned parenthood and talked to another nurse. she said i'm fine, and didn't take any blood to look at hormone levels or anything. i think she should have at least done that. i also told her i'm losing my hair and don't know why, and that it is possibly hormone related. she didn't seem to care about that. the PI states that the pill and lamictal both decrease the effectiveness of the other, so more lamictal is needed, and i should watch it with the pill. then my own reading suggests that it is only with estrogen pills that i need to worry, that progestin pills are safer. HELP!!! does anyone know the ins and outs of lamictal and birth control? has anyone gotten pregnant or know of anyone who has gotten pregnant while using lamictal and birth control in either standard or progestin-only forms? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mitten Posted January 3, 2007 Share Posted January 3, 2007 Both PI's and nurse's have something to gain by offering their input. I think in another post on another topic I suggested talking to a pharmasist. They have more info on MEDs and their reactions, interactions, side effects etc. than any doc, pi, as that is all that they do and they have nothing to gain or lose by what someone's perscription is. They have saved my ass more than once when it came to contradicting med info. Incidently it was with lamictal and the pill. September ish I think that I ran into the same thing with bc and lamictal conflicts. Every "professional" I turned to had contradicting info and I was a confused mess. I was the one with something at stake if their info wasn't accurate, not them. My pharmacist cleared it all up for me with a lengthy explanation that I can't remember now because my brain is mush. Anyway, I remeber it being a topic then and I posted the explaination on it. Anyway, a pharmacist's veiw for meds shit is always more accurate and insightful I find. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loon-A-TiK Posted January 3, 2007 Author Share Posted January 3, 2007 incidentally, my uncle is a pharmacist, so i'll give him a call. i'll also call the pharmacist at my local drug store. now, if they have conflicting views, then i'm in trouble! i'm going to try to look up your post to see that explaination. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest_Waterfall_* Posted January 8, 2007 Share Posted January 8, 2007 I've read that hormonal bc decreases the level of Lamictal in the blood, but does not effect the effectiveness of the bc. But I am not a doctor or pharmacist. My pdoc did look this up and agreed with what I said, for what it's worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loon-A-TiK Posted January 8, 2007 Author Share Posted January 8, 2007 i found a study involving only 16 women that had to do with hormonal bc and lamictal. they found that while the women on lamictal had a lower something medical than the others, this did not result in pregnancies. they decided that it would be safe for women to continue using oral contraceptives with lamictal. this is good news! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest yogagirlstacey Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 i found a study involving only 16 women that had to do with hormonal bc and lamictal. they found that while the women on lamictal had a lower something medical than the others, this did not result in pregnancies. they decided that it would be safe for women to continue using oral contraceptives with lamictal. this is good news! Hi, I'm in the exact same boat as you with trying to figure this stuff out... I want to make sure the pill actually WORKS if I take it!! (I can deal with the Lamictal being less effective!). Please let me know if you find out more info. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest gingerpogo Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 I was just put on Lamictal last week, and I too am freaking out about my birth control. The doctor who gave me the Lamictal didn't even mention that there was a conflict, but my pharmacist did. I went to my OBGYN, and the only thing he offered me was Mirena, and everything I've read on it is not good. I can't seem to find a clear answer on whether or not it really effects birth control or not. I'll keep checking back here to see if anyone else has some insight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isis Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 i stopped taking the pill because my pdoc told me i could not take it with lamictal. but when i saw my GP - who is much more up front about things - he said that i could keep taking it, we just had to monitor the lamictal more closely. so... im not sure. i didnt continue with the pill anyway, just thought i'd try a few months without it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zsepthenne Posted December 30, 2007 Share Posted December 30, 2007 I wish we had more info on this topic. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I am not on the Pill currently because i don't need it. But I'm hoping to in the future. Which decreases what? I have problems with my hair falling out (telogen efflivium) on certain BC's so I am concerned about hormone levels. I would assume some of us would be reporting pregnancies by now if it severely decreased hormone levels. Egads! Any new info? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nalgas Posted December 31, 2007 Share Posted December 31, 2007 At some point, I was going to put together an article about the interactions between hormones, anticonvulsants, and epilepsy, because they're all interconnected in various ways. I kind of wasn't up for it at the time, though, so I never finished it. From what I remember, though, hormonal birth control lowers the effectiveness of Lamictal (i.e. if you start hormonal birth control, you will likely have to raise the amount of Lamictal you're taking to get the same effect), but Lamictal doesn't interfere with the effectiveness of the birth control. Most other ACs that have hormonal interactions (like Trileptal, or to a lesser extent Topamax) are the other way around, though; changing hormone levels, such as from birth control, don't really do much to the meds, but the meds, specifically the enzyme-inducing ones, increase the clearance of certain hormones, which can make hormonal birth control less effective or can even cause hormone level-related side effects in people not using any form of birth control or hormone replacement or anything. Then, as an added bonus, seizures in the right part of the brain, like the limbic system, can affect the regulation of hormone levels, which then can affect the meds you take to stop the seizures, which then affect the seizures, which then screw with the hormones, which then... Or hormone levels can affect seizures directly, like with catamenial epilepsy. It's all a whole big mess of things chasing each other's tails around in circles, like an ouroboros with three heads. Tied in knots. And no, I have no citations for any of that, since this is all off the top of my head. All my notes and the articles I found about this stuff are a complete mess. I need to sort it all out some day. Heh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raine Posted January 26, 2008 Share Posted January 26, 2008 I did a quick search and one of the first articles that came up was this one: http://thesidewalkpsychiatrist.wordpress.c...-control-pills/ My doctor put me on Lamictal yesterday and told me that the birth control would lower the Lamictal levels and the Lamictal would decrease the effectiveness of the birth control. He said if I wanted to continue taking both, we would have to adjust the dose on the days that the birth control is placebo. This could be a little tricky to keep up with every month. I thought it was interesting that the article says that (of the study) "the women who were taking the combination did not show any clinical or hormonal signs of ovulation (supression of ovulation is the point of birth control pills)." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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