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Progestogen only pill and antibiotics

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

The efficacy of the progestogen only pill is not, in general, affected by the use of antibiotics

  • hepatic enzyme inducing antibiotics (such as rifampicin or rifabutin) do however reduce the efficacy of the progestogen only pill - rifampicin and rifabutin are such powerful enzyme-inducing drugs than an alternative method of contraception is always recommended

If using an enzyme-inducing antibiotic e.g. rifabutin, rifampicin - then will need to use additional contraceptive precautions and for four weeks after stopping the antibiotic.

Reference:

  1. BNF 7.3.1
  2. FSRH (2019), Clinical Guidance: Drug Interactions with Hormonal Contraception.

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