Lamictal and birth control pills

Re: Lamictal and birth control pills

Submitted by hipie73 on Wed, 2010-11-17 - 14:26

I took my 17 year old to the OBGYN and he put her on Loestrin 24 FE she had 4 periods in two months and a small seziure...she was seziure free for 3 years and in jan she had a tonic-clonic they uped her dosage and was fine untill the birth control pill. So be careful and i did let the OBGYN know this and he said shed be fine well he was wrong!!!

Re: Lamictal and birth control pills

Submitted by sheltiegal on Thu, 2010-09-30 - 13:48

Both drugs interact with each other and decrease the effectiveness of each other.  If taking Lamictal, you need to be on another form of birth control as well (i.e., condoms), or you may get pregnant. 

From medscape drug interaction checker:

Interactions

Moderate Interaction
LAMOTRIGINE/HORMONAL CONTRACEPTIVES
  Lamictal XR Oral and YAZ 28 Oral may interact based on the potential interaction between LAMOTRIGINE and HORMONAL CONTRACEPTIVES. 



Lamotrigine/Hormonal Contraceptives

This information is generalized and not intended as specific medical advice. Consult your healthcare professional before taking or discontinuing any drug or commencing any course of treatment.

MONOGRAPH TITLE: Lamotrigine/Hormonal Contraceptives

SEVERITY LEVEL: 3-Moderate Interaction: Assess the risk to the patient and take action as needed.

MECHANISM OF ACTION: Hormonal contraceptives increase the clearance of lamotrigine. Lamotrigine may induce the metabolism of contraceptives.(1,2)

CLINICAL EFFECTS: Concurrent use of lamotrigine and hormonal contraceptives may result in decreased levels and effectiveness of both agents.(1,2)

PREDISPOSING FACTORS: The interaction is more severe in patients not taking carbamazepine, phenytoin, phenobarbital, primidone, or rifampin.

PATIENT MANAGEMENT: No adjustments to the recommended lamotrigine dose escalation guidelines should be necessary in patients taking hormonal contraceptives.(1)

In patients NOT taking carbamazepine, phenytoin, phenobarbital, primidone, or rifampin, the maintenance dose of lamotrigine may need to be increased by as much as 2-fold according to clinical response if oral contraceptives are initiated. If these patients stop taking hormonal contraceptives, the dosage of lamotrigine may need to be decreased by 50%.(1)

In patients taking carbamazepine, phenytoin, phenobarbital, primidone, or rifampin, no lamotrigine maintenance dosage adjustments should be necessary if hormonal contraceptives are initiated or discontinued.(1)

Patients should be instructed to promptly report any changes in their menstrual cycle, such as break-through bleeding.(1)

-simple partials, some generalized, frontal lobe, temporal lobe and myoclonic... and student nurse :o)

Re: Lamictal and birth control pills

Submitted by Missy22 on Mon, 2011-01-31 - 20:46

I wouldn't start yet. I am on Lamictal and have been told that the interaction of the pill and Lamictal cause BOTH to be less effective. I want to be on birth control and am currently getting the Depo Provera injection. It might be something to look into if you do not want to increase your Lamictal dosage. It's very simple and my neuoroligst who I've been seeing for 16 years and highly trust discussed it with me and it seemed like the best medicine for someone taking Lamictal. But there is one thing I would look into if you decided to do Depo Provera, usually the injection is about every 13 weeks(i think) but if you are on Lamictal and have Epilepsy you need to get the injection sooner, every 10 weeks i think. I don't remember the exact week amount but I definately know you need to get it sooner than those not on Lamictal.