I've been put on antibiotics for a few days for an infection, and I know that antibiotics have been shown to reduce the effectiveness of hormonal contraception. I'm on the nuvaring.

Obviously a backup method such as condoms should be used while I'm taking the antibiotics, but is there a "waiting period" after I finish them while I wait for them to get out of my system? I meant to ask my doctor but I forgot. :o

If I can't get an answer here, I'll call and ask, but it's a real hassle to call the nurse and wait for a callback, so I hope someone here knows. ^^;;

I know with the pill, you're supposed to use a backup until you start a new pack of pills, or after your period (and the placebo pills). Do you still have a period?

good question. if you end up having to call your doctor, post the answer here, please. i just finished my antibiotics, too.

I know with the pill, you're supposed to use a backup until you start a new pack of pills, or after your period (and the placebo pills). Do you still have a period?


Until you start a new pack of pills? I thought it was something like a week to two weeks after you finished the antibiotics. Uh oh.

If you miss a pill, aren't you just supposed to wait a week before doing anything without backup? That's what the people at Planned Parenthood told me...

I would like to pre-empt this by saying that NO I didn't buy Glamour magazine, but yes, it was in the bathroom so I read it. There was an article that consisted of questions and answers about the pill. This is the bit about AB's.

Q: Is it true that antibiotics and the pill don't mix?
A: Many pills carry labels cautioning that antibiotics may decrease their effectiveness. But these warnings may actually be misleading. The latest news is you don't need to use backup birth control while you're on most antibiotics, according to recent data published in the medical journal The Female Patient, which concluded that there are only two antibiotics proven to interefere with the Pill's effectiveness: rifampin, which treats tuberculosis, and griseofulvin, which is used for fungal infections.

I don't know if thats helpful at all... I always use a backup method, but I think if I weren't regularly, I'd use one until my next pack, just in case.

Thanks for the replies...

I do still have a period, I keep the ring in for three weeks, take it out for a week and bleed, then put a new one in. This past month, I "stacked" which means skipping the ring-free week and therefore skipping your period, but I'll be back on my normal schedule when the ring that I just inserted comes out on the correct date, which will be Friday, July 9th.

My cousin just recently got pregnant and blames it on antibiotics interfering with her BC, so...I'm a little overly-cautious, maybe.

BF and I are tested and clean of STDs so we don't normally use a backup.

Not to imply that only those who aren't tested free of STDs should use backup, but we choose to rely on hormonal BC since the ring is about 99% effective, I think.