Antibiotics and Hormonal IUD's

[kitschisme]

Hello, everyone!

I have had a hormonal IUD (Mirena) for about one year. I was recently prescribed the antibiotic Ciproflaxin to treat a UTI (urinary tract infection).

I know some antibiotics can interfere with the effectiveness of hormonal birth control pills, but I wasn't sure if this was also a concern for hormonal IUDs like Mirena.

I really don't want to get pregnant... Should I be using a back-up method like condoms while I'm taking the antibiotics?

Any information you can share would be helpful. Thanks!

[Sam W]

Hi kitschisme,

You can read up on what does or does not interfere with hormonal BC here: http://www.scarleteen.com/article/bodie ... th_control (you'll notice that UTI medication is near the top). And, for questions about a specific medication, it's always best to ask a pharmacist. And, we recommend using the buddy system of condom plus IUD anyway, as it's a good means of doubling your protection

Too, the Mirena is not technically considered a hormonal method, even though it produces a small amount of localized hormone.