Scarleteen

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!

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.