Scarleteen

Hi!

I have been taking generess for birth control pills for about a year and a half but this past month my doctor changed my pills to minastrin 24. I started my first new pack Sunday Oct. 18th. This first week and possibly into the second week (I can't completely remember) of the new birth control, I was taking ampicillin for a uti. I finished the first pack of pills and had a period then started my second pack Nov. 15th (this past Sunday). On Tuesday I had intercourse with a condom. I'm just wondering say for instance the condom broke, would I have been protected by my new birth control at that point? I didn't miss any pills and took them at the same time every night, I just didn't know since I was on the ampicillin.

Thank you!!

Hi hclark,

Usually, if a doctor knows you're on birth control, they'll let you know if there is a risk of it being compromised by something else they give, like antibiotics. Ampicillin falls into the category of things that might compromise the pill (you can read more about that here: Something You Can Worry About Less: Interference and Hormonal Birth Control ). Too, when a condom breaks, it will be noticeable. If you or your partner didn't notice it breaking or coming all the way off, you can assume it did its job.

I was just confused because the nurse at my family doctor said the ampicillin wouldn't interfere with my birth control then the nurse at my gynecologist office said that it does. I just didn't know if I was on that antibiotic the first two weeks if the following two weeks before my period was enough for the birth control to build back up in my system.

I feel you that it can be confusing to get two different messages from healthcare providers. According to the research, "almost all antibiotics have no effect on the efficacy of hormonal birth control. However, much of this research has included sample sizes considered too small to detect a rare interaction that may occur in less than 1% of users. So if you are taking an antibiotic, your decision to take more precautions depends on how much risk you are or are not comfortable with."

As for how long before that small chance of it being compromised goes away, that would be a question to call and ask a pharmacist about.