Can I get pregnant?

[Chelsea18]

So, I'm seeing someone and I'm going to go back on the pill. I suffer from insomnia. Can birth control counteract with sleeping medicine?

[Happyface123]

Hi. I don’t think it can.

[wobblybee Administrator Pioneer]

What medicines can affect contraception?

If diarrhoea occurs as a side effect of a medicine, it could affect absorption of the combined pill or progestogen-only pill. An example of this is the weight loss drug orlistat.

Other medicines can affect the hormones in the contraceptive pill if taken at the same time.

This can happen with, for example, drugs used to reduce levels of bile acid, such as cholestyramine.

There are certain types of medicine that can increase the enzymes in your body. This is known as being "enzyme-inducing".

This can affect hormonal contraception, including:

the pill

the implant

the patch

the vaginal ring

Enzyme-inducing medicines speed up the processing of some contraceptive hormones and therefore reduce the levels of these hormones in your bloodstream.

This makes the contraceptive less effective. Enzyme-inducing drugs that can affect hormonal contraception include:

rifampicin-like antibiotics (see Will antibiotics stop my contraception working? for more information)

some drugs used to treat epilepsy

some antiretroviral drugs used to treat HIV

St John's wort (a herbal remedy)

Contraception methods that are not affected by enzyme-inducing drugs include:

the progestogen-only injection

an intrauterine device (IUD)

an intrauterine system (IUS)

If you need to start taking another medicine while you're using hormonal contraception, make sure your GP or pharmacist knows that you're using this type of contraception.

They can advise you on whether the other medicine will make your contraception less effective.

[Cooper27]

Your pharmacist will be trained to know about drug interactions, so they would be the best person to ask.

It's probably unlikely, unless your medication causes diarrhea or vomiting.