medicines and the pill - Birth Control Message Board

SarahArnett243 · 09-12-2004, 07:29 AM

i know that some antibiotics can have effects on your pill's effectiveness. (nicely worded, eh? hehe) but i was wondering, do over-the-counter drugs do that too? i've had a bad cold lately and been taking claratin, ibuprofen and some cough pills. what kinds of drugs actuallly "mess it up" though? and does it cause the pill to be totally ineffective? would you consider it a missed pill? lol, i'm totally clueless on this. thanks :-D

Saka · 09-12-2004, 06:18 PM

I used to work in a pharmacy and I never heard of any over-the-counter drugs that will effect the pill. Especially ones for colds and flus. They generally only contain a pain killer, cough suppressent, and/or decongestant. None of these should affect the pill.

If you have experienced vomiting or diarrhoea within about 3-4 hours of taking the pill then I would class that as a missed pill though.