Epilepsy Action

“ We exist to improve the lives
of everyone affected by epilepsy ”

Contraception and epilepsy

In this section

 

Acknowledgement
Epilepsy Action would like to thank Dr Naghme Adab, consultant neurologist at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, for reviewing this information before publication. 

These pages are about contraception in the UK. If you are looking for information about contraception in another country, please contact your local epilepsy organisation.

Introduction

The aim of these web pages is to explain how different methods of contraception may be affected by epilepsy or interact with anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs). This will let you know which methods of contraception may work for you. It’s advisable to discuss this information with your own doctor or staff at your local family planning clinic. They will give you more detailed advice about contraception that will suit you. 

 

This information has been produced under the terms of The Information Standard.

  • Updated April 2011
    To be reviewed April 2012

Comments: read the 5 comments or add yours

Comments

Hi,

I am having a very frustrating experience at the moment. I recently went to my doctor to talk about taking the contraceptive pill. I am currently on 600mg of Carbamazepine a day.

I have taken the pill before (which was microgynon) but was on a smaller dose of Carbamazepine at the time (300mg per day) and this was effecitve as I took it for a year and didn't get pregnant.

My doctor has now put me on Cerazette and I am on a double dose of this. I recently went back to my doctor (and spoke to another GP) who told me that taking a double dose of Cerazette might not be an effective method of contraception while I am taking Carbamazepine.

I was told to talk to a sexual health clinic (by my GP) and my boyfriend has been ringing up to get us an appointment. We have been fobbed off with people at these clinics saying there would be "no point" in going along to talk to someone about it and then today my boyfriend was told on the phone by someone that taking a double dose of the pill would provide me with "no protection whatsoever". She didn't ask him what medication I was on, nor how much. Now I don't see how this can be true as even I know from looking at this site and other sites that it depends on what type of medication you are on which affects your pill.

Can someone please please tell me if there is someone my boyfriend and I can go and talk to who can provide us with at least some guideline as to the risks and the levels of protection I would have with taking my pill versus what medication I am on, or whether I would just be better using another method of contraception entirely. Nobody seems to know or just seem to want to get us off the phone!

Many thanks.

Submitted by Kerry on

Hi Kerry

Thank you for your comment. The information we have about using the contraceptive pill with anti-epileptic drugs has been checked and agreed with a consultant neurologist. This information says if you take carbamazepine, eslicarbazepine acetate, oxcarbazepine, phenobarbital, phenytoin, primidone, rufinamide or topiramate and you want to try the Pill, your doctor may suggest you follow these three steps, to make it work better:

  • take a version of the Pill that contains at least 50 micrograms of oestrogen; and
  • the Pill all the time without the usual seven day break each month; and
  • a version of the Pill which has at least twice the amount of progestogen than usual.

    • Information taken from the British National Formulary states clearly that Cerazette in a progestogen-only contraceptive. To my understanding, this means it isn’t suitable for you.

    As you are struggling to get the correct information, it may be worth taking our information to a pharmacist, to see if they can make suggestions of which contraceptive pill your GP could prescribe. Alternatively, your GP could seek advice from your epilepsy specialist, or epilepsy specialist nurse, if there is one in your area.

    Please bear in mind, if you are prescribed another oral contraceptive pill:

  • If you have bleeding during the time that you are taking the Pill, this could be a sign that the Pill is not working very well. In this case, your doctor may increase the dose of oestrogen to 75 micrograms or 100 micrograms each day.
  • Even if you take a higher dose of the Pill, it might still not work very well. For this reason, your doctor might advise you to use condoms as well, until they can be sure that the Pill would prevent you from getting pregnant. The doctor can check this by giving you blood tests at certain times of the month. The blood tests would show if the Pill has stopped you from ovulating (releasing an egg). This would mean that you can’t get pregnant.

    • I hope this will help. If you would like to speak to one of our advisers about any aspect of this information, they will be very happy to help you. You can either phone the helpline, freephone 0808 800 5050, or email any question to helpline@epilepsy.org.uk.

    Kathy
    Advice and Information Team.

    Submitted by Kathy@EpilepsyAction on

    Hi there.
    I would just like to say that i am taking lamictal and keppra and i was taking cilest contraception for years.
    The doctors had it on my repeat perscription.
    Only one day when i seen a doctor, did they do a proper look through my medication, and told me that i should never have been put on that cilest as i was at a very high risk of having a stroke. I was so shocked.
    I came off it straight away, and the doctor went through all the other methods, the good and bad sides of them.
    I didn't like the thought of the one in my arm !
    One it didn't stop periods alltogether, the other meant you couldn't have a baby for at least a year after coming off it.
    In the end i decided not to use contraception other than condoms as atleast i know these won't affect my medication, and if it does happen that i get pregnant, then it will not be the end of the world.
    I don't feel totally safe now with advice from the doctors after they let me carry on with tablets that put me at risk.

    Submitted by ann mitchell on

    My grand daughter is in a sexual relationship with a young man - she does not want to get pregnant but is taking medication for epelepsy and is scared that the contraceptive pill will not be effective. Anything else she can use???

    Submitted by ANITE on

    Hi Anite

    It’s advisable for your grand daughter to discuss her contraception choices with her own doctor or staff at her local family planning clinic . They can help her choose a contraception that will work well for her. They can also explain how to use her chosen contraceptive correctly.

    If your grand daughter hasn’t already, she may wish to view our information on Regular methods of contraception. By clicking on to each contraception method she will find more in-depth information, including, which are safe with each epilepsy medication.

    Diane

    Advice and Information team

    Submitted by Diane@Epilepsy ... on

    We can provide references and information on the source material we use to write our epilepsy advice and information pages. Please contact our Epilepsy Helpline by email at helpline@epilepsy.org.uk.

    Contact Author

    CAPTCHA
    This question is for testing whether you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.