Alesse Drug Interactions

Certain antibiotics, Tegretol, and Topamax are some of the medications that can interfere with Alesse. Drug interactions such as these can lead to increased risk of pregnancy and side effects, among other things. Therefore, before taking the birth control pill, it's important to talk with your healthcare provider about the Alesse drug interactions that may apply to you.

Alesse Birth Control Pills

An Introduction to Alesse Drug Interactions

Alesse^® (levonorgestrel/ethinyl estradiol) can potentially interact with several other medicines. Many of these interactions can be severe enough to cause accidental pregnancy, and a backup method of birth control may be recommended in many cases. Some of the medicines that may lead to Alesse drug interactions include:

Aminoglutethimide (Cytadren^®)
Antibiotics
Aprepitant (Emend^®)
Barbiturate medications, such as:
- Amobarbital (Amytal^®)
- Butalbital (Fioricet^®, Fiorinal^®)
- Pentobarbital (Nembutal^®)
- Phenobarbital (Luminal^®)
- Primidone (Mysoline^®)
- Secobarbital (Seconal^®)

Cyclosporine (Gengraf^®, Neoral^®, Sandimmune^®)
Dexamethasone (Decadron^®)
Many seizure medications, such as:
- Carbamazepine (Carbatrol^®, Epitol^®, Equetro^™, Tegretol^®)
- Felbamate (Felbatol^®)
- Lamotrigine (Lamictal^®)
- Oxcarbazepine (Trileptal^®)
- Phenytoin (Dilantin^®, Phenytek^®)
- Topiramate (Topamax^®)

Modafinil (Provigil^®)
Protease inhibitors, such as:
- Amprenavir (Agenerase^®)
- Atazanavir (Reyataz^®)
- Fosamprenavir (Lexiva^®)
- Indinavir (Crixivan^®)
- Nelfinavir (Viracept^®)
- Ritonavir (Norvir^®)

Selegiline (Eldepryl^®, Emsam^®, Zelapar^®)
St. John's wort (Hypericum perforatum)
Theophylline (Uniphyl^®, Theocron^®, TheoCap^®, Theo-24^®, Elixophyllin^®).

(Alesse is equivalent to Aviane^® and Lutera^™ birth control pills. The information in this article also applies to both of these medications.)

(Alesse Drug Interactions Continued: Page 2)