Hi! I'm going to Africa soon with my boyfriend and so will
be taking tablets for malaria. It seems that most (if not
all) of the tablets interfere with the contraceptive power
of the contraceptive pill. What have other people used as a
contraception while on malaria pills? So far my boyfriend
and I have to come the conclusions that condoms don't seem
that practical while you're on safari and that unless we
can come up with a better method abstinence for the month
we're there might have to be the go. Thanks.
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I've taken the paludrine/chloroquine combo in the past and
was told it would not affect the pill (I take Logynon, AKA
Triquilar in some countries). I have heard that Doxycyclin
may cause some pills to lose their effectiveness, amongst
other side-effects, and I don't know about Larium. But you
really need proper medical advice on this issue, there is a
lot of hearsay and conflicting advice about malaria
tablets. Why not try asking your doctor, pharmacist, local
hospital, or contacting the pill manufacturers and see ht
they say.
Spoke to my doctor yesterday and was told that mefloquine
(or whatever it's called- I haven't got it yet), won't
affect my contraceptive pill at all- I'm also on logynon.
But, if in doubt, check
No, the anti-malarial stuff will not affect the OC pill,
except for perhaps the antibiotics e.g. doxycycline. The
risk is low, I usually just advice to take the antibiotic,
use alternatives for 7 days, if there isn't any breaktrhough
bleeding then it should be fine :-)
.
Simple explanation, because oestrogen is 'recycled' by
bacteria in the gut, wiping them out with broad spectrum
antibiotics reduces the amount that is reabsorbed --> OC
pill failure. Most other antimalarials e.g. chloroquine,
mefloquine, etc are not broad spectrum antibiotics -
anti-parasites. Although the risk with antibiotics is
generally very low, it is mentioned by doctors and
pharmacists, as some people may not really want to have a
babe......at that point in life.
.
Hope that helps
.
Dave
PS: Just got bored and stuck my head in here, have no idea
what I am doing in a women traveller's discussion! I'll go
find the men traveller's discussion now.........
Don't take this one anyway, Its a really bad drug that can
mess up your life. I've never been the same since taking it
and having adverse effects. If you must take it, at least
have a trial period at home on it for a few weeks and change
medication if you have any side effects. You should be able
to tell fairly quicky, by feeling nauseous, dizzy,
disorientated, bewildered and having bad/vivid dreams.
Thanks for the advice so far. I guess I should have
mentioned that yes I'm definitely consulting both my
personal doctor and a travel doctor. However while both of
these doctors can give good medical advice I would also like
some practical advice - as in combinations of malaria pills
and contraceptive methods that had worked well for people
travelling in developing countries.
Try spermicidal jellies.They might be messy but are easily
stored (in a Tube).At least something is better than
nothing.Africa is so tiring and sweaty you might just prefer
to sleep through the night!!
I lived in West Africa for two years, and took Larium/Mefloquine the whole time as well as the birth control pill. Was with my fiance the whole two years and didn't get pregnant. It was not a problem for me, good luck!