Minipil Drug Interactions

Always inform the prescriber which medicines or herbal products that the patient is using. Also tell any other doctor or dentist who prescribes another medicine (or the dispensing pharmacist) that the patient uses Minipil. The healthcare providers can tell if the patient needs to take additional contraceptive precautions (eg, condoms) and if so, for how long.
Some medicines can make Minipil less effective in preventing pregnancy or can cause unexpected bleeding.
These include medicines used for the treatment of epilepsy (eg, primidone, phenytoin, barbiturates, carbamazepine, oxcarbamazepine) and tuberculosis (eg, rifampicin) or HIV infections (ritonavir) or other infectious disease (eg, griseofulvin, ampicillin, tetracycline) to increase intestinal motility (eg, metoclopramide) and the herbal remedy St. John's wort.
If the patient wants to use herbal products containing St. John's wort while she is already using Minipil, consult the doctor first.
Minipil may decrease efficacy of other medicines eg, medicines containing cyclosporine or the antiepileptic lamotrigine (this could lead to an increased frequency of seizures).
Ask the doctor or pharmacist for advice before taking any medicine.
Laboratory Tests: If the patient needs blood test, inform the doctor or the laboratory staff that she is taking Minipil, because oral contraceptives can affect the results of some tests.