Prednisone and birth control interactions

I was updating my drug list on mednotes at www.drugs.com when I got a warning sign regarding drug interactions between Pred and my birth control! You would think if you give a drug list to the doctor it would mean something! I've been on Pred for 8 days now. will be calling a Pharm-D tomorrow to discuss this.

This may explain why I wacked out on the Hydrocortisone enema. Pred has been mild to me so far. Luckily I got some healthy looking stools this morning that were easy to pass. Even my swollen ankles went away today. Hate to screw up the process as I got 7 days left on Pred to reach remission before tapering. Don't want to be on it longer as that's when dependency issues and worsen side effects come in!

interactions between your selected drugs
ethinyl estradiol ↔ prednisone
Applies to:Microgestin 1/20 (ethinyl estradiol/norethindrone), prednisone
Moderate Drug Interaction

MONITOR: Estrogens may enhance the systemic effects of both endogenous and exogenous corticosteroids. The proposed mechanism is an increase in serum cortisol-binding globulin (transcortin) induced by estrogens, resulting in a decreased rate of corticosteroid metabolic clearance. The interaction has been reported with estrogens or estrogen-containing oral contraceptives (OCs) and hydrocortisone, prednisone, and prednisolone. In one pharmacokinetic study, the mean plasma clearance of total prednisolone (40 mg IV) in eight female OC users was less than half that of five healthy female non-OC users and eight healthy males, and the prednisolone half-life and mean residence time were longer. There was also a 2-fold increase in the area under the plasma concentration-time curve for unbound prednisolone compared to controls.

MANAGEMENT: Patients treated concomitantly with an estrogen-containing drug may require lower dosages of corticosteroids or adrenocorticotropic agents. Pharmacologic response to these agents should be monitored more closely whenever an estrogen is added to or withdrawn from therapy in patients stabilized on their existing corticosteroid or adrenocorticotropic regimen, and the dosage(s) adjusted as necessary.

Thanks for this info! I didn't know drugs.com had an interaction checker, even though I use the site a lot. I'm also calling my GI tomorrow to ask about timing of pills and any effect the pred and my BC (I'm on Yaz generic) may have. The site alerted me that my calcium/vitamin d pill might affect absorption of the pred, so perhaps I should change the timing of when I take them.

Thanks for posting! I had no idea to even ask the orthopedic surgeon if prednisone would effect my birth control. I've never been so miserable in my life! He overdosed me, gave me a shot of cortisone, and then my birth control was accelerating the prednisone. No wonder I've had my period for a month.