Saw palmetto and birth control pills??!
Question: I take these herbal pills called "Ultimate Prostate Formula" because they have Saw Palmetto extract which helps clear skin. I have been on the birth control pill for almost two years, and was wondering if these pills or just Saw palmetto in general would interfere with my b.c. pills and make them not work right. Does anyone know if these pills will do anything to counteract the b.c., and what medicines DO mess with b.c. pills to make them not work?
Answers: I take these herbal pills called "Ultimate Prostate Formula" because they have Saw Palmetto extract which helps clear skin. I have been on the birth control pill for almost two years, and was wondering if these pills or just Saw palmetto in general would interfere with my b.c. pills and make them not work right. Does anyone know if these pills will do anything to counteract the b.c., and what medicines DO mess with b.c. pills to make them not work?
Possible interference with the contraceptive effect of the birth control pill.......... YES...read this:
http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSI...
and from drugs.com:
"What other drugs will affect saw palmetto?
Do not take saw palmetto without first talking to your doctor if you are taking any of the following medicines:
birth control pills such as Triphasil, Ovral, Lo-Ovral, Nordette, Alesse, Demulen, Ortho-Novum, and many others; estrogen replacement products such as Premarin, Cenestin, Vivelle, Climara, Fempatch, and many others; .................
any other hormone-based medicine."
http://www.drugs.com/mtm/saw-palmetto.ht...
You need to use another form of contraception and talk to your doctor asap. Apart from the risk of getting pregnant I do also know that saw palmetto has an effect on testosterone metabolism and could have a detrimental effect on the development of a male foetus so all in all you need to use another form of contraceptive or stop taking the saw palmetto when using the birth control pill (BCP) as your only means of contraception.
You should talk to your doctor first before taking any other drug when on the BCP or other hormonal preparations. Also, it is better to talk to your doctor or a pharmacist before taking many herbal remedies as there are a few others that can interfere with the BCP or other hormonal preparations...such as St John's Wort and Agnus castus (another herbal remedy often used to regulate acne).
Hope this helps.
Best wishes.
edit:
You could talk to your doctor about using a BCP that has been designed specifically with acne in mind such as Dianette or Yasmin, which have cyproterone acetate or spironolactone, respectively, as a progestogen that acts to block testosterone. Again, as with saw palmetto it is imperative that you don't get pregnant taking one of these as the testosterone blocking effect of the progestogen in these preparations can feminise male foetuses.