What will be the best contraception for women taking new epileptic drugs?

Modified on Fri, 01 Jul 2022 at 05:27 PM

Drug interactions


The UKMEC recommendations relate to safety of use of a particular method of contraception for women with particular conditions, and do not indicate a ‘best’ method


Epilepsy itself is a condition for which there are no restrictions on the use of contraceptive methods, but restrictions may apply if certain antiepileptic drugs (AED) are used. Potential drug interactions between AED drugs and hormonal contraceptives can be checked using the online drug interaction checker .


Epilepsy may pose a significant health risk to women during pregnancy and therefore be advised to consider using highly effective long-acting reversible contraception (LARC). Similarly, some anti-epileptic drugs are teratogenic so it is essential that LARC methods are promoted to prevent unplanned pregnancy in women taking AED.


View the UKMEC. 

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