Is it safe to take emergency contraceptive pills or regular birth control pills?
Patient: I'm currently taking 100mg of topiramate once a day and know I can't take any long-term birth control pills, or at least I'll have to make changes before starting anything. So my question is; is it safe to take the emergency contraceptive pills, or would it have the same effects as taking regular birth control pills? Doctor: Hello and welcome to HCM,     I am Dr Nilajkumar a consultant gynecologist and I will be helping you in your queries. I understand the issue. Emergency contraceptive also contains one of the hormone in regular pills [ the progesterone]. So it is expected that topiramate will decrease the action of pill as it has an effect on liver function. The efficacy of this pill in women on topiramate may be accurate and it may be lower than expected. So it may not provide protection against pregnancy. Hence it is not recommended to use it. It is better to use either condoms or Intrauterine devices like copper T or Multioad. Hope this was helpful. Feel free to ask any further queries and I will be happy to help.Thanks for using HCM.Have a good day.Dr Nilajkumar Bagde          Consultant Obstetrics and Gynecology