Drospirenone and Ethinyl Estradiol (Systemic)

Brand Names : Yasmin

Before Using This Medicine

In deciding to use a medicine, the risks of taking the medicine must be weighed against the good it will do. This is a decision you and your doctor will make. For drospirenone and ethinyl estradiol, the following should be considered:

Allergies - Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to estrogens or progestins. Also tell your health care professional if you are allergic to any other substances, such as foods, preservatives, or dyes.

Diet - Make certain your health care professional knows if you are on any special diet, such as a low-sodium or low-sugar diet.

Pregnancy - Drospirenone and ethinyl estradiol is not recommended for use during pregnancy and should be discontinued if you become pregnant or think you are pregnant. Women who are not breast-feeding may begin to take oral contraceptives four weeks after having a baby.

Breast-feeding - Drospirenone and ethinyl estradiol pass into the breast milk and can change the content or lower the amount of breast milk. Also, they may shorten a woman's ability to breast-feed. It may be necessary for you to use another method of birth control or to stop breast-feeding while taking drospirenone and ethinyl estradiol.

Children - This medicine is not designed for girls that have not reached menarche.

Adolescents - This medicine is frequently used for birth control in teenage females and has not been shown to cause different side effects or problems than it does in adults. Some teenagers may need extra information on the importance of taking this medication exactly as prescribed.

Other medicines - Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. When you are taking drospirenone and ethinyl estradiol, it is especially important that your doctor and pharmacist know if you are taking any of the following:

• Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors (e.g., Accupril, Aceon, Altace, Capoten, Lotensin, Mavik, Monopril, Prinivil, Univasc, Vasotec, and Zestril) - Potassium in the blood may be increased by drospirenone
• Carbamazepine (e.g., Tegretol) or
• Phenobarbital (e.g., Barbita) or
• Phenytoin (e.g., Dilantin) or
• Rifampin (e.g., Rifadin) - These medicines may cause reduced birth control effect of drospirenone and ethinyl estradiol and increased irregular menstrual bleeding

• Cyclosporine (e.g., Neoral) or
• Theophylline (e.g., Elixophyllin) - Oral contraceptives may increase the effects of these medicines and increase the chance of problems occurring
• Griseofulvin (e.g., Fulvicin) - May cause unplanned pregnancy; using additional birth control methods while taking griseofulvin

• Smoking tobacco - Smoking may decrease the effect of oral contraceptives and increase the chance of causing serious blood clot, vein, or heart problems

Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. Tell your health care professional if you are taking any other prescription or nonprescription (over-the-counter [OTC]) medicine.

Other medical problems - The presence of other medical problems may affect the use of drospirenone and ethinyl estradiol. Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other medical problems, especially:

• Abnormal changes in menstrual or uterine bleeding or
• Fibroid tumors of the uterus - Oral contraceptives usually improve these female conditions but sometimes they can make them worse or make the diagnosis of these problems more difficult

• Adrenal insufficiency or
• Liver problems or
• Kidney problems - these conditions may increase the risk of retaining too much potassium in the blood

• Blood clots (or history of) or
• Heart or circulation disease or
• Stroke (or history of) - If these conditions are already present, oral contraceptives may have a greater chance of causing blood clots or circulation problems, especially in women who smoke tobacco. Otherwise, oral contraceptives may help prevent circulation and heart disease if you are healthy and do not smoke

• Cancer, including breast cancer (or history of or family history of) - Oral contraceptives may worsen some cancers, especially when breast, cervical, or uterine cancers already exist. Use of oral contraceptives is not recommended if you have any of these conditions. If you have a family history of breast disease, oral contraceptives may still be a good choice but you may need to be tested more often

• Gallbladder disease or gallstones (or history of) or
• High blood cholesterol or
• High blood potassium or
• Liver disease (or history of, including jaundice during pregnancy) or
• Mental depression (or history of) - Oral contraceptives may make these conditions worse or, rarely, cause them to occur again. Oral contraceptives may still be a good choice but you may need to be tested more often

• High blood pressure (hypertension) or
• Migraine headaches - Oral contraceptives may cause fluid build-up and may cause these conditions to become worse; however, some people have fewer migraine headaches when they use oral contraceptives