Mounjaro, Ozempic, and birth control pills

amother

Sun, Dec 17 2023, 7:16 pm

So, my endocrinologist prescribed mounjaro for me last week. I asked him if there are any interactions with birth control pills and he said "I don't think so; I haven't heard of any".

So I asked my husband to look it up for me and it turns out - there IS an interaction and mounjaro can decrease the effectiveness of bcp.

So that's a bummer.

I can ask my doctor to switch me to ozempic instead but there are two problems:

1. it's not as effective as mounjaro. It says an average of 13 or 15 lbs weight loss and that's not enough for me. To have to go through GI discomfort and everything to only lose 15 lbs is very discouraging.

2. There's some indication that it could also affect bcp but it's not officially on the label.

So my questions are:
does anyone have more info for me?
is there a connection between ozempic and staining?

AND

can anyone recommend someone who is an expert in BCP who could advise me? Do you think the confident kallah would have info on this? would Tahareinu know?

Thank you!

amother

Goldenrod

Sun, Dec 17 2023, 10:26 pm

amother OP wrote:

I find it funny, pharmacists would’ve probably been better at answering your question. That’s what they do lol. You can probably ask a pharmacist about bcp. In some states they even allow them to prescribe it. So, just stop by and ask your local pharmacist.

amother

Sun, Dec 17 2023, 11:00 pm

Yes but a pharmacist would only know about it from the perspective off unintended pregnancy and that’s not what I’m worried about.
I’m concerned about the kind of staining that only a frum person would worry about.

amother

Tealblue

Sun, Dec 17 2023, 11:05 pm

amother Goldenrod wrote:

Since you mentioned it, and nobody else is answering, I may be able to help. I am a pharmacy student and looked it up in one of the databases, and there is an interaction. Mounjaro decreases the levels of ethinyl estradiol, norgestimate, and norelgostromin and decreases their efficacy.

If you tell me the specific pill you are on, I can get more information on the interaction and also check the interactions with Ozempic.

Last thing, I wouldn't necessarily say so quickly that Ozempic is less effective. I believe that there's an element of interpatient variability. Also, where are you getting the information from? Not trying to sound attacking, just trying to figure out how you drew that conclusion because I can't look at all the studies right now so I can't actually make an assessment myself.

If anyone is actually a licensed pharmacist, please correct anything stated here

amother

Mon, Dec 18 2023, 12:42 am

Thank you so much teal blue for looking stuff up for me.
My husband is a physician so he has sites he can look stuff up.
But ultimately these sites are worried about unintended pregnancies, not about staining. I’m not worried about getting pregnant, just about staining.

But you’re right, the study comparing ozempic and mounjaro wasn’t dose to dose.

amother

Darkblue

Mon, Dec 18 2023, 3:23 pm

I went on Ozempic for three months while also on Yaz. No staining. However, I had massive stomach pain and depression. I couldn’t take another shot of Ozempic so I quit cold turkey. Then I stained for about 6 weeks. I asked the doctor and she said it might be related.