BCP - What exactly does this sentence mean?

Question

"Ascorbic acid and acetaminophen may increase plasma ethinyl estradiol levels, possibly by inhibition 15 of conjugation. CYP3A4 inhibitors such as itraconazole or ketoconazole may increase plasma hormone levels."

I don't know what that means. It's something I looked up for my birth control pill "Loestrin 24 Fe". I'm trying to find out if absorbic acid (vitamin C) will decrease the effect of the pill or not.

Answer 1

Ethinyl Estradiol is the estrogen in you pill.

The body removes part of the the Ethinyl Estradiol by binding it to glucuronic acid and sulfate at the position of the carbon atom number 15.

Ascorbic acid and acetaminophen slow this process and increase the effective amount of Ethinyl Estradiol in your blood stream.

This does not effect the effectiveness much, but might increase the effectiveness slightly if measured over thousands of women.

CYP3A4 is a group of enzymes found in the mitochondria of the liver cells that also metabolize the Ethinyl Estradiol.

Itraconazole and ketoconazole (anti-"yeast" medications) slow the function of these enzymes and will also raise the effective amount of Ethinyl Estradiol in the blood stream with the same, minute  and difficult to measure effect.

A minute rise is Ethinyl Estradiol in the blood stream should also have a minute rise in the risk of blood clots.

So if you are taking Tylenol, Vitamin C, or treating a "yeast" infection, then you can be assured your pill will work as well as it did before.

In short, it is another warning about the risk of blood clots, not pregnancy.

Old Ob Doc

Answer 2

The answer to your question is probably not.  What that sentence says is that it may in combination with "the pill" increase your estradiol level in your blood.  Estradiol acts as a growth hormone for tissue of the reproductive organs.   They are multiple other steps necessary to get pregnant, where you will need other hormones that is what the pill does.  I would keep taking the vitamin C.

Answer 3

Like already mentioned, this sentence states that Vitamin C will increase the levels on ethinyl estradiol. Therefore it will not decrease the effectiveness of your BCP. However, it is recommended that you take the Vitamin C and BCP 4 hours apart.