Question:medium
Which of the following contraceptive methods is contraindicated in women with epilepsy?
Which of the following contraceptive methods is contraindicated in women with epilepsy?
Show Hint
Enzyme-inducing antiepileptics speed up clearance of pill hormones, causing failure.
Updated On: Jun 24, 2026
- Oral contraceptive pill
- IUCD
- Condom
- Mifepristone
Show Solution
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
The key to this question is the way epilepsy is treated rather than the seizure disorder itself. Common antiepileptic agents such as phenytoin, phenobarbitone and carbamazepine switch on liver enzymes that break down drugs faster. When a woman taking these enzyme inducers also takes a combined oral contraceptive pill, the hormones in the pill are cleared from her body more quickly than intended. Their levels drop below the threshold needed to suppress ovulation, so she can ovulate and conceive despite taking the pill correctly. This makes the pill an unreliable and therefore unsuitable choice for her. The other listed options sidestep the liver entirely: an intrauterine device works locally inside the uterus and is unaffected by enzyme induction, a condom is a barrier device with no metabolic interaction, and mifepristone is an agent used to end an established pregnancy rather than a method of ongoing contraception. So among the choices, the hormonal pill is the one whose effectiveness is undermined by epilepsy treatment. \[\boxed{\text{Oral contraceptive pill}}\]
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