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Is It Safe To Terminate My Pregnancy While Taking Medicine For Tuberculosis?

Posted on Wed, 18 Apr 2012

Question: I am on rifampicin and isoniazid for the treatment of latent tb after taking this medication for one week and four days I discovered I was pregnant. I want to go for surgical termination, I have stop taking the TB med for one week and after I finish my proceedure I will re-start the med. is it safe to have a termination when on this pill? after termination is it safe to continue with the pill? is there any harm in missing the tb pills

Answered by Dr. Tulasi Raman.P (1 hour later)

Hi XXXXXXX

Thanks for your query.

Anti-tubercular drugs (Rifampicin and Isoniazid) should not missed for any reason. Because once you have stopped the treatment, it should be started again from the beginning.

Its is not necessary to stop Anti-tubercular drugs in view of surgical termination of pregnancy. You must continue taking Anti-tubercular drugs, it will not have any effect on pregnancy termination procedure.

Note:
If you are using Oral Contraceptive Pills as a birth control measure I suggest you switch on to other methods like barrier methods (condom etc) because Rifampicin is known to cause failure of OCP as they induce certain enzymes in the body to neutralize OCP thereby nullifying its effects as a birth control measure.

I hope my answer has been adequate and informative. If you have any follow up queries I will be available to answer them.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Tulasi Raman.P (1 hour later)

should I continue with the rest of the medication or should i start all over again?I have miss this med for two weeks will it make me resistant to it?

Answered by Dr. Tulasi Raman.P (1 hour later)

Hi XXXXXXX

Thanks for writing back to me.

That depends on whether you are on the intensive phase or continuation phase. Below I have mentioned the guidelines to be followed when you miss the dose.

In the intensive phase
1. Up to 10 missed doses, in total may be accepted, but must be added on to the end of the intensive phase.
2. If more than 10 doses, are missed, the patient should be started on a standardized TB re-treatment regimen.

In the Continuation phase
When more than two months of treatment, in total, is missed:
1. If sputum is smear negative, complete the continuation phase.
2. If sputum is smear positive begin re-treatment.

So, as you have missed the doses for only two weeks (6 doses) I suggest you to continue the medications. No need to start all over again.

I hope my answer has been adequate and informative.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Tulasi Raman.P (48 minutes later)

Thank you for your reply. the medication is to be taken daily for a three month period. i have missed two weeks (14days). which phase do i belong on your illustration above. thank

Follow up: Dr. Tulasi Raman.P (1 minute later)

I forget to add this this is my first treatment on latent tb

Answered by Dr. Tulasi Raman.P (37 minutes later)

Hi XXXXXXX

Thanks for writing back to me.

In the guidelines in treating Latent Tuberculosis Infection (LTBI) the treatment which you are on (Rifampicin and Isoniazid, 1 Tab daily for 3 months) is not all mentioned.

The recommend regimen for the treatment of LTBI are:
Preferred Regimen
1. Isoniazid : Daily x 9 months
Alternate Regimens
1. Isoniazid : Twice weekly x 9 months
2. Isoniazid : Daily x 6 months
3. Isoniazid : Twice weekly x 6 months
4. Rifampin : Daily x 4 months
5. Rifampin : Daily x 6 months

So, I am not able to come to a conclusion on which regimen and under what guidelines your doctor as started your treatment. Thereby I suggest you to consult the doctor who started you on anti-tubercular treatment and obtain his expert advice on the same.

Till then I suggest you to continue the medication.

Wish You Good Health.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar