Lactose-Free Birth Control Pills. The Definitive List.

Birth control pills are normally a series of 28 tiny pills in a case. The first 21 pills contain the active ingredient that prevents ovulation. The other seven are placebo pills, designed with no active ingredient, but included just because experience shows that it's easier for women to take a pill every single day rather than skipping a week and having to remember to restart.

All well and good, a system that has worked for 40 or more years.

The only problem, for a small set of women, was that for some reason, the vast majority of birth control pills made in America contain lactose as an inactive ingredient. Lactose, being non-reactive and slightly sweet, is an extremely common filler for many medications. Most medications have a lactose-free variety. A limited choice, therefore, but still a choice.

That limited choice used to be Demulen. Unfortunately, Demulen went off the market and was replaced by a generic named Zovia. And Zovia contained lactose.

What choices do women have today?

Thanks to the good folks at Wegmans Food and Drugs, my local supermarket chain, and one that has been in the forefront of making lactose information available, I can answer that question. Christopher Woodring, Pharmacist Intern, created a list based on information from Clinical Pharmacology. Many thanks to him for his arduous effort. Thanks also to the Wegmans East Avenue pharmacists, Katie Barbone, Natasha Dedes, and Paul Taranto.

The only pills that appears to have all its pills be completely lactose free are Nordette and Portia. [This is a correction from the original posting. Cryselle does have lactose in the active pills.] You should consult your own doctor and pharmacist to see if either of these pill are right for you.

The Alternatives listed as contractve injections, which obviously do not put lactose into your stomach. They are not pills but I am including them in this listing for your information.

You can find the full list of all contraceptive medications at this page on my site.

Women should remember that the amount of lactose in any one pill is tiny. Unless you are extremely lactose intolerant the amount of lactose in any individual pill should not cause any symptoms. The best pill for you may contain lactose. Still, I understand that many women are seeking to avoid dairy in all forms and all doses. This information should be especially helpful for you.

Drug Type			Contains Lactose in
	Drug Name	Manufacturer	Active Ingredients	Inactive Ingredients
Low Dose Monophasic
	Cryselle	Duramed/Barr	Yes	NO
	Femcon Fe chewable	Warner Chilcott	Yes	NO
	Microgestin 1.5/30	Watson	Yes	NO
	Nordette	Duramed/Barr	NO	Yes
	Portia	Barr	NO	information Not available
Extended Cycle
	Loestrin-24 FE	Warner Chilcott	Yes	NO
Alternatives
	Depo-Provera		NO	not applicable
	Depo SubQ		NO	not applicable
	Mirena		NO	not applicable
	Nuva Ring		NO	not applicable
	Ortho Evra		NO	not applicable

Demulen Birth Control Pills Still Lactose Free

I get asked regularly whether any birth control pills are lactose free. I know of one at the current time. Demulen.

Demulen 1/35-28

http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/ethynoc.htm

Demulen 1/35-21 and Demulen 1/35-28: Each white tablet contains 1 mg of ethynodiol diacetate and 35 mcg of ethinyl estradiol, and the inactive ingredients include calcium acetate, calcium phosphate, corn starch, hydrogenated castor oil, and povidone. Each blue tablet in the Demulen 1/35-28 package is a placebo containing no active ingredients, and the inactive ingredients include calcium sulfate, corn starch, FD&C Blue No. 1 Lake, magnesium stearate, and sucrose.

Demulen 1/50-21 and Demulen 1/50-28: Each white tablet contains 1 mg of ethynodiol diacetate and 50 mcg of ethinyl estradiol, and the inactive ingredients include calcium acetate, calcium phosphate, corn starch, hydrogenated castor oil, and povidone. Each pink tablet in the Demulen 1/50-28 package is a placebo containing no active ingredients, and the inactive ingredients include calcium sulfate, corn starch, FD&C Red No. 3, FD&C Yellow No. 6, magnesium stearate, and sucrose.

Demulen has changed formulations in the past to add lactose, but has since removed it again. I don't know why it did either, but it's a warning that if you use it you need to check and make sure that nothing gets changed again in the future.

There may be others. I know of over 50 brands of birth control pills (BCP) marketed in the U.S. I have not been able to locate the inactive ingredient information for all of them. I've searched more than a dozen major brands, though, and each of those did contain lactose.

If anybody knows of another lactose-free brand besides Demulen, please leave a comment.