Progesterone and Isotretinoin Interaction
Drug interaction information between Progesterone and Isotretinoin.
Progesterone and Isotretinoin have a documented major interaction in FDA labeling.
FDA drug labeling documents a major-severity interaction between Progesterone and Isotretinoin. Major interactions are generally avoided, moderate ones may need monitoring or a dose adjustment, and minor ones are usually low-risk. This page shows the documented mechanism and guidance. Label-documented interactions are not a complete safety review, so always confirm your own medications with a pharmacist or doctor. Educational information, not medical advice.
How They Interact
This drug can interfere with 'mini-pills' that only contain progesterone, making them less reliable for preventing pregnancy.
What To Do
You should use a more effective form of birth control or two different methods to ensure you do not become pregnant.
FDA Label Information
Micro-dosed Progesterone Preparations: Micro-dosed progesterone preparations ("minipills" that do not contain an estrogen) may be an inadequate method of contraception during isotretinoin capsules therapy. Norethindrone/ethinyl estradiol: In a study of 31 premenopausal female patients with severe recalcitrant nodular acne receiving OrthoNovum ® 7/7/7 Tablets as an oral contraceptive agent, isotretinoin capsules at the recommended dose of 1 mg/kg/day, did not induce clinically relevant changes in the pharmacokinetics of ethinyl estradiol and norethindrone and in the serum levels of...
Progesterone Also Interacts With
- Theophylline major
- Amoxicillin minor
- Amoxicillin/Clavulanate minor
- Medroxyprogesterone minor
- Phenobarbital minor
Isotretinoin Also Interacts With
- Retinol moderate
- Estradiol minor
- Norethindrone minor
- Phenytoin minor
- Minocycline minor
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I take Progesterone and Isotretinoin together?
This is a major interaction. You should use a more effective form of birth control or two different methods to ensure you do not become pregnant.
How serious is the interaction between Progesterone and Isotretinoin?
This interaction is classified as "major" severity by the FDA. Major interactions may be life-threatening or cause serious side effects.
Why do Progesterone and Isotretinoin interact?
This drug can interfere with 'mini-pills' that only contain progesterone, making them less reliable for preventing pregnancy.
Understanding the Progesterone and Isotretinoin Interaction
FDA-approved prescribing information for these two drugs flags their combination as a major-severity interaction. Progesterone belongs to the Progestogen Hormone class and Isotretinoin belongs to the Systemic Retinoid class - two categories that can collide when co-prescribed. The mechanism described in FDA labeling is: This drug can interfere with 'mini-pills' that only contain progesterone, making them less reliable for preventing pregnancy. Severity tiers matter: major flags generally advise avoidance, moderate flags often require monitoring or dose adjustment, and minor flags may only call for awareness.
Context around a specific patient determines real-world impact. Progesterone has 7 total documented interactions on file in this dataset, and Isotretinoin has 7. Each additional medication compounds the interaction surface, which is why pharmacists run full-profile checks rather than evaluating one pair at a time. FDA-derived guidance for this pair is: You should use a more effective form of birth control or two different methods to ensure you do not become pregnant. Timing of doses, renal and hepatic function, age, and other concurrent prescriptions all shape whether a labeled interaction matters clinically.
An interaction flag is not a verdict. A large share of labeled interactions are managed routinely in clinical practice, the fix may be as simple as spacing doses or adding a monitoring test. Others require the prescriber to choose a different medication entirely. This page surfaces FDA-sourced labeling and openFDA data for educational purposes only; it is not medical advice and cannot account for your full clinical picture. Never start, stop, or adjust either Progesterone or Isotretinoin based on a web page, speak with your prescriber or pharmacist before making any change.
Sources: FDA Drug Labels (SPL) via openFDA (2026). This is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider about drug interactions.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.