When Should I See My Doctor About Irregular Bleeding
Since every womans body reacts differently to these birth control methods, it can be hard to know when irregular bleeding is abnormal. You should see your doctor if you experience abnormal bleeding:
- And are pregnant
- And have a lot of pain during your period
- After intercourse
- And you have been using the same method of birth control for more than three months
- That is unexpected
- And you are younger than 8 years old or have no other signs of puberty and have vaginal bleeding
You should also see your doctor if you are taking a combined contraceptive pill and your periods have stopped completely during the week of placebo pills, although in many cases this can be normal.
There are treatments available for irregular bleeding that can help, or your doctor may recommend changes to your birth control method.
How To Start Your Birth Control Pills
Try to take your pill at the same time every day . If you miss 1 or more pills, take it as soon as you remember and double up to catch up in your pill pack. Be aware that you will probably have some bleeding for a few days and it is ok to continue taking the pill.
The 21 and 24 day pill packs have placebo pills and your period will usually start after the first or second sugar pill. It is ok to restart a new pill pack even if you are still on your period.
Which Types Of Hormonal Birth Control Can Be Used To Delay Periods
Several types of hormonal birth control can be used to reduce the number of periods you have. The best method for you depends on your goals and preferences for example, whether you want fewer or no periods and whether you want short- or long-term birth control and your overall health. Talk to your doctor about the following options.
Birth control pills
Its possible to delay or prevent your period with extended or continuous use of any combined estrogen-progestin birth control pill. Your doctor can recommend the best pill schedule for you, but generally, you skip the inactive pills in your pill pack and start right away on a new pack. However, there are also several types of birth control pills designed specifically to lengthen the time between your periods. Among those currently available in the U.S. are:
Vaginal ring
Like combined estrogen-progestin birth control pills, its possible to delay or prevent your period with extended or continuous use of the contraceptive vaginal ring.
Hormonal intrauterine device
DMPA injection
Depot medroxyprogesterone acetate is a type of progestin that you receive by injection every 90 days. It is a form of long-term birth control and also reduces or eliminates monthly bleeding. After one year of DMPA injections, 50& percnt to 75& percnt of women report having no periods. The longer you use DMPA, the more likely it is to stop your periods.
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Does Menstrual Suppression Cause Infertility
The short and complete answer is: No.
Assuming birth control and period suppression can cause infertility over time is a common misconception, Prager says.
With almost all contraception theres a relatively immediate return to fertility once someone stops using the contraception. It depends on someones baseline fertility level, she explains.
That means that if you struggled with infertility prior to taking birth control, youll still have the same amount of difficulty after you stop taking it. If you havent struggled with infertility, birth control and stopping your period wont change that.
Some birth control methods, such as the Depo-Provera shot, may cause a delay in returning to fertility that people may need to factor into their baby planning.
That doesnt mean it is decreasing future fertility, it just takes a longer time for it to leave the system. With Depo-Provera, I recommend someone stop six months before they want to try to conceive, Prager says.
Stopping Periods When Using Birth Control
People who are taking the combined contraceptive pill can plan their period to some extent as they know that it will come during the week that they are taking either the dummy pills or no pills.
If they have started their placebo pills or pill break for the week and their period has commenced, they could begin taking their next pack of pills.
Doing this will increase the level of hormones in their body, which may shorten the duration of bleeding, although there is no guarantee of this.
People can stop their periods in the long term by using hormonal birth control. Doctors refer to this as âmenstrual suppression.â
Long-term methods for stopping your period include:
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How Can I Delay My Period If I Am Not Already Taking The Combined Contraceptive Pill
Norethisterone is a prescription-only medicine which can be used to delay your period by up to 17 days. You can ask your GP to prescribe it for you, or order it through our online service.
Some women are not suitable to take Norethisterone, and therefore if you choose to order it online you will be asked to complete a questionnaire about your personal and family medical history. This will be assessed by one of our doctors before they prescribe the period delay pill.
Norethisterone contains the hormone progesterone, which prevents your womb lining from shedding. You should start to take it three days before your period is due to start, and continue to take it three times a day for up to 17 days. You will get your period two to three days after you stop taking Norethisterone. For more information, see how can I delay my period?
Please bear in mind that Norethisterone is not a contraceptive, and cannot be used to prevent pregnancy. If you are interested in starting or changing long-term contraception, please visit our online clinic for products and more information.
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What Is Menstrual Suppression
It is entirely possible to stop this monthly bleeding by using hormonal birth control. Almost any hormonal method may stop someones period incidentally, whether or not the person actively tries.
Not having a period can significantly improve someones quality of life and ability to interact in the world, plus fewer missed days at school or work, Dr. Sarah Prager says. She is an OB-GYN at UW Medicine who specializes in family planning, birth control management, abortion and reproductive justice.
That is true for people who simply dont want to deal with irritating monthly symptoms and for those whose periods prevent them from living a full life.
Being period-free is helpful for people who have a condition called menorrhagia, where they bleed so heavily they can develop anemia and, in rare cases, may need blood transfusions. It can also be helpful for people who have conditions such as endometriosis or polycystic ovary syndrome , where periods may cause heavy bleeding and severe pain.
Some transgender and gender nonbinary people may not want a period because it causes dysphoria and doesnt match their gender identity. Athletes, military personnel, or people who are outdoors or travel a lot for work may decide a period is an unnecessary hassle.
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Other Ways To Skip Your Period
Taking birth control pills arent the only way to skip your period. Other options include the progestin-releasing intrauterine device , progestin injection , progestin implant , and the combination NuvaRing or contraceptive patches.
The Mirena IUD works even better than pills to reduce overall bleeding, Dabney says. Many women on the Mirena IUD either get very light periods or no periods at all.
If you arent sure about the pill, speak with your doctor about your other options. Make sure you speak with your doctor before using a birth control patch to skip your period. Compared to birth controls pills, the patch has a slightly increased risk for blood clotting. However, the patch is the same general formulation as combination pills.
How Do I Change To A Different Pill
If you want advice about changing your contraceptive pill, you can visit a GP, contraceptive nurse , or sexual health clinic.
You should not have a break between different packs, so you will usually be advised to start the new pill immediately or wait until the day after you take the last of your old pills.
You may also be advised to use alternative methods of contraception during the changeover, as the new pill may take a short time to take effect.
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What Birth Control Works Best To Suppress My Period
While many types of hormonal birth control could theoretically be used for menstrual suppression, some are more common or reliable than others. Birth control pills and IUDs are some of the most common methods, whereas IUDs and birth control shots are some of the most reliable.
There are several types of birth control pills: combination pills, which include both estrogen and progestin, and progestin-only pills. Among combination pills there are also monophasic and multiphasic. Monophasic means the amount of hormones in each pill is the same, whereas with multiphasic pills, the dose changes throughout the month.
Combination, monophasic pills are the easiest and most effective to use to stop your period. Most pill packets contain three weeks of active pills that have hormones and one week of inactive pills that dont contain hormones. This is designed to mimic someones natural menstrual cycle. If you want to stop your period, you simply dont take the inactive pills and instead go straight to the next set of pills that contain hormones.
Some brands, such as Amethyst, are designed to let you skip your period for a year or more. Others, such as Seasonique, are designed to give you a period only every three months.
Additionally, the contraceptive vaginal ring and transdermal contraceptive patches can both be used to reduce or eliminate periods with about the same effectiveness as pills.
The Combined Pill With Other Medicines
Some medicines interact with the combined pill and it does not work properly. Some interactions are listed on this page, but it is not a complete list. If you want to check your medicines are safe to take with the combined pill, you can:
- ask a GP, practice nurse or pharmacist
- read the patient information leaflet that comes with your medicine
Antibiotics
The antibiotics rifampicin and rifabutin can reduce the effectiveness of the combined pill. Other antibiotics do not have this effect.
If you are prescribed rifampicin or rifabutin, you may be advised to change to an alternative contraceptive. If not, you will need to use additional contraception while taking the antibiotic and for a short time after. Speak to a doctor or nurse for advice.
Epilepsy and HIV medicines, and St John’s wort
The combined pill can interact with medicines called enzyme inducers. These speed up the breakdown of hormones by your liver, reducing the effectiveness of the pill.
Examples of enzyme inducers are:
- the epilepsy drugs carbamazepine, oxcarbazepine, phenytoin, phenobarbital, primidone and topiramate
- antiretroviral medicines used to treat HIV
A GP or nurse may advise you to use an alternative or additional form of contraception while taking any of these medicines.
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Side Effects And Complications:
You may experience breast tenderness, occasional headaches, nausea, and breakthrough bleeding for the first three months. These side effects are not unusual and should improve with time. If you continue to have breakthrough bleeding or have no periods at all after the first three months, please call the office so we can change your prescription. Your periods may be much lighter and should not be misunderstood as not having a period. If you have any withdrawal bleeding or spotting on the placebo pills, you do not need to call.
Taking Only The Active Combination Pills
If youre using a combination pill pack, you just need to take only the active pills with no breaks in between. You should talk to your doctor or pharmacist so they can show you which pills are active and which are the placebo pills. Youll want to throw out the placebos.
If you take the active pills continuously, you wont get a period until you stop them.
If you stop taking active pills, you may experience a withdrawal bleed, which is similar to your period. Dabney recommends that you allow this to happen once every three to four months.
Dabney says some birth control pills have a higher risk of abnormal bleeding than others. You should check with your doctor if you want to start skipping your period. They may recommend that you change the type of pill you take.
Youll also want to check with your insurance provider to make sure theyll cover more pills in less time, since youll be going through pill packs faster.
You should not be off of the birth control longer than 7 days, or you will lose contraception efficacy.
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How To Take 21
- Take your 1st pill from the packet marked with the correct day of the week, or the 1st pill of the 1st colour .
- Continue to take a pill at the same time each day until the pack is finished.
- Stop taking pills for 7 days .
- Start your next pack of pills on the 8th day, whether you are still bleeding or not. This should be the same day of the week as when you took your 1st pill.
Safety Of Skipping Your Period
There are a number of reasons why you may want to skip your period.
Its generally safe to do so if youre on birth control pills. However, its best to check with your doctor first. Youll want to make sure that theres no medical reason for you to continue with your current menstruation schedule.
Taking birth control pills to reduce or eliminate your period is just as safe as taking them in the conventional way, says Gerardo Bustillo, MD, OB-GYN, at Orange Coast Memorial in Fountain Valley, California.
Menstruation isnt physiologically necessary. In general, women today experience many more menstrual cycles over their lifetime compared to women of previous generations, says Bustillo. There are a few reasons for that, including the following:
- Many women today start menstruating at a younger age.
- Women today have fewer pregnancies on average.
- Women today dont breastfeed for as long.
- Women today generally reach menopause later in life.
According to Lisa Dabney, MD, assistant professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive science at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the monthly period that traditional birth control pills allow for may have had more to do with marketing than anything.
When the birth control pills first came out, they were designed for women to get their periods every four weeks like a natural period, she says. This interval is really set up by the cycle of the pills and was set up that way so women would more readily accept them.
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Side Effects Of Hormonal Birth Control
You may experience side effects when using any type of hormonal birth control. These vary a little depending on which type of birth control you are using. Tell your doctor about any side effects that are bothering you.
Although it is rare, hormonal birth control methods, especially those that contain estrogen, increase your risk of developing a blood clot in your leg . Seek medical help immediately if you have trouble breathing, which can happen if a clot moves into your lung . A pulmonary embolism is a medical emergency.
For more information on contraception options, including their advantages and disadvantages, .
How Common Is Breakthrough Bleeding
If youve done any research on menstrual suppression, chances are youve heard of breakthrough bleeding: random spotting and light bleeding that may happen when someone uses birth control to stop their period.
Breakthrough bleeding isnt the same as having a period. It is usually less blood, for starters, and may not be accompanied by the symptoms you got during your period.
Still, its something Prager likes to inform people of so they can prepare for it. Breakthrough bleeding typically lasts, off and on, for three to six months after you have started period suppression. But, for some people, it can last longer or never fully go away.
Having some spotting doesnt mean your contraceptive isnt working or that something is wrong. It just means your body is adjusting to its new dose of hormones. Sometimes people may have to work with their doctor to find the right dose or type of contraceptive for their body.
With Depo-Provera, someone might need dosing to be more frequent. So every 10 weeks instead of every 12, for example, Prager says.
If breakthrough bleeding is interfering with your life, there are ways to try to stop it without full-on quitting using birth control, too.
This is easiest to do if youre taking birth control pills, of course. You can stop taking the pills for three to five days, allow your body to have a withdrawal bleed, then start taking the pills again, according to Prager.
Sometimes you just need to have the uterus shed its lining, Prager explains.
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Is It Better To Start Birth Control Mid Cycle
You do not have to wait for your period to start taking the birth control pill. Birth control pills can be taken as soon as you get them, any day of the week, and anytime during your menstrual cycle. When youll be protected from pregnancy depends on when you start taking the pill, and the kind of birth control pill youre using. A back up birth control method is suggested during the first 7 days of being on the pill.