How To Stop Your Period With Birth Control
If you could do without bleeding from your vagina every month, you should know that there are ways to potentially stop your period with birth control. Theres no medical reason why you need to get a monthly period, Lauren Streicher, M.D., a professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, tells SELF. You can suppress your period for years and years without a problem.
Sure, some people view a period as monthly reassurance that theyre not pregnant or as a way to connect with their bodies. But if thats not you, and you just want to stop your period, the good news is that birth control might be able to help you out.
If You Just Cant With Your Period Anymore Talk To Your Doctor About The Options At Your Disposal
Dont wait until youre looking to stop your period for a specific window of time, like for a wedding or vacation. Try to give yourself some lead timeif you can give yourself three months, thats better than the month before, Dr. Shirazian says. The longer youre trying methods to stop your period, the more likely they are to give you no bleeding.
Related:
How To Delay Your Period When You Have A Vacation Coming Up
You booked the airfare, the room, and the activities. You took time off from work, bought a great new swimsuit, and are all packed. Everything about your trip is all set, except for one tiny thing your body didnt get the memo and youre going to have your period while on vacation. So many unexpected setbacks can happen even on the most perfectly planned trip, so the last thing you want to do is have to worry about your period. Well, good news, female travelers! If youre using certain contraceptives, you can easily delay your period for a vacation and its doctor-approved.
No matter where your vacation takes you, having your period during it is a pain. If your vacation plans entail activities by the water like snorkeling, kayaking, or sitting poolside youll be much more comfortable in your swimsuit not having to worry about bleeding and cramps. Or if your vacation is more focused on cultural pursuits, who needs to be constantly searching for a bathroom and making sure you have the right amount of sanitary products as you sightsee? And take care knowing that according to obstetrician-gynecologist Dr. Pari Ghodsi, there is no harm if you do choose to use your birth control to skip a period during your trip.
As Dr. Ghodsi explains it, you can only skip your period when you are on a combined hormonal contraceptive, like birth control pills, the ring , or the patch .
You May Like: 90 Day Probationary Period Letter
What Types Of Birth Control Pills Are Available
There are many different types of oral contraceptives , all offering slightly different formulations and amounts of one or two female hormones involved in the menstrual cycle .
Finding the best birth control for you especially if you plan to use it to control the timing of your period may take some trial and error with your provider.
It can be helpful to think of the pill in four broad categories:
The minipill: This pill contains only one type of female hormone and is meant to be taken continuously. There are no placebo pills in the pack. The way it is designed means that many people who take it do not menstruate, but some still have periods and breakthrough bleeding. Also note that its not as effective as other pills at preventing pregnancy, but it can reduce heavy bleeding.
Combination pills: These pills contain different combinations of estrogen and progestin. Some pills contain the same amount of these hormones every day , and others vary the amount in an attempt to more closely imitate the natural menstrual cycle . These cycles include the placebo pills, which can be skipped to avoid your period.
Extended-cycle pills: These pills are designed to be taken for 3 months at a time before there is a scheduled break in the active pills. They are prescribed in 90-day packs, and there are no inactive pills in a pack.
What Are The Benefits Of Skipping Periods
The benefits to skipping your period may seem obvious, but there are even more than you might realize. In addition to sidestepping the cramps and mood swings that often accompany menstruation, the benefits of skipping periods can be particularly pronounced for women who have particularly severe period-related symptoms such as heavy bleeding or menstrual migraines. Using birth control to skip periods can also help prevent ovarian cysts, and reduce endometriosis symptoms.
The only real risk incurred by skipping periods with birth control is some additional breakthrough bleeding, but this can usually be solved by taking a break to have a period every 3-4 months.
If youre interested in getting birth control that allows you to skip your periods, Nurx can help you find the brand or method thats right for you. Get in touch with a member of our team of experts today to see what we have to offer.
Read Also: Can You Donate Blood While Menstruating
Is It Safe To Skip Your Period
It was once thought that using birth control to skip a period would cause all sorts of problems in the long-run. Women were told not to skip their periods because its unnatural, unhealthy, and may cause fertility issues, breast cancer, or cervical cancer. Thats the whole reason why traditional birth control pills were originally designed to mimic the female hormone cycle.
Now, we know that this is not true. Most doctors agree that it is perfectly safe to skip your period using hormonal contraceptives. While youre on the pill, your uterine lining is not building up, so theres no real reason for it to shed each month. Besides, you dont even get a real period when youre on birth control youre just skipping or delaying the withdrawal bleed.
What Are The Benefits Of Skipping Your Period
Skipping your period not only helps improve general well-being, but also long-term reproductive health. Not to mention the fact that period products are costly and often harmful to the environment!
In terms of well-being, skipping your period decreases symptoms associated with bleeding cramps, bloating, headaches, anemia, acne, embarrassment and that is just to name a few. Additionally, choosing not to bleed every month could lead to a lower risk of developing endometrial and ovarian cancers by changing the susceptibility of cells to infection. Lastly, by not having to purchase period products as often, you save money and contribute less to pollution .
While skipping your period is safe, you should talk to a doctor before starting the process to ensure that its the right decision for you. For instance, it is recommended that individuals who have been menstruating for less than two years keep getting a period, as they are likely still growing and estrogen could impact their height.
Don’t Miss: Primosiston To Stop Period
How To Skip Your Period On Yaz
Ask U.S. doctors your own question and get educational, text answers â it’s anonymous and free!
Ask U.S. doctors your own question and get educational, text answers â it’s anonymous and free!
HealthTap doctors are based in the U.S., board certified, and available by text or video.
Can You Skip Your Period On The Mini Pill
Progestogen-only contraception has side effects. Mini pill users are most likely to experience irregular menstrual bleeding as a side effect. The frequency of periods may vary from less frequent to more frequent, or from lighter periods to more frequent periods. It is possible for some women to stop having periods altogether in a small number.
Recommended Reading: New Hire 90 Day-probationary Period Template
Risks And Side Effects Of Skipping Your Period On The Pill
There are no health risks that we know of when it comes to skipping your period using hormonal contraceptives.
The pill itself may cause side effects, but they have nothing to do with whether youre skipping your period or not. Some women experience bloating, weight gain, mood swings, and low libido on hormonal birth control.
The one side effect that you may experience that is directly caused by doubling or tripling up birth control packs is spotting or breakthrough bleeding. Thats perfectly normal as your body adjusts to a longer cycle.
So How Do I Skip My Period
This might sound complicated, but its actually quite simpleon the 22nd day of your cycle, some women choose to toss the sugar pills and start a fresh pack. Women have been quietly doing this, often with MD support, for years, and the potential benefits of menstrual suppression have been carefully studied by clinicians. In response to the need articulated by this trend, pharmaceutical companies have introduced lines of pills that make official this home hack: enter extended-cycle, or continuous birth control. Quartette, Seasonique and Seasonale provide 12 weeks of active hormonal pills, followed by placebosand withdrawal bleedingin the thirteenth week, while Amethyst is all active pills and is meant to be taken continuously for a full year, which, yes, means no bleeding from New Years Day to New Years Eve.
Read Also: Can You Donate Plasma On Your Period
When On The Pill
Am experiencing bleeding while on the pill, could I be pregnant? Unless you stop taking your pills, it is unlikely that you are pregnant. The pills regulate your hormones to prevent conception.
There is only a small chance that you would get pregnant while on the pill. The best way to rule out pregnancy is to have a pregnancy test and watch out for other signs such as nausea, vomiting, breast tenderness, constipation, and diarrhea.
- Mid-cycle bleeding is also likely to occur the first few months after you start taking the pill or emergency contraceptives such as plan B.
- During the first few months of use, spotting or bleeding occurs as a result of the body trying to adjust to the different hormone levels introduced into the body by the pill.
- If this happens, it is normal but the discharge is expected to stop as soon as the body adjusts. This can take up to three months.
Spotting after years on birth control pills could be as a result of extended dosage of progesterone-only pills. Additionally, even after years on the pill, you are likely to bleed when you miss a pill.
Other factors such as diarrhea and vomiting might tamper with pill absorption causing breakthrough bleeding. If heavy spotting occurs even after three months contact a health care provider or gynecologist immediately.
Bleeding might also occur:
Dont Miss: Can You Donate Blood While Menstruating
Surefire Ways To Delay Your Period
With getting the tricking of delaying period naturally,you can try some other sure methods that have a higher success rate. So far, hormone controlling is the only tested surefire way of delaying your period.
1. Hormones
If you do not get desired results from simple home remedies, just make a visit to your doctor and ask for some supplements or norethisterone pills to postpone your menstruation with right dose as per your needs and requirements. As progesterone hormonal therapy, pills like norethisterone help raise levels of progesterone in body.
At the same time, you can ask your doctor to give you some medicines that would bring your period on early, which is generally a better choice for avoiding putting any stress on your body.
A girl shares her experience of taking hormonal pills to delay period in the video below. Click to find more reference information you will want to know:
2. Birth Control Pills
You may want to talk to your doctor and use those pills if you don’t know how to delay period naturally.
Click HERE to find more details about how to delay period with pills.
3. Progesterone Supplement
For those who are on birth control pill, you may want to talk to your doctor and skip the withdrawal week of your pill. For women who are not on the pill, progesterone supplements can help to delay period. For other methods, you need to speak to your doctor in advance.
You May Like: 90 Day Probationary Period Policy Examples
What Happens When You Skip Your Period
To understand what happens when you skip your period, its important to get a run-down on how birth control pills work.
Your hormonal birth control pills contain a combination of estrogen and progesterone. The steady releases of these hormones in your body prevent ovulation and cause thickening of the mucus in the cervix, making it almost impossible for sperm to get through.
A regular period arrives due to changes in hormone levels after ovulation . Since you arent ovulating, the bleeding that you experience while on birth control isnt your real period its actually called withdrawal bleeding. By taking away the estrogen and progesterone, youre causing a hormonal withdrawal from your body, triggering a period.
Instead of withdrawing those hormones from your body, youre continuing to supply them by immediately starting a new pack of birth control instead of taking the placebos or skipping a week. So, skipping your period isnt actually skipping your period at all its delaying hormonal withdrawal, thus preventing withdrawal bleeding.
Why Isn’t This Talked About More
Dr. Shepard explains that, because the standard birth control pill is designed to have a placebo week, doctors will often just prescribe it to be used as intended, unless someone specifically mentions wanting to skip their period. However, it’s worth noting a long history in which information surrounding menstrual health has remained elusive. Not to mention that policing of the female body, especially when it comes to birth control, is nothing new, so it’s not all that surprising that the many options to skip periods and suppress ovulation aren’t super out in the open.
Just know this: People who menstruate may have a number of reasons to choose to not, you know, menstruatewhether it’s to avoid painful periods, gender dysphoria, or just make life a little easierand each reason is valid.
Recommended Reading: Brown Stuff Instead Of Period
How To Skip Your Period With Birth Control Pills
Posted by south ave& filed under Birth Control, Women’s Health.
For some women, periods are just a minor annoyance. For others, it can disrupt their daily life with pain, heavy bleeding, and other nasty symptoms. No matter which category you fall into, its probably safe to say that you would choose not to get your period if you could. But what you may not know is that with hormonal birth control, skipping your period is actually an option!
IUDs, birth control shots, and birth control pills can all be used to stop your period. The advantage of the pill is that you can use it to plan when you want to skip or have your period. Heres what you need to know about it: