Can You Skip Your Period On Birth Control Pills
It is okay to skip your withdrawal bleed on the pill, as long as you do so in a safe manner. However, since there are so many different doses of birth control pills, it is always best to discuss the option of skipping your period with your healthcare provider first to ensure that it is a safe and healthy option.
Is It Safe To Use Birth Control Pills To Skip Your Period
You should always check with your doctor first, but medically-speaking, theres no reason you need to have a monthly period. Menstruation isnt physiologically necessary, so theres no harm in skipping it. In fact, skipping your period with the pill is just as safe as taking hormonal birth control in the first place.
A Scheduled Visit To The Gynecologist
Scheduled a pap smear months in advance, only to realize that it falls out on your expected period date? Its uncomfortable enough bleeding down there, but to have someone peering into your privates during your period thats enough to make anyone cringe.
Going to the gynecologist is a good enough reason for any women to want to delay or skip a period.
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Is It Safe To Delay Your Period
It is safe to delay your period, both Dr. Chelliah and Dr. Langdon agree, but you may experience a few side effects from doing so. For some methods , it may take a couple of months for it to work, Dr. Langdon says. You may also experience breakthrough bleeding, or bleeding outside of your normal menstrual cycle. This is especially true if you delay your period for longer than one month, Dr. Chelliah says. When using birth control to delay their period, most patients will eventually experience breakthrough bleeding approximately two to three months after not having a period, he explains.
That said, there are some clear advantages to delaying your period, whether theyre medical or personal . Whatever the reason youre considering skipping your period, its a good idea to talk to your doctor so you can come up with a plan together. And if you start to notice your periods are delayed or skipped without explanation, Dr. Chelliah adds, its time to talk to your doctor so you can figure out and address the cause.
How Birth Control Affects Your Cycle
Even if youve been taking birth control pills for years, its unlikely that youll have trouble conceiving once you stop taking them. But it might take a few months for your menstrual cycle to return to normal. The timing depends largely on the reason you went on hormonal birth control, along with any other underlying health issues that were masked by the pills or developed while using them, says Tsao-Lin E. Moy, a fertility specialist who uses natural and integrative forms of medicine.
In a healthy person, the menstrual cycle regulates pretty quicklyoften within three to six cycles of stopping birth control. .
On the other hand, if you had an underlying medical condition that was causing irregular cycleslike PCOS, hypothyroidism, or endometriosisyou might notice those conditions rearing their ugly heads again as soon as you stop taking birth control.
Using a hormonal method of birth control to regulate irregular periods doesnt solve an underlying hormonal imbalance, says Camaryn Chrisman Robbins, M.D., an OB-GYN with Washington University Women & Infants Center. But it can lead to improved quality of life by regulating cycles and promoting endometrial health. When someone stops using hormonal medication, it is likely those original symptoms will resume.
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Is It Natural To Stop Your Menstrual Period
Theres not actually a biological reason to have a period.
Having a period is natural and can be an indicator of overall health. But stopping it shouldnt be seen as an unnatural thing to do.
Plus, if youre already taking hormonal birth control, its worth remembering that the period youre having is just withdrawal bleeding.
So, in effect, youre already stopping your menstrual period.
2014 research review found that it was safe to stop periods with birth control.
No study has found adverse effects of using an extended or continuous birth control schedule. In fact, some doctors say you can suppress your period for a long time if you want to.
However, there havent been any long-term studies on this. And Planned Parenthood adds that combination pills can come with a slightly increased risk of things like strokes, blood clots, and liver tumors.
Of course, it may also be more difficult to detect pregnancy if youre not having a period.
Youre In A New Relationship
Beginnings of new relationships are exciting, fun, and passionate. Unpredictability and spontaneity are some of the best things about the honeymoon phase. If you dont want to be caught in a situation where you have to say, Uh…its that time of the month, so lets hold off for tonight, then you may want to ask your doctor about using birth control to skip your period.
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First: Is It Safe To Delay Your Period At All
So theres some good news here: You absolutely can delay your periodand do it in safe way. But that can only be done with one specific hormonal birth control method: the combination pill .
A birth control pill has 21 days of hormones, usually ethinyl estradiol and progestin, and seven days of a placebo pill that prompts you to have an artificial period,Alyse Kelly-Jones, MD, an ob-gyn in Charlotte, North Carolina, tells Health. To delay your period, you would skip the placebo and immediately start a new pack of pills.
Doing this for just one cycle can delay your period by as much as another three weeks, says Dr. Kelly-Jones. The only caveat is that you need to plan accordingly and with plenty of notice if youre not already on hormonal birth control to begin with. If you come to me two weeks out from your wedding or vacation and arent already on birth control, I probably wont be able to help you, she says. At best, you might be able to delay it in time, but at worst, you might cause all kinds of irregular bleeding, which would be even less appealing.
Thats because, with your birth control pills already in place, your body is like a well-oiled machine, while starting birth control from scratch can sometimes be a lengthy process to find one that works with your body to your liking.
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How To Skip Or Delay A Period Using Birth Control
To skip a period using a traditional combined pill, a person must take active pills every day without interruption.
If a pack contains active pills and placebo pills, they are usually clearly labeled. Or, the placebo pills may be a different color from the active pills.
A person can continue taking active pills until they are ready to have a period. Taking no active pills for 1 week will trigger menstruation.
Some types of birth control pill suppress periods for a set amount of time.
Pill brands that suppress menstruation for 3 months at a time include:
Other methods of birth control also reduce the frequency of periods. Some examples include:
- NuvaRing, a type of contraceptive vaginal insert
- an intrauterine device, or IUD, that releases progestin
- a progestin implant or injection, such as the Depo-Provera shot
It is generally safe to use birth control pills to skip a period. However, there can be a few risks and side effects.
One risk is breakthrough bleeding.
Breakthrough or withdrawal bleeding can occur after a person misses a few periods or more. The bleeding may look like spotting, but it can resemble a regular period. The timing of breakthrough bleeding is variable, and it may not happen in some people.
Some brands of pill are more likely to causing breakthrough bleeding than others. If this type of bleeding occurs frequently, a person should speak to a doctor about alternatives.
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Is There A Purpose For Bleeding Once A Month While Taking Birth Control
In a short answer, no. It turns out there was never a health-related reason for women on the pill to even have a monthly bleed. Birth control researcher Elizabeth Micks, MD, an assistant professor at UW Medicine and the director of research in the division of family planning, explained that there’s absolutely no safety or medical difference between taking a birth control break every 21 days to get your period or sticking with it every day so you skip your period entirelyaccording to a July 2014 Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews article she co-authored.
Back when the pill was first invented, “the belief at the time was that women needed to be able to have a regular cycle to feel healthy,” Dr. Micks said. “It is my understanding that the pill was never developed for health reasons, but because it would be more acceptable to women and their partners, which is, I think, something people don’t realize.” In fact, the pill could have been created in the beginning to make you bleed “once a week, once a year, or anything in between,” Dr. Micks added.
But Wont My Body Get Backed Up
Noâyou wonât get backed up. One thing to keep in mind is that when youâre on the pill you actually donât have a normal âperiodâ. In fact, the combined hormonal birth control pill doesnât allow your endometrium to grow as thick as it normally would, which is why your periods on the pill are much lighter than natural periods . If you skip a cycle, the continuous exposure of synthetic hormones will maintain your endometrium at the same suppressed level .
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Ways To Delay Your Period
Many women want to postpone their periods for a couple of days or a week. Ideally, thered be a quick fix to tell your body to hold off for a second and wait on the whole menstruation thing. But finding a natural method to delay your period, like eating special foods or drinking apple cider vinegar, is more of a hopeless pursuit.
You should know that the most reliable way to delay your period is with medicine. You can use birth control pills to keep your period from coming, whether you want to postpone it for a week or skip it entirely. To get the medicine, youd need to ask your doctor for a prescription.
Taking 2 Packets Of The Combined Pill Back
If you take a combined contraceptive pill, you can delay your period by taking 2 packets back-to-back.
How you do this will depend on which pill you take.
Examples are:
- monophasic 21-day pills, such as Microgynon and Cilest you take a combined pill for 21 days, followed by 7 days without pills, when you have a bleed . To delay your period, start a new packet of pills straight after you finish the last pill and miss out the 7-day break.
- everyday pills, such as Microgynon ED and Lorynon ED you take a combined pill every day. The first 21 pills are active pills and the next 7 pills are inactive or dummy pills, when you have your period. To delay your period, miss out and throw away the dummy pills, and start the active pills in a new packet straight away.
- phasic 21-day pills, such as Binovium, Qlaira and Logynon the mix of hormones in each pill is different, depending on which phase youre in. You need to take these pills in the correct order to have effective contraception. Ask your pharmacist, community contraception clinic or GP for more information.
Taking your contraceptive pills in the ways described above will not affect how they work as contraceptives.
If youre not sure which pill youre on or which pills in the packet to miss out, speak to your pharmacist, community contraception clinic or GP.
Avoid taking more than 2 packs without a break, unless your GP says you can.
Theres a risk you could experience side effects, such as:
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How Long Does It Take For Birth Control To Stop Your Period
Okay, so if some types of birth control can delay or prevent a visit from Aunt Flo, how long do you need to be on it before you see a change in your period? According to Dr. Walsh, most hormonal contraception methods take two to three months to work entirely in terms of bleeding modification. So, with that in mind, its important to plan and prepare if you want to use birth control to reduce, regulate, or delay menstrual bleeding.
Does Starting On Birth Control During Your Period Stop Your Flow Immediately
One question experts get asked a lot is: If I start birth control on my period, will it stop? If taken correctly, there isnt one birth control method that is guaranteed to stop your period at all, let alone immediately. There are some cases where birth control can stop heavy bleeding, though, Lucky Sekhon, MD, ob-gyn and endocrinologist at RMA of New York, Flo Medical Expert, and assistant clinical professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, tells SELF, but it must be done under the direction of a doctor.
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First Is It Safe To Skip Your Period
The short answer is, yes, you can safely skip your period by either ditching the placebo week and going directly to a new pack of pills, ring, or patch. Some people may naturally just stop getting their period over time while using certain forms of birth control.
The long answer, however, is a bit more involved. First, the period you get on hormonal birth control is not even really your period, its actually withdrawal bleeding, according to the Mayo Clinic. During a menstrual cycle without hormonal birth control, your endometrial lining thickens in anticipation of an embryo implanting. If pregnancy does not occur, your body sheds this lining, and you get your period. Since hormonal birth control works by suppressing ovulation , theres nothing extra to shed if you dont become pregnant. The bleeding is simply your bodys response to stopping the hormones.
The Combined Oral Contraceptive Pill Or The Pill
The combined oral contraceptive pill may be a good option for some, provided its started in time. If an event is a few months away, it may be possible to start the pill in advance and then try skipping the sugar pills . For many women, this will prevent a period. It doesnt always work, so its a good idea to try it out ahead of the event or holiday. But if contraception is also needed, its certainly worth considering. A doctor or online doctor can go through a series of questions to make sure its a safe and suitable option.
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A Quick Guide To Skipping Periods With Birth Control
That weekend at the beach youve been looking forward to or the first day of school or a new job can be stressful times to have your period start, especially if your periods are painful. Wouldnt it be nice on days like those not to have to worry about pads, tampons, or pain killers? If you use the pill or the ring for birth control, you are in luckyou can skip periods as you please.
First, a few details about the pill.
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Many types of pill come in packs with 21 or 24 active pillsthose are the ones that contain the hormones that make them effective birth control.
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The other 7 or 4 pills are placebosthey cause your period to start and are not part of what makes birth control pills effective.
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Some pills are monophasic, meaning they have the same mix of hormones each week in the active pills.
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Some are multiphasic, meaning that the mix of hormones changes from week to week in the active pills.
Now, the details on how to control your periods.
There are some brands of pills that come pre-packaged for skipping periods. But you dont need those brands to skip periods like a pro. If youre on the ring or any monophasic pill, you can control the timing of your periods. Sometimes skipping periods this way is described as continuous use or extended useits all the same deal. Heres how it works.
FAQs for skipping periods
Question:Besides getting to decide when I have my period, are there other perks to skipping periods with birth control?
Which Birth Control Pills Are Best To Use For Skipping Periods
Medically reviewed by Jenny Ingle Pappas, MSN, APRN, FNP-C on December 21, 2020
Women who want to adjust the way they have their periods on birth control have a number of options. Women can decrease the frequency of their periods, reduce the length of their periods, or occasionally avoid their periods entirely by taking certain kinds of birth control pills or taking them in a certain way.
That said, not every birth control pill is designed to be used to skip periods. The formulas to use for this are monophasic combination pills, meaning those that contain both estrogen and progestin in the same amounts in every pill. Most packs of combination birth control pills contain 21 days of hormone-containing pills followed by 7 days worth of placebo pills its while taking the placebo pills that people have their periods.
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