What Birth Control Pill Stops Your Period

I Like Having The Extra Backup On The Contraceptive Side Of Things

How long does it take to have regular periods again after stopping birth control?

I got a Nexplanon implant two years ago, mainly to stop having periods but I also moved in with my partner full time, so I decided to get some method of round-the-clock contraceptive too.

My experience has been fine. Insertion was very quick. The doctor talked me through what was happening. I had a small dose of localised anesthetic before hand, then she used what looked like a piercing gun to insert the implant and I didnât feel any pain. I kept it bandaged for a day or two afterwards. Now I have a small scar on the point of insertion, but I do scar easily. I had some light bleeding but no pain like I used to . After the insertion I didnât have a period for about 8 months, then I bled lightly for about 3 days, then it stopped again for another 8 months.

I plan on sticking with the implant. For me, it has been useful in stopping periods, and I like having the extra backup on the contraceptive side of things.âAnonymous, female, 20, Sheffield, UK

We at Clue recommend that you see a healthcare provider to discuss which birth control is best for you, and let them know if you are experiencing any negative side effects.

Also Check: When Do You Know Your Period Is Coming

What If I Forget To Take One Or More Birth Control Pills

  • If you miss 1 active Pill:
  • Take the pill as soon as you remember and then continue taking your pills at the usual time each day.
  • You may take 2 pills on the same day or even 2 at the same time.
  • If you miss 2 or more active pills in a row:
  • Take the most recently missed Pill as soon as possible.
  • Throw away the other missed pills.
  • Continue taking the rest of your pills at the usual time each day.
  • You may take 2 pills on the same day .
  • If you missed the active pills in the third week or row , throw the inactive pills away and finish taking the active hormone pills.
  • Then start a new pack right away.
  • If you are sexually active and missed 2 pills, dont have sex or if you do have sex use condoms every time until youve taken active pills for 7 days in a row.
  • Talk to your health care provider about whether you should use emergency contraception , especially if you missed pills the first week of your pill pack, or had unprotected sex the past 5 days.

How Is A Birth Control Implant Inserted

You must see a doctor or other healthcare professional to get a birth control implant. After conducting a physical exam, theyll insert the implant under the skin of your upper arm. It can stay in place for up to 3 years.

Implant insertions take just a few minutes. Theyre done with a local anesthetic, which can help minimize pain and discomfort during the procedure.

After insertion, youll be sent home with a small bandage covering the insertion site. You may also be given a pressure bandage that you can remove after 24 hours. Some bruising, scarring, pain, or bleeding at the insertion site may occur temporarily after the procedure.

The birth control implant will stop preventing pregnancy after three years.

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Whats Normal Bleeding While On The Contraceptive Pill

Your bodyâs response to your pill will depend on the type of pill you take, and your own bodyâs hormones. If youâre taking a typical 21/7 monophasic pill , bleeding may start on day two or three of your placebo week and last 3-5 days on average. A few people may have only one day of bleeding mid-week, and others may have bleeding that extends into their next pill pack. Up to 1 in 10 have no withdrawal bleeding at all .

Bleeding on the contraceptive pill is also likely to change over time. In people using the 24/4 day pill , about 1-2 in 10 had no significant withdrawal bleeding by the 6th pill pack . Bleeding also tended to decrease over time.

No bleeding can also signal a pregnancy. Take a pregnancy test if youâre unsure, especially if you havenât taken your pills correctly in the previous pack.

How Do The Options Compare

Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting The Pill

Compared to the various other medications and hormonal treatments, hormonal IUDs are the most effective at reducing bleeding and the related problems. The effect of hormonal IUDs is comparable to that of surgery to remove the lining of the womb. There was no real difference between the two treatments in the studies.

Hysterectomies have the greatest benefits of the various surgical procedures: The less invasive procedures that involve removing or destroying the endometrium don’t reduce the problems associated with heavy periods as completely as a hysterectomy does. Those procedures may also have to be repeated if the lining grows back. But serious side effects and complications are much less common after endometrial ablation or resection than after hysterectomy.

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How Can I Prepare For My First Shot

Before you get the shot, youll want to:

Depending on when you get your first shot, you may want to plan on a backup method of birth control for the first week.

But you wont need to use a backup method after any following shots you get, unless more than 15 weeks pass between them.

Combination Birth Control Pills

If a combination birth control pill is started for the first time on the Sunday after your period begins, your period should occur about 25 days later. Ask your healthcare provider which day is the best to start your specific pill pack. If your period begins on a Sunday, you can start the pill pack on that Sunday.

  • In general, about 3 days after finishing all of the 21 active tablets in a 28 pill pack, most women will start their period.
  • If you use a 28-pill pack, you’ll get your period during the week you take the reminder pills.
  • If you use a 21-day pill pack, you’ll still get your period the week you do not take any pills. Remember that the 21-day pack has no reminder pills. Use a reminder to help you stay on track.

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The Patch Vs The Sponge

The contraceptive sponge is a soft, round piece of plastic foam with a loop for removal. Its available over the counter in many drugstores.

The sponge doesnt contain any hormones and is instead filled with a spermicide known as nonoxynol-9. This slows sperm down and helps prevent sperm from reaching the egg.

You can have sex multiple times with the same sponge inserted. However, it shouldnt be kept in for more than 30 hours.

The sponge is less effective than the patch. With perfect use in people who havent given birth, its around 91 percent effective. For people who have given birth, perfect use equates to 80 percent efficacy.

In reality, people dont tend to use the sponge perfectly. So its usually about 88 percent effective for people who havent given birth and 76 percent effective for people who have.

Can I Smoke If Im Taking The Pill

How to Stop Your Period with Birth Control | Birth Control

For lots of reasons, it is not recommended that you smoke and use the Pill, especially if you are over age 35. Smoking and taking the Pill can increase your risk for heart disease, blood clots, and stroke. The more you smoke and the older you are, the higher the risk. So ask your health care provider how to quit smoking or better yet never start!

Read Also: How Can I Stop My Period Once It Has Started

How Can Hormones Help

Painkillers like ibuprofen and diclofenac both of which are non-steroidal are often used for the relief of menstrual pain and cramps, and also for heavy periods. In addition to relieving the pain, they may also help to lower the amount of blood lost. Acetylsalicylic acid is not suitable for heavy periods because it has an anti-clotting effect so it can increase the amount of blood lost during menstruation.

The most common side effects of NSAIDs are stomach problems, nausea, vomiting, headaches and drowsiness. The women who took NSAIDs for heavy periods in studies didn’t experience many more side effects than women who took a placebo for comparison.

Another medication that can help in the treatment of heavy periods is tranexamic acid. It affects blood clotting and reduces the tendency to bleed. Studies have shown it to be more effective than NSAIDs. Tranexamic acid may cause headaches, tiredness and muscle cramps. But these side effects are not more common than with NSAIDs.

There is no good-quality research on whether herbal products can relieve heavy periods.

If excessive loss of blood is causing extreme tiredness, iron deficiency anemia is probably the reason. It is normally treated by taking iron tablets. Iron supplements may have side effects such as stomach ache and constipation, and can cause your stool to turn black.

Is Skipping Your Period Safe

Medical studies have reported no significant negative health effects when you skip your period on the combined hormonal birth control pill . That being said, itâs still important to mention that there have been no long-term studies examining the safety of continually skipping your period. Sometimes medical repercussions take a longer time and/or need a larger population sample size to emerge.

If you choose to stop taking hormonal birth control, your natural menstrual cycle and fertility will usually return to normal after one month, regardless of how long you skipped your âperiodâ .

Read Also: Signs Your About To Start Your Period

What Are No Period Birth Control Pills

Combination birth control pills are often the most common way to stop periods.

Thats because the schedule you use to take them can result in fewer periods or no periods at all.

For example, you may continually take a pill containing estrogen and progestin every day until you decide not to.

Or you might take so-called active pills for a few months straight before having a break. During your break, you might take inactive pills that contain no hormones for a week.

Other forms of birth control can have no period effects but theres often less of a guarantee.

Can Birth Control Make You Infertile

Preventing Your Period With Birth Control Comes at a Serious Price ...

Some women mistakenly believe that being on contraception will make it difficult for them to get pregnant once they stop, especially when they are using whats known as long-acting reversible contraception , such as IUDs or the arm implant.

These devices only interfere with conception when they are in place. You could have an IUD or arm implant in for two years or even just a month, and if you dont like it, or you want to get pregnant, we take it out. It does not affect your future fertility, says Aileen Gariepy, MD, MPH, a Yale Medicine obstetrician-gynecologist. Just because you choose a method that lasts for five, seven, or more years does not mean you have to have it in all of those years. That is just the amount of time it offers protection.

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How Effective Is Nexplanon

The Nexplanon implant is over 99% effective at preventing pregnancy when implanted correctly, which makes it one of the best contraceptive options for people who opt to use hormonal birth control. Its also a good choice for anyone who is sensitive to estrogen, since Nexplanon relies on progestin to prevent pregnancy.

Although the implant is not as widely used as the pill, it is far more effective and just as safe. Because it is a get it and go type of birth control, the likelihood of user errorsuch as forgetting to take your birth control pill every day, change your patch weekly, or swap out your NuvaRing every three weeksis eliminated.

Can Doubling Up On Active Birth Control Pills Stop Your Period

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Your Acne Could Return

A lot of people take birth control pills to ease acne, but unfortunately once you stop taking them, the acne could return. Going off birth control pills may return acne symptoms to what they were before starting , Dr. Bhardwaj previously told Health. If you’re worried about hormonal acne, talk to your dermatologist about alternatives, one as simple as switching your skincare products.

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What Kinds Of Medical Conditions Can Be Helped With Birth Control Pills

I stopped birth control pills, my period is late, but pregnancy tests are negative. Why?

Birth control pills are used to treat many different conditions including:

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome : is a hormonal imbalance, which can cause irregular menstrual periods, acne, and excess hair growth. For girls whose menstrual periods are irregular , birth control pills work by lowering certain hormone levels to regulate menstrual periods. When hormones are at normal levels, acne and hair growth often improve.

Endometriosis: Most teens with endometriosis have cramps or pelvic pain during their menstrual cycle. Birth control pills are often prescribed continuously to treat endometriosis and work by temporarily pausing periods. Since periods can cause pain for teens with endometriosis, stopping periods will usually improve cramps and pelvic pain.

Lack of periods from low weight, stress, or excessive exercise: Birth control pills may be prescribed to replace estrogen, which helps to regulate the menstrual cycle. Normal estrogen levels and healthy weight are important for healthy bones. If lack of periods is caused by low weight or an eating disorder, the best treatment is weight gain to a normal healthy weight and counseling to address body image and health.

Painful Periods : When over-the-counter medications dont help with severe cramps, birth control pills may be the solution because they prevent ovulation and lighten periods.

Heavy Menstrual Periods: Birth control pills can reduce the amount and length of menstrual bleeding.

Other Medical Benefits

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Where Does Menstrual Blood Go If You Dont Have A Period

The hormones in the pill, patch and ring methods of birth control are similar to your bodys natural hormones. They stop ovulation from happening and prevent the uterus from building up a thick lining. When you take a week off from these methods , this mimics the natural withdrawal of those hormones that occurs during a menstrual cycle. This is considered a withdrawal bleed.

Continuous use of certain types of birth control can allow people to skip their periods all together. In these cases, because there is no hormone-free week, there is no withdrawal bleed. Many people ask, Where does all the blood go if it doesnt come out? the answer is: there is no blood building up in the first place. In these situations, using the contraception continuously without a break prevents the uterine lining from developing.

Certain hormonal contraceptives, such as the Mirena IUD, Nexplanon and Depo Provera, contain the hormone progestin, which can cause irregular bleeding during the first few months. However, this bleeding usually stops over time and some people using these methods may not have any bleeding at all for several years.

How Do I Use Depo

If the shot sounds like a good fit for you, reach out to your doctors office, OB-GYN, or local health clinic to make an appointment.

At your appointment, the clinician will go over your health history to make sure its safe for you to receive the shot. They may ask questions about:

  • other types of birth control youve used in the past
  • any side effects you experienced
  • your last period
  • the possibility of pregnancy

If theres any chance you could be pregnant, youll typically need to take a pregnancy test before you can get the shot.

Some healthcare professionals may also recommend getting the shot:

  • during the first 5 days of your period
  • within 5 days after giving birth, or by the 6th week postpartum if you nurse exclusively
  • within a week of having a miscarriage or abortion

If theres no possibility of pregnancy, you can get the shot at any time.

If you doget the shot within 5 days of starting your period or within 5 days of giving birth, youre protected from pregnancy immediately. The shot will have time to take effect before you ovulate, in other words. Otherwise, youll want to use a backup birth control method for 7 days to avoid an unplanned pregnancy.

As for the injection itself, it can go into your upper arm or buttocks. You can choose where youd like to get the shot.

Remember: Youll need to return to a doctors office or clinic every 11 to 14 weeks to get your next shot, so it might help to schedule your next appointment before you leave.

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Do I Get A Real Period On The Contraceptive Pill

Nope. The bleeding you get when youâre on the pill is not the same as a menstrual period.

Your period on the pill is technically called withdrawal bleeding, referring to the withdrawal of hormones in your pill, and in your body. The drop in hormone levels causes the lining of your uterus to shed . This bleeding may be slightly different than the period you had before taking the pill. It also may change over time while taking the pill.

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