partake on PinterestGetty Images/Mindful Media Using birth operate to stop periods is a pretty common thing. There are a lot of reasons why you may want to skip your menstruation. You might experience severe menstrual cramps or feel tired and irritable every month. Or possibly you ’ re plainly fed up with the direction a monthly bleed affects your life style.
Whatever the reason, know that not all birth restraint options are evenly effective at preventing periods. ( In fact, the period that you have if you ’ ra already on hormonal parturition control international relations and security network ’ t actually a period — it ’ second coitus interruptus bleeding, a answer to the sudden stop of hormones during your break week. ) With that in mind, hera ’ s the lowdown on the best options around correct now to stop periods.
What are no period birth control pills?
Combination parentage control pills are often the most common means to stop periods. That ’ s because the agenda you use to take them can result in fewer periods or no periods at all. For model, you may continually take a pill containing estrogen and progestin every day until you decide not to. Or you might take alleged “ active agent ” pills for a few months straight before having a break. During your bankrupt, you might take “ inactive ” pills that contain no hormones for a week. other forms of birth control condition can have “ no period ” effects — but there ’ s often less of a guarantee.
How do no period birth control pills work?
Planned Parenthood, an advocacy group, says that combination give birth master pill packs tend to come with 21 active pills and 7 placebo pills. That means you ’ ll take hormone-containing pills for 3 weeks and placebo pills for the final examination workweek each month. That final week is when you ’ d traditionally have withdrawal bleed. But if you carry on taking the hormone-containing or active pills continually, you ’ ll skip the bleed part. Why ? Because the drop in hormones triggers the body to release rake and mucus from the uterus line. This is exchangeable to a regular menstruation, except the uterus line doesn ’ t thicken each calendar month. If there ’ s no change in hormone levels, 2008 research shows that the body will continue as it is. however, spotting, or light up shed blood, can still occur in some people. While you can opt for an run or continuous agenda with any combination pill, some pills besides have few or no placebo options. And these options are specifically designed for fewer or zero periods.
No period birth control pill options
Amethyst
The first gear “ no time period ” pill approved by the Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ), Lybrel came as a tamp down of active agent pills taken every day. That means you ’ five hundred never have a period, as there are no placebo pills or breaks for withdrawal shed blood. Lybrel is no longer available, but DailyMed says that its generic version — Amethyst — is. And Amethyst uses the lapp continuous method acting. amethyst costs around $ 45 ( without policy ) for a pack of 28 combination pills .
Seasonale
Getty Images/Mindful Media Seasonale works similarly to Amethyst by offering people a chance to use continuous birth control. But you will have 4 periods per year while taking it, since it follows a 12-week active agent pill schedule followed by 7 days of inactive pills. Seasonale tends to cost around $ 45 ( without insurance ) per calendar month. But a couple of generic versions are available, such as Jolessa and Setlakin .
Seasonique
similarly to Seasonale, Seasonique allows you to have equitable 4 withdrawal bleeds every class.
With Seasonique, you ’ ll take 12 weeks of active pills containing an estrogen and progestin. then, you ’ ll pursue that up with 1 week of low-dose estrogen pills, quite than placebo pills. This can be a better choice if you tend to have side effects from coming off hormones for a week. For exercise, it can lower the likelihood of bleed and bloat. But there ’ s a downside. Seasonique is reasonably expensive, normally costing hundreds of dollars for a pack lasting 3 months without policy. generic versions like Camrese may be slenderly cheaper, but can hush be costly .
Quartette
Quartette was the first extended-use birth control pill approved by the FDA with a rising dose of estrogen. This means that you ’ ll take active pills for 12 weeks. The estrogen dose gradually increases from 20 micrograms to 30 micrograms. then, you ’ ll take low-dose estrogen pills for 1 week before starting the future 12-week active bicycle. This dose change is meant to help lower the luck of breakthrough bleed that can occur when using extended-use pills. And the overall schedule means you ’ ll lone have a period every 3 months. quartet can besides be expensive, ranging from $ 70 to over $ 300 per pack without insurance. But its generic version — Rivelsa — is normally cheaper .
Yaz
Yaz is designed to not alone prevent pregnancy, but besides to treat acne and premenstrual dysphoric perturb ( PMDD ). It comes as a backpack of 28 pills : 24 active agent and 4 inactive. If you take it according to the “ normal ” schedule, you ’ ll have withdrawal bleeding every calendar month. But since it ’ s a combination pill, you can carry on taking the active pills and avoid taking the nonoperational pills. Some people choose to take it for a few months uncoiled and then have a transgress, while others may continually take the active pills for longer. Yaz can cost anywhere between $ 15 and $ 80 per pack. As with all the other brands, generic versions, like Gianvi and Loryna, cost less .
Is it natural to stop your menstrual period?
There ’ s not actually a biological reason to have a period. Having a menstruation is lifelike and can be an indicator of overall health. But stopping it shouldn ’ t be seen as an affected thing to do. Plus, if you ’ re already taking hormonal birth restraint, it ’ sulfur worth remembering that the “ period ” you ’ rhenium having is equitable withdrawal bleed. so, in effect, you ’ re already stopping your menstrual time period .
Is it safe to stop a period with birth control?
A 2014 inquiry review found that it was dependable to stop periods with birth control condition. No analyze has found adverse effects of using an elongated or continuous birth control agenda. In fact, some doctors say you can suppress your period for a long time if you want to. however, there haven ’ t been any long-run studies on this. And Planned Parenthood adds that combination pills can come with a slightly increased hazard of things like strokes, blood clots, and liver tumors. Of course, it may besides be more unmanageable to detect pregnancy if you ’ re not having a period.
Alternatives to consider
There are other options to reduce the frequency of your periods. You can try some to stop your periods wholly. You can use others on a schedule like to the one for combination pills. But while extended or continuous give birth control pills about come with a “ no period ” guarantee, some of the follow birth dominance methods may or may not be able to stop periods :
- hormonal intrauterine device (IUD)
- birth control implant
- Depo-Provera shot
- vaginal ring (can be used continuously)
- birth control patch (can be used continuously)
The bottom line
According to the National Women ’ s Health Network, it ’ mho perfectly safe to stop your periods with give birth control pills and coarse to want to do so. You can opt to never have a period or to barely have a handful per year — the choice is yours. just remember to speak with a healthcare professional about the best choice for you.
Lauren Sharkey is a U.K.-based journalist and author specializing in women ’ randomness issues. When she isn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate trying to discover a direction to banish migraines, she can be found uncovering the answers to your lurking health questions. She has besides written a book profiling young female activists across the ball and is presently building a community of such resisters. Catch her on Twitter .
