Delaying your period with hormonal birth control
With hormonal parturition dominance, regular monthly shed blood does n’t provide any health benefits. Find out how you can have more control over your cycle .By Mayo Clinic Staff
Are you interested in having fewer periods ? It ‘s potential with hormonal birth restraint. Find out how and get answers to common questions about using parturition control to delay or prevent periods.
How does it work?
traditional methods of parentage control — including estrogen-progestin parturition operate pills, the contraceptive peel patch and the vaginal ring — were designed to be used in a means that mimics a natural menstrual cycle. For example, a traditional pill pack contains four weeks — or 28 days — of pills, but merely the first gear three weeks contain hormones that actively suppress your fertility. The pills for the fourth workweek are passive. The shed blood that occurs during the week you take the inactive pills is called coitus interruptus bleed. This is your body ‘s response to stopping the hormones .
Withdrawal shed blood is n’t the like as a regular time period. Nor is withdrawal bleeding necessity for health. This is full news if you use birth control and want to have fewer periods, either for personal or aesculapian reasons .
What is the difference between continuous-use and extended-use birth control?
In general, there are two ways to use hormonal birth control to reduce the number of periods you have :
- Continuous-use birth control is when you take active hormones for a year or longer, with no breaks. Because you do not stop taking active hormones, you do not have withdrawal bleeding.
- Extended-use birth control is when you extend the amount of time you take active hormones. You take the active hormone pills for longer than the typical 21 days. Over the course of the year, you can take breaks from the hormones. That’s when you might have what seems like a period, also called withdrawal bleeding.
Which types of hormonal birth control can be used to delay periods?
respective types of hormonal parturition 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-run birth restraint — and your overall health. Talk to your doctor about the adopt options .
Birth control pills
It ‘s possible to delay or prevent your period with extend or continuous manipulation of any compound 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 clique. however, there are besides respective types of birth control pills designed specifically to lengthen the fourth dimension between your periods. Among those presently available in the U.S. are :
- Jolessa (generic version of Seasonale). With this regimen, you take active pills continuously for 84 days — or 12 weeks — followed by one week of inactive pills. Your period occurs during week 13, about once every three months.
- Amethia, Camrese and Simpesse (generic versions of Seasonique). With this regimen, you take active pills for 84 days — or 12 weeks — followed by one week of pills containing a very low dose of estrogen. Your period occurs during week 13, about once every three months. Taking low-dose estrogen pills instead of inactive pills helps reduce bleeding, bloating and other side effects sometimes associated with a hormone-free interval.
- Rivelsa (a generic version of Quartette). With this 91-day regimen, you take active pills for 84 days — or 12 weeks. Each pill contains a constant dose of progestin, but the dose of estrogen gradually increases — starting with 20 micrograms (mcg), moving up to 25 mcg and moving up again to 30 mcg — at three distinct times during the regimen. Then you take one week of pills containing a very low dose of estrogen. Your period occurs during week 13, about once every three months. The gradual increase in estrogen in Rivelsa may decrease episodes of breakthrough bleeding experienced during early cycles of extended-use pills compared with other extended-use pills.
- Amethyst. This pill contains low doses of both progesterone and estrogen and is designed to be taken continuously for one year. There are no breaks for hormone-free intervals.
Vaginal ring (NuvaRing)
Like combined estrogen-progestin birth master pills, it ‘s possible to delay or prevent your period with extended or continuous use of the contraceptive vaginal gang .
Hormonal intrauterine device (Mirena, Liletta, Kyleena, others)
An intrauterine device ( IUD ) is a phase of long-run birth operate. After your repair inserts the device into your uterus, it continuously releases a type of progestin into your body and can remain in place for up to five years. Hormonal IUDs are available in varying doses. Over time, all hormonal IUDs reduce the frequency and duration of menstrual run. however, a higher acid IUD ( 52 magnesium of levonorgestrel ) appears to be more effective at stopping periods wholly. For exercise, one year after the interpolation of a 52-mg-dose IUD, 20 & percnt of women report having no periods. After two years, 30 & percnt to 50 & percnt of women report having no periods .
DMPA injection (Depo-Provera)
Depot medroxyprogesterone acetate rayon ( DMPA ) is a type of progestin that you receive by injection every 90 days. It is a shape of long-run birth control and besides reduces or eliminates monthly bleed. 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 .
What are the benefits of delaying your period?
Delaying your period can help you manage versatile menstrual symptoms. It might be worth considering if you have :
- A physical or mental disability that makes it difficult to use sanitary napkins or tampons
- A condition worsened by menstruation, such as endometriosis or anemia
- Breast tenderness, bloating or mood swings in the seven to 10 days before your period
- Headaches or other menstrual symptoms during the week you take inactive birth control pills
- Heavy, prolonged, frequent or painful periods
In addition, menstrual shed blood is sometimes merely inconvenient. You may want to postpone your period until after an important examination, athletic event, vacation or special occasion, such as your wedding or honeymoon .
Is it safe for all women to delay menstruation?
If your repair says it ‘s all right for you to take hormonal birth control, it ‘s credibly safe to use it to delay your period. Delaying menstruation remains controversial, however. even physicians who support the choice may not mention it unless you bring up the subject. If you want to try delaying your period, ask your doctor which option might work for you .
What are the drawbacks to delaying your period?
Breakthrough bleeding — bleed or spotting between periods — is common when you use hormonal parturition master to delay or prevent periods, specially during the first few months. Breakthrough bleeding typically decreases over prison term, however, as your body adjusts to the new regimen .
Another drawback of routinely delaying your period is that it may be more difficult to tell if you ‘re pregnant. If you have morning illness, breast tenderness or unusual fatigue duty, take a home pregnancy trial or consult your doctor .
What can be done about breakthrough bleeding?
Breakthrough bleeding normally decreases with time, but there are some things you can do in the meanwhile :
- Stay on schedule. Missing a pill, forgetting to replace your vaginal ring or scheduling a DMPA injection late makes breakthrough bleeding more likely.
- Track breakthrough bleeding in a calendar or diary. Typically, careful tracking offers reassurance that breakthrough bleeding is decreasing.
- Go back to taking your birth control as typically prescribed. You’ll likely have less breakthrough bleeding if you don’t try delaying your period by skipping inactive weeks.
- If you smoke, ask your doctor to help you quit. Women who smoke are more likely to experience breakthrough bleeding than are women who don’t smoke.
If you use estrogen-progestin give birth see pills or the vaginal gang, taking occasional hormone-free days may help manage unscheduled bleed. deoxyadenosine monophosphate long as you have been taking active hormones for at least 21 to 30 days, you can stop taking the pill or remove the hoop whenever breakthrough bleeding becomes a trouble. After three or four hormone-free days, restart your pills or reinsert the call. Over time, the episodes of breakthrough bleeding should space out and finally stop .
Breakthrough bleed is n’t a bless that your parturition control is n’t working. Be certain to keep taking your give birth control — flush if you experience bleeding — to lower your risk of unplanned pregnancy. If breakthrough bleed becomes heavy or lasts more than seven days in a row, contact your sophisticate .
There is a problem with data submitted for this request. Review/update the information highlighted below and resubmit the form .
From Mayo Clinic to your inbox
Sign up for free, and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips and current health topics, like COVID-19, plus expertness on managing health .
Email
ErrorEmail field is required
ErrorInclude a valid electronic mail address
To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information, and understand which information is beneficial, we may combine your e-mail and web site usage information with other data we have about you. If you are a Mayo Clinic patient, this could include protect health information. If we combine this information with your protected health data, we will treat all of that data as protect health information and will merely use or disclose that information as fructify forth in our poster of privacy practices. You may opt-out of e-mail communications at any clock time by clicking on the unsubscribe connect in the e-mail .
Thank you for subscribing
Our Housecall e-newsletter will keep you up-to-date on the latest health information .
Sorry something went wrong with your subscription
Please, try on again in a couple of minutes
- Kaunitz AM. Hormonal contraception for suppression of menstruation. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/search. Accessed Oct. 16, 2019.
- Hatcher RA, et al., eds. Contraceptive Technology. 21st ed. Ayer Company Publishers; 2018.
- Edelman A, et al. Evaluation and management of unscheduled bleeding in women using contraception. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/search. Accessed Oct. 16, 2019.
- AskMayoExpert. Contraception. Mayo Clinic; 2019.
- American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Practice Bulletin No. 110: Noncontraceptive uses of hormonal contraceptives. Obstetrics & Gynecology. 2010; doi:10.1097/AOG.0b013e3181cb50b5.
- Jolessa (prescribing information). Teva Pharmaceuticals USA; 2018. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=f1076019-6f2c-4c90-9f3c-ab0c7cdd9315. Accessed Oct. 10, 2019.
- Amethia (prescribing information). Mayne Pharma; 2019. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=d6a33ea7-ecd1-4f81-a984-f210a3989618. Accessed Oct. 10, 2019.
- Camrese (prescribing information) Teva Pharmaceuticals USA; 2018. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=0e198d28-4986-4b93-833f-17c7ed4ce13e. Accessed Oct. 10, 2019.
- Simpesse (prescribing information). Aurobindo Pharma Ltd.; 2019. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=abea62b3-6a55-40a4-9e68-1ee9801e0f2c. Accessed Oct. 10, 2019.
- Rivelsa (prescribing information). Teva Pharmaceuticals USA; 2018. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=822e56c6-562f-4299-bf4f-eaee0c0f2b7a. Accessed Oct. 10, 2019.
- Amethyst (prescribing information). Actavis Pharma; 2017. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=a7e19182-57b5-4783-9c7f-bb83961f1803. Accessed Oct. 10, 2019.
- Mirena (prescribing information). Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc.; 2017. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=dcbd6aa2-b3fa-479a-a676-56ea742962fc. Accessed Oct. 30, 2019.
- Depo-Provera (prescribing information). Pharmacia and Upjohn Company LLC; 2019. https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=199cf13e-0859-4a73-9b45-e700d0cd1049. Accessed Oct. 30, 2019.
- Butler Tobah YS (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic. Nov. 6, 2019.
See more In-depth