How to Stop Having Periods

Happier and more carefree living!

Avoid the monthly visitor and get freedom! This takes persistence and patience, but it can be an incredible long-term help. This technique is also called the "extended cycle" or "continuous use" birth control pill.

Things You'll Need

• Prescription
• Birth Control Pills
• Patience!

Instructions

1. Get a prescription for a birth control pill. Two ways are through your gynecologist and it can be covered with health insurance or look for your nearest Planned Parenthood location at plannedparenthood.org. They can give check-ups and prescriptions without involving your health insurance.

2. 

   Make sure the pill is monophasic. This means all 21 "active" pills (first three weeks in the pill pack) have the same dose of hormones. You want to avoid biphasic and triphasic birth control where the active pills vary in hormone amounts. Usually monophasic pills are the same color the first three weeks and bi- and triphasic pills have different colors the first three weeks. Although there are special pills branded for extended cycle use, you can use this technique with any prescribed monophasic pill.

3. Begin taking the pill as directed. This usually means one pill daily at as close to exactly the same time as possible-- this helps keep hormone levels in the body steady. I would recommend choosing a time between after dinner and 9pm to ensure you are always awake during that time and less likely to be distracted with work.

4. Once you have finished the first 21-pills in your pill pack, begin immediately with a new pill pack. This means you will throw away the last 7 pills of your first pack. Don't worry; the last 7 pills you're skipping are "inactive" fake pills with no hormones. If you took those pills, you would bleed due to lack of hormones and NOT due to the normal processes of a menstrual cycle. This "withdrawl bleeding", however, is physically unnecessary and completely different than normal bleeding. (See 3rd Resource)

5. Repeat step 4 with each new pill pack. Even if you begin bleeding, continue taking the pills. Patience is incredibly essential. At first this will seem like a frustrating step back. For most women, it will take between 3 to 6 months for the body to become accustomed to this new cycle and to stop bleeding. As the months go by, you should see a noticeable decrease in the amount of bleeding and spotting days per month. You just need to get through the difficult beginning.

6. While not all women get the same side effects of the pill, most pill users I have met have gotten remarkably clearer skin on their face, chest, and back. Many also experience an increase in bust size. These are effects you will begin to notice in your second pill pack or so, and they should help make it easier to get through this tough beginning : )

7. Not everyone will achieve the same final results, as each body responds to synthetic hormones differently. You can judge a good approximation of the best results you will be able to get at the 12 month point. Most women will be able to experience no bleeding and only light spotting from time to time. Some will have absolutely no bleeding and no spotting. Some will still bleed but experience it much less and much more rarely. A noted minority will not have any success.

8. If you are able to achieve reduced bleeding but you cannot get it to completely stop by the 12-month point, you can try very long cycles such as 3, 6, or 12 month cycles. This means you will take a 7-day break in active pills every 3, 6, or 12 months (depending on what cycle you decide), thereby giving your uterus a controlled time to bleed and reducing its chance of bleeding between those cycles. There are several pills on the market approved by the FDA that are packaged especially for 3-month extended cycles, so you could also try those.

Tips & Warnings

• Birth control pills taken in this way prevent pregnancy just as effectively.

• If you are already on the pill, you can also start this technique at any time.

• The more perfectly on time you take your pill every day, the less random bleeding or spotting that will occur.

• Hormonal IUDs (Mirena) can also stop you from having periods for the same reason: constant, non-stop, low-dose hormones. Only about 20% of women become completely period-free from this method, however, so I did not include it. Also it has more side effects and dangers than the pill.

• Why are the 7 inactive pills even included in each pill pack? Early studies in the development of birth control pills showed that most women wanted the monthly cycle to know they were not pregnant and because it seemed more natural. Recent studies, however, have shown that up to 91% of women are interested in learning how to cut out their periods altogether, leading to the development of "extended cycle" pills such as Seasonique and Seasonale which cut down the number of cycles a year.

• If it disturbs you to tamper with the natural cycle, then don't take the pill at all. Stopping your period, however, is no less natural than regular use of the pill, as the bleeding that occurs with the pill is artificially induced and is NOT menstrual.

• Note you will use more pill packs in a year using this method because you skip the inactive week each month. Try to get your doctor to write a prescription for this extended use of the pill so that health insurance will cover the extra pill packs.

• If you are just trying to skip one particular period due to a special event or trip, you can skip one bleeding cycle by skipping straight from day 21 of one pill pack to day 1 of the next pill pack and then continue using your pills NORMALLY from then on. Note, however, that your body is expecting to bleed that week if you've gotten it used to the monthly cycle, so you may only be able to postpone the period for a few days or a week, even if you only take active pills.

• All the warnings that apply to regular birth control pills apply to these. Make sure you are ok to take the pill. Your doctor should only prescribe the pill if your medical history is ok for the pill.

• I am not a doctor. Talk to your doctor about this before trying it.

Resources

• Wikipedia for this topic
• FDA OK's 'No Period' Birth Control Pill
• A Great Explanation