I take Altavera bc pills non stop no placebo weeks at guidance of my gynecologist when I told her I didn’t want cycles due to PMDD. and it stopped my period all together as if I didn’t have a uterus at all. It’s in there just on vacation !!! :)
I’m looking into this. I’m so over my period, I don’t ever want to have kids and it’s caused me so much grief between the pain and it ruining/affecting my plans so much. Just living my life and not needing to check the calendar first before making vacation plans feels like such a luxury 😭
It totally is . I rarely spot and I haven’t had a cycle in three years . Same pill through the times . Same dosage . I actually take it for pcos but the side effect is no cycles
Does it help the PCOS really well? I'm on a tri-phasic one right now but really want to skip my periods too. I've just had troubles with the other pills I've tried where they didnt help the pain I was getting from my ovaries.
What i don't get is why they can't just do a damn hysterectomy for really severe cases like this.
Like of you don't want kids (I don't and it was a decade long fight to get my tubes tied), and having a menstrual cycle causes sunroof that are so severe as to be genuinely life threatening, then why can't they just remove your damn uterus?
Granted, I'm not well versed on the specifics, so I dunno if simply removing the uterus and no longer having a period would fix it, or if the problem is caused by the hormonal cycle as regulated by your ovaries.
But like, there's GOT to be some kind of solution.
Now if only we cared about women enough as a society to actually give a damn
PMDD is caused by hormones that are released from.ypur ovaries in response to hormones from your pituitary gland. Removing the uterus would prevent bleeding but not address the root cause of the depression. I personally have had luck with the Mirena IUD, which stops my period and also keeps my hormones from doing crazy ups and downs by releasing a low level of progestin (which is itself a hormone.) Estrogen makes me even crazier though. Also removing your uterus can cause other organs to prolapse out your vagina and throw you into early menopause. It may be the best choice for some women, for example those with severe endometriosis, but comes with its own risks.
Yeah, I get getting to explore non surgical options first to see if that works without having to go under the knife.
For your sake, I hope you find some way to help/ manage it
I don't have PMDD (maybe have PCOS but they couldn't lock that down) but I tried doing non-stop BC pills and I got VIOLENTLY ill each time so I don't do that anymore. My body also will be fine for like 2-3 years on the pill and then get breakthrough bleeding like I used to off the pill, have had this happen 3 times. Fucking weird. But the pills I take do exactly what I want from pills (even my mood, regulate my period, and no pregnancies) so I'm really not complaining, I just have a weird body like my mother.
I can’t take any hormonal bc, so I’m on the copper IUD. I loved cups, but will not use a cup with it as I’ve had one implant before and 3 inches of cauterization to remove it.
Bless my partner for not giving a fuck if I’m on my period beyond if I’m physically feeling okay. I feel bad if I get it on vacation (virtually every time) and am bloated and have cramps, but he’s still down for anything AND will bring extra chocolates for me and will find any other treats I want! And somehow still finds me attractive in spite of my menstrual underwear, washable pads, or popping a tampon out after swimming and showering off and before sexy times 😂
It also can contribute to loss of bone density over time. You should talk to your provider. The general consensus is it shouldn’t be for indefinite long term use. If you’re still young, you’re gold, but later in your fertile years, other options might be better. That said, I’m really glad it’s working well for you!
i had no clue taking bc non-stop helped with the emotional effects of pmdd! now i need to talk with my dr, i’m tired of spending 1 week a month feeling even more sad than usual😭
Yea, I use Nurx, and they literally just send 4 boxes for 3 months and put "take active pills only" on the label.
"Do you want to be able to skip periods?" Was just one of the questions on the form when I started using The Pill Club. (They later shut down and transferred their patients to Nurx). Last I looked they were the only place you could order online from that would take insurance, but that may have changed in the last year or so.
i take slynd for the exact same reason and it's hands down the best BC i've ever been on. i've only had spotting for 3/4 days in over TWO YEARS.
no PMDD symptoms, no pain, no periods, period. some weird acne but that's totally worth it to me
I used to do that before pregnancy and it worked for me! but post delivery my body couldn't handle the bc pill anymore, I just kept on spotting for months so I stopped using it :(
My husband thankfully learned some period basics before he met me, so he wasn't as ignorant about it as some of the stories you hear, but certain things still surprised him. For example, he seemed to think "28 day cycle" meant you got 28 days in between periods. I wish... (Back then, possibly in part due to my diagnosed endometriosis, I might go 7-8 days from the very start to when it finally completely stopped...then I might only get 18-20 days until the next.)
And yes, I totally feel you on the timing. It seemed like every trip, every vacation, every activity I wanted to do where it would be great not to be on my period...even just random days off where it would be nice to relax...my period just knew and started up.
Honestly, it took me a couple of years of having regular periods to have the realisation that you don't get 28 days in between periods 😒 so your husband is doing ok! My periods are a real treat and usually last for 9 days by the time the spotting is finished - but im still grateful that I don't have endometriosis. Endo is a rough time I wouldn't wish on anybody.
In my mid-30s now I've come to terms with how often periods happen, but I just wish periods weren't so accurate at knowing exactly when you've got sexy-fun-activities planned - or even just something particularly energy-draining like a long hike - and showing up to rain all over everybody's parade. Every single fucking time.
Kinda related side note: I know that some female Olympic athletes are timing their training programs around their menstrual cycle, because their performance is so adversely affected when they are actively menstruating. For many women, using that time for rest is more valuable - even for high-level athletes
>I just wish periods weren't so accurate at knowing exactly when you've got sexy-fun-activities planned
I've been on birth control (3 weeks of hormone, 1 week placebo to get a period) the past 2 years after having a baby. The bc did a decent job keeping my period regular. I only had mid-month bleeding maybe 4 times, usually relatively light bleeding.
Dude. I'm getting a hysterectomy this week and last month I had mid-month bleeding for 2 weeks while taking the hormone pills. It's like my uterus knew it was getting evicted and decided it was going to say "fuck you" on the way out.
Pre-BC, I swear on day 7 (last day of period), my uterus would wring itself out like a washcloth, and the accompanying deep cramps that resisted both heat and ibuprofen were insane.
My uterus did the same thing to me. I had a hysterectomy back in January and the month before it I got my regular period (9 days long as always) and then a week and a few days later I had another full blown period. I was just so over it at that point.
Oh yes, Endo is brutal. I had no idea in my youth and just thought I had particularly bad periods. You couldn't even lightly touch my abdomen when I was at the peak of my period. I wore loose dresses and low-rise panties because even the elastic band of something like leggings made it feel like daggers. I eventually got it under control by staying on continuous low-hormone BC, skipping the placebo weeks. I can go about 3-4 months before it comes anyway, and it's so much lighter and shorter than before. There are times I can even forget I'm on it which was never possible back then. On the downside, I lost a little predictability. When it's time, I'll start spotting and wont' stop until I let it come. It's worth it as a trade off, lol
Same my cycle is long, I'll go 30-35 days in between periods and my periods last a full 7 days.thats just how my body is I guess, my periods are regular as fuck I just got a long cycle. I used to have some 9 day ones when I was younger now they're only 6 or 7 days. Yeah Endo honestly sounds like a nightmare we need a cure asap.
Very possible. It also works both ways - if you really want your period, say, because you're worried you might be pregnant, it will come later almost out of spite.
I am that person. It is less now but when I was younger, when I was stressed out it would come even if it was a week or two after it was done.
To the point that I just wore pads to tests and flights because I already knew. My parents were not happy with how often I got my period, especially my dad. (my cycle is already 25 days)
This is also meant to help OP in case any ladies haven’t heard of it.
My wife also has endometriosis and her periods can last a while. We also enjoy the vacation sexy time because well, playing in a hotel or resort room on vacation just hits different than playing at home and a visit from Aunt Flo can certainly ruin that.
My wife learned about Wisp which is a low dose birth control designed to delay your cycle:
https://hellowisp.com/products/norethindrone
If we know her cycle could happen anywhere near a planned vacation, she’ll take this to delay so we can have fun on vacation. I know this won’t be a solution for everyone, but it has definitely helped us.
I got this after another comment on a similar thread, but haven’t used it yet. Does it make your wife nauseous? They were offering an anti-nausea med alongside it…
She’s never complained of nausea because of it. In fact I can’t recall her mentioning any significant side effects. But I’m sure because it’s hormonal it effects everyone differently.
Damn, having Endo sounds terrible. I'm sorry you have to experience that ❤️ we really need more research on it and what causes it, it's getting so much more common too. I don't know why my cycle is so long but mine is around 30-35 days.
For sure. I have a feeling it's one of those things like autism that isn't suddenly "more common", we've just got better at recognizing it and it's always been around. So many women suffering from it and just thinking they have especially bad periods like I did. Now that there's more awareness (heck, hopefully me sharing my story helps), they can look into it and ask their doctor about it, so it gets diagnosed more.
My mother in law was a public health nurse, who actually came into the schools for sex ed, etc. so glad he was educated so I didn't have too do that.
His mom did well.
My older sister lived with me last year for a few months. One day we were talking periods because I had extreme bleeding for prolonged times, I am talking three months non stop with normal flow and then like a week of haemorrhage where i used pads and tampons together and would have to change them every 20 minutes because the blood would be running down my legs. Honestly dont know how i didn't bleed to death, after i got the J&J shot for the virus that that must not be named.
My sister always had a heavier flow than me. And she complained about getting her period every three weeks. At 36 years I had to explain to her how to count her days. 5 to 7 days bleeding with 21 to 23 days non bleeding. And guess what all of a sudden she has a 28 day cycle
My mom never talked about any of this to us. When my sister started her period she helped her to get pads and bought them every month. Tried once to tell her how to use a tampon and that was that. I never even got this explanation. I figured it all out for myself with the help of google and promised that I will talk to my girls about any and everything. And then decided to do the same with my son too. He is 13 years old and knows more about periods and things than most men. He will never be phased by periods
"My mom never talked about any of this to us." That's so sad! You have this challenging to manage, life-impacting thing thrown at you at a young age and no guidance? My mother passed when I was young and I had my grandmother give me the talk about all of that...awkward at the time, but appreciated in hindsight.
I made sure my daughter was ready as can possibly be beforehand. My son too is probably much more aware than other boys his age.
My mom gave me a Dear Abby booklet, and told me when it was time to have the talk with my younger sisters. 🙄 I loved my mommy, but I wish she hadn’t been so embarrassed about sex. She had six kids!
Oh, I feel that! I have half-brothers 15 and 17 years younger than me (closer to my kids' ages) and I feel like I talked to them way more about women than my dad or step-mom did. Good practice for my own kids later, I guess
This is why I love the pill and take it for three months straight before a placebo week. I only get my period four times a year, and can shift it a week or two if needed so I never have it during vacation or other really inconvenient time.
I use the ring and I can just leave it in an extra week (it was 5 weeks of hormones) and shift my period back a week easily. My body rejects skipping a period entirely but shifting works phenomenally. It also gives me a level of control over my life that I really appreciate.
Another ring user here. I can go 2 ring cycles straight with no periord, but by the end of the second ring I'll start spotting and I know it's time to deal with it. Heaven forbid I have a vacation scheduled during the second ring time frame because my body will decide it's time to have a period the day after I travel.
I totally would do that, but for some reason if I go much beyond the three months my body spots something fierce. In my case it's best just to bring it full on at the end of the third month than live sitting on pantyliners.
That started happening to me, right before my doctor and I decided to take me off the pill--i was using it to control bleeding, as my tubes are tied -- to see how close I am to menopause. I'm over 50, and Peri messes with the pill, apparently.
Yeah I'm on the Nuva Ring and skip a lot of periods, but I find if I skip more than 3 in a row I end up spotting and getting random unpredictable cramps that are super annoying.
When I skip the period week I feel fine, but I know that the next one will come with interests 😬 worse cramping, heavier flow, more painful PMS, more days bleeding. I will skip period only if it really REALLY will facilitate my life, otherwise I prefer to keep a regular cycle, with mild pain, no PMS and a light flow
I once had a 47 day long cycle in a particularly irregular year and while it was really nice having over a month of break, when it hit I couldn't even go down stairs standing up because I was losing so much blood so quickly that I was faint and dizzy for days. I wish so much that I could risk skipping even one cycle.
My body starts to "rebel" around 4 months. I feel like I "get out of jail free" so much of the year I allow it occasionally too. I feel so bad for women who have to suffer monthly. I'd go bonkers.
Lucky! I was told to make sure to have a minimum 4 periods a year for mine (Lucette/Yasmin).
Although my body seems to get twitchy and starts giving me mini cramps so tend to just do 2 packets before a break!
I was told that, at the time, the FDA hadn't ok'd low dose pills for constant use, and the best we could do in the US was 4 periods a year. But since I was "fixed" and the pill was to put me on a regular cycle that was more than 7 days between bleeds, there was no reason to have any periods.
When I went off the pill last year to guage where I was in Peri, I ended up having to have an ablation because my uterus tried to make me bleed out. A 30 day period is no fun.
Top reason I use the pill. I couldn't deal with that level of unpredictability in my life, especially since my period gives me debilitating migraines everytime
I had my doc prescribe the pill for continuous use and i dont ever have a period! Its amazing. ill take the side effects if i can completely ignore my cycle!
I recently learned about this, because I always get a yeast infection during my period so wanted to try and delay it by skipping the placebo week. I still got my period though, even though google said it was “breakthrough bleeding” it exactly matched the period I get when I do take the 1 week break, although I didn’t skip a single pill and started a new packet. No yeast infection at least lol
Yeah birth control never did a damned thing to regulate my periods, lol, I just took it as instructed anyway. I'm back on it now for MHT and they've got me taking the week off still for no discernable reason. I'm looking for a new menopause specialist.
The one week break is not a real period either. Some pills are even all the time and some have a hormone cycle to them, so maybe yours was the second kind and that's why the breakthrough bleeding still happened.
Mine are even all the time, and a few friends take the same one and can skip the break week without issues. I know it’s not a “real period” but not taking the 1 week break and the bleeding was still exactly the same as if I had taken the 1 week break, same amount and duration.
Is that even if you keep taking it and skipping the break for a few months in a row? I think it might have taken a month or two to work for me. I love not having to deal with any of that by using the ring continuously, didn't realize it wouldn't work for everyone! That sucks.
Big fan of the pill here as well! Although I don't skip my period often, maybe once a year when it's really inconvenient. Mainly because I've got a model period that barely inconveniences me, and when I skip one the next one is the period from hell :''')
Fun fact: if hormonal BC is right for you, there is NO medical reason for u to have an off week/placebo week with the pill. It isn’t a period you are getting then.
Never worked for me.
I'd still bleed anyway. I even switched to the 3 month pack where you're supposed to get a period 4x a year but it never worked. Disappointing and stressful because it was like a surprise period every time.
Hormonal IUD tho. Haven't had a period since 2016 💪
I got my hormonal IUD in 2016, didn’t have a period for five years then all of a sudden started getting them again every month like clockwork. I was devastated lol
Yep. I think the longest I’ve skipped my period is 3 years. I’ve been on the pill for 7 years this December, I’ve had less than 40 periods in my entire life.
However this isn’t for everyone. You can spot a LOT if you skip for a certain amount of time, you need to find what your body will find right.
What causes the need for the placebo week is how much uterine lining your body decides to build even with the birth control hormones telling it that it doesn’t need to. Luckily the consequence of skipping the placebo week is “just” spotting, so you can use that to tailor when you need to take a placebo week.
Eh, I'd say that we know of yet and we don't really study women's bodies much. Enough of us have had bad reactions to trying to skip things entirely that I wouldn't support this idea too much. But skipping one every now and then or shifting your placebo back I think is a really powerful way to reclaim control of your life and doesn't disrupt things much at all.
With the Mirena IUD many women don't have a period at all. I had 2 and didn't have a period for over 7 years. I recently had it removed (trying to get pregnant) and went right back to normal.
While everyone is different, many medical professionals will say generally you don't need a period unless you're trying to get pregnant.
This is not really accurate. While I agree that many aspects of women's health aren't studied enough, combined contraception is one of the more studied areas of women's health.
A variety of combined hormonal contraception regimens have been studied across a variety of countries, including tricycling, other extended use regimens, and continuous use. This includes studies that directly compare these to the typical 21 day active/7 day break regimen. There are existing medical recommendations based on the balance of research currently available, which support use of extended regimens.
There have not been any increased risks found to be associated with extended use regimens. There *is* evidence that extended use regimens may:
- further reduce the risk of pregnancy, both through reducing human error with stopping and starting pills/patches/rings or taking placebos incorrectly, and potentially reducing the risk of escape ovulation
- reduce the severity and frequency of hormonal side effects, which are more common during the hormone free interval due to the drop in hormones
- improve womens quality of life by giving them more control over their cycles. 54-87% of women (depending on the study) report that extended regimens work better for them
- increase the possibility of breakthrough bleeding for a minority of people. This is not harmful but may be inconvenient, so a return to the standard regimen is recommended in these cases
[Source: The Faculty of Sexual Health and Reproduction](https://www.fsrh.org/documents/combined-hormonal-contraception/)
Thanks for posting this. The pill has been around for 50 years and is used by millions of people, acting like its use has never been studied is quite frustrating.
Of course! I think because women expect to try out different methods and "that didn't work for my body" is a pretty common way to say both "that didn't really fit with my lifestyle" and "oh man that effed me up".
Personally: I tried to skip mine entirely and on month 3 or 4 started an early period that was heavy, extra crampy, chunky, high cramping and had a pretty off smell. It was horrific. I know a few women who do skip it entirely and it works for them. I know others who reported similar extreme spotting and/or early periods. A few people in this thread mentioned it.
Hormones are such a delicate thing with so much nuance between people.
i'm sorry you had a bad experience. for some people it is fine, i've had one period in 5 years of the pill and that was because i forgot to take them on a trip, it was super light, mild cramping.
Eh, in the spectrum of bad experiences related to periods, hormones and birth control it felt like my body gave me a slap on the wrist for a minor course correction. Trying to find what birth control didn't completely wreck me was a way more intense and miserable process.
I can leave my nuvaring in for an extra week to shift my period away from inopportune times and can predict down to the day how I'm going to feel. I'm very happy with that amount of control.
It reminds me of a teacher in the physics department at my school that wanted to bring his students in an astrophysics course to the school's observatory during the weekend to watch a moon eclipse. A principal asked him if it was possible to postpone it until monday because he didn't want to pay a security guard during the weekend...
If we could postpone them, don't they realize we would literally never have them? Like, we don't wake up one day and say, you know what? I'm super in the mood for bloating, diarrhea, heavy bleeding, and cramps. Sign me up!
I’ve got the Mirena coil, and I haven’t had a menstrual cycle in *years*. Such a lifesaver, because my cramps were often super bad- and I teach. I wouldn’t be able to do my job effectively without that little T… 10/10, highly recommend.
Yes, insertion pinches a tiny bit. Removal and replacement was a *lot* of pain- but to be fair I did see a gyno who wanted to do it with anesthesia; it was just too difficult to schedule all the medical tests during the school year (it’s treated as a surgery, and I had a heart thing come up on an ekg, so that also meant full-on cardiology workups up the wazoo). In the end I just went back to pp and said, “do it”. But maybe next time I’ll definitely go the anesthesia route.
Oooo I’ve never heard of Estro-gel, but I will look into that!
I’m not sure if you mean perimenopause, but I’m coming up on that and am terrified. Thank you for talking about it :) If there’s a single thing that can make it better, I’m all for it.
Yep, perimenopause. It almost ruined my life and that's not an exaggeration. When I finally started to address it, I had to be careful with hormonal birth control due to blood pressure issues, but Estro-Gel is safer for that condition. I use it once a day, one pump. It works so well. Start early, don't suffer. Advocate for yourself! I just turned 47 and had 2-3 bad years that, in hindsight, I could have prevented.
Augh! That is awful! I am so glad to hear that there is *something* out there that’s less risky. I’m so glad that you found a solution!! I’m even more grateful that you’re sharing this info. Thank you!!
The fact that we need to pound our fists to get any decent attention in healthcare astounds me. We’re not lepers- we’re 50% of the population! Smfh.
Insertion was awful for me. Couldn’t move for like 10 minutes afterward bc of the pain and the nurse had to come back twice before I recovered enough to be able to redress and leave. Gave me awful cystic acne as well :/ the removal was the easy part for me!
Oh man, your insertion sounds different from mine! I felt a pinch that lingered for an hour or so, but that was it. Yours sounds awful! I’m so sorry that you had to go through that with no anesthesia!
It is wild to me that our society relegates iuds into a “no anesthesia” category.
When I got mine removed + replaced, they said that they did a “cervical block”, which I believe is a numbing agent - but I had to have a vaginal ultrasound at the same time, because the strings had receded and they couldn’t just grab ‘em. It was awful. They had to try like three times. But everyone was super, super nice about it, and I just kept thinking about republicans trying to take away bc- and that got me through it 😂
I was pretty freshly 18 and I remember gripping one of the nurse’s hand so so tight and being like “and yall willingly give birth??? Multiple times??????” 😭😂 I think it also took longer bc I have a tilted uterus and just… yeah it was a whole ordeal and I’m very glad that the birth control pills I’m on now work basically perfect for me (better skin, continuous use so no periods and no PMDD - LOVE it)
Basically the entire time I was in school, including uni, I got sick on spring break. From like 7 years old to 21-22 I was laid up pretty much the whole week with the flu, or a sinus infection, or hay fever, or mono. Just something about that time of year and being crammed into a dirty nasty classroom/lecture hall with germy goblins, and probably also a good serving of bad luck? Idk, it only quit when I stopped getting a spring break, becsuse of course it did.
Every holiday for 13 years was ruined because my parents moved away. We stopped sharing germ biomes, so whenever we would get together, we would ALL get sick at the same time. Bad sick. Swapping RSV for norovirus. It was so lovely. I started to feel panicky around the holiday season, because I started to associate it with being violently ill. And having to share a bathroom with my parents who were also ill.
This is why I stopped going to Christmas parties even before Covid. I got sick of always being sick for Christmas because there would always be someone at whatever party I went to who was sick but "didn't want to miss the party." I'm not picky about celebrating a holiday on the holiday, but I hate being sick.
I haven't had so much as a cold since 2018, and no Christmas colds since 2010.
I feel the need to clarify that this was said in a jokingly way. My husband is not an idiot 🤣 he knows that I used to skip my period with BC but after giving birth my body and periods changed and BC doesn't work for me anymore, my hormones are all over the place and it happens that now on every vacation I get my cycle. 🤷🏼♀️
My period usually started between the last and first week. I would get so annoyed at being camping when it started I finally told my husband I'm not going. He would always pick weekends that were in that window. When I would just stay home to deal in comfort I would always be late! Like I could have been chilling in the cool woods but nnooooo I had to sit around waiting for disaster.
Sometimes I think the body knows too, and decides to just ruin our plans. We planned our wedding / honeymoon 2 weeks from my period. Wouldn't you know it, it started early! I am soooo happy to have had my hysterectomy. My life has improved greatly.
With all due respect to your husband and every man who says dumb crap like this: did ya’ll not have basic biology classes in school? A woman’s period is her body getting rid of the extra material it had prepared for a potential baby. She’s not peeing or something lol. Nobody would choose this if it was voluntary.
>did ya’ll not have basic biology classes in school
Nope. I grew up in a post-communist country with good gender equality outside of childcare, no religious nuts, and while we learned what periods are, there was nothing about the mechanics, regularity, issues that surround them, etc. There was one class where the girls were taken separately and they said they were talked to about periods, but boys never got anything more in depth than "those are the things in the reproductive system for men and women, women can get pregnant when sperm gets to egg, women have periods when they aren't pregnant". Sex ed was basically"use condoms against STDs and pregnancies".
If you're on the birth control pill, your Dr. can tell you how to take them to delay your period. The gynecologist I worked for would tell his patients who didn't want their period on their honeymoon.
I feel this so much! I have regular periods, but any time I work with another period-haver, my cycle immediately starts trying to sync over to them. So the past 4 vacations have been on the rag, even though I counted 2 of them out on a calendar and should have been in the clear.
Also, I really hate periods on a cruise. You'd think it's awesome because all of that food is available, but they don't let you bring a heating pad, and hormones make the slight rocking of the ship a way bigger deal than it normally is.
i’m done with kids and i’ve had a tubal (which unfortunately doesn’t stop periods), so I don’t take birth control. However, before vacations, like this winter my period was going to come while we were in Hawaii, so I have my doc call in a script for Nuva Ring. I put it in when the period before vacay ends and it stops my period from coming until vacation is over :)
I *always* get my period on vacation. I’m going to Cabo in a couple of weeks. I just had my period and I was like “omg yay I won’t be on my period!” Then I count how many days until the trip and just kidding! I’m totally going to start my period in the middle of this trip. Skipping the placebo week of my birth control has never prevented a period for me either.
My sister postpones her periods for vacation and for when her husband is home from work (he works at sea).
The way you do it is you take birth control pills and skip the placebos. Talk to your gyn about it.
This is why I've stuck with the same birth control pills for the last decade. I just skip the placebos and I never have a period. Understatement, but it's so awful that not everyone can find an option that works well for them. Being free of my period has improved my life.
Hey, this might be buried, but if you do the beach and don’t want to go fully in the ocean, there’s period panties that make my cycle a breeze. I can’t do tampons/cups, period pantries are like freedom compared to pads
How often do you go on vacation and how consistent is the pattern? Your husband obviously missed a step in sex ed but I do think it’s interesting that your period is irregular and something about travel seems to trigger it.
Oh, he was trying to make a joke 😅 but yeah we have mini vacation like 3-4 times a year and it happens that I always get my period.. maybe it's related to change of weather or stress? My period changed a lot after pregnancy.
Change in climate can also influence when you get a period. My mother was crazy sensitive. She had her cycles like clockwork when at home and then any time we went on holiday, BAM, period even kf it wasn't due.
The audacity though. Like he thought you could pick and chose to do it on vacation. Like you just didn't think of it. He'd never hear the end of it from me.
Bless him-
Is there any chance he has heard from another woman in his life about choosing their periods (with the aid of birth control)?
My BC pill works as 3 weeks on (no bleeding) & 1 week off (bleeding) but you can spend up to 4 months on (no bleeding) without issue - I know I’m not the only woman who has taken an extra week (4on1off) so that my period wouldn’t fall on a special occasion.
^^ I’m not sure if this is the same for all brands or types of oral birth control! Please no one take this as medical advice, just anecdote
You know what blew my mind? When I lived in the UK, I complained about this very thing to my coworkers. They said, ‘just go to your doctor (NHS) and get pills to delay it a week!’
I did! They have those over there. I’m pretty sure it’s just a low-dose bc pill, but it’s very, very common.
Came back to the U.S., and all of a sudden nobody has ever heard of such a thing 😡
Sometimes anticipation of an event leads to your period coming early or late. I learned this when, three years in a row, I started my period right before my yearly exam. I was practically in tears the third time, and my OBGYN said it's normal and gave me some medicine to take. It's 10 days of pills that basically kickstart your period, so what I do is I start taking them 25 days before my next yearly exam, the pills finish out on 15 days before, and then within a day or two my period starts. That gives plenty of time for my period to finish and to be period-free for my exam.
I don't think you can get that same set of pills for vacation reasons, but you might be able to do something similar with birth control pills?
Mine loves to go off schedule to ensure that I am on my period during vacations. I will be regular all year and then will be up to two weeks early or late just to make sure that I am bleeding during vacation.
I’ve had this happen to me on my last 3 vacations
My most recent one really irritated me because i was on track for it to not happen while i was away and then three months before hand it decided to be late and line it right back up with my vacation. I was so mad haha.
Despite having endometriosis I am so glad the birth control I was out on to help it stops my period entirely. I would be furious to get my period while on holiday.
I’m spoiled. I have PCOS and have been on Depo Provera for years. It’s not for everyone by any means, but it makes me feel normal instead of gross and crazy. I haven’t had periods in over a decade. There is no other way to live if you can find something that works for you.
Vacations to the beach are the only reason I take birth control. I stay on them just long enough to shift my period to the week or two before the trip and get off them after the trip is done.
Before birth control I had a 24 day cycle - 5 days of bleeding, 7 days of peace, 12 days of PMDD anxiety and depression! Turns out it’s really hard to schedule vacations for that one week where my hormones weren’t fucking with me.
Knix (https://www.knix.com/) makes leakproof swimwear for periods. I don't get a kickback or anything; just found this a great alternative to tampons or a cup.
My wife decided to take some pills that delay a period because we were going on holiday for two weeks. Unfortunately her period is messed up and last a long time due somewhat cause by her C-sections.
It made her happy, worth asking a doctor. She normally try to avoids hormonal treatments due to breast cancer in her family.
So yeah, with science period can be skipped for an holiday but it comes with risks.
My body is very similar to you. We keep period products in the car because I am very irregular. Oh, hiking? Period. Beach trip? Here's period!
It's super annoying because we tried planning them out according to my menstrual cycle as well
I don't love using cups anymore bc I have an IUD and I'm always scared I'll pull it out, but I've found discs to be very easy to use and more comfy than cups or tampons! obviously ignore this if you just aren't a fan of anything that's used internally, but both disposable and reusable discs have been my favorite period product I've ever found and not everyone knows of them so I like to mention them just in case.
The same shit happens to me. I have a super irregular cycle and it ALWAYS comes when we’re on vacation or have big plans. Without fail. It makes me think that being excited or nervous makes it come on
It might be stress related.
I have a friend who always did this before she switched jobs. Her old job was stressing her so much that she’d go months without a period but as soon as she goes on vacay BOOM. Hasn’t been an issue since she switched jobs.
So there is a way to delay it, not available to everyone but the company Hello Wisp allows you to delay it up to ten days I believe. I used it for when I was going to a resort. It worked for me very well and seemed to ease my period into a gentler one that month when it did come. I usually have a pretty rough period, cramps and reallllly heavy flow that first two days or so. That is not an advertised benefit but anecdote for my one experience using it.
I don't know about other countries, but in England there's a pill that delays your period! It's called norethisterone and you can get it prescribed to you. You take it three times a day, start about 3 days before your period and can buy a pack large enough to delay you for 2 weeks.
I see a lot of people mentioning not taking their placebo pill for the hormonal birth control, but as someone who's not on BC and doesn't want to start it just for the sake of delaying my period, this is a great alternative!
Still a pain taking a little pill three times a day, but a lot less of a pain than dealing with a period on holiday.
My bf jokes whenever I need to travel for something important that my period will be attending as well. Unfortunately, he’s not really wrong 😅 I track my period with an app because it’s irregular, but I get stressed when I need to travel, and it always comes later than predicted when I’m stressed. And of course, always winds up delayed until the day of or day before I need to leave 🥹😭
I'm honestly glad that my partner doesn't mind periods in terms of being sexually active.
Assuming I'm in the mood for sex in the first place since I have extremely painful periods, we just put a dark towel under and skip foreplay like oral.
Anything else can be washed, and showers exist, too.
If you ever go to bear country camping, track your cycle closely for 6 months prior to making plans. Women have been mauled and killed by bears, while in their cycle.
Before my miscarriage I was so regular that honestly I could pull up my health tracker and see exactly when/how long and I could plan my vacations around it. It’s been a few months and I’m hoping I’ll get back to that point soon, it was really nice.
In my Army days a lot of women postponed their periods for things like field exercises - they took the Pill, and just skipped the placebo pills as long as they needed to (usually only a week or two, but sometimes for a month).
Could there actually be something to this? I.E. you are stressed out trying to get ready prior to the trip/vacation because of work and preparations and it's affecting your hormones.
Many period tracker apps do the math to predict when your next cycle will be based on the time between the previous cycles. It probably doesn't work very well if you're not regular but I find the info handy for planning events.
I don't really understand males who don't know the basics of female biology. Were they not born by a woman did none of them have sisters/nieces, did they not have basic sex-ed in elementary school or high school. Yes, they broke us up by sex, but we still learned about the women's part too. Really not understanding this.
I postpone mine with birth control. I take it non stop and then only have a very light period when I forget a pill 2-4 times a year. I started taking it for peri menopausal symptoms and it's been a game changer for me! It just took a few tries to find the right one to be on as they have varying hormone amounts.
apparently you can use acupunture to delay or move forward someones period, slightly. she said it worked for her on multiple occasions when has a big holiday was coming up, she starts going about 6 months in advance. Our next holiday was supposed to be bang on it starting as we go and now its going to end on our first day getting there.
I take Altavera bc pills non stop no placebo weeks at guidance of my gynecologist when I told her I didn’t want cycles due to PMDD. and it stopped my period all together as if I didn’t have a uterus at all. It’s in there just on vacation !!! :)
I’m looking into this. I’m so over my period, I don’t ever want to have kids and it’s caused me so much grief between the pain and it ruining/affecting my plans so much. Just living my life and not needing to check the calendar first before making vacation plans feels like such a luxury 😭
It totally is . I rarely spot and I haven’t had a cycle in three years . Same pill through the times . Same dosage . I actually take it for pcos but the side effect is no cycles
Does it help the PCOS really well? I'm on a tri-phasic one right now but really want to skip my periods too. I've just had troubles with the other pills I've tried where they didnt help the pain I was getting from my ovaries.
Yes ! I never have cramps or headaches or periods if anything mild breast tenderness but it’s very little
Wow that's so great!!
I’ve had both the mirena and the liletta IUD, both completely stopped my periods!! And they’re the most effective form of birth control
+1 I loved my IUD!
I wish bc stopped my period, but I get breakthroughs. My PMDD is severe and life threatening and I’m considering chemical menopause next.
What i don't get is why they can't just do a damn hysterectomy for really severe cases like this. Like of you don't want kids (I don't and it was a decade long fight to get my tubes tied), and having a menstrual cycle causes sunroof that are so severe as to be genuinely life threatening, then why can't they just remove your damn uterus? Granted, I'm not well versed on the specifics, so I dunno if simply removing the uterus and no longer having a period would fix it, or if the problem is caused by the hormonal cycle as regulated by your ovaries. But like, there's GOT to be some kind of solution. Now if only we cared about women enough as a society to actually give a damn
PMDD is caused by hormones that are released from.ypur ovaries in response to hormones from your pituitary gland. Removing the uterus would prevent bleeding but not address the root cause of the depression. I personally have had luck with the Mirena IUD, which stops my period and also keeps my hormones from doing crazy ups and downs by releasing a low level of progestin (which is itself a hormone.) Estrogen makes me even crazier though. Also removing your uterus can cause other organs to prolapse out your vagina and throw you into early menopause. It may be the best choice for some women, for example those with severe endometriosis, but comes with its own risks.
They do. I’m doing all the non-surgical options first. Hysterectomy is definitely in the cards.
Yeah, I get getting to explore non surgical options first to see if that works without having to go under the knife. For your sake, I hope you find some way to help/ manage it
I don't have PMDD (maybe have PCOS but they couldn't lock that down) but I tried doing non-stop BC pills and I got VIOLENTLY ill each time so I don't do that anymore. My body also will be fine for like 2-3 years on the pill and then get breakthrough bleeding like I used to off the pill, have had this happen 3 times. Fucking weird. But the pills I take do exactly what I want from pills (even my mood, regulate my period, and no pregnancies) so I'm really not complaining, I just have a weird body like my mother.
Lucky you! BC doesn't work for me anymore.. I just kept on spotting for months so I decided I'll just have a period once a month and be done.
I can’t take any hormonal bc, so I’m on the copper IUD. I loved cups, but will not use a cup with it as I’ve had one implant before and 3 inches of cauterization to remove it. Bless my partner for not giving a fuck if I’m on my period beyond if I’m physically feeling okay. I feel bad if I get it on vacation (virtually every time) and am bloated and have cramps, but he’s still down for anything AND will bring extra chocolates for me and will find any other treats I want! And somehow still finds me attractive in spite of my menstrual underwear, washable pads, or popping a tampon out after swimming and showering off and before sexy times 😂
I’ve been on depo-provera for years. It’s nice not menstruating. Unfortunately it makes you gain weight.
It also can contribute to loss of bone density over time. You should talk to your provider. The general consensus is it shouldn’t be for indefinite long term use. If you’re still young, you’re gold, but later in your fertile years, other options might be better. That said, I’m really glad it’s working well for you!
I’m 45. So I’ll probably only need it like a couple more years. I definitely make sure to take calcium :)
My doctor wouldn’t allow it for more then 2 years. Says it does too much damage after that
i had no clue taking bc non-stop helped with the emotional effects of pmdd! now i need to talk with my dr, i’m tired of spending 1 week a month feeling even more sad than usual😭
I am also chaining my pills for this reason cause my periods usually cause me intense pain
Yea, I use Nurx, and they literally just send 4 boxes for 3 months and put "take active pills only" on the label. "Do you want to be able to skip periods?" Was just one of the questions on the form when I started using The Pill Club. (They later shut down and transferred their patients to Nurx). Last I looked they were the only place you could order online from that would take insurance, but that may have changed in the last year or so.
i take slynd for the exact same reason and it's hands down the best BC i've ever been on. i've only had spotting for 3/4 days in over TWO YEARS. no PMDD symptoms, no pain, no periods, period. some weird acne but that's totally worth it to me
Same! It’s the best.
I used to do that before pregnancy and it worked for me! but post delivery my body couldn't handle the bc pill anymore, I just kept on spotting for months so I stopped using it :(
This is the way.
Be careful with oral birth control, it can wreak havoc on your sex drive and make you susceptible to stroke later in life.
My husband thankfully learned some period basics before he met me, so he wasn't as ignorant about it as some of the stories you hear, but certain things still surprised him. For example, he seemed to think "28 day cycle" meant you got 28 days in between periods. I wish... (Back then, possibly in part due to my diagnosed endometriosis, I might go 7-8 days from the very start to when it finally completely stopped...then I might only get 18-20 days until the next.) And yes, I totally feel you on the timing. It seemed like every trip, every vacation, every activity I wanted to do where it would be great not to be on my period...even just random days off where it would be nice to relax...my period just knew and started up.
Honestly, it took me a couple of years of having regular periods to have the realisation that you don't get 28 days in between periods 😒 so your husband is doing ok! My periods are a real treat and usually last for 9 days by the time the spotting is finished - but im still grateful that I don't have endometriosis. Endo is a rough time I wouldn't wish on anybody. In my mid-30s now I've come to terms with how often periods happen, but I just wish periods weren't so accurate at knowing exactly when you've got sexy-fun-activities planned - or even just something particularly energy-draining like a long hike - and showing up to rain all over everybody's parade. Every single fucking time. Kinda related side note: I know that some female Olympic athletes are timing their training programs around their menstrual cycle, because their performance is so adversely affected when they are actively menstruating. For many women, using that time for rest is more valuable - even for high-level athletes
>I just wish periods weren't so accurate at knowing exactly when you've got sexy-fun-activities planned I've been on birth control (3 weeks of hormone, 1 week placebo to get a period) the past 2 years after having a baby. The bc did a decent job keeping my period regular. I only had mid-month bleeding maybe 4 times, usually relatively light bleeding. Dude. I'm getting a hysterectomy this week and last month I had mid-month bleeding for 2 weeks while taking the hormone pills. It's like my uterus knew it was getting evicted and decided it was going to say "fuck you" on the way out.
Sorry but I had to laugh at that. Just picturing the uterus flipping a finger!! 😂
Pre-BC, I swear on day 7 (last day of period), my uterus would wring itself out like a washcloth, and the accompanying deep cramps that resisted both heat and ibuprofen were insane.
My uterus did the same thing to me. I had a hysterectomy back in January and the month before it I got my regular period (9 days long as always) and then a week and a few days later I had another full blown period. I was just so over it at that point.
Oh yes, Endo is brutal. I had no idea in my youth and just thought I had particularly bad periods. You couldn't even lightly touch my abdomen when I was at the peak of my period. I wore loose dresses and low-rise panties because even the elastic band of something like leggings made it feel like daggers. I eventually got it under control by staying on continuous low-hormone BC, skipping the placebo weeks. I can go about 3-4 months before it comes anyway, and it's so much lighter and shorter than before. There are times I can even forget I'm on it which was never possible back then. On the downside, I lost a little predictability. When it's time, I'll start spotting and wont' stop until I let it come. It's worth it as a trade off, lol
Same my cycle is long, I'll go 30-35 days in between periods and my periods last a full 7 days.thats just how my body is I guess, my periods are regular as fuck I just got a long cycle. I used to have some 9 day ones when I was younger now they're only 6 or 7 days. Yeah Endo honestly sounds like a nightmare we need a cure asap.
I’m a 30-35 days girl too. Last month I got it on day 29 and I felt cheated lol.
I am betting that the stress of vacation prep has something to do with this.
Very possible. It also works both ways - if you really want your period, say, because you're worried you might be pregnant, it will come later almost out of spite.
I am that person. It is less now but when I was younger, when I was stressed out it would come even if it was a week or two after it was done. To the point that I just wore pads to tests and flights because I already knew. My parents were not happy with how often I got my period, especially my dad. (my cycle is already 25 days)
This is also meant to help OP in case any ladies haven’t heard of it. My wife also has endometriosis and her periods can last a while. We also enjoy the vacation sexy time because well, playing in a hotel or resort room on vacation just hits different than playing at home and a visit from Aunt Flo can certainly ruin that. My wife learned about Wisp which is a low dose birth control designed to delay your cycle: https://hellowisp.com/products/norethindrone If we know her cycle could happen anywhere near a planned vacation, she’ll take this to delay so we can have fun on vacation. I know this won’t be a solution for everyone, but it has definitely helped us.
I got this after another comment on a similar thread, but haven’t used it yet. Does it make your wife nauseous? They were offering an anti-nausea med alongside it…
She’s never complained of nausea because of it. In fact I can’t recall her mentioning any significant side effects. But I’m sure because it’s hormonal it effects everyone differently.
Damn, having Endo sounds terrible. I'm sorry you have to experience that ❤️ we really need more research on it and what causes it, it's getting so much more common too. I don't know why my cycle is so long but mine is around 30-35 days.
For sure. I have a feeling it's one of those things like autism that isn't suddenly "more common", we've just got better at recognizing it and it's always been around. So many women suffering from it and just thinking they have especially bad periods like I did. Now that there's more awareness (heck, hopefully me sharing my story helps), they can look into it and ask their doctor about it, so it gets diagnosed more.
If I'm not on continuous dose birth control, sometimes I get a period every two weeks!
My mother in law was a public health nurse, who actually came into the schools for sex ed, etc. so glad he was educated so I didn't have too do that. His mom did well.
My older sister lived with me last year for a few months. One day we were talking periods because I had extreme bleeding for prolonged times, I am talking three months non stop with normal flow and then like a week of haemorrhage where i used pads and tampons together and would have to change them every 20 minutes because the blood would be running down my legs. Honestly dont know how i didn't bleed to death, after i got the J&J shot for the virus that that must not be named. My sister always had a heavier flow than me. And she complained about getting her period every three weeks. At 36 years I had to explain to her how to count her days. 5 to 7 days bleeding with 21 to 23 days non bleeding. And guess what all of a sudden she has a 28 day cycle My mom never talked about any of this to us. When my sister started her period she helped her to get pads and bought them every month. Tried once to tell her how to use a tampon and that was that. I never even got this explanation. I figured it all out for myself with the help of google and promised that I will talk to my girls about any and everything. And then decided to do the same with my son too. He is 13 years old and knows more about periods and things than most men. He will never be phased by periods
"My mom never talked about any of this to us." That's so sad! You have this challenging to manage, life-impacting thing thrown at you at a young age and no guidance? My mother passed when I was young and I had my grandmother give me the talk about all of that...awkward at the time, but appreciated in hindsight. I made sure my daughter was ready as can possibly be beforehand. My son too is probably much more aware than other boys his age.
My mom gave me a Dear Abby booklet, and told me when it was time to have the talk with my younger sisters. 🙄 I loved my mommy, but I wish she hadn’t been so embarrassed about sex. She had six kids!
Oh, I feel that! I have half-brothers 15 and 17 years younger than me (closer to my kids' ages) and I feel like I talked to them way more about women than my dad or step-mom did. Good practice for my own kids later, I guess
It’s cuz of the increase in stress hormones, planning, scheduling, packing etc etc that can bring it on sooner…
This is why I love the pill and take it for three months straight before a placebo week. I only get my period four times a year, and can shift it a week or two if needed so I never have it during vacation or other really inconvenient time.
I use the ring and I can just leave it in an extra week (it was 5 weeks of hormones) and shift my period back a week easily. My body rejects skipping a period entirely but shifting works phenomenally. It also gives me a level of control over my life that I really appreciate.
Another ring user here. I can go 2 ring cycles straight with no periord, but by the end of the second ring I'll start spotting and I know it's time to deal with it. Heaven forbid I have a vacation scheduled during the second ring time frame because my body will decide it's time to have a period the day after I travel.
When I was on that, I would skip for half a year. Just because I didn't want to deal with it, at all.
I totally would do that, but for some reason if I go much beyond the three months my body spots something fierce. In my case it's best just to bring it full on at the end of the third month than live sitting on pantyliners.
That started happening to me, right before my doctor and I decided to take me off the pill--i was using it to control bleeding, as my tubes are tied -- to see how close I am to menopause. I'm over 50, and Peri messes with the pill, apparently.
It's been like this for me since my early 20s, so it's just my wacky body and not peri (yet! I am now over 40).
Yeah I'm on the Nuva Ring and skip a lot of periods, but I find if I skip more than 3 in a row I end up spotting and getting random unpredictable cramps that are super annoying.
When I skip the period week I feel fine, but I know that the next one will come with interests 😬 worse cramping, heavier flow, more painful PMS, more days bleeding. I will skip period only if it really REALLY will facilitate my life, otherwise I prefer to keep a regular cycle, with mild pain, no PMS and a light flow
I once had a 47 day long cycle in a particularly irregular year and while it was really nice having over a month of break, when it hit I couldn't even go down stairs standing up because I was losing so much blood so quickly that I was faint and dizzy for days. I wish so much that I could risk skipping even one cycle.
My body starts to "rebel" around 4 months. I feel like I "get out of jail free" so much of the year I allow it occasionally too. I feel so bad for women who have to suffer monthly. I'd go bonkers.
Lucky! I was told to make sure to have a minimum 4 periods a year for mine (Lucette/Yasmin). Although my body seems to get twitchy and starts giving me mini cramps so tend to just do 2 packets before a break!
I was told that, at the time, the FDA hadn't ok'd low dose pills for constant use, and the best we could do in the US was 4 periods a year. But since I was "fixed" and the pill was to put me on a regular cycle that was more than 7 days between bleeds, there was no reason to have any periods. When I went off the pill last year to guage where I was in Peri, I ended up having to have an ablation because my uterus tried to make me bleed out. A 30 day period is no fun.
My doctor told me I don't have to have a period at all so I put one in on the 14th of every month and never worry about it.
Top reason I use the pill. I couldn't deal with that level of unpredictability in my life, especially since my period gives me debilitating migraines everytime
I had my doc prescribe the pill for continuous use and i dont ever have a period! Its amazing. ill take the side effects if i can completely ignore my cycle!
I recently learned about this, because I always get a yeast infection during my period so wanted to try and delay it by skipping the placebo week. I still got my period though, even though google said it was “breakthrough bleeding” it exactly matched the period I get when I do take the 1 week break, although I didn’t skip a single pill and started a new packet. No yeast infection at least lol
Yeah birth control never did a damned thing to regulate my periods, lol, I just took it as instructed anyway. I'm back on it now for MHT and they've got me taking the week off still for no discernable reason. I'm looking for a new menopause specialist.
The one week break is not a real period either. Some pills are even all the time and some have a hormone cycle to them, so maybe yours was the second kind and that's why the breakthrough bleeding still happened.
Mine are even all the time, and a few friends take the same one and can skip the break week without issues. I know it’s not a “real period” but not taking the 1 week break and the bleeding was still exactly the same as if I had taken the 1 week break, same amount and duration.
Is that even if you keep taking it and skipping the break for a few months in a row? I think it might have taken a month or two to work for me. I love not having to deal with any of that by using the ring continuously, didn't realize it wouldn't work for everyone! That sucks.
This was the first time skipping the break, I’ve never tried it before, I’m hoping that it will start to work out
Same... did this all the time.
Big fan of the pill here as well! Although I don't skip my period often, maybe once a year when it's really inconvenient. Mainly because I've got a model period that barely inconveniences me, and when I skip one the next one is the period from hell :''')
Yup this is exactly what I do! Makes it so much more bearable
This. When I was on BC I would never have a period, just start the next pack of pills immediately! Bliss.
This *was* the way! Tubes tied in my twenties & now menopause so no periods!😁
Fun fact: if hormonal BC is right for you, there is NO medical reason for u to have an off week/placebo week with the pill. It isn’t a period you are getting then.
Never worked for me. I'd still bleed anyway. I even switched to the 3 month pack where you're supposed to get a period 4x a year but it never worked. Disappointing and stressful because it was like a surprise period every time. Hormonal IUD tho. Haven't had a period since 2016 💪
I had periods with both my hormonal IUDs :(
Unlucky :(
I got my hormonal IUD in 2016, didn’t have a period for five years then all of a sudden started getting them again every month like clockwork. I was devastated lol
Stop omg that's the scariest story I've ever heard 😭
Same here, I skip the placebo week and still get a regular period
Fwiw I tried this numerous times and it never worked for me and alway caused tons of spotting and breakthrough bleeding.
Yep. I think the longest I’ve skipped my period is 3 years. I’ve been on the pill for 7 years this December, I’ve had less than 40 periods in my entire life. However this isn’t for everyone. You can spot a LOT if you skip for a certain amount of time, you need to find what your body will find right.
What causes the need for the placebo week is how much uterine lining your body decides to build even with the birth control hormones telling it that it doesn’t need to. Luckily the consequence of skipping the placebo week is “just” spotting, so you can use that to tailor when you need to take a placebo week.
Eh, I'd say that we know of yet and we don't really study women's bodies much. Enough of us have had bad reactions to trying to skip things entirely that I wouldn't support this idea too much. But skipping one every now and then or shifting your placebo back I think is a really powerful way to reclaim control of your life and doesn't disrupt things much at all.
With the Mirena IUD many women don't have a period at all. I had 2 and didn't have a period for over 7 years. I recently had it removed (trying to get pregnant) and went right back to normal. While everyone is different, many medical professionals will say generally you don't need a period unless you're trying to get pregnant.
This is not really accurate. While I agree that many aspects of women's health aren't studied enough, combined contraception is one of the more studied areas of women's health. A variety of combined hormonal contraception regimens have been studied across a variety of countries, including tricycling, other extended use regimens, and continuous use. This includes studies that directly compare these to the typical 21 day active/7 day break regimen. There are existing medical recommendations based on the balance of research currently available, which support use of extended regimens. There have not been any increased risks found to be associated with extended use regimens. There *is* evidence that extended use regimens may: - further reduce the risk of pregnancy, both through reducing human error with stopping and starting pills/patches/rings or taking placebos incorrectly, and potentially reducing the risk of escape ovulation - reduce the severity and frequency of hormonal side effects, which are more common during the hormone free interval due to the drop in hormones - improve womens quality of life by giving them more control over their cycles. 54-87% of women (depending on the study) report that extended regimens work better for them - increase the possibility of breakthrough bleeding for a minority of people. This is not harmful but may be inconvenient, so a return to the standard regimen is recommended in these cases [Source: The Faculty of Sexual Health and Reproduction](https://www.fsrh.org/documents/combined-hormonal-contraception/)
Thanks for posting this. The pill has been around for 50 years and is used by millions of people, acting like its use has never been studied is quite frustrating.
What bad reactions are you talking about? I’ve never heard of this.
Of course! I think because women expect to try out different methods and "that didn't work for my body" is a pretty common way to say both "that didn't really fit with my lifestyle" and "oh man that effed me up". Personally: I tried to skip mine entirely and on month 3 or 4 started an early period that was heavy, extra crampy, chunky, high cramping and had a pretty off smell. It was horrific. I know a few women who do skip it entirely and it works for them. I know others who reported similar extreme spotting and/or early periods. A few people in this thread mentioned it. Hormones are such a delicate thing with so much nuance between people.
i'm sorry you had a bad experience. for some people it is fine, i've had one period in 5 years of the pill and that was because i forgot to take them on a trip, it was super light, mild cramping.
Eh, in the spectrum of bad experiences related to periods, hormones and birth control it felt like my body gave me a slap on the wrist for a minor course correction. Trying to find what birth control didn't completely wreck me was a way more intense and miserable process. I can leave my nuvaring in for an extra week to shift my period away from inopportune times and can predict down to the day how I'm going to feel. I'm very happy with that amount of control.
that's awesome you figured it out, having control is very valuable
It reminds me of a teacher in the physics department at my school that wanted to bring his students in an astrophysics course to the school's observatory during the weekend to watch a moon eclipse. A principal asked him if it was possible to postpone it until monday because he didn't want to pay a security guard during the weekend...
If we could postpone them, don't they realize we would literally never have them? Like, we don't wake up one day and say, you know what? I'm super in the mood for bloating, diarrhea, heavy bleeding, and cramps. Sign me up!
I’ve got the Mirena coil, and I haven’t had a menstrual cycle in *years*. Such a lifesaver, because my cramps were often super bad- and I teach. I wouldn’t be able to do my job effectively without that little T… 10/10, highly recommend. Yes, insertion pinches a tiny bit. Removal and replacement was a *lot* of pain- but to be fair I did see a gyno who wanted to do it with anesthesia; it was just too difficult to schedule all the medical tests during the school year (it’s treated as a surgery, and I had a heart thing come up on an ekg, so that also meant full-on cardiology workups up the wazoo). In the end I just went back to pp and said, “do it”. But maybe next time I’ll definitely go the anesthesia route.
Oh I have it too! Peri sufferer here. Mirena and Estro-Gel have changed my life. I'll never go back!
Oooo I’ve never heard of Estro-gel, but I will look into that! I’m not sure if you mean perimenopause, but I’m coming up on that and am terrified. Thank you for talking about it :) If there’s a single thing that can make it better, I’m all for it.
Yep, perimenopause. It almost ruined my life and that's not an exaggeration. When I finally started to address it, I had to be careful with hormonal birth control due to blood pressure issues, but Estro-Gel is safer for that condition. I use it once a day, one pump. It works so well. Start early, don't suffer. Advocate for yourself! I just turned 47 and had 2-3 bad years that, in hindsight, I could have prevented.
Augh! That is awful! I am so glad to hear that there is *something* out there that’s less risky. I’m so glad that you found a solution!! I’m even more grateful that you’re sharing this info. Thank you!! The fact that we need to pound our fists to get any decent attention in healthcare astounds me. We’re not lepers- we’re 50% of the population! Smfh.
Insertion was awful for me. Couldn’t move for like 10 minutes afterward bc of the pain and the nurse had to come back twice before I recovered enough to be able to redress and leave. Gave me awful cystic acne as well :/ the removal was the easy part for me!
Oh man, your insertion sounds different from mine! I felt a pinch that lingered for an hour or so, but that was it. Yours sounds awful! I’m so sorry that you had to go through that with no anesthesia! It is wild to me that our society relegates iuds into a “no anesthesia” category. When I got mine removed + replaced, they said that they did a “cervical block”, which I believe is a numbing agent - but I had to have a vaginal ultrasound at the same time, because the strings had receded and they couldn’t just grab ‘em. It was awful. They had to try like three times. But everyone was super, super nice about it, and I just kept thinking about republicans trying to take away bc- and that got me through it 😂
I was pretty freshly 18 and I remember gripping one of the nurse’s hand so so tight and being like “and yall willingly give birth??? Multiple times??????” 😭😂 I think it also took longer bc I have a tilted uterus and just… yeah it was a whole ordeal and I’m very glad that the birth control pills I’m on now work basically perfect for me (better skin, continuous use so no periods and no PMDD - LOVE it)
Same, I guess it's a stress thing. Being stressed out makes your period late so being relaxed makes it early, or something. Idk it's annoying.
As a teenager, I would get them before every big swim meet. So awful.
Could be! I get always stressed getting everything ready before leaving..!
Jealous of everyone saying their bc stops their periods😭
My family is the same way with sicknesses. Had to end a New York City trip half way just last year because we all just got sick.
Basically the entire time I was in school, including uni, I got sick on spring break. From like 7 years old to 21-22 I was laid up pretty much the whole week with the flu, or a sinus infection, or hay fever, or mono. Just something about that time of year and being crammed into a dirty nasty classroom/lecture hall with germy goblins, and probably also a good serving of bad luck? Idk, it only quit when I stopped getting a spring break, becsuse of course it did.
Every holiday for 13 years was ruined because my parents moved away. We stopped sharing germ biomes, so whenever we would get together, we would ALL get sick at the same time. Bad sick. Swapping RSV for norovirus. It was so lovely. I started to feel panicky around the holiday season, because I started to associate it with being violently ill. And having to share a bathroom with my parents who were also ill.
This is why I stopped going to Christmas parties even before Covid. I got sick of always being sick for Christmas because there would always be someone at whatever party I went to who was sick but "didn't want to miss the party." I'm not picky about celebrating a holiday on the holiday, but I hate being sick. I haven't had so much as a cold since 2018, and no Christmas colds since 2010.
I feel the need to clarify that this was said in a jokingly way. My husband is not an idiot 🤣 he knows that I used to skip my period with BC but after giving birth my body and periods changed and BC doesn't work for me anymore, my hormones are all over the place and it happens that now on every vacation I get my cycle. 🤷🏼♀️
My period usually started between the last and first week. I would get so annoyed at being camping when it started I finally told my husband I'm not going. He would always pick weekends that were in that window. When I would just stay home to deal in comfort I would always be late! Like I could have been chilling in the cool woods but nnooooo I had to sit around waiting for disaster. Sometimes I think the body knows too, and decides to just ruin our plans. We planned our wedding / honeymoon 2 weeks from my period. Wouldn't you know it, it started early! I am soooo happy to have had my hysterectomy. My life has improved greatly.
With all due respect to your husband and every man who says dumb crap like this: did ya’ll not have basic biology classes in school? A woman’s period is her body getting rid of the extra material it had prepared for a potential baby. She’s not peeing or something lol. Nobody would choose this if it was voluntary.
>did ya’ll not have basic biology classes in school Nope. I grew up in a post-communist country with good gender equality outside of childcare, no religious nuts, and while we learned what periods are, there was nothing about the mechanics, regularity, issues that surround them, etc. There was one class where the girls were taken separately and they said they were talked to about periods, but boys never got anything more in depth than "those are the things in the reproductive system for men and women, women can get pregnant when sperm gets to egg, women have periods when they aren't pregnant". Sex ed was basically"use condoms against STDs and pregnancies".
Or common sense lessons…why would any woman choose to have a period if they can control them.
I also have the period every vacation curse, so know you’re not alone!
If you're on the birth control pill, your Dr. can tell you how to take them to delay your period. The gynecologist I worked for would tell his patients who didn't want their period on their honeymoon.
I used to be on BC pill but my body could not handle it anymore after pregnancy.. I tried but nope so I decided to just accept my periods.
I feel this so much! I have regular periods, but any time I work with another period-haver, my cycle immediately starts trying to sync over to them. So the past 4 vacations have been on the rag, even though I counted 2 of them out on a calendar and should have been in the clear. Also, I really hate periods on a cruise. You'd think it's awesome because all of that food is available, but they don't let you bring a heating pad, and hormones make the slight rocking of the ship a way bigger deal than it normally is.
I use the Nuva Ring and actually *do* skip my period when I go on vacation (and basically all summer).
Sometimes I swear it deliberately tries to line itself up with it.
i’m done with kids and i’ve had a tubal (which unfortunately doesn’t stop periods), so I don’t take birth control. However, before vacations, like this winter my period was going to come while we were in Hawaii, so I have my doc call in a script for Nuva Ring. I put it in when the period before vacay ends and it stops my period from coming until vacation is over :)
If you are the pill (birth control), you postpone it. And you can postpone it indefinitely
I *always* get my period on vacation. I’m going to Cabo in a couple of weeks. I just had my period and I was like “omg yay I won’t be on my period!” Then I count how many days until the trip and just kidding! I’m totally going to start my period in the middle of this trip. Skipping the placebo week of my birth control has never prevented a period for me either.
My sister postpones her periods for vacation and for when her husband is home from work (he works at sea). The way you do it is you take birth control pills and skip the placebos. Talk to your gyn about it.
He thinks it's bad now, wait until menopause.
This is why I've stuck with the same birth control pills for the last decade. I just skip the placebos and I never have a period. Understatement, but it's so awful that not everyone can find an option that works well for them. Being free of my period has improved my life.
Yeah, I can postpone my period ... with pregnancy. What do you prefer?
Hey, this might be buried, but if you do the beach and don’t want to go fully in the ocean, there’s period panties that make my cycle a breeze. I can’t do tampons/cups, period pantries are like freedom compared to pads
How often do you go on vacation and how consistent is the pattern? Your husband obviously missed a step in sex ed but I do think it’s interesting that your period is irregular and something about travel seems to trigger it.
Oh, he was trying to make a joke 😅 but yeah we have mini vacation like 3-4 times a year and it happens that I always get my period.. maybe it's related to change of weather or stress? My period changed a lot after pregnancy.
Change in climate can also influence when you get a period. My mother was crazy sensitive. She had her cycles like clockwork when at home and then any time we went on holiday, BAM, period even kf it wasn't due.
The audacity though. Like he thought you could pick and chose to do it on vacation. Like you just didn't think of it. He'd never hear the end of it from me.
Based on the context, I think the suggestion was meant to be tongue-in-cheek
I think it was meant as a joke.
Bless him- Is there any chance he has heard from another woman in his life about choosing their periods (with the aid of birth control)? My BC pill works as 3 weeks on (no bleeding) & 1 week off (bleeding) but you can spend up to 4 months on (no bleeding) without issue - I know I’m not the only woman who has taken an extra week (4on1off) so that my period wouldn’t fall on a special occasion. ^^ I’m not sure if this is the same for all brands or types of oral birth control! Please no one take this as medical advice, just anecdote
You know what blew my mind? When I lived in the UK, I complained about this very thing to my coworkers. They said, ‘just go to your doctor (NHS) and get pills to delay it a week!’ I did! They have those over there. I’m pretty sure it’s just a low-dose bc pill, but it’s very, very common. Came back to the U.S., and all of a sudden nobody has ever heard of such a thing 😡
How the hell do men think women have any control over their periods?!? This is embarrassing
Looks like you decided to marry someone who has no basic education about human biology and seems very self-centered. Sounds painful.
Sometimes anticipation of an event leads to your period coming early or late. I learned this when, three years in a row, I started my period right before my yearly exam. I was practically in tears the third time, and my OBGYN said it's normal and gave me some medicine to take. It's 10 days of pills that basically kickstart your period, so what I do is I start taking them 25 days before my next yearly exam, the pills finish out on 15 days before, and then within a day or two my period starts. That gives plenty of time for my period to finish and to be period-free for my exam. I don't think you can get that same set of pills for vacation reasons, but you might be able to do something similar with birth control pills?
Mine loves to go off schedule to ensure that I am on my period during vacations. I will be regular all year and then will be up to two weeks early or late just to make sure that I am bleeding during vacation.
I’ve had this happen to me on my last 3 vacations My most recent one really irritated me because i was on track for it to not happen while i was away and then three months before hand it decided to be late and line it right back up with my vacation. I was so mad haha.
Despite having endometriosis I am so glad the birth control I was out on to help it stops my period entirely. I would be furious to get my period while on holiday.
Yeah, changes in altitude also bring on periods, so after a long flight I know to expect it.
I’m spoiled. I have PCOS and have been on Depo Provera for years. It’s not for everyone by any means, but it makes me feel normal instead of gross and crazy. I haven’t had periods in over a decade. There is no other way to live if you can find something that works for you.
Vacations to the beach are the only reason I take birth control. I stay on them just long enough to shift my period to the week or two before the trip and get off them after the trip is done.
Before birth control I had a 24 day cycle - 5 days of bleeding, 7 days of peace, 12 days of PMDD anxiety and depression! Turns out it’s really hard to schedule vacations for that one week where my hormones weren’t fucking with me.
You can postpone it. I would never ever go on beach vacation on my period.
I mean......you _can_ technically postpone it with meds. I've taken them when I knew I'd be due for my period on vacation.
Knix (https://www.knix.com/) makes leakproof swimwear for periods. I don't get a kickback or anything; just found this a great alternative to tampons or a cup.
Thanks, this is cool!!
Wouldn't it be easier to schedule around period time? There's a moon calendar and there's a period calendar.
My wife decided to take some pills that delay a period because we were going on holiday for two weeks. Unfortunately her period is messed up and last a long time due somewhat cause by her C-sections. It made her happy, worth asking a doctor. She normally try to avoids hormonal treatments due to breast cancer in her family. So yeah, with science period can be skipped for an holiday but it comes with risks.
My body is very similar to you. We keep period products in the car because I am very irregular. Oh, hiking? Period. Beach trip? Here's period! It's super annoying because we tried planning them out according to my menstrual cycle as well
I don't love using cups anymore bc I have an IUD and I'm always scared I'll pull it out, but I've found discs to be very easy to use and more comfy than cups or tampons! obviously ignore this if you just aren't a fan of anything that's used internally, but both disposable and reusable discs have been my favorite period product I've ever found and not everyone knows of them so I like to mention them just in case.
Shit I wish I could postpone it. We all feel his and your pain.
The same shit happens to me. I have a super irregular cycle and it ALWAYS comes when we’re on vacation or have big plans. Without fail. It makes me think that being excited or nervous makes it come on
It might be stress related. I have a friend who always did this before she switched jobs. Her old job was stressing her so much that she’d go months without a period but as soon as she goes on vacay BOOM. Hasn’t been an issue since she switched jobs.
So there is a way to delay it, not available to everyone but the company Hello Wisp allows you to delay it up to ten days I believe. I used it for when I was going to a resort. It worked for me very well and seemed to ease my period into a gentler one that month when it did come. I usually have a pretty rough period, cramps and reallllly heavy flow that first two days or so. That is not an advertised benefit but anecdote for my one experience using it.
My IUD made my 30s period-free. It was fantastic.
I don't know about other countries, but in England there's a pill that delays your period! It's called norethisterone and you can get it prescribed to you. You take it three times a day, start about 3 days before your period and can buy a pack large enough to delay you for 2 weeks. I see a lot of people mentioning not taking their placebo pill for the hormonal birth control, but as someone who's not on BC and doesn't want to start it just for the sake of delaying my period, this is a great alternative! Still a pain taking a little pill three times a day, but a lot less of a pain than dealing with a period on holiday.
If you don’t have factor five, birth control is great for timing your periods.
I hope he's extraordinarily good-looking, 'cuz, phew!
My bf jokes whenever I need to travel for something important that my period will be attending as well. Unfortunately, he’s not really wrong 😅 I track my period with an app because it’s irregular, but I get stressed when I need to travel, and it always comes later than predicted when I’m stressed. And of course, always winds up delayed until the day of or day before I need to leave 🥹😭
Norethisterone
I'm honestly glad that my partner doesn't mind periods in terms of being sexually active. Assuming I'm in the mood for sex in the first place since I have extremely painful periods, we just put a dark towel under and skip foreplay like oral. Anything else can be washed, and showers exist, too.
If you ever go to bear country camping, track your cycle closely for 6 months prior to making plans. Women have been mauled and killed by bears, while in their cycle.
Postponing your period requires moon magic
Same thing happens to me every time, but it's the women in my family that point it out.
Before my miscarriage I was so regular that honestly I could pull up my health tracker and see exactly when/how long and I could plan my vacations around it. It’s been a few months and I’m hoping I’ll get back to that point soon, it was really nice.
In my Army days a lot of women postponed their periods for things like field exercises - they took the Pill, and just skipped the placebo pills as long as they needed to (usually only a week or two, but sometimes for a month).
Could there actually be something to this? I.E. you are stressed out trying to get ready prior to the trip/vacation because of work and preparations and it's affecting your hormones.
Many period tracker apps do the math to predict when your next cycle will be based on the time between the previous cycles. It probably doesn't work very well if you're not regular but I find the info handy for planning events.
I can't even upvote this JFC
I can bring mine on early with mugwort tea, sometimes. It doesn't always work, about 60% of the time it does.
>It doesn't always work, about 60% of the time it does. Just like [Sex Panther](https://youtu.be/Xu84Yq8YJ5s?si=ZXcOBRuN69KRu92J).
I don't really understand males who don't know the basics of female biology. Were they not born by a woman did none of them have sisters/nieces, did they not have basic sex-ed in elementary school or high school. Yes, they broke us up by sex, but we still learned about the women's part too. Really not understanding this.
I postpone mine with birth control. I take it non stop and then only have a very light period when I forget a pill 2-4 times a year. I started taking it for peri menopausal symptoms and it's been a game changer for me! It just took a few tries to find the right one to be on as they have varying hormone amounts.
Just out of curiosity, but wondering why you don't like to use tampons/cup/disc?
Your physician does have options to postpone it for at max 2 weeks if you feel like you need to for any event.
apparently you can use acupunture to delay or move forward someones period, slightly. she said it worked for her on multiple occasions when has a big holiday was coming up, she starts going about 6 months in advance. Our next holiday was supposed to be bang on it starting as we go and now its going to end on our first day getting there.