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I despise having my period (who doesn't?) so I started skipping the placebo pills in the birth control packets so I haven't had a period in over two years. I love it!
I have read articles and supposedly there is no reason you shouldn't do this. My gyno says it isn't harmful. Do any of you do this or am I going to have a giant unexpected flood one day?
im a guy so im a little confused here. why are there placebos in birth control? how do you know witch ones are the placebos?
It's three weeks hormone pills, one week sugar pills to mimic a regular cycle. Doesn't mean pregnancy is possible in that week any more than others.
In my pill pack the birth control is pink and the placebo is white. I don't remember what they're for.
I had heard it's not a good idea to skip more than two cycles.
As someone who has horrendous periods, I understand the desire to not have them, but it is a natural biological occurence...that's not something you should fuck with lightly.
If I were you, I'd want more than one positive medical opinion before I went for it.
I would assume that when/if you do finally stop the active pills, the bleed will be quite heavy. That's what happens to me whenever my body (without the pill) decides I can go without for a few months (then have for two to three weeks....then a week off...amd a week on...and then....yeah I hate me :( )
Charli.m, I understand why you would think that skipping more than two cycles would be harmful and cause heavier bleeding in the long run but that's not how it works with birth control pills. As I mentioned above, its not a PERIOD you're skipping by not using the placebos, its withdrawal bleeding that mimics a period. You don't ovulate while on the pill, so you don't have periods. The reason why women should not skip cycles when not using any hormonal BC is because they will be exposed to the hormone estrogen for a longer amount of time causing uterine lining overgrowth. The difference between skipping 'periods' on the pill and skipping actual menstrual bleeding while not using any hormonal BC is that the pill contains both estrogen and progesterone, and you'll find that with each pill the dosage of progesterone is much higher than the dosage of estrogen. Estrogen is responsible for the build up of the uterine lining but it is progesterone that is responsible for thinning it back out again, and because progesterone and estrogen work in conjunction in the pill, the high dose of progesterone over rides the effect estrogen has on the unterine lining, and your lining does not build up. That's why women who do take their placebos on birth control find their bleeding is a lot less than usual, because there is hardly any uterine lining being buil up. It is completely safe to continue skipping your placebos, because the doses of the progesterone in the pill make sure you have hardly any uterine lining buliding up. The estrogen in the pill comes in small doses basically just to build the lining up enough to repair thin and withered blood vessels, preventing unpredictable bleeding. Also, estrogen assists in shutting off ovulation. Its perfectly safe to do.
My doctor told me that he tells his endometriosis patients to skip the placebos, because endometriosis is a condition that makes any sort of uterine bleeding horribly painful. They actually make a brand of pill now called Seasonale, where they only include placebos every three months. Another brand, Lybrel, doesn't include placebos at all. I wanted to try Seasonale but they don't give it out at the free clinic and I'll be god damned if I'm going to actually pay cash for them, they're rather expensive. I was just wondering, are any of the ladies that commented here, using Ovral? Its a rather high dose birth control pill. I don't mean Lo Ovral, I mean regular Ovral.
I've tried to go 2 months and that's all I could handle. I got so bloated and irritated. Ugh.
This sounds like a good idea. I have never thought about it. I am a bit afraid though, I will do some more research and try if there really isn't any risk. Life would be so much nicer without the bleeding.
I absolutely skip my birth control placebos. I've done this every single month since I started the pill, and I started the pill in the beginning of this year. You're right, its not harmful at all. The inventor of the pill was a catholic and thought the pill might be more acceptable to his church and the general public if it included a week's worth of placebos that triggered withdrawal bleeding so technically it isn't even a period you are skipping, so its totally safe. The thing about skipping the placebos and unpredictable bleeding is it depends on the person, and what kind of pills your body responds best to. You need to be using a monophasic (same dosage in every active pill) type pill, and you shouldn't experience too much break through bleeding. Keep in mind it is possible to start spotting or bleeding randomly but this usually lasts one or two days and is NOTHING like having the 7 days of full on bleeding like when you take the placebos. The longer you skip your placebos, the less likely you are to have bleeding. If its really been two years and you haven't had any bleeding then I'm pretty sure you won't ever have unless you miss pills or take them really late. May I ask which birth control pill you are using? I went through four before I found one that works with my body in terms of allowing me to escape the unpleasentness of bleeding.
hi, thanks for the post.
Im on Yaz. I have been on several types but this one hasn't caused any weight gain or side effects that Ive noticed like moodiness and hasn't broken out my skin. In fact I feel better on it. I know the risks but they all have risks and Im in the low risk category :)