See ya Aunt Flo. Adios cramps! Sayonara uncontrollable mood swings and chocolate cravings! Hello Lybrel! This new birth control pill, expected to be announced on Tuesday by the FDA, will help women avoid their periods altogether!
Allow me to throw a little background history your way. Before the wonderful invention of birth control, women spent most of their time pregnant or breast feeding, and endured only about 50 periods their entire lives. Now that we have a plethora of birth control options, women get as many as 450 periods! Dealing with your period is just as much fun as going to the gyno, so who wouldn't be excited about a safe and effective way to ditch your monthly period?
Lybrel is kind of like the pill Seasonale, where you take pills for 3 months straight, and then take 7 days of sugar pills (so you get your period). The difference is that Lybrel is taken continuously, with no sugar pill breaks - and that means no period.
Lybrel could change women's lives everywhere, but unfortunately testing has shown that it doesn't work as perfectly as planned. Although 59% of women who tried this new pill ended up with no periods after 6 months (wa-hoo!), 18% dropped out of the study because of annoying spotting and breakthrough bleeding. At this point if you switch to Lybrel, you may be trading in "scheduled bleeding" for "unscheduled bleeding," which many women won't be too psyched about.
For many women, getting no period at all is a brilliant concept. Even though Lybrel may not be the best option just yet, it's still a great first step towards making this happen.
Want to know if not getting your period is safe? Then read more
When a woman is not on the Pill, every month she gets her period to shed the unfertilized egg and the built up lining in her uterus that her body has made to prepare for getting pregnant.
When a woman is on the Pill, since she is not ovulating (producing an egg), the "period" she has is not actually a real period at all. It is a hormone withdrawal bleed, brought on simply from taking a break from the hormones. So whether you are having this fake period once a month, 4 times a year (with Seasonale), or not at all, it doesn't really make a difference since it's not a real menstrual period.
CAFe'NOIR
Yoox
Azzaro
my midwife (via my HMO how cool is THAT) gave me the ok to us the NUVA ring straight through due to the MAJOR swings my body makes during the period. I havent had a period in a while and she and my other dr say it's fine. I LOVE the fact i can do my job and not be insane all year long.
1I don't know, something about the whole not having your period at all scares me. Not that I wouldn't love it, just seems odd to me. Maybe I'm just weird! lol
2I was on Seasonale, and I had a major 3-week breakthrough period in the middle of the 3rd month. My doctor said that some women can't handle holding off their period.
3As unwarranted as they may be, I have a lot of strong feelings about this. I know that online articles say that using hormones to manipulate your cycle - to the point where you don't even get a fake period at all - is fine (though I have yet to discuss it with an actual doctor). Call me a naturalist, but something about manipulating your body away from carrying out one of its most basic and fundamental functions just doesn't sit well with me. I've been on the pill 2 or 3 different times in the past, and although being on it makes my period an absolute breeze - almost as if I wake up one morning with it and fall asleep the next night without it - I still try not to use artificial hormones if possible. Honestly, what's so wrong with getting to know & be in touch with your body, rather than trying to dominate it in an unnatural way? Why are women these days so alienated from their natural bodies? But I digress.
Plus, I tried skipping my period a couple years ago when I spent the summer in Guatemala and didn't exactly have the most conducive conditions of living for dealing with that sort of thing, and it really bit me in the ass. I ended up spotting for nearly the whole time I was there.
Thanks for reading my rant!
4DreamKingdom - I hear you on that. Some women love to NOT be on hormones and some women LOVE it. The thing that is great is that all options are available for people and the personal choices they make.
I have a good friend who gets such horrible cramps that she has to miss work and ends up throwing up from the pain. Going on the pill made her able to function like a normal person.
So for women that have a horrible time with pain, irregular periods, mood swings, or are worried about getting pregnant, the pill can be an awesome fit for them.
On the other hand, some women wouldn't dream of tinkering with their natural cycle, so to each their own...
5I've heard a LOT of stories from friends on Seasonale who have had major breakthrough bleeding at unexpected times. As much as I hate getting my period every month (and the awful cramps that come with it, despite being on the pill), I'd rather know when to expect it, as opposed to getting an unexpected visit halfway through my honeymoon or some other time when I am not equipped to deal with it. Plus, as big of a pain as it can be, isn't it somewhat reassuring to know each month that everything is okay and under control?
6which company makes Lybrel? I'm surprised that's not mentioned in this post.
7I agree Julie, it's sometimes reassuring that "everything is alright" when you get your period.
8So, I was wondering, what if you get pregnant while on this new miracle pill? No method of birth control is 100% effective, and getting your period is the usually the first way women know their pregnant. I got pregnant on the pill(normal old-fashioned birth control pill), and had no symptoms other than my missed period. I was using the pill 100% correctly taking it everyday and at the same time.
9Sounds great in theory but it's not for me. I tried going on the Pill a couple of times when I was younger and it gave me terrible mood swings and depression. My period isn't bad -- inconvenient, but not painful -- and I'll take it any day over trying hormones again.
10i read about this in macleans over a year ago. i dont know.. i see the point when it comes to girls who have a horrible time with their period but... i still think it's weird and unnatural. i mean, what's the deal with wanting to dominate/change your body at all costs?
i may be way out there but isn't it another by-product of today's horrible cult of the appearances, same as wanting to look twenty when you're sixty, having a skeletal body even though you're naturally curvy, getting breast enhancement, etc?
not having your period just sounds to me like a new and wonderful way to completely alienate women from their bodies. what's next? abolish pregnancy? have babies in artificial wombs?
*why was I ever decanted*??
11(sorry for that last bit. Aldous Huxley is a very scary man. read Brave New World if you want to get as paranoid and freaked out as I am)
I'm afraid such high-tech games with hormones end tragically someday. If not on me, maybe on my kid. No thanks.
12I was on Depo Provera for five years.
I was told it would stop my periods, it did. I didn't have a single period for five years.
Then I came off it in NOVEMBER 2004 and had no sign of a period until July 2005. July 2005 - December 2005 I bled constantly the entire time, and it wasn't light bleeding.
Then no periods between December 2006 and July 2006 and in July 2006 my period decided to show for 1 day. Then it went away again for another 2 months.
It is now May 2007 and my periods are still not back to normal. This is nearly THREE YEARS after coming off depo provera, the almighty wonder drug designed to stop me getting pregnant.
My doctor has told me that I may not ever be able to get pregnant due to the long term damage the depo provera has wreaked upon my body, not to mention the higher risk of cancer thanks to the hormones they pumped into me.
DON'T MESS WITH YOUR PERIODS! Especially not if you ever want to have kids in the future.
13This just doesn't sound right. Would be awful to hear ten years from now some newly discovered side effect. There are already many side effects from current birth control offerings that allow you to have your period (which to me, as unfun as it is, seems like a cleansing time for your body) the idea of tampering with your cycle/hormones so you don't have one at ALL just seems bad.
14sounds scarey to me--- periods suck but it's just weird not to get them. I had a bad eating disorder and used to not get my period regularly-- but i would still go through the symptoms--- cramps bloating ect... i bet no matter what is said you would still get some of ht symptoms monthly.
15It's possible to stop your period with any birth control pill, but it's just not healthy. I loved hearing about this pill a few years back, but I'm not about to jump on the bandwagon for the first fix that comes along. Let them work on it more, test it, and get rid of some of the bugs first.
16I was on depoprevera, and aside from not getting my period (which I thought was great) I GAINED 20 POUNDS IN ONE MONTH! The dr. said weigth gain from the hormones was normal. When I went off of it, the first shot I missed, I lost 20 pounds the same month. Soemthing tells me weight gain is going to happen with that new pill, and I just assume have my 'fake' period every month. I mean, I get it the exactly same ady every month. It isn't a suprise, and I can skip it if I want like if I will be on vacation. I can't wait to get off the pill though. haha. my mom started menopause early so i don't want to prolong what I dont' have too!
kids and then no
periods! woo hoo!
17I had an ectopic pregnancy back in March (which was extremely painful phsyically) and still haven't had a period yet (February-May so far) because of it. I'm definitely enjoying not having one, though I can't wait to get mine again just to have everything back to normal once again.
Though not having one is great, I'd be afraid something could be wrong and I wouldn't know it until it was too late, like what happened to me before, which landed me in the hospital for a few days. It sucks either way, I guess!
18I'm on the Nuve Ring and I love it! My doctor has me put use three in a row before taking them out for a week and having a period. He said there's nothing wrong with it and that having a period is somewhat of a mental comfort for women (and their sexual partners). And because he knows I'm a researcher he gave me information that explained the safety of not having a period. I've been trying it this way for 6 months now and it's been great. I haven't gained any weight and my periods are normal when I have them. To each their own I suppose.
19i've never been on a pill, but have been wanting to get on it for about a year now hahaha...maybe i'll look into this!!
20Stay FAR away from this drug, I took it due to terrible cramps around that time of the month and gained a TON of water weight (think being bloated year-round) and just felt miserable. I got off it after six months, lost the weight within two weeks and have slowly felt better.
21blondebombshell - I appreciate the advice, but just wanted to add that everyone reacts differently to different birth control pills.
I'm sorry Lybrel didn't work for you, but it could work brilliantly for other women. You just never know with these pills.
Weight gain can definitely be a common side effect when you take birth control pills, but again, not everyone experiences that.
22In case you were wondering, Lybrel is made by Wyeth.
23Interesting.
24FitSugar: I've had friends with those severe menstruation symptoms as well, and I'm a full proponent of the pill when one's period prevents them from simply functioning on a day to day basis. And like I said, my periods are a millions times less painful and easier when I AM on the pill (though I want to avoid using the pill if possible). But it's the actual elimination of periods all together that weirds me out. I think the pill has been around long enough to be trusted; my 70 year old aunt took it back in the day between child births, and now her 3 daughters each have between 3-5 children, so it doesn't seem that they've had any reproductive/hormonal problems as a side effect (and we have yet to see any occurance of breast cancer). But like Krisua, I wouldn't trust a new hormonal treatment until I've seen, through the generations, that it's been proven safe.
25This isn't new, practitioners have been doing it off-label for years. It's marketing now, and they've been able to test it. I've been using my Modicon this way for 8 years or so with no problems (per my NP for a couple reasons). Periods on pills aren't periods, according to a couple of the fab NP's I used to work with and other things I've read, the biggest reason that spacer pills were put into pill packs in the 60's was so that women would trust them because they were used to having a period. That's all. You're not really building a lining in the same way that you normally would be (especially now with the low and ultra low dose pill) so there's no real deal for a "period". Also, home pregnancy tests didn't exist when pills were invented so there was no way for women to ready reassure themselves. Things are different now. It's great that things are being tested more but the marketing annoys me, as does the fact that insurance doesn't always cover it and patents will be in place for years. If a monophasic pill works for you, talk to your doctor and use it.
26the period you get when you are on the pill is not a "real" period anyways so there is no harm in skipping it. If you arent ovulating then you dont need to have it. I talked to my doctor and i have been taking the pill constantly in 3 month cycles for like 8 years now.
27My dad is a compounding pharmacist. He told me that in the case of hormones reactions can be a wild-card. I once took a generic of my bc and had a terrible reaction. He told me just to find what worked best for me and stick with it. After he interrogated me about why I was taking bc, of course. His first response was, "birth control...what the heck do you need that for?!" I didn't give him an answer but I don't think he would've wanted to hear it either. So, after that FUN convo start, we had a terrific health discussion. Moral of the story: talking is great! I'm really glad to hear everyone's opinion and personal experiences. If you share, there may be someone who is going thru the same thing and is comforted by it.
28I've been using Seasonique for about eight months now and though there is a week of placebo pills after every third month i take it straight through. I used to have many concerns of NOT having my period so i had never been willing to do this before. Something changed though...maybe the fact that my bf and i were moving in together (i didnt want to deal with a week of bleeding and having sex on my period). I experienced spotting with this pill after a month or so and it lasted about one or two months. I stuck through the spotting this time though and I love being on it now! No crazy mood swings, no cramps, no migraines! Woo hoo! Obvs, you need to talk to your doctor before doing this, I did and she gave me the go ahead.
29Wow. I didn't know that while you are on the pill - it is a fake period! I knew it was always lighter than when I was off it - but that was something new to me! Good job!
As for the no period pill - it is a start. I hope they do work on getting it perfected.
30Sorry for my typos, I was on a roll.
31I read about this years ago, and decided that I didn't want to deal with my horrible cramps and mood swings anymore, so I started taking my regular bc continously throughout the years. I think I took it for about 4 years straight with no problems. I had problems spotting in the first month, but after that, as long as I took it regularly I was fine. I stopped taking bc pills totally after I got married, and my period returned to normal in about 2 months. I'm pregnant now with no problems. I think this pill if it works, will be savior to many women. whoo hoo!
32not having my period would be fantastic, but having your period is a natural cycle that your body takes in order to cleanse itself out.
33thats why we look and feel better after it, so whilst its very tempting, i think i'd rather just have my period
wow i did always wonder if it was un safe to never have your period
34I didn't read anywhere if Lybrel was safe to take while breastfeeding. Does anyone know the answer? I was on depo and It really messes you up. It takes forever toget pregnant. I am due in June and looking for a safe form of birth control withoutthe bleeding. Thanks
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