FitSugar

4 Periods a Year: Is That Safe?

DearSugar — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 11:00:00 PDT

The commercial for Seasonale, a birth control pill, raves about getting only 4 periods a year. So what's the deal? Is that safe?

Birth control pills can either be monophasic, where you get the same amount of hormones each day, or triphasic, where you get a different amount of hormones over 3 weeks.

When you take a monophasic birth control pill, each 4 week supply contains 3 weeks of hormones and one week of sugar pills. So if you want, you can get your period every month by using as directed, or you can skip the week of sugar pills and start on the second pack of hormone pills. Seasonale makes things eaiser by skipping the sugar pills all together thus keeping Aunt Flo at bay for 3 months at a time.

When you're on any birth control pill, when you get your period, it isn't a real period because you're not actually releasing an egg (the pill stops you from ovulating). It's called a "pill period," and is a result of your body's reaction to withdrawing from the hormones. Having this kind of period once a month is just as safe as only having it 4 times a year, hence taking a pill like Seasonale.

Dear's Tip: Monophasic birth control might be right for you if you suffer from painful periods, excessive bleeding, bad PMS symptoms, or unbearable mood swings, but definitely consult your doctor before altering your prescriptions.

Source

New Birth Control Pill Means NO PERIOD!!!

FitSugar — Mon, 21 May 2007 17:15:00 PDT

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. Source

Reduce Your Flow

FitSugar — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 11:57:08 PST

The commercial for Seasonale, a birth control pill, raves about getting only 4 periods a year. So what's the deal? Is that safe?

Birth control pills can either be monophasic, where you get the same amount of hormones each day, or triphasic, where you get a different amount of hormones over 3 weeks.

Seasonale and other monophasic pills allow you to take them in any sequence you want. Each pill pack contains a 3 month supply, and each 4 week supply contains 3 weeks of hormones and one week of sugar pills. So if you want, you can get your period every month by taking the sugar pills after taking 3 weeks of hormones. Or you can get it every 3 months by taking all the hormone pills for 9 weeks and then one week of sugar pills, thus keeping Aunt Flo at bay for over 2 months.

When you're on any birth control pill, when you get your period, it isn't a real period, because you're not actually releasing an egg (the pill stops you from ovulating). It's called a "pill period," and it results as your body's reaction to withdrawing from the hormones. Having this kind of period once a month is just as safe as only having it 4 times a year.

Fit's Tips: Monophasic birth control might be right for you if you suffer from painful periods, excessive bleeding, or unbearable mood swings. Definitely ask your trusted DR about this if you have questions.