Only 4 periods a year!!

Deb123j · Jul 9, 2004

I dunno - sounds kinda un-healthy to me. I'm sure I'm like the rest of you and hate :angryfire having periods, but it does clean ya out everymonth. I don't think I'd want all that stuff in me for 4 months. But then again - I've never done any research on it.

TLC RN · Jul 9, 2004

I don't think the lining of the uterus will thicken on the months you don't have it so nothing is in there for that time. I maybe wrong...

I take depo and don't get my period at all and as happy as can be about that :)

Bambi · Jul 9, 2004

I truly wonder about the health risks. It seems like the bodies equilibrium will eventually get thrown off. How about hormones, will this drug eventually confuse the female body on what it should be doing, but is not? The reason I say all of this is, because I have PCOS, and let me tell you, my hormones are totally crazy. I don't have regular periods on my own, and the things that it does to my body I wouldn't wish on my worse ememy.

These are my thoughts, but I don't have enough info to really validate my thoughts.

diva_nurse · Jul 9, 2004

It's called Seasonale and was approved by the FDA early this year. I have been using it since May and it is great. I have not experience any problems such as break through bleeding. I highly recommend using it.

alk3rainbow · Jul 9, 2004

It's called Seasonale and was approved by the FDA early this year. I have been using it since May and it is great. I have not experience any problems such as break through bleeding. I highly recommend using it.

You can usually skip periods with a lot of birth control...you don't necessarily have to take the special 'seasonal' one. I'm on the nuvaring and my doctor told me instead of taking the ring out for a week break to just insert a new ring right away, and I avoid periods that way. With other pills *not all pills...I don't think this works with the triphasic kind* you just continue into a new pack and don't take the placebo pills. If money is an issue for you, you might want to talk to your doctor about that and then you can get a generic brand.

lencialoo · Jul 9, 2004

i have heard that the less periods a woman in her lifetime, the better it is for her health. when being asked about history for my periods i was told that if you are late in starting your period and for every pregnancy where it stops the better off you are.

i think for those of us that have pms and premenstrual migraines (both for me) that having a period only 4 times/year would help. my doctor tried giving me the birth control pills for 3 months straight and it did eliminate my premenstrual migraines....unfortunately for me i also missed a pill 3 months into it and started a period the next day that lasted for a month !! yikes !! :crying2:

on the other hand, i do wonder if we arent messing with mother nature though...

litepath · Jul 9, 2004

~~From the male Nurses side~

~~~Only thing that would concern me would be the potential for infection.

~~~To me it would seem that you'd want to keep the natural, gravity fed toilet working, with all the Natural Flora, even attached flora regularly sloughing. As far as Endocrine functions, we all need to look at any adjunct therapy we ingest as having potential for complications. However, as we all know, we are the best judges of what our bodies' need or do not need.

~Please do report back as to therapeutic effects of your chosen solution.

dianacs · Jul 9, 2004

~~From the male Nurses side~
~~~Only thing that would concern me would be the potential for infection.
~~~To me it would seem that you'd want to keep the natural, gravity fed toilet working, with all the Natural Flora, even attached flora regularly sloughing. As far as Endocrine functions, we all need to look at any adjunct therapy we ingest as having potential for complications. However, as we all know, we are the best judges of what our bodies' need or do not need.
~Please do report back as to therapeutic effects of your chosen solution.

Hmm, not sure I agree with the uterus-as-toilet analogy. But you bring up good points.

RN4NICU, LPN, LVN · Jul 9, 2004

The progestin in the Seasonale BCP thins out the uterine lining, so there is less of a need for the regular sloughing. Seasonale (or extended contraception with other BCP) actually is therapuetic for endometriosis and could lower the risk of endometrial CA.

NurseyBaby'05, BSN, RN · Jul 9, 2004

One concern that I would have would be NOT getting my period. I figured that if I were in that 1% that got pregnant, how would I know right away. That was one of the reasons that I nixed the Depo shot. Just that "what if . . . ." Taking those pills until you suspect you may be pregnant, or worse yet, being able to do nothing with the shot could not possibly be good for a developing child. I'm never thrilled to get my monthly "friend" either, but at least by getting it I know that all is well.

TiffyRN, BSN, PhD · Jul 10, 2004

For the past year and a half I've been taking generic Ortho-Novum 1/35 in the same manner as Seasonale and have done a lot of research on my own as well as discussing it with my Ob/Gyn. It's a wonderful thing for convenience though more challenging to keep up with since I am using packs designed for 28 day cycles (way cheaper than Seasonale).

The research (which granted probably was supported by the makers of Seasonale) showed that less periods are more what the female body was designed to do. We were designed to be pregnant and lactating (therefore skipping periods) a lot more of our life-span than the modern women actually is. Apparently those ovaries were not designed to be ovulating quite as much as we are today. It was said that putting in a monthly week of "placebo" pills was done back in the day when BCP first came out to reassure women they were not pregnant.

Also as some have posted, many women stop having their periods completely when they are on Depo shots, no one seems to worry about "cleaning out" with them. Now if it is important to one's peace of mind to have a monthly period than this is not a good option.

Anyhow when I discussed this with my Ob/Gyn he was very supportive of it and instructed me on how to do it, even said he has some patients that go longer than 3 months between periods and he sees nothing wrong with it. They just tend to have more instances of breakthrough bleeding.