Is It Safe to Decide that You’ll Never Have Your Period?

Who would want to stop her period? Ask any woman -- particularly an athlete or one with heavy or painful periods -- and I bet she would say she'd prefer to skip it. While some women embrace their "time of the month," others would rather live without it. 

IS IT OKAY TO STOP YOUR PERIOD FOR A LONG TIME?

The short answer is yes. Menstruation is the result of ovulation. When an egg drops down and is unfertilized, the lining of the uterus is shed, causing a period. Traditionally it was thought that most women should have regular periods to get rid of the build up of the lining of the uterus. But now we know that with the birth control pill there is little to no build up. While there continues to be some controversy about halting menstruation indefinitely, common view among experts now is that women do not need to have their periods and can safely stop them.

WHAT ARE THE NEW DRUGS TO GET RID OF PERIODS?

In the past, doctors prescribed traditional birth control pills to stop periods -- but in a different way. Instead of taking three weeks of hormones and one week of dummy pills, patients were told to skip that last week and instead start the next set of hormones.

Unfortunately, because more pill packs were needed to continue hormone use, insurance didn't cover the total cost. Now there are birth control pills that are FDA approved to minimize the number of periods a woman has. Seasonique (initially called Seasonale when government approved in 2003) is designed to give women one period every three months. By receiving FDA approval, the drug changed the way many women (and some physicians) think -- it legitimized the idea that women didn’t need to have a period every month. The result was more and more women asking for this. Another pill, called Lybrel, is first birth control pill to suppress menstrual periods for a full year. These two newer pills have the advantage of being covered by most insurance companies. In addition to birth control pills, some IUDs (Mirena) in some women will stop periods, or make them extremely light.

WHO ISN’T RIGHT FOR THESE NEW MEDICATIONS?

All birth control pills have side effects and potentially serious risks. Those risks include blood clots, stroke and heart attack. Smoking increases the risks, especially in women over 35. Women should also note that there can also be bleeding and spotting between periods. IUDs that stop periods don’t have these same risks as the hormone levels are much, much lower. Remember: Talk to your doctor about what is right for you

*Dr. Ricciotti’s blog, reprinted here, appears regularly on BeWell.com