Can you plan your period around special events?
Vacations, holidays and major life events are extremely inconvenient times for your period to show up, but it has happened to every woman at some point. Is it possible to avoid this and adjust when you get your period?
“Yes, and you don’t need a major reason to skip a menstrual cycle,” says Dr. Dakisha Lewis, an OB-GYN at Advocate Health Care. “This is a question I often get from patients. Fortunately, it’s possible to make your period suit your life.”
Dr. Lewis explains how continuous-use hormonal birth control pills can delay a period or help you avoid menstrual bleeding entirely.
“In a 28-day birth control pill pack, the last week of pills are placebos. The first 21 days of pills contain hormones, and the final week does not. During that fourth week without the hormone pills, your body goes through withdrawal bleeding, which can be just as heavy as a normal period. To avoid that week of bleeding, skip the placebo pills. There are also 90-day continuous-use pills available.”
You can also adjust your period with other alternative birth control methods, like a vaginal ring.
“Instead of keeping the ring in for three weeks and then taking it out for one, you would leave it in for four weeks and swap it out for a new ring right away,” Dr. Lewis says. “If you have an IUD, it can be a little more complicated. I suggest you speak with your OB-GYN health care provider about options for preventing bleeding.”
In general, Dr. Lewis recommends speaking with your OB-GYN health care provider before making any changes to your birth control usage.
“Let them know you would like to discuss your options for preventing bleeding,” she says. “While there is always the potential for breakthrough bleeding, it isn’t dangerous or necessarily indicative that your birth control method isn’t working. But make sure you discuss your plans with them to ensure your birth control won’t interfere with any other medications you are taking.”
Related Posts
Comments
About the Author
Holly Brenza, health enews contributor, is a public affairs coordinator on the content team at Advocate Health Care and Aurora Health Care. She is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago. In her free time, Holly enjoys reading, watching the White Sox and Blackhawks, playing with her dog, Bear and running her cats' Instagram account, @strangefurthings.
