Another thread on BC

Does anyone have experience with birth control that stops you from having a period?

My doctor suggested I try one (like seasonelle?) today, and I pretty much said "not a chance in hell". He was like "if your body thinks you're pregnant you won't suffer from the symptoms of PMDD or endometriosis" and I was like "great, but that sounds weird and unnatural and creepy and like it will probably cause 100 other problems".

I've reacted negatively to 2 types of oral contraceptives, but the reactions have been so negative, I'm not super-willing to try any more. Unfortunately, endometriosis makes my period suck hardcore, and being unable to get out of bed for 2-3 days each month isn't quite cutting it, and my PMDD is getting downright dangerous, to the point where I'm afraid to be alone around my period.

I did well on the nuvaring, but my symptoms weren't all that bad then, and I also can't really afford it. I can appeal the insurance company and say it's for a diagnosis and not as birth control, but I don't know how long that will take.

I'm just wondering if anyone has any good links to studies on BC that stops or limits your period to a few times a year, or personal experience with it?

wel I am not on a BC that stops my period, but quite often I skip my sugar pills and go straight to the next months pack, and that skips my period completly. The Dr. says doing this is not an issue. And I have not had any effects from doing that. And I do it at least 3-4 times a year.

And believe me when I say having your period when you back woods camping in not fun at all.

My new BC has no placebo pills and they said I might not have a period at all and that's ok...

I forget the name (it's in my suitcase in my car). I've been on it a grand total of 2 days so not much help.

I was surprised that they told me they don't recommend yasmin for PCOS anymore. :/

I was on the depo shot yrs ago ( had a tubal ligation when I had my twins) and it stopped my period, never had any bad side effects to the shot.

I am on depo provera and have been for many years. I do not have periods. I went off depo for a while and tried Nuvaring nonstop (as in three weeks with one ring then immediately put in another instead of a week off) and doing that is also used to treat endometriosis. I ended up having really bad side effects from it, the least of which included depression, so I quit using it. But if that worked well for you, it might be worth trying to see if the insurance will help you out with that.

A doc suggested to me that having spent many on the depo may have burned up the endometrial tissue and I could go back on a regular pill. TBH I wasn't willing to test it out. I don't know exactly what your cramps are like, but I hear you on not being able to get out of bed 2-3 days every month. I didn't want to just try it out and "see" if I was better or not. I NEVER want to have to live through that again. If they could remove my uterus that would be fantastic honestly. So we just went back to the depo since we knew it worked for me.

Even though I am on depo and love it, IMO depo should be used as a very last resort. It does funky stuff to your calcium and bone density, however the research all shows that if you stop using the depo your bone density will repair itself back to how it was before. Nevertheless, I am on a calcium supplement with it.
Also, if you want kids one day... it can do things to your fertility as well. I know of a lot of women who were on it and then went off and have spent over a year trying to ovulate again and still aren't ovulating, so they can't get pregnant. I don't know if things like Nuvaring or Seasonelle have the same kinds of problems, I never read that much about Nuvaring (not until I started having side-effects and went googling and found out what I was going through was in fact a side-effect.) That said, I also have a friend who got pregnant on depo... twice. But her body didn't tolerate it that well, it wore off quickly on her, so I think it wasn't that she got pregnant on depo, she was actually no longer protected by it, so she got pregnant. I also knew a girl who got pregnant on depo and her body violently aborted the baby because of the depo injection still being in her body...


All that said, I personally haven't had any bad side effects from it. The first year I was on it, I spotted almost constantly... but since then I have stopped spotting. I get NO cramps let alone crippling ones, no periods at all, it's awesome. People will tell you it makes you gain weight, but that's not true; what it can do is mess with your metabolism and you feel hungry often so you eat more and therefore you gain weight - but it's not the DEPO making you gain weight, it's the overeating. (Same with all BC by the way.)
OTOH I don't want kids so if I do have any fertility issues with it later I won't be brokenhearted, so I can't speak to that issue personally. I just know what I have found from other women.


Anyway, from where I'm standing having been on both Nuvaring and depo, I would honestly encourage you to try and make the Nuvaring work out if you can... did it work for you even with the break week? If so even better.

I <3 my IUD (Mirena) - no periods for 2 years now, so no more horrid cramping every month and I lost 10lbs when I went off the pill!

I did try the 12 weeks on, 1 week off when I was on BC pills on my dr's advice. You can use any regular BC pill from my understanding, tho sometimes insurance is a pain about when you pick up your next pack when you use a regular 3 weeks on, 1 week off pill.

I could never get to a full 12 weeks on without spotting; 6-9 weeks seemed doable on a few pills but not on others . When I did spot though it was a PITA as it was unpredictable and the duration varied a lot as well.

The spotting was one of the things that triggered me to look for alternatives and that's when I learned about the Mirena. I'm sold on it - no systemic hormones, no periods, and I don't have to give it any thought on a day to day basis for 5 years!

I've been on depo for more than a decade. I don't want kids. I'm fine if I become sterile. That's the biggie I've been warned of for years. I get bone scans done every few years, do weight bearing activity. I'm fine and don't bleed and am super happy with it.

Laur, Yasmin made me suicidal.

I wouldn't do the depo or IUD, because for one thing I react so badly to medications I'm not about to use or take something I can't very quickly flush out of my system or remove, and for two, I do want to have kids in probably 5-6 years.

I suppose I could just use the nuvaring and then not go without it for a week...but I wonder how the insurance would cover it that way?? I'm probably going to try using it normally and still having periods, and if it doesn't help my symptoms then look at seasonalle or just non-stop nuvaring.

My insurance did not have an issue covering NuvaRing without the break week although my doctor did tell me they would argue it with them if they did. I think she actually wrote the prescription in a particular way to make it clear I needed to use it continuously and they never gave me crap about it (surprising, because my insurance at the time sucked and they gave me crap about a LOT of things.)

But yeah, I would try and use it normally and see if it helps get your symptoms under control before you start using it continuously. It will be cheaper if you don't use it continuously for one thing, LOL... fewer rings needed.

I took the pill (not one specifically for that purpose) without the placebo week for months on end with no issue whatsoever. Whenever I get around to getting on the pill again (I can NOT remember to schedule things) I'll probably do the same.

Ugh Birth Control. My Doctor has now spent a year trying to find something that won't let me have periods every 2 weeks, or giving my headaches and a million other side effects.

I was on the nuvaring for almost 2 years. I tried doing it continuously for about a 6 month period and spotted randomly throughout the last four months. It was so not worth it. When I was using it normally I loved it. Until I realized that my complete and utter lack of sex drive was not normal (for me) and something needed to change. If I *had* to go back on BC I would definitely do the nuvaring again.

My insurance didn't ever kick up a fuss about covering it when I was doing it continuously. I think it was through Blue Cross Blue Shield.

BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD IS MY INSURANCE!!!!! I need to appeal the insurance company anyway, because I can't afford the copay every month whether I take it regularly or continually, but hopefully that won't be too hard.

My doctor did suggest I let this BC clear my system before starting another one, because he wants to confirm the symptoms I'm having are definitely severe side effects and not something else. I can't wait to get my period mid-month and probably hallucinate and want to kill myself and throw up from the pain!!!!! /ARG

I just use my regular BC this way, take the active pills for three months straight, then have a period, then three months without it again, etc. It's wonderful.

Really? My copay when we were with them was like $15/refill. Unless we had a different prescription company than BCBS....which is likely now that I think about it because I seem to remember paying full price for my BC when I was on my parent's insurance (and I know their prescription stuff was with BCBS). Sorry!!

I know you said you won't try Depo or an IUD, but while you can't just remove the Depo from your system and I definitely wouldn't do it if you want kids in the future, the IUD can be removed very easily. The Mirena is meant to last 5 years and you can become pregnant immediately after getting off of it. It doesn't really take a lot of time to get out of your system, it has less hormone than the birth control pills, etc, so I would imagine it takes even less time to get out of your system once removed and it is supposed to have less side effects than the pill because of that. You do not have to keep it for the full 5 years.

I was terrified of IUDs, but I decided that having an IUD and possibly not having a period for the next few years was worth the risk than being on the pill which certainly serves its purpose as BC cuz I don't want to have sex at all. but I can't spend a couple days every month curled up in a ball in so much pain from the cramps either.

I can't say a whole lot about it yet, because I just had the Mirena placed last week, but I am really hoping that I have little to no periods with it.

When I was on the pill, I once tried skipping the placebo pills, which skipped my period that week, but really only delayed it a couple weeks. It did not wait until my next round of placebo pills to start. So that was a big PITA, and I wouldn't do it again.

However I got the mirena for the sole purpose of not having periods. I believe we will still be using condoms for bc because I don't like the idea of eggs being fertilized and just not being able to implant. The Mirena works mainly by thinning the lining of your uterus which is what causes you to have no periods.

My periods were absolutely horrible - major, intense, eye-watering cramping, migraines, heavy bleeding, etc. I started on oral birth control and took it continuously for 3 years - never had a period, and it was wonderful. However, I was diagnosed with high blood pressure, which can be a side effect from the estrogen in the pills. So I started with depo-provera in March. The first three months were near constant spotting, but absolutely nothing since then. It's perfect.

First year of depo I spotted a little, all the time... Second year I spotted only when I was due.. Never had blood again

I have pcos and severe endo. I've been on seasonique for a long time now and love it.

My doc has me take it for 8 months straight before taking a 5 day break. This is the time period we worked out suited me best. My are still painful and I'm out from work for 1-2 days sometimes but before I was out for a week or more every single month and in pain for the rest of the month to.

I was on Ortho Tri sprintec when I was on the pill. It is a low hormone pill. Like most pills, you can skip the sugar pills with no ill effect. Also, even without ANY insurance, it was only 9 bucks a month at Walmart. If you don't have insurance, the pharmacy won't give you any issues about WHEN you refill it.