Ladies: A pill could be the end of your troubles. Period.

[The Straight Story]

Ladies: A pill could be the end of your troubles. Period.
By Jessica Yadegaran, MEDIANEWS STAFF
Article Last Updated: 07/30/2007 03:58:49 PM PDT

MENSTRUATION became optional this month when Lybrel, the first FDA-approved birth control pill to end monthly bleeding, began to appear on pharmacy shelves.

Although continuous contraception is nothing new, the prescription pill, if taken 365 days a year, abolishes the monthly period. In doing so, it has created a quiet moral and medical debate on the issue of menstruation suppression.

There are advantages of Lybrel, especially for the 8 percent of women who suffer from debilitating periods and roller-coaster Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder. It's also potentially attractive to women who simply don't want to deal with the monthly hassle.

But there are also disadvantages. Scientists have yet to fully understand why women menstruate and the long-term effects of a cycleless life. Women on Lybrel may experience undesirable side effects such as spotting and breakthrough bleeding. And those who take it must be vigilant about pregnancy tests.

http://www.insidebayarea.com/bayarealiving/ci_6498433?source=rv

[Kutjara]

1. This sounds like a pill too far.

God only knows what the long term side-effects of this kind of medication will be. Playing around with women's hormones this way could make the negative effects of the Pill look minor.

[Eurobabe]

29. Agreed. Don't mess with mother nature

just another one of those cycles that men love to fuck with... (no pun intended)

I would never take this shit, hell, I couldn't even take the pill -- it made me suicidal in my 20s. Molotov cocktail for my brain.

[KiraBS]

55. Ditto

About The Pill

[BeHereNow]

2. Reminds me of the movie- The Children of Men

Fuck the pharma cartel- screwing with mother nature.
Fuck them, fuck them, fuck them.
:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

I am one of the 8% who suffered with PDD for twenty years..
Natural progesterone changed my life and fixed what the pharma cartel could not.
They don't want women to know there is a natural remedy.
No patent, no profit.

I repeat- FUCK the pharma cartel and our representatives
who allow them to perpetuate crimes against women.

BHN

[cynatnite]

5. Does it work?

Seriously, does it? I hate mine and I so sick of the damn misery every month. It's horrible. I've heard about this, but I'm not sure about it.

[BeHereNow]

6. I've used natural progesterone for over ten years- CHANGED my life!

I can't tell you what a difference it made.
If you can, find a doctor in your area who
will prescribe it from a natural compounding pharmacy.
All natural- made from a yam that is nature's exact
replica of the human female progesterone.
DO IT!
There is NO need to suffer another day.
BHN

[Hekate]

11. Are you using Prometrium? That was what my gyn prescribed me...

...along with Cenestin, when I hit menopause. Prometrium is yam-based, and Cenestin is soy-based. Both were in pill form through my drug plan, so no compounding pharmacist was necessary.

I'm glad to hear that you found relief from your symptoms.

Hekate

[BeHereNow]

16. Naw, just plain old soy suspended yam.

I need the liquid formula- hits the blood stream in 15 minutes,
which is imperative in the case of PDD...
PDD, for those who may not know, is an extremely serious thing.
Immmediate balance in the progesterone level may mean the difference
between life and death for those affected with it.
BHN

[cynatnite]

18. I was just reading on PDD...

I'll talk to you about it later.

[BeHereNow]

22. Okay- you've got my phone number- call me

I have friends coming over around noon Pac coast time,
so if I don't pick up, leave your number on my cell and
I will call you back.
Until then,
BHN

[MorningGlow]

46. You don't even need a prescription for Progestacare

That's the topical cream. It might not have been strong enough for you, BHN, but it helped me and might help other women who have semi-minor menstrual problems. In any case, I'm with you on this one!

:wtf: is it with the male-dominated medical industry (yeah, it's an industry, not a service :mad: ) that they insist on wiping out natural female body processes instead of helping women who are suffering because their body chemistry is a bit "off"?

[BeHereNow]

88. Topical progesterone for what ails me is like pissing on a forest fire...LOL!

Cynatnite and I talked on the phone today- she sounds like a
PMDDer to me. Topical progesterone does not help with that
condition AT ALL. We had a great conversation and I gave
her the number for my progesterone supplier so that her doctor
can call in a script for her.

I can't tell you how long and hard I looked for help-
PMDD robs you of your life for at least a week to ten
days every month. The damned doctors want to
mask the symptoms with anti depressants and
such rather than treating the problem which is
a lack of progesterone production.

Natural progesterone gave me back my life.
Damn any doctor who will not allow a woman to
try it. I went through five or six before I found one
who issued it. He was the first doctor in the
country to use it, although it had been used in
England and Europe for two decades for menstrual
difficulties.
God bless that man. He changed my life.
It is horrible to think that any one suffers
needlessly simply because the pharma cartel
can't make a profit off of nature.

BHN

[MorningGlow]

95. Hear hear!

I went through the same thing for my thyroid problem. Nearly 10 years ago I started gaining weight at a ridiculous rate even though I was starving myself and exercising. I was stumped. My "doctor" (I inherited him when my previous doctor sold his practice to this jerk) told me to eat even less and exercise even more (translation--go 'way, kid, yer eatin' a tub of ice cream every night aren't you).

But then other physical things started happening, one of which was my period stopped (I was 33 when this started, so it was very strange). Two friends who had thyroid issues told me point blank that they could recognize another person suffering from thyroid problems, and my symptoms fit exactly. So I tried to find a doctor who could help. HAH!

I went through four GPs, three OB/GYNs, two endocrinologists, and a nutritionist before I found my homeopathic MD who finally helped me. Goddamned "normal" medical community couldn't find their asses with both hands and a map. The worst was when I went to one of the new OB/GYNs and told her my period had stopped, she said, "Well, we need to get that started again. You can go on birth control or premarin--which would you like?"

GAH! I asked her, "Don't you want to find out WHY my periods have stopped before you try to force them to start with chemicals?" She blinked at me like a cow in a field. I took my folder with me and never went back to her.

[Bjornsdotter]

9. Note to add

I have a friend who has also used a yam based product and the difference for her was amazing. she began living a normal life every month.

Cheers

[BeHereNow]

14. PRECISELY!

I never knew what a "normal life" was like
before I started using natural progesterone-
Ladies be forewarned- the pharma cartel figured
out that people like me, and there are MANY,
started turning to natural progesterone compounding pharamcies-
Being the greedy fucks that they are, the cartel started making their
own version- DO NOT accept a prescription for their version-
insist on the yam based product from a compounding pharmacy.

I use Friendly Hills, based in Whittier, CA.
Best progesterone compound I have used.
They ship the stuff fresh, right to your door.
Just ask your physician to call in a script for you!
BHN

[OzarkDem]

32. Even natural progesterone can be dangerous

it increases risk of breast cancer.

[NeedleCast]

50. Every Time you Take Medicine

you screw with mother nature.

I can understand anyone's desire not to take this pill, but by your argument, every time some one takes an Advil, they're "screwing with mother nature."

[NashVegas]

78. Hormones Are a Different Deal

It's not just medicine - it's interfering with the regulator of the body's building and rebuilding clocks.

Medical science *still* doesn't understand exactly how hormones work in the overall sense, it just knows that it can push certain buttons and affect certain outcomes. It's one thing to use hormone treatments to try to fix something that's already wrong, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[Clark2008]

57. I only have bad periods when I'm on the Pill.

Mine are fine when I'm not.

Except, both my babies were birth control (different types) babies.

Hubby got fixed.

[Eurobabe]

109. I only ever felt suicidal on the pill

when I had two little girls to take care of -- go figure? The pill interferes with thyroid absorption in some people (excess estrogen binds to thyroid receptors and keeps thyroid absorption down = major depression, at least for me) Plus if you are on the pill, you really need to supplement the B vitamins, something goes haywire with them too.

As much as I think the pill is a great method of contraception, it was hell on wheels for me!! I only took it about 5 years total in my lifetime.

[cynatnite]

3. I hate my period...

I hate everything that goes with it. Bloating, back pain, bad moods, crying jags and don't even get me started on tampons. It just seems like it gets worse with every passing month.

Tubes are tied...no more kids. Frankly, I don't want to take a pill to surpress it. I want it and all that goes with it...gone forever. And I serioiusly doubt that and everything that goes with it will ever disappear...well, when I die I won't have the misery of it, but it would be nice to NOT have to suffer this every single goddamn month...and that's not to mention the every once in a while when I get TWO goddamn periods a month.

Okay, off the soapbox now.

Sorry, Straight Story...just read your headline and I snapped. Period stopped yesterday and usually I have about ten days of combined PMS and postMS hell.

[BeHereNow]

7. There is NO need to suffer- PM me.

We'll talk.
BHN

[cynatnite]

8. Done...thanks n/t

[melody]

20. Ditto -- and if I see another damned "have a happy period" commercial, I'm going to freak

The only thing that keeps mine at bay is exercise and that doesn't work for everyone

[Maddy McCall]

4. No thanks.

You won't have a "period" but you can expect to have "breakthrough bleeding" and "spotting." And scientists don't know what the long-term effects are. And you have to be "vigilant" about pregnancy tests? What exactly is the benefit of this new "pill?"

I think that I'll stick with nature for now.

[Myrina]

42. Agreed.

I'd rather deal with what I know - what Mother Nature gave me - than to possibly wake up some morning as the next generation Toxic Avenger or Incredible Hulk.

:hide:

[pitohui]

67. the spotting i experienced was literally just that, maybe one spot, once a month

i actually was glad to get the spot because it meant i wouldn't need to get a pregnancy test that month

this is actually a terrific deal, of course, i had a very very VERY heavy cycle so even tho my cycle was painfree the mess of dealing with all the blood (and potential anemia) -- it was worth it to me not to have a period

nature stinks if you are one of the lucky girls whose natural cycle is 10 days of heavy bleeding, you just can't go thru life like that

women who have a little blood 3-4 days, easily handled by a tampon, have no idea of how messy it can get for those of us who won the menstrual lottery

again, the pill i took was not this one, and while my pill worked for me, it does not work to suppress the cycle for all women, so i don't know if i should give the name, it was actually a pretty standard pill with 3 weeks of taking the pills, 1 week off (this was the week when spotting, if any, might have a chance to occur), we tried a few different ones to get this one

think about being able to travel as a young woman and not having to worry about is your period going to start, do you have napkins, tampons, extra underwear, washing out stains, blah de blah

there are a lot of advantages to something like this

maybe not for everyone but it was a great thing for me

[Donnachaidh]

10. "Scientists have yet to fully understand why women menstruate"

Sooo we're supposed to just jump on a drug that stops a normal process that they didn't understand in the first place?

Uh yeah. Riiiiiighht.

[Hekate]

17. You beat me to it. That's exactly what leaped out at me, too.

I've been very dubious about male scientists' and physicians' perceptions of female bodies ever since I was a teenager over 40 years ago and read the following unforgettable line by a gynecologist in Time magazine:

(paraphrasing now) Once a woman has had her children she should have a hysterectomy because all the uterus is is a bleeding organ that becomes diseased.

I have to say that really shocked me, and all I could think was that such a comment could only have come from someone who didn't have a uterus himself.

Sadly, we don't seem to have come all that far. Once again, science is providing ALL of us with a "remedy" for a "problem" that most of us don't have. And they still don't understand why women's bodies menstruate.

Goddess please give us strength.

(Note: I do endorse both hysterectomies and hormone treatments where either or both are indicated for health and quality of life. There's no one-size-fits-all medical treatment.)

Hekate

[SoCalDem]

33. Why we bleed? Mother Nature's plan.. Every month a "fresh lining" for an embryo.

No embryo within the deadline time, and ya gotta "clean house" for next month..

In the "olden days" when women had many children, sometimes there would be two nursing at the same time for months and months, so the menses would stop...(nursing mothers usually don't ovulate)..no ovulation, no periods..

If a woman married at 17 and had 6 or 7 kids, she might actually have very few periods for many years, due to pregnancy & breastfeeding.

Modern women have many more periods than in past generations, because we space our children, don't breastfeed, and often postpone having children until we're almost out of "good eggs"..:)

[fed-up]

35. I knew I should have had more than one child-just kidding :) ......nt

[raccoon]

44. And we live longer. In previous centuries, women died in childbirth fairly often. nt

[pitohui]

68. yeah nature's plan is for us to be a womb and a bottle, screw nature's plan

i don't get all this nature worship, frankly, nature is a terrible engineer

[SoCalDem]

84. We fooled Nature by growing a big brain..and figuring out

just what that plan WAS :evilgrin:... other animals don't know they are being used as DNA transplantation devices :)

[Maine-ah]

34. well duh, it's because we wimmin are sinners.

:evilgrin:


I don't think we should fuck with mother nature like this for healthy women who just don't want to deal with it every month. For those women however, that are unhealthy because of it (heavy unmanageable periods, menopause ect....) this could be a good thing. But, apparently there are some more natural methods to deal with this situation, and I would think more women would prefer a more natural method.

Mine was terrible. Bled through everything, cramps so bad you wanted to just shoot yourself. I had a BB, and now it just lasts a couple of days, really light, mild cramps. It's like she cleaned me out or something. It will change again, I'm sure, but for now, I'm enjoying this.

[glowing]

12. I thought the reason for menstration was to shed the uterus lining

and discard the egg and all the built up hormones that you need if you were to get pregnant. I would be reluctant to try this pill unless I was done with making babies... I have yet to regulate my natural cycle after stopping regular b.c. pills...

[Blue-Jay]

13. Something about that doesn't strike me as being a Good Idea.

Call me crazy.

[Maddy McCall]

25. Perhaps the part about

being vigalant with pregnancy tests.

:scared:

[Quantess]

30. Well that, yes. And,

aren't you also somewhat worried about what this $h** could do to a woman's system?

[Delphinus]

56. I'm worried about what

just normal progesterone is going to do to my body, in trying to get my cycle back on track. I can't even imagine what this might do.

[SoCalDem]

89. Like having to put a chemical into your body ...like FOREVER?

that could be it :)

[Missy Vixen]

15. We could also discuss the fact that a researcher at the University of Washington

discovered a few years ago that toxins and other waste are carried out of a woman's body each month when she menstruates. I realize that there are women who suffer from debilitating periods and PMDD. There MUST be another way to address this without completely stopping the menstrual period, especially since we have no idea of the long-term effects on a woman's body of doing so.

After the debacle re: hormone replacement therapy, it'll be a cold day in hell before I take Lybrel or anything like it.

Julie

[BeHereNow]

19. That way IS natural progesterone.

Trust me on this.
It changed my life.
Women are SUPPOSED to menstruate, but it does
not need to be a crisis every month if the progesterone levels are normalized.
BHN

[Missy Vixen]

21. BHN, I'm going to check into that

I just turned 47. I know it's coming, and I need to have the info before I go to the doctor.

Thanks for posting your experiences.

Julie

[BeHereNow]

23. We are the same age- GO for it.

PM me, I will give you the number of my compounding
pharmacy and you can tell your doctor you want to try it.
It will make you so happy- keeps your skin youthful and your
femine attributes working, if you know what I mean...
LOL sistah to sistah.
BHN

[Quantess]

24. It's what we wished for in Junior High!

"Don't you wish you would only get your period if you wanted it?"
Our wish came true!!

But now I'm in my 30s, and I've seen how insiduously dangerous, damaging, and addictive, pharmaceuticals can be. I'm skeptical. I think women will misuse this drug, and end up abusing their bodies before they realize it.

[Bluebear]

26. Oh, I thought it would make their husbands disappear.

:hi:

[Maddy McCall]

28. About ten years ago, I'd have let them labrat me, if that were the suspected outcome.

:D

[Lex]

43. LOL!

oh you! :)

[Cleita]

27. Wouldn't that in effect be an artificial menopause?

Also, aren't fertile women supposed to release one of their eggs every month, that builds up the uturus lining, which is discarded in menstruatin when the egg remains unfertilized? It sounds like too much messing with female physiology. I don't think there is a moral issue here but a reproductive health one. Also, I'm suspicious big PHARMA is throwing out pills lately that aren't well tested. I had to stop taking one I had been taking for a month because I got violently ill from it like food poisinng symptoms, but in then it turned out to be the pills by the process of elimination. I stopped taking them and the symptoms went away.

[Katherine Brengle]

41. The "period" a woman gets on the pill is fake.

Stopping the pill for 7 days forces an artifical, unnecessary period.

[blogslut]

31. Scientists have yet to fully understand why women menstruate?

Again

Scientists have yet to fully understand why women menstruate WTF?

What utter bullshit. The writer is making her own uninformed medical conclusions based on a need to fill a column. The gynecologist she quotes later in the article explains why women bleed. Did Jessica Yadegaran even read what she wrote?

""The reason we bleed is because there's a symphony of hormones interacting with each other," Flanagan said. "After ovulation, if there's no fertilization of an egg, that triggers the release of the uterine lining..."

Do the oh so clever folks at Wyeth Labs have an answer for what happens to the unfertilized eggs, the built up hormones or the excess uterine lining? Do they even bother?

I bet a nickle that this wonder pill is the same old pill in a different dosage like all the other "new" versions that have come out since it was first introduced in the sixties. But then, I'm no medical expert as Ms. Yadegaran claims to be.

[fed-up]

36. I will take the hassle of sometimes 2 periods a month over any of Pharm's chemical crap nt

[Sparkly]

37. Of all my "troubles," menstruation has always ranked way down on the list.

:shrug:

Is there a pill to counteract testosterone? That'd be helpful. (Sorry guys! :hide:)

[bleedingheart]

38. No thank you...I am proud of my natural state as a woman

I do not need to modify my cycles to suit my convenience, I have adapted to them...
I do not need to modify my cycles to suit a partner who may feel inconvenienced by them..
I do not need to modify my cycles based on corporate propaganda about how I am supposed to feel or not feel..

I realize there are women who take pills because they have actual problems with their cycles or with their reproductive organs...but it is wrong to start messing with what is natural.

Even with birth control pills...you still get a period if taken properly but even taking it for too long is frowned upon..

[gollygee]

39. I found artificial hormones to be much more trouble than menstruation, personally

but different women have different needs.

[Katherine Brengle]

40. "Scientists have yet to fully understand why women menstruate..." I thought we figured

that one out, yet?

It's only necessary, imo, if you want to be fertile, so if you don't, why put up with hassle? I'm not a huge fan of hormonal birth control, but at least this has a severe upside as opposed to the traditional forms.

Those traditional forms, btw, only simulate a menstrual cycle - there is nothing natural about it and it really isn't necessary.

[pitohui]

69. ever read "even the queen" by connie willis?

i think you would get a real kick out of it, i know i did

incessant ovulation is not a part of nature's plan, but i don't think a lot of the posters here have any real knowledge of what real world nature was like for women so it's easy for them to talk about nature's plan

[Katherine Brengle]

104. I'll check it out --

I think I read somewhere awhile back that way back, women had far fewer periods in a given year, but that they have become more and more frequent as we move through history. Also, it just amazes me that anyone thinks a 28-day cycle is somehow "natural" - it was 100% created by the pharmaceutical industry when the pill first came out. The only "reason" behind it is to imitate some sense of normalcy, which is still absurd because it isn't even normal lol.

[bicentennial_baby]

45. Wheeeee! Experimenting on women's bodies yet again...

Not thanks, big Pharma... :puke:

[bdamomma]

47. unbelieveable how these pharmaceutical companies want to

make people walking medicine cabinets, don't they make enough money. And don't mess with Mother Nature!!

[LostinVA]

48. Bad idea -- I said it before when this came up a few months ago

Halting something that is a natural part of your body's functioning (albeit an annoyance and sometimes a pain) is not a Good Thing. Hey, how about a pill that stops men from ejaculating? Or getting an erection?

Whatever. They don't use women in tests for REAL drugs like heart meds, but oh -- let's try to push this onto the little ladies.

[MorningGlow]

49. Why do I get the feeling

that this was invented by men who find the TOTALLY NATURAL PROCESS "icky"?

In other words, misogynists want to wipe out anything exclusively female because it bothers them on a visceral level. Well you know what? TOO PHKING BAD. We've gone for too long having our opinion about menstruation and other female body processes shaped by a paternalistic society. It's natural, it's correct, and it should be welcomed and honored as a symbol of our goddess nature as we are able to carry and produce new life. It's not "icky".

/soapbox

[ecstatic]

51. I probably would try it but everyone around me is so negative about it

And their fears (possibly irrational fears) have made me think twice. Maybe after I've had a child or two.

[The Stranger]

52. Men: This pill could be the end of your troubles too. Period.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Don't flame me!

[Clark2008]

60. More like the beginning.

Methinks this might make us women have less estrogen for the entire month istead of just that one week - you know, when we act like men.

[The Stranger]

61. My misunderstanding.

I better quit while I am ahead.

[iverglas]

53. science ... it's evil and bad

In the good old days, women really didn't menstruate a whole lot. They were either pregnant or breast-feeding, which suppresses ovulation/menstruation, for most of their reproductive lives.

Science has affected women's reproductive lives, and thus all aspects of our lives, already, and in only a very few generations -- in a way that most of us are rather pleased with. We no longer spend 30 years continuously producing children, many of whom don't survive -- particularly the later ones, as our own bodies suffer from the enormous strain of repeated pregnancy and childbearing, not to mention childrearing. We live longer, and better.

The benefits and detriments of menstruation are subjects of considerable debate. Here's a very basic introduction to some of it:
http://www.cwhn.ca/resources/menstruation/obsolete.html
The conclusion:

In the end it may not be so surprising to find that the means through which Coutinho suggests that menstrual suppression can be achieved is via regular Depo-Provera injections, the birth control method that he, himself, pioneered. So while the media continues to herald Coutinho's discovery that menstruation is not "natural" and is an ailment that has a ready cure, good feminist studies of menstruation and menstrual history, of which there are many, indicate that such a pronouncement is suspect at best. What is required are independent assessments of Coutinho's work (from those not likely to benefit directly from the wide-spread usage of Depo-Provera). Ideally these studies would begin from a premise contrary to Coutinho - that menstruation is "natural", that is has a purpose, and that its function may not be limited to potential pregnancy. Only when we can first assess the value of the regular processes of women's bodies can we fully understand their role and function in the physical and emotional health of all women.

Of course, genuine scientific studies don't start from any premise at all, and this author has simply betrayed her own bias.

There are risks associated with continuous hormonal contraception (whether interrupted for artificial menstruation or not), and there are risks associated with menstruation and pregnancy and childbearing. Women are entitled to as much information is available about all aspects of the options available to them, and to make their own choices.

Sneering at science and big pharma isn't really an intelligent or woman-friendly approach.

I've heard that when the Iron Age arrived, women stopped suffering as widely from anemia, and started living longer. (We are advised to cook acidic foods like tomatoes in iron pots today, to add traces of iron to our diets.) Science. What a bad thing.

[Donnachaidh]

71. of course, that *science* you so lovingly stroke doesn't mention

the rise in various cancers in women since the advent of hormone drugs.

When MEN are subjected to years of hormonal changes to keep women from getting pregnant, the *don't sneer at science* argument may be valid.

So, when exactly are the male sperm suppression pills coming out?

[Warren DeMontague]

73. How, precisely, does people having more OPTIONS and CHOICE = "subjection"???

And, for the record, I think a male pill would be an excellent idea, too.

[iverglas]

86. of course, the misrepresentation you so eagerly engage in

has nothing to do with anything I said.

But don't let that stop you from riding those hobbyhorses.

[Scout]

87. male sperm suppression

actually, that already exists.

we'd have had it years sooner, however it was decided it would be much easier to prevent the release of one egg once a month than to prevent the creation and release of millions of sperm daily. practical, not nefarious.

[NashVegas]

79. One Should Never Cook Tomatoes in an Uncoated Iron Pot

Go ask the Cooking & Baking group if you don't know why.

[iverglas]

85. really, one should do what one pleases

in cooking as in other matters of personal concern only, including menstruation.

[KiraBS]

54. I wouldn't touch it...

A cycle is important so you can work out when you are likely to get pregnant and their is the question of whether it would mess up your fertility.
Women's periods are often a sign of her health, if the become irregular it can be an indication that something is wrong, it is an inconvenience but that isn't a reason to mess with nature.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

58. I remember hearing these same sort of arguments when the first BCP showed up.

They seemed really dumb then too.

[Warren DeMontague]

74. The good news is, the GOP is working day and night to outlaw ALL contraception.

Yay! :crazy:

[enki23]

59. news flash: women on the pill *already* do not have a period.

women have been able to do this since the very beginning of the birth control pill. no side effects (beyond those of a more "typical" use) have ever been found. in fact, when you are on the pill you *do not have a period*. that's true even when you take the standard treatment regimen. the monthly withdrawal bleeding women experience while taking the placebo is *not* the normal shedding of the uterine lining like in a normal period.

repeat: women on EC are already not having periods. the monthly withdrawl bleeding serves no real purpose, other than socio-cultural.

(oh, and enough with the "messing with mother nature" bullshit. if we didn't mess with mother nature, we'd cut our life expectancy in half)

for more information: http://thewelltimedperiod.blogspot.com/ is a great resource.

[KiraBS]

63. Not the same thing....

Women on BC have something that is not quite bleeding, which serves a purpose, such as letting us know we are not pregnant and that our bodies are healthy. The Pill of course can fail, can cause things like
deep vein thrombosis and increase the chances of getting cancer, especially if you smoke. Some brands can mess up your skin, kill your sex drive and from experience it can make PMS ten times worse, even though it isn't a normal period. I had a very bad time on one called Yasmin, left me suicidal, with bad skin which I never even had in my teens, diminished sex drive and difficulty in reaching climax.
For some the BC is a scientific break through but for many women it is something that they feel healthier without.

[Scout]

90. Women on BC have something that is not quite bleeding

many women on BC have no bleeding, no spotting, no cramps, no pms. they have no period at all from taking regular oral contraceptives.

i'd be on the pill still today, but i've had a tubal ligation, thus must suffer through my stupid period until i'm through menopause. i can't wait. i loved being on bc pills.

[tammywammy]

97. I have no period on this latest BC pill that I'm on

I was on the Nuvaring, but my insurance decided it was a brand name nonformulary, meaning $50/month. So I went to a generic pill ($10/month) and it's stopped my period. I've always had light periods, but not it's barely anything to nothing. :shrug: I only have to buy tampons like twice a year. :)

[enki23]

94. btw. EC=BC. i don't normally think of "birth" as an "emergency"

i hope my above post hasn't been interpreted as saying BC has no side effects. obviously it can, and does. however, none of those side effects are known to be effected at all by a woman's decision whether or not to experience monthly withdrawal bleeding. it's also pretty questionable whether such withdrawal bleeding tells you anything whatsoever about how healthy your body is.

[Katherine Brengle]

105. Thank you - I've been saying the same but no one listens.

The "period" a woman experience on HBC is NOT a normal menstrual period. It is wholly artificial and is not necessary. It was invented by the pharmaceutical industry in order to make the pills seem more in tune with nature or whatever you want to call it, but it's ridiculous.

[Critters2]

62. Depo-provera shots had this effect on me.

God bless you, Depo-provera!!

[Scout]

64. i never (almost) got my period on just regular birth control pills...

for years ... through my 20s and 30s. I LOVED IT! A few months after stopping the pill, my period would return like normal.

My gynecologist said that being on the pill was the best thing I could have done to keep my endometriosis from being a problem.

I don't believe that there are disadvantages to not menstruating.

[pitohui]

70. there are serious disadvantages to incessant ovulation, NOT menstruating can be beneficial

my ob/gyn and my experience agrees w. yours

incessant ovulation is a risk factor for ovarian cancer, and as it is hard to detect this cancer before it is too late, it is a risk factor worth removing from the equation -- it is actually an advantage NOT to menstruate at some point in one's young womanhood

nature's plan was to interrupt ovulation/menstruation by having baby after baby, well, we can't live like that in the modern world and wouldn't want to

sometimes technology IS a good thing

[pitohui]

65. my experience

my period was suppressed for many years w. a different pill (that does not always work to suppress all women's cycles, i was just lucky)

there were really no disadvantages, other than that, you would need to test for pregnancy yourself since the little visitor wasn't there to give you the all clear

when i was younger pregnancy tests were easily available for free, with the rise of the "kits," this has become an expensive proposition to do regularly testing

so there is a financial consideration

[Marnieworld]

66. Beware all pills

I had a horrible experience from BC. Big weight gain and clinical depression for a year before I realized what it did to me after I went off it by accident. Night and day mental experience. It made it very difficult to control anger or sadness so I was enraged or crying. Sometimes I cried about crying it was so bad. I actually got PMDD from it and now they are saying that another BC pill should deal with it? No thanks! I had the original treatment for PMDD for years (sarafem a form of prozac) and now I am off of it and recovered and I am so grateful. all of this hormonal experimentation should be avoided if you can help it. 10 years ago when this first happened to me no one even asked about any emotional or mental changes. No one addressed my increased appetite. Nothing to tell me to connect what was happening to the pill. I just thought that it was just me. It's hard to write this so publically but I'd hate for anyone to go through what I went through.

[Warren DeMontague]

72. The FDA approved a new form of birth control?

Shit. The Jesus goons Bush has running the place must have been off on a "rapture ready" retreat that day, or something.

[Heidi]

75. Lotsa women have lots bigger problems than menstruation. Period.

I _loathe_ that headline. It seems to imply that big pharma can "fix" one characteristic of female biology and "end our troubles." I don't think so.

[NashVegas]

76. I'm Not Interested

Not only do I think it's borrowing trouble to mess with hormones unnecessarily, I like the emotional release (sorry, men) that comes with the full cycle.

Besides, once I got my Diva Cup & said goodbye to tampons, periods haven't been much hassle.

[Firespirit]

77. Well, *I* am looking into getting this

I have to deal with this CRAP 8 days out of the month, occasionally more, and it comes with the full range of miserable symptoms. I never intend to have children and would get an elective hysterectomy if such a thing were possible. I loathe it to the very fiber of my being. Not only that, but bleeding nonstop throughout one's life, which is what I'd otherwise do, puts you at higher risk for uterine cancer. No thanks.

Forget "nature." Nature screwed women over royally and I will soon be returning the favor. I don't understand the paranoia on DU about medicine. Pharma is certainly a for-profit industry that does not always mean well, I'm not going to argue that point, but medicine isn't inherently tainted with "evil" because of the lab that it came from.

[pitohui]

81. i think you'll be very pleased, firespirit

i put a bit about my experience a few posts higher up, bottom line, i was very pleased

[judaspriestess]

80. the depo-pavera shot does the same thing

you stop having a period.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

82. Not all women do with Depo

For some women it has the opposite effect. I was one of those women. I had my period for three weeks of every month.

I have no idea if this is a possible side effect with this pill also.

[EFerrari]

83. I have no opinion on this pill but wanted to point out that women today

have many more periods than in times past -- when they were either pregnant or nursing a lot of the time during their fertile years.

[SoCalDem]

91. and they start younger too.. It was not uncommon in days past for the first menses to be at 14 or 15

..these days there are 9 yr olds starting up :eyes:

[EFerrari]

93. I started at 10. Imagine my chagrin.

lol

[tammywammy]

100. I also started when I was 10

I'm going on 17 years with it now. *sigh* The joys of womanhood.

I'm fortunate that I never had a rough period though, and this new pill that I changed to at the beginning of the year has eliminated my period all together. I always had light periods anyways, but not it's pretty much gone.

[Avalux]

92. Menstruation happens for a reason.....

...women don't want to be bothered with it because it's a nuisance, so a pharma co. has developed a birth control pill to stop it altogether without fully understanding if there will be significant risks.

A pill for this, a pill for that; we are a nation of pill poppers, sadly.

[Desertrose]

96. and who knows what will happen 10...20 ...40 years

down the line.

Yup...just fix it with a pill.....

[pitohui]

101. everything happens for a reason but not necessarily a good reason

menstruation happens because nature and god are piss poor engineers

incessant ovulation is a huge cancer risk, but the economic and environmental realities are such that a woman can't afford to have child after child after child

the alternative is the pill and the technology to interfere with having cycle after cycle after cycle

menstruation is more than a "nuisance," it can be a risk factor for ovarian cancer

nature intended for us to die at age 40 and get off the planet, i'm not willing to do that, are you?

[SmokingJacket]

98. This makes me like my period.

Go figure!

[shadowknows69]

99. 44 Mmmm pills

K+R

[Raine]

102. I never had a problem with the regular PC pill

period came regular...same time, was light and only lasted a couple of days. I wouldn't want to mess with this new thing, some of this "science" reminds me of a Frankinstein type creation.

[rucky]

103. What do those damn LYBERALs have against childbirth?! n/t

[redwitch]

106. Cyanide?

Just kidding. I think. It's been a rough day or two.

[Pithlet]

107. Yay! It's a good thing. Women don't have to like their periods to be a real woman.

They are a nuisance to me. I never got the significance some women attach to it. I'm glad to be rid of them and I'm not a bit ashamed to say that. I'd go on it right away but I already don't have one on the pill I'm on now. Go, scientific progress :woohoo:

[Bunny]

111. I'm with you, 100%

After my kids were born, the monthly cycle turned into an ALL-MONTH-LONG cycle, and I was sick and effing tired of it. I had a hysterectomy, and have never regretted it. I don't have bleed every month to feel like a woman.

[RiDuvessa]

108. I would definitely look into this.

I don't have any problems with my period. I even got lucky and started it late (17!). I don't have major PMS issues and it's usually pretty light.

My husband doesn't have any problem with it. He has never been a jerk about it or commented on it inconveniencing him. He just waits it out with good humor or no comment.

All that being said, I would look into this option. I find my period inconvenient and because of my job, I can't always plan around it. It's messy and a pain in the butt. I would just like to be done with it.

I've been on BC for a long time. I've had to change medicines a couple of times. One made me really depressed and made me gain weight, and I had an allergic reaction to another. The one I'm on now works really well. I think BC is just like any other medicine. People have bad reactions to some medicines. You just have to speak up to your doctor and tell them what the problem is. Most are willing to work with you.

[JackCo]

110. I'm not one for meds

My actual flow was lasting for about 2 weeks with about 5 days being heavy. That's not counting the bloating, cramping, and headaches before hand. I had an ablation using novasure 2 weeks ago and am hoping my monthly is gone for years or at least significantly reduced. The actual procedure takes about 90 secs to burn the lining and recovery is quick.

I don't like taking meds bc it seems like what was once ok can be dangerous in the long run. Pharma companies all want to make the fast buck without doing what I consider good research before releasing a new pill.