# Stop the period!



## Lookin'foraLife (Jan 2, 2009)

PLEASE, has anyone heard of a birth control pill that stops your period until you discontinue it?I can't tolerate the pain of my IBS at its very worst when I get my period.


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## Cherrie (Sep 1, 2006)

Hi, sorry you have such bad period pain.How about Seasonale (only 4 times a year)? You know, I kinda feel that even with birth control pills we have to have our period at certain point and can't totally do away with it... and Seasonale is probably as far as it can stretch? And I kinda think that those that claim that we can only have period after we stop taking it is only for short-term use? I could be wrong, though... Personally I have extremely painful periods, but I'm not sure if I want to go without it for a whole year... at the back of my mind I feel that that would maybe mess me up much more than having a week of extreme pain... but that's just me... I'm really not sure if my hunch has scientific backup or not...


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## Lookin'foraLife (Jan 2, 2009)

Seasonale? Never heard of it, I'll ask my gyno. Thanks!I'm also afraid I'll get messed up playing with nature like this, but for me it's not only 1 week of extreme agony, it lasts about a month the painsince it messes up my hormonal balance I guess, and then all the work I've gone throughto make the IBS symptoms more tolerable goes down the drain and I have to start from zero!I don't yet have children, but I think I'd be afraid to get pregnant- would probably make the IBS even more untolerable!No?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Surprisingly for a lot of women IBS actually gets better during pregnancy rather than worse. Unfortunately you don't know what will happen until you are pregnant.I've done the continuous birth control to control a fibroid prior to surgery to remove it. It gave me really bad bleeding.I used a regular BCP rather than a specific one, you just skip the week of sugar pills. It can be done with any of them and it doesn't seem to mess anything up.Some women will have some spotting when they do the continuous thing, and I did, but it was still better than what my period was at the time.


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## 20960 (Sep 16, 2006)

I was just on a pill that was suposed to stop my period it was called Lybrel, sadly i ended up bleeding and having my horrible cramps for about 15 days and it wouldnt stop ans it also made me more constipated than usuual so i just went back on the normal pill.Anyways thats my experience with lybrel.


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## Cherrie (Sep 1, 2006)

I'll echo what Kathleen said about pregnancy and IBS -- most women with IBS-D find some relief after getting pregnant because the pregnancy hormones tend to make one constipated. But there are some rare opposite effects and one will have to see for oneself. And last time I was on that pill (sorry forgot what it was) that'd hold me on until my big huge exam was over did work -- I was only on it for about two weeks -- but it made me feel pretty bad (although not as bad as if my period came), and the thing about it was that after the exam was over and I got my period 3 days later, it was so much more agonizing than any periods that I had... So, I don't know... I haven't dared to use it ever since... But that could be just me...


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## southern1 (Jan 9, 2009)

When i was on the pill and got the IBS-D sort-of under control (just worse around my period) after a while when watching what i ate ate certain times of the month i could live a fairy normal life however when i came off the pill due to overactive hormones it took me a while to get IBS back under control and eventually it only played up again when near that time of the month - however when i became preg IBS basically disappeared !!!







However after having my baby now i tend to suffer from IBS-C but thankfully not too badly - and yet again - as long as i watch what i eat. My methods tend to confuse my family as some days i'll eat anything and other days i won't touch it as i have the feeling that if i eat thing at certain times of the month it plays up with me?!?!?! Anyone else find this? Also has anyone else had the switch form IBS-D to IBS-C after preg? I digress back to the topic in hand - in relation to stopping your period altogether i agree with the others that it probably ok to do it for short bursts - like mentioned above - only aim to get your period 4x a year however if as you say one day want kids when you come off the contraception you choose it may take a wee bit longer for your body to readjust itself back to normal but as long as you have your period a couple time a year you'll know its still working right.


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## Lookin'foraLife (Jan 2, 2009)

Thanks everyone,I have IBS-C so it doesn't look like pregnancy might bring relief unfortunately.As for food, the pain is somehwhat controllable through VERY strict diet,but around my period there seem to be no rules and the pain is constant and uncontrolable.


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## cleung (Feb 14, 2009)

The gyno has mentioned something like this to me. Like you I am too scare to have baby, I am 32 now so I am at the time to really decide if I want to go thru possible suffering and risk of having a baby. The family doctor told me the gyno was suggesting to put me on long term hormone therapy pretty much. So the options are, having period only once a season by taking the b-control pills non shop, never have a period with periodic shots from my doctor, remove my uterus all together, or suffer and tough it out with pain killer. I am very tempting to try the seasonal method.


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## Lookin'foraLife (Jan 2, 2009)

It's a tough decision and not easy since we never know the long-term effect of these options.Surprised to hear the drastic options you were given by your doctor. Removing your uterus? Why?What about hormone replacement therapy- testing for what you may be missing or have to the extreme and trying to balance it?


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## Brennas-Belly (Feb 14, 2009)

I have much worse IBS with my periods too. The thing that's killing me is that I'm starting to go through menopause and my periods aren't predictable anymore so the pain is almost constant. My doctor just wants to put me on "the pill" which makes me bleed like crazy and the pain is SO much worse. I asked him how much longer he wanted to put off my menopause. He had no answer. He doesn't seem to be of much help with anything. I need something stronger than ibuprofen too.


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## jessaroni (Feb 20, 2009)

Someone mentioned Seasonale and I want to mention that one of the major side effects of Seasonale is digestive problems. I know woman that do not suffer from IBS that had so many problems while on it that they had to quit. Something to check into is Mirena. It is an IUC that has helped a lot of women with endo and most do not have a period. You have to have had a child already to use it but it is worth checking into. I have never used it as we have been trying to get pg for 10 years now.


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