21 and count me in for getting rid of it.
I’ve been on the pill and using the Diva cup for about 2 years. They have both made my periods more bearable. I hate being “out of order” for 8-9 days out of every 28. If it only lasted 3 days - I would probably think differently. Starting with my next pack of pills I’m doing the 3 month thing. Even my gyn said she’s been manipulating her cycles for years with regular BC pills.
I’m a guy and the prospect of this pill gives me a bad feeling.
My female friends have talked about taking this pill but I think that they’d be fooling around with their bodies too much…
Just because something is immediately convenient doesn’t mean it’s sensible. I mean, shutting down periods completely? Say, for 30 years? Sounds iffy.
But hey, what do I know? I’m just a guy and I’m not a medical expert…
The first time I tried it, it was great.
The second (and last) time I tried it, I only got one period every three months - unfortunately, that period was 6 weeks long (more spotting than full out bleeding - but still), not the desired outcome.
If I could be assured of no spotting, breakthrough problems, I’d be totally for it. I’m 33, btw.
Not interested, since like another Doper said, my periods have never caused me the problems others in this thread have experienced. Heck, I’m even better at sports (and feeling more active) at that time of the month!!!
I’m also scared of pills even though I wish I had hormonal birth control because I’m very bad at keeping a schedule for taking any kind of pills (vitamins, supplements, medicine, etc.).
39, not on any kind of pill and suffering from a general aversion to medication - I’ve seen my mother addicted to painkillers and the damage other bad meds caused her, too many phone calls to the docs when they asked her to get to the phone and I’d answer “she can’t talk, she’s puking her guts out.” Several of the gutpuking episodes were caused by hormones of different types.
But something that you do not have to track every day and which would stop my periods forever? No more cramps, no more bloat? Oh man, where do I sign up?
Since I started using oral contraceptives, my periods have been so much easier to deal with. They last only three days instead of seven, there’s very little pain and cramping any more (the first day is the painful one, but a couple of Nurofen will sort it out) and they’re regular as clockwork.
Most of the time they’re no bother to me, but I have sometimes run one pack of pills straight into the next one without having the seven-day break which means no bleeding in between. Very useful in the summer if I’m likely to be camping at a festival when it’s due!
37 here. I used to think I’d be terrified of getting pregnant and not having the monthly period to confirm, but now that I’m on continuous birth control, that worry is pretty much non-existent.
My periods are manageable and I have a Diva Cup, and my current pill (Yasmin) eliminates cramps. However, it turns out one of my migraine triggers is the menstrual week, and I was getting a severe migraine every single day that I was off the oral contraception. Both my neurologists and gynecologist highly recommended continuous birth control, and the gynecologist cited the “it’s unnatural for women to have so many periods” studies.
I’ve had a couple incidents of breakthrough bleeding - the doctor recommended stopping the pill for 3 days if it starts - but otherwise it’s been fine. If I felt like something was wrong I’d buy a pregnancy test, but I haven’t had any reason to worry yet.
Now that I’m post-menoposal, I will say that not having periods is one of the biggest joys of life.
Post-menopausal here. Never had really hideous periods. When I got into my 40s I had Psycho Bitch From Hell Syndrome, but when menopause hit, I went on the patch and that alleviated the problem. I don’t think I’d opt for no periods at all. As Sarahfeena said, how do you know if you’re pregnant?
Wouldn’t do it. I don’t like messing about much with my body’s chemistry- when I’ve been on the Pill I’ve had annoying side effects, and when I skipped the placebos I got lots of breakthrough bleeding. We NFP now, which means fewer bouts of random intense nausea, headaches, and weight gain.
I don’t like cramps, but I don’t like breathrough bleeding more. I’m 28.
If you asked me this when I was still a teen / in my early 20’s, I would’ve said “hell yes!”. Then, I had horrible, awful periods that the pill barely helped. Not getting it at all wouldn’ve been a godsend.
However, currently I hardly have any issues with my period - on the pill or not. And with the DivaCup, I usually forget I even have it.
However, if the issues I used to have reappeared, I’d be all over this pill. I tried Depo before, and while it made my period go away (after 3 straight weeks of spotting), it also made me really, really moody.
I’m 35, and 3 weeks ago I got my first shot of depo-subQ (a lower-dose version of Depo-Provera). So far so good, but it’s too soon to tell if I’ll have any significant spotting/bleeding problems. It could take up to a year for my periods to go away completely, but I really have no problem with that idea.
Background, for those who care: I’ve always had “easy” periods. Very little cramping (and only ever on the first day), no PMS, and the whole shebang is over in 4-5 days. I’ve had several sexual partners over the years but few long-term relationships, and until recently I’ve always avoided hormonal birth control – even when a dermatologist suggested that a low-dose pill might help with my cycle-related acne (I wasn’t in a relationship or having sex at the time). I’m more afraid of pregnancy than any STD, and until a couple of months ago I had never – ever – had sex without a condom. But now I’m in a stable, long-term relationship for the first time in 9 years, neither of us ever wants children, and issues of convenience and repeated condom breakage (including my first serious preganancy scare) finally led me to investigate medical birth control options. After much research and conversations with two doctors, I decided on depo-subQ. No daily pills to remember, no regular period to deal with, I only have to think about it 4 times a year, no dosage adjustment or effectiveness concerns due to my weight, and it’s extremely effective. I’m in! 
I asked my doctor about that, and her reply was the same as Broomstick’s: there are other symptoms that will clue you in.
As others have noted, modern women have way too many periods. There is some evidence that this causes the extraordinarily high rate of breast cancer among women today. Cutting your periods down to 3 or 4 times a year is actually the most natural cycling for women. We were that way for most of our existence so having periods every month is actually very abnormal. I’m not on birth control right now due to money issues but when I am on, I cut down my periods as much as I can. A birth control period isn’t a real period anyway.
You may be right that it’s healthier not to have as many periods throughout a lifetime as modern women do, but I think it’s not accurate to say that having one 3-4 times a year is a more natural cycle. Naturally, the gap is 9 months+additional months (up to a year or more) during nursing, then a few periods, then the 9+ month gap again. I’m not sure if it makes a difference, but if you are looking for a “natural” cycle, I don’t think any kind of birth control truly provides it.
Right. The* lack of bleeding* might be more natural, but the hormonal trickery to get your body to do that is not at all natural - it’s doesn’t mimic a true pregnancy or the prolactin that makes many nursing moms ammenorhiac. If nature had “her” way, we’d bleed only a dozen times in our whole lifetime, which would end around menopause anyway. Nature also, for some obscene reason, thought knees and testicles were a good idea. Sometimes, nature is an idiot.
While I do believe that not bleeding monthly can cut down on uterine cancers, using hormones to achieve it might in fact increase other cancers - or lack of bone density, or cardiovascular illness or who knows what else.
I think the safest road is to wait 50 years for long term health effects to make themselves known. By then I’ll be post-menopausal, and it won’t matter anyway! 
Well, I’m back from the doctor. It was my first time seeing a Certified (or was it Registered?) Nurse Practitioner. Wow. I’d really recommend that if you have a chance. She was great.
Anyway, I have a sample pack of Seasonique. She said she simply didn’t have the info on Lybrel yet, but she might before my sample runs out. I guess Seasonique is a slightly tweaked version of Seasonale. She said that it has a bit of estrogen in the “placebo” pack.
We’ll see how it goes!
I don’t have any need for birth control, but just to get rid of my period? It sounds nice in theory but I probably wouldn’t want to mess with hormonal stuff. And having my period is comforting in that all is working OK in some basic way.
Is anyone else getting the “Zicam Allergy Relief” ads at the bottom of this page? :dubious:
I used to have a 42 day cycle and I loved it but I once told an OB/GYN nurse that to which she said, “We’ll take care of THAT.” She was planning a good ol’ fashioned 28 day cycle for me. I was insulted and asked why I needed more of the damn tings when craps made me a bear to live with. She replied that it was more normal and healthier. I didn’t believe her and the light research I did was not so positive it was a good idea either. But it was the 70s…
I’m 26 and I wouldn’t want to get rid of them completely. The one month I had to skip my placebo pills(so I could see a gyno and get a new scrip) I was extremely irritable and moody and out of sorts … starting from what should have been the period week and ending three weeks later with the next period. I don’t plan on doubling up again and can’t imagine trying that for more then two months.
I always intended to stop my period completely by going on the pill and skipping the placebos, but after trying it for a few months, I found the pill-free weeks (the false periods) were a welcome escape from the horrible side effects of the hormones. So unless they can get rid of the depression, migraines, nausea, etc. too… Obviously, this has always been an option for women on the pill (though more expensive for some).
I don’t know why it’s causing such a stir (including this insanity – Oh no! 12-year-old girls are going to turn into sluts!). If people are so concerned about women fiddling with their hormones, then demand more research into hormonal birth control. Period.