I’m a male, but thought that some of you females out there might find this story of interest.
Can someone tell me what the hell it is then? I have to take the Pill to keep my periods regular. If I didn’t then I wouldn’t menstruate (sp?) for at least a year. Why is my doctor telling me I have to use it? Is it to prevent cysts? Am I even producing eggs? AAAAARRRRRGGGGHHHHHH! This is so frustrating.
IIRC, the pill mimics pregnancy and fools the body into thinking it’s pregnant so it doesn’t produce eggs. So you’re uterus does build up some lining as it would if you were actually pregnant. When you go off them for the placebo week, it sloughs that lining off. So yes, it’s an actual period in that respect, but you’re not producing eggs (I don’t think).
That would, of course, be “your” urterus.
$&*@ing you’re/your. Sigh.
I’ve actually done this when I’ve found menstruation “inconvenient.” I first heard about it regarding a question posed somewhere (don’t remember) regarding someone who was getting married and didn’t want their period to interfere with their wedding night. The responder suggested getting on the pill if she wasn’t already to regulate her cycle and then, if it turned out to be that week, to keep taking the real pills during her menstrual week.
I’ve done it two or three times. Once, I merely postponed it a week because I was backpacking. Once, I completely skipped a month by taking the real pills through the placebo pill month and continuing on. No serious ill effects, though one of the times my PMS lasted longer than normal.
I am on the pill 12 weeks on, 1 week off, and it helps control my migraines tremendously. The week off is still a bitch, though (and so am I, since I tend to feel ill for most of it).
My ob/gyn said in a “natural state” (i.e. the way things were 20,000 years ago or so) most women would have something like 10 periods their entire life, because they’re always either pregnant or nursing (or both).