# Menstruation question **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 5, 2005, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menstruation-question/297909 "2005-04-05T20:58:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menstruation-question/297909/1 "2005-04-05T20:58:45Z")
Is there anything you can do to adjust the timing of your period? (Short of taking birth control pills, that is.) I started today, which is irritating enough during spring break, but okay. The worst part is that if things stay on schedule, I’ll be bleeding next month during a trip I’ve really been looking forward to. Obviously it’s not the end of the world, but it does rather throw a shadow over things. If I could get it to come earlier by just a few days, that would be great. I’d far rather have it early, but since we’re on the subject, if you know of any way to stave it off a bit longer, that would be interesting too. Damned inconvenient curse! ---
**Author:** ![ShadiRoxan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@ShadiRoxan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadiRoxan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menstruation-question/297909/2 "2005-04-05T21:02:45Z")
The only two methods I know of are using birth control or getting pregnant. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menstruation-question/297909/3 "2005-04-05T21:29:29Z")
> [@ShadiRoxan](#): > > The only two methods I know of are using birth control or getting pregnant. Seems awfully drastic! I was thinking I could make it go away by just not eating for a week or something. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menstruation-question/297909/4 "2005-04-05T21:32:28Z")
Synchronous Menstruation? Find someone on the same cycle that you want to be on, and move in with them! Of course, she’s just as likely to sync up with your cycle. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menstruation-question/297909/5 "2005-04-05T22:29:07Z")
There are three ways: Start talking about periods with your friends or relatives on the day before you want it to start. The next morning, it will come. Sit on the bed of someone who is on their period. A girl in high school said she would always start her period when she did this. Pretend that you really don’t want it to come. Then wear some white shorts. ---
**Author:** ![SusanStoHelit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@SusanStoHelit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SusanStoHelit)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menstruation-question/297909/6 "2005-04-05T23:26:21Z")
1. Reduce your body fat below [20%](http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0617.htm) 2. come back and tell us how! Or, you could have a major life crisis. Any sort of stress can make you skip a period. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menstruation-question/297909/7 "2005-04-05T23:45:55Z")
AFAIK, there’s no “safe” way, short of BC pills. Any serious mental or physical stress can make your uterus do crazy things. (Came in handy for me once, when I spent five weeks camping and doing manual labor for 8 hours a day, 7 days a week. Didn’t get it for nearly two months). ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2005, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menstruation-question/297909/8 "2005-04-05T23:53:28Z")
I read somewhere that caffeine–taken in high enough doses–will shorten your cycle by accelerating folliculogenesis. ---
**Author:** ![MaddyStrut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dbc845/32.png) [@MaddyStrut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaddyStrut)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menstruation-question/297909/9 "2005-04-06T01:44:37Z")
You don’t have to actually _get_ pregnant. Worrying about maybe being pregnant sure kept my period from coming! Of course, I wouldn’t recommend it! ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menstruation-question/297909/10 "2005-04-06T04:08:01Z")
I’d help you but I still can’t figure out how to get mine to show up with any sort of regularity. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menstruation-question/297909/11 "2005-04-06T12:06:45Z")
I like the way y’all think “out of the box”. 🙂 (There’s probably some sort of joke there, but I’m not going to make it.) So, it looks like next month I’ll be wearing white shorts, drinking lots of coffee, and pestering other women to tell me when they expect to go on the rag! I’ll just try and remember that it’s far better to have your period when you don’t want it than to not have it when you want it very much. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2005, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/menstruation-question/297909/12 "2005-04-06T15:35:13Z")
No amount of stress has ever kept me from having a period, but our bodies are weird, weird things. I think the only way is hormonal birth control. And maybe prayer? _g_