Being a girl is hard, especially during that special time of the month. Luckily for me, I haven’t had a visit from Mother Nature for over 7 years! That’s right – I have not had my period for the last 7 years and it’s totally normal.
I first got my period back in the glory days of middle school, and each month I’d have a miserable experience. For about 5 days out of each month, I’d be greeted with debilitating pain along with nausea and the inability to eat anything without it coming right back up. It was so bad that I’d oftentimes have to miss a couple days of school every time my period came around.
Finally, I decided to visit my gynecologist, who ultimately decided to start me on birth control to (hopefully) relieve the pain I had been having. After several months of being on birth control without any sort of relief, I went back to my gynecologist. My gynecologist ran several tests, but concluded that everything looked normal.
Left unanswered, I felt like there was no hope. At the time, I was only 13 and did not want to have to deal with this every month for years to come. That’s when my gynecologist suggested a no-period birth control. A no-period birth control is a four week regimen that consists only of the actual pill, no placebo pills. The idea of this method is to continuously take these pills, without stopping for a week to have a period.
My doctor told me that even on regular birth control, the period you have isn’t a natural period but rather withdrawal bleeding from stopping the hormone pills. He explained that there is no medical need for a period when you are on the pill and that choosing to opt out was completely healthy.
Recently, this no-period birth control has become more common – though it seems like very few actually know about it. When doing my own research online, I found a lot of contradicting information. Some sources worried that skipping your period would result in an overload of hormones in your body, or that when you do eventually choose to get your period again, it’ll be horrible. My doctor assured me that none of this information is true, and that essentially “the hormones in the pill are actually less than what your body produces in a normal menstrual cycle, and way less than what your body produces when pregnant” (Splinter News). To read more about the benefits of skipping your period, click here.
If you’re interested in unsubscribing from your monthly gift, talk to your gynecologist for more information – because I definitely do not regret it.
Photo Credits: Man Repeller, Vital Record, Glamour