Controlling Birth Control: Can I?

July 3, 2008 10:27 AM

The goal here is more sex and zero babies.

Okay. I know I need to take the pill at approximately the same time every day to prevent pregnancy. This causes one scheduling decision I'd like to avoid having to make:

Take the pill earlier in the day, ending my period and having sex earlier on Fridays but get my period again and have to stop earlier on Sunday nights, or take my pill late on Fridays and have to wait until later at night to have sex (or until the next day! Gah!), so my period ends later and I wont have to worry about getting my period on Sunday night.

I'm not a freak or anything, but at the moment my relationship is somewhat long distance and I only get to see my boyfriend on the weekends.
I would like to avoid this problem by taking the pill quite early on Fridays, perhaps around 3 or 4 at the beginning of the month, safely ending my period by later that friday night, but be taking my last pill quite late on Thursday (11:30, lets say) so that I wouldn't get my period on Sunday night.
Since simply changing at some point in the month seems too unsafe babywise (I am taking absolutely no chances at being that 1% or girls who get knocked up on the pill), I would like to accomplish this gradually during the month. A half hour later every few days until I am taking the pill when I want to be.



Is this safe?
Can I get away with doing this without risking pregnancy?

posted by shadowfelldown to health & fitness (40 comments total)

Just skip the placebo week and take the real pills every day of the month. We don't have to have a period every month. I've been doing this for years. I will take the placebo pills and have a period about three times a year, on my schedule! Talk to your Dr to get the details but not having a period at all is a wonderful thing!!
posted by pearlybob at 10:39 AM on July 3, 2008 [3 favorites has favorites]

Not sure I'm understanding this, and I am a guy, so I only know what my fiancee has told me about the pill, but what about starting out taking the pill on a Tuesday instead of a Sunday (or whenever you normally take it), thus pushing back your period a couple of days so it comes during the week instead of the weekend?
posted by Grither at 10:39 AM on July 3, 2008

I've taken lots of BC over the years and I have no idea what you are asking.

Your typical pill pack starts on a Sunday. You go thru the pills with the hormones and then the fourth week are the placebo pills. That is when you are going to get your period. It may start on Sunday, it may start on Monday or Tuesday, it's your body and it's going to do whatever is usual for it. For me anyway, my period was always lighter on the pill, lasting maybe four days. By the time I started a new pack on Sunday, I was already done with all the fun. YMMV. The time of day you take it does not really matter. Take it when you will consistently remember to do so. You can also talk to your doctor about having few or no placebo pills - taking all the way through one pack and starting the next, or going on Seasonale or something similar that reduces your placebo pills to 4x per year. Have some good, safe fun!
posted by Medieval Maven at 10:39 AM on July 3, 2008

I'm confused. Won't your period eventually fall on a weekend no matter what?

Also, I know that many find menstrual blood disagreeable, but it is possible and for some, enjoyable, to fuck while bleeding.
posted by serazin at 10:40 AM on July 3, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

On the weekends you are going to see your boyfriend, just skip the placebo pills and start your next pill pack. This way you will skip your period all together for that month. You should only do this with certain brands of pills, and of course speak with your doctor first, blah blah blah... You can always get on Seasonal (not sure if I spelled that right), which is pills packaged without the placebo pills every month - only 4 times a year.
posted by All.star at 10:40 AM on July 3, 2008

Ask your doctor and use a backup method like the sponge or a condom.
posted by Penelope at 10:40 AM on July 3, 2008

Or, skip your periods all together by using the pill:

www.noperiod.com
posted by tristeza at 10:43 AM on July 3, 2008

Oh yeah, pearlybob is totally right. You could also consider depo.
posted by serazin at 10:43 AM on July 3, 2008

Thirding the talk to your doctor about skipping the placebo week. I don't know why more doctors don't tell you that if you're on the pill you really only have to get a period four times a year.

You might bump up against your insurance company because you will be filling the prescription a little more frequently than their computers think you should. I was doing this before Seasonale came out and so I had to pay for a couple of packs out of pocket but I was happy to pay a little extra to skip all those periods.
posted by ambrosia at 10:45 AM on July 3, 2008

In my experience, time of day that your period starts and ends is variable and is not affected by the time of day that you take the pills, so I'm not sure the precise control that you are looking for is possible.

On the other hand, I can almost always be sure that my period will start on the fourth day after I take the last active pill. This will probably be slightly different for you, but I would do what Grither suggests: set up your pill-week to start on a Thursday or Friday so that your period comes at the beginning of the week and is over by the weekend. You don't have to start on Sundays.
posted by zadermatermorts at 10:46 AM on July 3, 2008

Depo-Provera.
posted by Zambrano at 10:51 AM on July 3, 2008

I would like to avoid this problem by taking the pill quite early on Fridays, perhaps around 3 or 4 at the beginning of the month, safely ending my period by later that friday night,

Are you speaking from experience that the time of day will determine so closely exactly when your period ends? If so, wow. I've never heard of it being so exact!
posted by Pax at 10:52 AM on July 3, 2008

set up your pill-week to start on a Thursday or Friday so that your period comes at the beginning of the week and is over by the weekend. You don't have to start on Sundays.

That's what I did. Start the pack on a Friday.
posted by Pax at 10:53 AM on July 3, 2008

Medieval Maven is wrong. You do NOT have to start on Sundays. Talk to your doctor, definitely, but your body doesn't care what day of the week you start your pills.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 11:12 AM on July 3, 2008

You don't specify whether you've already been taking the pill for a while (and therefore your calculations on period timing are based on actual observations) or whether you're about to start taking the pill and your calculations are based on what you're assuming your periods will be like. From what you're saying, which is that taking the pill earlier on Friday will end your period earlier, I'm actually guessing it's the latter -- it's not like taking a birth control pill immediately stops your fake menstrual bleeding. From my limited understanding (and IANAD, so someone please feel free to correct this), on the off-chance that your fake period actually lasts the entire placebo week (which already seems unlikely), you'll just continue to bleed until there isn't anything left to bleed. You also seem to be talking about your period as though you can set your watch to it, which if it's the case then lucky you, but it sounds so unlikely that that's another tick mark in the "I'm guessing you haven't started taking the pill yet" column.

So if that's the case, don't start worrying about this until you've actually taken the pill for several months and have a handle on what it does to your periods. I had relatively long, heavy periods off the pill, and on the pill it goes something like this: take the last pill in the pack on Saturday night, period starts sometime on Tuesday, one to two days of medium bleeding, a couple of days of light bleeding, and then some light spotting for a day or two. After the first three days it's light enough that it wouldn't really interfere with sex at all.

If, however, your description of your period is based on actual observation after multiple cycles on the pill -- that is, you stop taking the pill on Thursday, your period starts on Sunday, and it lasts until Friday night -- then I echo the suggestion to just skip the placebo week and start a new pill pack on the weekends you'll be seeing your boyfriend. Or do the placebo week, put a towel down on the bed, and turn off the lights.

Also, unless you're taking a mini-pill (progesterone-only), I would think shifting the time you take the pill by a half hour every day would be absolutely fine. (I certainly don't take my pill at the same exact time every day, but then again I'm not testing its contraceptive qualities to the fullest extent.) But check with a doctor to be sure.
posted by pluckemin at 11:19 AM on July 3, 2008

Just skip the placebo week and take the real pills every day of the month. We don't have to have a period every month. I've been doing this for years. I will take the placebo pills and have a period about three times a year, on my schedule! Talk to your Dr to get the details but not having a period at all is a wonderful thing!!

I did this once (I missed so many pills one month that I just kept taking the next month of pills) and I was a total and complete emotional WRECK by the end of the second month. By the time I got to Day 2 of Placebo Week, I was fine.

It may not have been the reason, but it was the only major thing different in my life, and it's not the sort of thing I want to recreate for confirmation, so that's what I attribute it to.

Just a YMMV.
posted by Lucinda at 11:20 AM on July 3, 2008

If you try to go the no-period route, make sure you're on a pill that has a steady dose of the hormones all the way through the pack. Any of the tri-phasic ones will only end in you bleeding for 3 weeks in a row if you try to skip your placebo week.
posted by sunshinesky at 11:25 AM on July 3, 2008

Just skip the placebo week and take the real pills every day of the month.

I believe this depends on what kind of BC you use. If it's a monophasic form, you can skip the placebos and not have a period; if it's bi-phasic or tri-phasic, it may cause breakthrough bleeding. See Wikipedia here. Apparently you'll still be covered in terms of preventing pregnancy, according to that article, but the breakthrough bleeding may cramp (ha!) your style. Since Wikipedia is not the most authoritative source and IANAD, consult your own doctor.
posted by pised at 11:30 AM on July 3, 2008

Back to the continuous BC plan - I've been period-free for almost 8 years, no health problems (my Gyn recommended this, and does it herself). Try it, talk to your doctor, and see how it works for you. I had no breakthrough bleeding after the first three months or so (and none since). Not having periods has changed my life in numerous very positive ways.
posted by TochterAusElysium at 11:40 AM on July 3, 2008 [2 favorites has favorites]

Sounds like you're a perfect candidate for nuvoring - no remembering or pills, much lower dose of drugs being continuously released into your system, great all-around product. Ask your doctor about it, some even have free samples (it is a monthly system, insert and literally forget about it for four weeks)
posted by arnicae at 11:46 AM on July 3, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

If you're not currently on the Pill (which it sounds like is the case), you should know too that doctors usually recommend using an additional birth control method for the first few months until your body gets accustomed to it.
posted by srah at 12:05 PM on July 3, 2008

If you're not currently on the Pill (which it sounds like is the case), you should know too that doctors usually recommend using an additional birth control method for the first few months until your body gets accustomed to it.

This is incorrect. The pill is effective either immediately (if you start at the beginning of your cycle) or after seven days of continuous pill-talking (if you are using the quickstart method). There's no need to wait a month, several months, etc. The longest it takes to be protected from pregnancy is seven days.

Also seconding everyone who says it doesn't matter what day of the week you start. The only point to a Sunday start is that you are less likely to bleed on the weekend.
posted by Violet Hour at 12:12 PM on July 3, 2008

How does that make sense, Violet Hour? If you start on a Sunday, you start the placebo pills on a Sunday, start bleeding probably Wednesday, right? Unless you have the shortest periods ever, it's going to affect the weekend.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 12:17 PM on July 3, 2008

I know people are recommending depo shots, but unless you are not able to take regular birth control with estrogen, I would recommend against the depo shots. They can cause a decrease in bone density, and not all women stop their periods on it - some have spotting and others bleed continuously.
posted by All.star at 12:24 PM on July 3, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

You should DEFINITELY look into getting a Mirena IUD. It's 99.9% effective, and most women experience a radical reduction in period frequency/flow. And it's very, very easy.

(Oh-- and the insertion only hurts at the time, followed by maybe 1-2 days of not-that-bad cramps. So don't let the insertion process be the reason you don't get it.)
posted by samthemander at 12:46 PM on July 3, 2008

I didn't read all of this, but if you decide to skip your period with the pill make sure you are using a pill that will work. Mrs. Silvertree tried with an old script and her doc said that brand of pills wasn't very good for that use.
posted by Silvertree at 12:51 PM on July 3, 2008

How does that make sense, Violet Hour? If you start on a Sunday, you start the placebo pills on a Sunday, start bleeding probably Wednesday, right? Unless you have the shortest periods ever, it's going to affect the weekend.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 12:17 PM on July 3 [+] [!]

Well, I said "less likely," not "definitely." However, the idea is that if you take the first placebo pill on Sunday, you start bleeding Monday and would be done bleeding by Thursday or Friday at the latest (and maybe sooner--many people bleed for only a couple of days while on the pill). It's not typical to not start bleeding until four days after the last active pill, although it does fall within the range of "normal." For most people, bleeding is much shorter and lighter on the pill. If you still bleed for a full week even while on hormonal contraception, there's no avoiding having some bleeding on the weekend unless you skip placebos altogether--and even that might not work.
posted by Violet Hour at 1:01 PM on July 3, 2008

Sunday start is actually designed so that you have period-free (hence, sexy) weekends. If you start your placebo week on a Sunday, you should start your withdrawal bleed on Tuesday or Wednesday. It's not terribly uncommon to have a 3- or 4-day period on the pill; then again, YMMV.

If you find that your withdrawal bleed is lasting into the next weekend (which is pretty normal, even on the pill), just do a Saturday start instead. I don't know if you're already on the pill, but after a cycle or two you'll know how many days into your placebo week you'll start bleeding - just adjust it accordingly.

IANAD, but if you're bleeding for the entire placebo week on the pill, you can possibly benefit from switching to a pill with more estrogen and/or a stronger progestin.
posted by thisjax at 1:25 PM on July 3, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

If you do have a poorly-timed period, you could try those Instead cups - they apparently can be used during sex (I can't say from personal experience; I'm on the ring and I don't take the week off, so I don't have periods - hallelujah!)
posted by queseyo at 2:10 PM on July 3, 2008

Just to chime in with my experience:


Take the pill earlier in the day, ending my period and having sex earlier on Fridays but get my period again and have to stop earlier on Sunday nights, or take my pill late on Fridays and have to wait until later at night to have sex (or until the next day! Gah!), so my period ends later and I wont have to worry about getting my period on Sunday night.


On Estrostep I started on Sundays and took the pill in the morning. My period always ended by Friday night, and never started before Monday night. Like others have said, my weekends were always period free. If this isn't the case for you, maybe try a different brand?
posted by puffin at 2:12 PM on July 3, 2008

Okay, since this is my first question posted on ask, I didn't realize that my question was building up all these responses. Allow me to clarify a couple points:

--I've been taking the pill for a couple years now. I'm on a Friday schedule, and this means that I usually get my period on Sunday night.

--To the suggestions about skipping periods entirely, this has always kind of scared me, and I've never tried it. It somehow seems unhealthy, though I couldn't say why. If it matters at all, I switched about a year ago from Ortho Tri-Cyclin Low to Yasmin, and could not be happier with my pill. I'm not really looking to change it. I'd also started originally on a Sunday schedule, but always had my period right up until I took the pill sunday night, and never had sexy weekends.
--I am far too clumsy to ever try a ring, and far too afraid that I'd mess up somehow and lose it up there.
--As far as the IUD goes, it wouldnt let me control WHEN I got my period. Right? So it might actually make things worse.


Lastly, in my experience my period really HAS worked like clockwork on the pill. Getting it Sunday night varies, and sometimes starts Monday morning (usually on months when I took the pill late at night, which gave me this idea in the first place). Friday night, however, the pill works like magic. a couple hours after I take it, I have absolutely no period. It's a wonderful, beautiful thing.
posted by shadowfelldown at 2:14 PM on July 3, 2008

skipping periods entirely, this has always kind of scared me, and I've never tried it. It somehow seems unhealthy

You'll hate being 40.
posted by rokusan at 2:56 PM on July 3, 2008

--To the suggestions about skipping periods entirely, this has always kind of scared me, and I've never tried it. It somehow seems unhealthy, though I couldn't say why.

this is an irrational and unfounded fear. in fact, i'm really amazed that you would still feel this despite the abundance of evidence out there to the contrary. if you have a problem trusting a bunch of strangers on the interwebs, you can ask your doctor. i have no doubt that s/he will tell you that it is fine and not unhealthy to go straight to a next pack without taking the placebos (thus skipping your period). as stated above, there are now birth control pills and injections that do this.

and as thisjax says, sunday start means you will get your period sometime during the week and end before the weekend. you may want to readjust when you start from friday to sunday.
posted by violetk at 3:21 PM on July 3, 2008

I realize you mention you are on Yasmin and would rather not switch. I believe Yasmin is a rather low estrogen pill which is similar to the one I've been on and love. I'd completely recommend trying LoEstrin-24, which gives you a shorter period, then starting it on a more convenient day. In fact, I think Yasmin has a 24 day pill called Yaz.

Ask your doc how the two compare.

I also see that a couple people have mentioned Depo. Being on that shot was the worst experience I've had. Roller coaster mood swings and crazy spotting and breakthrough bleeding each time I got another shot. When I finally decided to switch back to pills, my doc told me there had recently been studies that linked Depo to all sorts of "girly" problems.
posted by snotloc at 3:45 PM on July 3, 2008

shadowfelldown, I do kind of understand your distrust of the no-periods thing, but be aware that the uterine lining (which you shed during a normal period) does not build up under this scheme. You don't "fill up" with menstrual blood or anything like that.

Also, realize that for a long time in human history, it was the norm for women to be pregnant and/or breastfeeding for most of their fertile lives. Because you don't menstruate while pregnant or breastfeeding (or later, during menopause), this meant that women had far fewer periods than we do today. Of course, you should do what makes you comfortable, but please don't do it out of a vague fear. And if it sounds at all appealing, ask your doctor.
posted by TochterAusElysium at 3:53 PM on July 3, 2008 [1 favorite has favorites]

Yasmin, if I remember the conversation with my doctor correctly, isn't all that low-dose in terms of estrogen (it's a 30mcg pill) and the progestin in it is highly potent. (Yaz is the 20mcg 24/4 variant of Yasmin.)

Snotloc is right in saying that a 24/4 pill might give you a shorter period, but if they have less estrogen and a weaker progestin, you might have wacky breakthrough bleeding, which is what happened to me on Alesse when I tried to skip periods. If you take a look at this chart, though, you'll find that you can't really find a pill that would give you better cycle control and shorter periods than what you're on now unless you choose to skip your periods altogether.
posted by thisjax at 4:27 PM on July 3, 2008

--To the suggestions about skipping periods entirely, this has always kind of scared me, and I've never tried it. It somehow seems unhealthy, though I couldn't say why.

What TochterAusElysium said. Skipping your "period" on birth control can't logically be any different than just being on birth control, once you understand what's happening. Also, it's totally awesome. I'm a grad student in a male-dominated field, and I've always felt that it's really unfair that the guys I'm working with (and sometimes competing against) don't have to feel miserable and achey and tired and less productive and stay within reach of a bathroom for a quarter of the month. So, I took care of that. Absolutely no regrets. And if it makes you feel better, know that a lot of female doctors and NPs have been doing this since the pill came out; the whole idea of *having* a period on the pill was to make women feel more comfortable with the idea and so that you could ostensibly check that you weren't pregnant every month - though i'm not sure it actually works that way (?)

--I am far too clumsy to ever try a ring, and far too afraid that I'd mess up somehow and lose it up there.

I'm clumsy too, but man, it's a great method. You can check that it's still in daily until you get used to it, but believe me, you'd feel it if it fell out. There's also nowhere for it to go inside. So, you know, maybe consider it.
posted by you're a kitty! at 4:58 PM on July 3, 2008

As far as the IUD goes, it wouldnt let me control WHEN I got my period. Right? So it might actually make things worse.

YES.

I've had my Mirena for 4.5 years now, and I have a regular period every month which lasts for SEVEN days, but the flow is usually lighter than it was previously.
It irks me how readily some people recommend Depo, Mirena and Implanon for avoiding mensturation. Yes, some women do not bleed on these products, but it's a gamble not worth taking if your primary goal is to control bleeding. I had constant spotting on Implanon, and the last two weeks I had it, I bled CONTINUOUSLY.

I highly recommend both Mirena & Implanon for birth control, and if you get other pleasing side effects, that's a bonus for you. If you get unpleasant side effects, you get the device removed & the side effects will go too. Depo I would never recommend, because if you do get bad side effects, you have to suffer through them as they wear off over time.

As far as skipping periods, your safest and easiest bet is to skip the placebo pills as suggested. Here is a fascinating thread on controlling menstruation that raises the point that having FEWER periods may actually be beneficial to your health.
posted by goshling at 5:17 PM on July 3, 2008

Mirena

Woman + Birth Control = Occasional spotting every three or four months, but nothing significant enough to hinder the acquisition of Nooky.
posted by mynameismandab at 8:43 PM on July 3, 2008

Just to counter some of the Depo-negativity (as I always do when it inevitably comes up in these threads), not everybody has a bad experience. I've been on it for eight years and I absolutely love it. My period didn't stop immediately; it probably took about a year for it to vanish completely. (Maybe some people don't stay on it long enough?) My doctor doesn't feel that the bone density issue is a problem for me; I do plenty of weight-bearing exercise. For me, it's been brilliant. I could *never* remember to take the pill at the same time, and I had horrible-to-the-point-of-puking, painful, crampy periods (for which I took so much ibuprofen that it damaged my stomach).

As you're a kitty said, not having a period is totally awesome.

I had a houseguest leave behind some pads and tampons at my house, and it was like looking at some historical artifact. "Man, I used to buy these? All the time??"
posted by web-goddess at 8:57 PM on July 3, 2008