Your Period / Monthly Cycle

[TommyGirl]

What is Mirena? I have my period now, and it hurts like hell, once again. I haven`t use any birth control for years, because I felt they are not good for me, I mean hormonal birth control. I am in a stable long-term relationship, and we are careful, but it wouldn´t be end of the world if accident happened. But maybe I´d like to have birth control, if there was one suitable for me.

 

[StarsInHerEyes]

I get my period once every 4 months or so, and it's very light. No pain or bloating, etc. Except I swear a lot when I have it, which has garnered me the nickname "The Red Sea Sailor". I know I'm pretty lucky, though. I don't want to take any pills or anything, because you don't mess with a good thing, right?

 

[CaitlinC]

I take the pill for more than just periods, so yeah. lol

That's awesome that you only get it every 4 months. Must be nice.

I get my period once every 4 months or so, and it's very light. No pain or bloating, etc. Except I swear a lot when I have it, which has garnered me the nickname "The Red Sea Sailor". I know I'm pretty lucky, though. I don't want to take any pills or anything, because you don't mess with a good thing, right?

 

[McClaire]

I'm a bit confused. I was told by my doctor that it's actually unhealthy to just have your period once every few months. When I get really stressed I skip a cycle which is scary and makes me more stressed.
I got mine when I was 13-14? I lived with my Dad and he was at work and I was at home hanging out with my best friend so my best friend's Mom came by with red roses, chocolate and some pads. I get it every 23 days for about 5 (maybe 6 days). I get cramps a day before it happens so that's a nice little warning. I stopped taking something like Midol/Advil. I found that taking something for the pain always makes it kind of worse the next time around. Anyone else experience this? I think it's odd.

 

[lucy92]

What is Mirena? I have my period now, and it hurts like hell, once again. I haven`t use any birth control for years, because I felt they are not good for me, I mean hormonal birth control. I am in a stable long-term relationship, and we are careful, but it wouldn´t be end of the world if accident happened. But maybe I´d like to have birth control, if there was one suitable for me.

mirena is an IUD its an implant that is placed in your uterus. it has a localized only hormone in it. (the hormone never reaches your bloodstream).

i really like mine.

 

[brokenenglish]

^ Not to be gross but how do they get it in your uterus? Is it painful?
I have never heard of Mirena but the hormones not going into your bloodstream is appealing to me.

I'm a bit confused. I was told by my doctor that it's actually unhealthy to just have your period once every few months.

I have never been told that by a doctor but have always wondered the same.
Does your body not produce all the menstrual fluids when your on these kinds of BC?
I would think if it still does you would need to flush that stuff out regularly.

 

[alfalfa]

if u have your period once every few months due to stress, i think it's unhealthy but for some people, it's their normal cycle, so i guess it's ok...

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ I don't think you could describe once every four months as normal, unless you're taking Seasonique or the like ... I believe for some people who've just started their periods, they may not come every month ...

As far as Seasonique goes, I guess it's somewhat similar to being pregnant, and pregnancies seem to have a health benefit. The original pill was designed to be as close to 'nature' as possible in hopes of getting the support of the Catholic church. As we all know, that did not happen ...

Your OB-GYN inserts the IUD, and in my experience, yes, it is painful. However, for me (and I had the plain copper kind), I could feel the blasted thing pretty much the whole time it was in, and that was painful ... princess and the IUD I was really glad to see the back of that thing.

One of you girls should really invent a more pleasant form of birth control. Surely we should be able to have something that's painless and highly effective with no side effects or loss of sensation ... surely this is not too much to ask

 

[*Bianca*]

I have never been told that by a doctor but have always wondered the same.
Does your body not produce all the menstrual fluids when your on these kinds of BC?
I would think if it still does you would need to flush that stuff out regularly.

if you're talking about skipping periods with BC, then no, your body doesn't produce all the menstrual fluids & fill up with each month skipped. The hormones in the pill prevent any build up of uterus lining, and the shedding of lining/fluids technically only come when the hormone levels change (which happens when taking the placebo pill week). But breakthrough spotting/bleeding can happen, although I'm not sure why.

I usually choose to have a period every 2nd or 3rd month. I think skipping, even with BC, can be unhealthy though

 

[lucy92]

^ Not to be gross but how do they get it in your uterus? Is it painful?
I have never heard of Mirena but the hormones not going into your bloodstream is appealing to me.

I have never been told that by a doctor but have always wondered the same.
Does your body not produce all the menstrual fluids when your on these kinds of BC?
I would think if it still does you would need to flush that stuff out regularly.

i was only in the doctor's office for about ten minutes total. and the actual pain was only literally two seconds. only enough for me to say outloud "ouch". i scheduled my dr's appt for the week that my period was scheduled to arrive. (that way your cervix is slightly dilated making for easier insertion)

first, they first gave me a shot of something like novocaine on my cervix. that only twinged slightly.

i had some cramping afterwards for the next week off an on.

i feel that the tradeoff was great. i had one week of slight discomfort. and now i get no periods, no "cycle", no cramping, no bloating, no spending any $ on tampons etc. no period related acne, and no $ spent on birth control etc.

i also only paid a 15$ co-pay for the dr's visit.

if people are nervous about the experience they can ask to be prescribed Cytotec (a cervical softener) 24 hours before their appt. that makes it even easier.

 

[*Bianca*]

Wow I didn't think it was possible to take a pill and only get 4 periods a year! That sounds amazing. My periods aren't that bad, but still, they're annoying.

Ah damn it looks like it's only available in the US with prescription.

You don't need Seasonique in order to skip periods.

You can do it with Yasmin and others that are 21 active pills/7 placebo pills. All you do is skip the 7 placebo pills, moving on to the next packet of 21 active pills. You usually have to build up your bodies resistance to it though... eg, first time I skipped I could only get through 1 1/2 packs before I started spotting.... then it was 2 packs... and now I can go through 3 packs without any spotting or bleeding.

But like I said above, it may be unhealthy to do this too often. One or two months seems fine, but there hasn't been much research on the effects of extended and continuous hormonal birth control. As there are already risks associated with normal HBC use, it would seem likely that those risks would be amplified with more use, and without the routine hormonal changes our body is programmed to have. There's also other factors directly to do with skipping, such as a build up of higher-than-normal iron levels, because it's not being released, etc.

 

[lucy92]

I usually choose to have a period every 2nd or 3rd month. I think skipping, even with BC, can be unhealthy though

back in the day, i used to try to skip my periods by taking the pill constantly. it didnt work all the time for me.

 

[fashionista-ta]

^ Just wanted to note that I didn't get a shot of Novocaine or anything like that ... I also had irregular spotting the entire time I had mine. AFAIK, the spotting was from where the copper thing was poking me & making me bleed ... It was kind of like having a completely unpredictable period. I think it may well have worked out to more days of the month for me ... and I have quite a long period.

They are typically described as a small piece of copper ... I was picturing something the size of an earring. It's much bigger than that ... while relatively thin, it's designed to take up the entire space vertically. I was surprised at the size ... and how pointy it was.

 

[Weronika]

I get my period once every 4 months or so, and it's very light. No pain or bloating, etc. Except I swear a lot when I have it, which has garnered me the nickname "The Red Sea Sailor". I know I'm pretty lucky, though. I don't want to take any pills or anything, because you don't mess with a good thing, right?

i have the same thing - every 3 or 4 months. i have never told my doctor about it because i'm not complaining. i still get them so everything should be fine, my body is just probably a little weird

 

[cygnenoir]

Last Summer I posted here about a period from HELL (after never really having bad ones before).

I had another horrible, horrible period last month. Like crime-scene bad. Anyhow, I mentioned this during my annual Gyn visit last week and she said "Oh nooooo, you do not have to put up with that!"

Turns out that I have a fibroid! I don't know much more than that yet except that they are very common (usually non-cancerous) and can cause heavy bleeding. I have another appointment soon to learn more and discuss getting rid of the thing.

Anyhow, I mention this for those of you in similar situations. I know several of you here have already been there and back. But if you have bad periods and have not chatted with your doctor about it, it might not be a bad thing to do!