TMI

[asterroc]

I kept hearing of this new trendy trend of women taking the Pill and skipping the placebo week. I wasn't sure how safe it was (both health-wise and protection-wise), so I didn't think much of it. Then I heard of Seasonale and realized there must be something to it. Imagine not getting your period except for every three months...

Well I recently had both a gyn and GP appointments, coincidentally on the same day, so I asked both what they thought of it. They both said no higher incidence of cancers or heart problems, no higher risk of unintentional pregnancy. Make sure I do the normal placebo week every 3 months though I can skip it the other two. I should expect some breakthrough bleeding for a while. They both seemed surprised I needed that much confirmation from them that it was ok.

After the appointment I went and found a sharpie and wrote 1 on the box of pills I was on at the time, and 2 on the box sitting under it. Friday I skipped over the placebo week on the first box and started in on the second box. I didn't get my period Monday. (For me to get my period on Mondays, I start my Pill cycle on Fridays instead of the Sundays they expect.) Today unfortunately I had unexpected breakthrough bleeding, ugh. It's been years since I've gotten my period when I wasn't entirely 100% expecting it, it was strange.

I'll have to "keep track" and see when it ends, see if it's less bad (length and strength) than it would've been if I had taken the Pill as normal. I wonder how long it'll take me to "normalize". I'm worried it might be a year since it usually takes a few "cycles," and now my cycles are more than a month long. Oh well, I'll deal. In the end it'll be worth it.

Comments

[l0stmyrel1g10n.livejournal.com]

my mom tried something--may have been Seasonale or some other brand. same deal, period every three months. except after she'd been on it for a few weeks, she started bleeding really heavily, and for a long time. she called her doctor and he said that was to be expected until she "normalized" and that could take six months. she was like, forget it, i'm not going to bleed constantly for six months! so, i'm not sure if taking normal Pills for three months would make a difference--i'm pretty sure the one my mom tried was a different formula oslt. i hope for your sake you don't bleed for six months...

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

Ugh, me too! Thanks for the info. The nice thing about doing it w/ normal pills is that I could choose to do a 2 month cycle instead of 3 month, maybe that'd make a difference. *shrug* We'll see.

BTW, I think Seasonale is currently the only brand, though they also make Seasonique which is a variation of it that *does* have estrogen during what is normally the placebo week.

[rosefox]

This is a new trend? People were doing it 15 years ago.

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

Really? Huh, I only heard of it this year. *shrug*

[ayashi.livejournal.com]

I heard of that about a year ago, I think! I was a little nervous about trying it, so I didn't really consider it. I hope it works out though - must be awesome to only have to deal with it once every 3 months!

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

It was already a miracle when I knew exactly when it was coming. Man, I'm getting so spoiled! :-P

[happyjenny.livejournal.com]

I'm too timid to try that stuff -- I prefer not to mess with nature too much. Let the good times [insert verb here]

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

That's my default point of view when it comes to medicine. However I make exceptions for unintentional pregancy and paranoia - I wanted two methods of protection, and the only other one I was willing to use was the condom, so those're them. Add to that all the convenience of knowing exactly when I'm going to get my period, plus the fact that it's lighter, and the Pill's awesome.

[happyjenny.livejournal.com]

Oh! Yeah, I forgot to mention that the pill is awesome too. I'm just not sure about skipping on them there white pills... makes me all nervous

[zandperl.livejournal.com]

Made me nervous too, which's why I asked both my doc and gyn, both of which said it's entirely 100% safe both health-wise and pregnancy-wise, and seemed shocked I was taking issue with it. It's been pointed out to me that for the majority of humanity's existence women haven't had nearly as many periods per lifetime as we do today, b/c they'd be pregnant or nursing for much of their lives. *shrug* As your doc's if you want. I'll let peeps know if anything bizarre happens like I grow extra heads. That'd be cool!