DAY BY DAY

OC's best family calendar

October 2008 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa 28 29 30 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

KID

QUIPS

During last July’s 5.8 earthquake, 3-year-old Bronwyn told her 1-year-old sister, “We’re going for a wiggle.” READ MORE

SUBMIT YOUR QUIP

Women's Health

A Monthly Challenge Tired of your period? Just get rid of it. By Dr. Lisa KaramardianPublished: June, 2003

Print This Article Email This Article RSS Subscribe Digg This Article

Until now, you were probably told that your monthly period is a necessary evil, somewhat of a blessing in disguise. You may be surprised to learn that though the concept of monthly periods is ingrained in women, they are not a necessity. In fact, menstrual cycles may even be harmful for some 2.5 million women who suffer from menstruation-related problems such as dysmenorrhea (painful periods), menorrhagia (heavy cycles) and premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Approximately 65 percent of these women contact their physician because of menstruation-related symptoms, and 31 percent report spending an average of 10 days in bed a year. As it turns out, a growing number of doctors today are offering woman an alternative to menstruation. The idea goes beyond the occasional rearranging of your cycle to accommodate a vacation, business trip or honeymoon. The goal is to reduce menstrual bleeding in order to have a positive impact on the quality of your life. Painful periods are the single largest cause of lost days of work and school for women under the age of 25. Reducing the frequency of menstrual bleeding can successfully relieve symptoms of certain conditions commonly aggravated by periods. Examples of common problems are uterine fibroid tumors, anemia and endometriosis. Menstrual migraines also can be reduced through continuous contraceptive use. Some women suffer worsening of their seizure disorders or asthma with menses, and therefore they would benefit from decreasing their number of cycles. Women with estrogen deficiency endangering their bones, or women with amenorrhea (a lack of menstrual cycles) from eating disorders or excessive exercise, benefit from continuous contraception. Research even shows that women who use any oral contraceptives have fewer muscle injuries. Older women in their 40s and early 50s also may like the idea of reducing their cycles. Women in their perimenopausal years are especially interested in taking control of their menstrual cycle, which can become erratic during the menopausal transition. These therapies also will treat hot flashes, nightsweats and vasomotor instability. So how do you go about skipping your period? Monophasic pills (birth control in which every pill has the same dose of medicine) work the best to provide what is called continuous contraception for disease therapy. Triphasic pills (in which doses fluctuate over the month) may cause breakthrough bleeding. I like to choose a very low-dose pill, which contains only 20 micrograms of estrogen, thus limiting the overall amount of additional estrogen my patients are exposed to. If you use a 21-day pack, take the 21 days of pills as usual, then start taking a new pack right away, instead of waiting seven days. You can do this as often as you want. However, the longer you delay your period, the greater your chance of breakthrough bleeding. This isn't dangerous, just an inconvenience. I usually recommend patients to go anywhere from 6-12 weeks, depending on their personal situation. Birth control pills represent only one modality through which you can manipulate your menstrual cycles. Nearly any form of hormonal contraception can be modified to provide the effect of reduced or halted menstruation. This includes Depo-provera injections, progesterone-releasing IUDs, and oral progestins. No one approach to continuous contraception use will meet every patient's needs or desires; however, my patients are clearly more receptive to the idea of having menses less often than once monthly than they may have been a generation ago. A common concern that a lot of patients have is that the uterine lining will "build up" if they don't bleed. The truth is that this hormonal manipulation prevents the uterine lining from building up in the first place. Not all patients are candidates for hormonal contraception, particularly those with a history of breast cancer, liver failure or blood clots. If you know that you can take hormonal methods of therapy, and you want to reduce the frequency of your periods, it might be worth discussing this option with your doctor. The goal is to help find each patient a contraceptive regimen and menstrual pattern that fits her individual needs and lifestyle choices. Whether you want to postpone bleeding for a particular reason, such as military service, vacation, or athletic competition, or prevent it completely, safe and effective products are available to equip you with tools for menstrual control. Dr. Lisa M. Karamardian is a board-certified OB/GYN and Fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. She can be reached at 949.644.2722.

SEARCH THE SITE