birth control

No periods. Fullstop.

writing

(This post appeared on Nature Medicine’s Spoonful of Medicine blog on May 9, 2007.)

If you could take a pill that completely eliminates your periods, would you?

Women taking Seasonale have four periods a year.

Turns out the answer is rather emotional for many people. I say people because some men seem to have strong feelings about it too (as they do about many things that affect only women).

Most contraceptive pills entail 21 days of hormones, followed by 7 days of placebo. What follows is a period only in name, since women don’t actually ovulate while taking the pill. This fake period was designed into the pill when it was first introduced in 1960 so as not to freak women out too much.

This month, the FDA is evaluating Wyeth’s Lybrel, with which women would take hormones for a full year or longer (Women taking Seasonale, available now, still have 4 periods a year), remaining period-free throughout. And this is getting many experts riled up: those who think it might be unsafe, yes, but also those who argue that it is culturally dangerous–as in, it redefines femininity! Ahem.

Last year, I summarized the pros and cons of pills like Lybrel for the mainstream magazine Women’s Health, but briefly: the new pill could be healthier, because it cuts down on the hundreds of periods women now have on average as compared with about 50 or so not too long ago. On the other hand, we don’t really know what the long-term consequences might be.

So, what would you choose?

Birth control pills: No more period

writing

(This article appeared in the April 2006 issue of Women’s Health magazine. I must say I was a bit baffled by the editors’ (there were many) directions: sound like a wise older sister, but also like a friendly gynecologist who will take you by the hand and explain everything. It was not exactly my bag, but I found (and still do find) the topic fascinating.)

The latest trend in birth control pills is to do away with menstruation altogether. Convenient, definitely. But is it safe?

Jasmine Bhatia hates getting her period, which brings cramps so severe that they extend down her legs, making it hard to walk. “To say it gets bad is an understatement,” says Bhatia, 25, a copy editor in New York City. Bhatia’s gynecologist prescribed painkillers and birth control pills, offering her the option of taking the Pill back-to-back — no dummy pills, no period — every other month. For Bhatia it’s a reprieve, like being sentenced to home confinement instead of prison. “Even having to deal with periods half as often has made a big difference in my life,” she says.

Okay, so not everyone’s period is more torturous than an episode of Breaking Bonaduce. Still, you’ve likely fantasized about how great it would be to dispense with those days of the month when your jeans fit like cellophane, you’re capable of restraining-order-worthy rants, and it takes a small Samsonite to tote around your tampons.

That fantasy is becoming a reality, albeit slowly. Birth control makers are increasingly cranking out products that aim to hit the pause button on your period for months, even years.

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