[pct-l] skipping menstral cycle

[trailtrash@hotmail.com (TrailTrash)]

Hi, my name is Kate.  I am Jerry's wife (he definitely wants that disclaimer
in there!).  I'm 28 years old, and my menstrual cycle has been whacked for 6
years.  I have tried almost every brand of pill in an attempt to gain some
regularity.  My latest gambit has been to take a monophasic pill with no
placebos for 3 months, then bleed once, than go for another 3 months with no
period.  As a side note, it has totally cured my problem.  But the part you
are interested in is how well does it work for cycle suppression, and what
are the side effects.
I personally experience no unusual side effects from taking the pill
straight for 3-4 months at a time, and it works like a dream as long as you
take the pill at the same time every day.  If you take the pill and bleed
every month, there is a 90% chance you are taking a triphasic pill; i.e.,
the estrogen levels rise and fall throughout 21 days, mimicking a natural
cycle to some extent.  A monophaic pill has a constant level of hormones,
which means that over a long period of time (years) you will be exposed to
more estrogen than you would if you were using a triphasic pill or not using
the pill at all.  As you may know, there are potential long term health
risks associated with high estrogen exposure.  I guess you have to balance
the potential harm based on your family history and input from your ob/gyn.
Athletes have been manipulating the timing of their periods in this manner
more and more for just the same reasons that you would want to, mostly
convenience.  If you take the pill continuously, make certain that your
pharmacist notes that in their computer, or you may have some problems when
you try to renew your prescription 3 weeks sooner than the insurance company
has authorized.  If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me at
kholvoet@library.utah.edu.

---- Original Message -----
From: "Christine Kudija" <cmkudija@earthlink.net>
To: "Emily Katt" <emily@greenwitch.com>; <pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
Sent: Sunday, April 08, 2001 7:09 PM
Subject: Re: [pct-l] skipping menstral cycle


> Re: Emily's post <you can avoid having mentral periods altogether by using
> birth control pills and skipping the placebo pills>
>
> Hmmm.  Definitely something to think about.  Probably not something to
start
> on the hike itself, though - experiment for a couple of months to see how
> your system responds when it's otherwise unstressed.  This looks like
> something to have a heart-to-heart with your ob-gyn about; hopefully the
doc
> will understand your motivation!
>
> Christine