You’re tired, you’re moody and all you want to eat is chocolate, popcorn and take-out from your favorite Thai restaurant…you don’t need to check the calendar to know that Mother Nature is paying you other monthly visit.
What if I told you that you could avoid spending countless dollars a year on tampons and pads by eliminating the problem altogether? I bet that caught your attention.
As NPR explains, traditional birth control involves taking a hormone pill for 21 days followed by a placebo pill for 7 days, which causes the symptoms of a period. If you’re like most women, you probably think you need to have a “period” while on the pill to be healthy. But this doesn’t seem to be the case. Dr. Elizabeth Micks, who’s in charge of an OB-GYN clinic at the University of Washington, says, “There’s absolutely no medical need to have a period when you’re on contraception.”
That period you’ve been getting while on the pill? It’s actually a “fake” period created by a doctor who wanted to make the pill more appealing. Birth control pills were also seen as healthy forms of contraception that wouldn’t harm women’s future fertility. However, Paula Hillard, an OB-GYN at Stanford University Medical Center, says that there is no evidence that not having a period is harmful.
Now, more women are choosing to get an IUD, arm implant or hormone shot. These methods usually suppress or lighten periods, although, like all forms of birth control (except condoms), side effects may occur.
Imagine four full weeks of a month where you can be your usual productive self, enjoy every day and be free of your monthly visitor. No fear of bleeding on your pants or bed. No fear of having to change your plans because your cramps have taken over. If that sounds like your kind of month, see your doctor to discuss if you should make the switch.
