Is your period obsolete? No-period pill slated for approval

by Bethany Sanders (Subscribe to Bethany Sanders's posts)
May 22nd 2007 8:30AM

Categories: Womens Health, Diet & Weight Loss, Reviews & Products

Our male readers likely quit reading after the headline, so fellow females, it should be just us girls in here. And I have a question to ask you: What do you make of the new "no-period" pill Lybrel?

The pill, whose name looks to be a funky phonetic spelling of liberal and is meant to make you think "liberty," is set to be approved by the FDA soon. Traditional birth control pills have women take a 7-day dose of sugar pills after three weeks on the drug, to mimic a women's cycle. Though it seems like you're having a "period," I've read that actually that 7-day break is only there to mimic your cycle and make you feel more comfortable. The period your having has no function at all. That's perhaps why drug makers have been creating drugs that cut back periods more and more. First there were drugs like Yaz that shortened periods to three days or less, then Seasonique cut them back to four times a year. Lybrel promises to eliminate them altogether (although 18% of women in trials reported breakthrough bleeding, so I'm not sure that promise will hold up.)In any case, are periods really obsolete? The majority opinion seems to be saying yes, that periods are merely a biological sign that you aren't pregnant, and if you don't need that monthly message you don't need your period. But at least one health psychologist, Paula Derry -- who wrote an opinion piece on the subject in the British Medical Journal -- disagrees, saying that periods are a necessary biological function. Derry says that the hormones that are "turned off" by taking Lybrel have a greater purpose than just causing a monthly period and is concerned that there are no long-term assurances of safety.

The decision to manage ones monthly cycle is obviously a very personal decision, but I'm curious to hear your thoughts. What do you think of Lybrel? Would you take it and be happy to be rid of the monthly inconvenience, or do you think turning off a woman's period is unnatural and potentially unsafe?

Source

Comments (5)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Ayesha97 5-22-2007 @ 8:59AM

I think that not getting my period would bug me to no end- even if I knew that it wasn't coming I'd still get thoughts in my head of "what if I'm pregnant????" I don't think there'd be a way to stop those thoughts and that would only stress me out more. So, thanks but no thanks, I'll deal with my monthly inconveniences.

Christi 5-22-2007 @ 3:17PM

I used to hate my periods but two things changed that:

1) Menstrual cups pretty much solved everything I hated about pads and tampons and

2) Using sympto-thermal methods of Fertility Awareness Methods (FAM) to try to predict my periods so no more unexpected surprises. Granted, if I want to plan around my periods, I have only my luteal phase during which I can plan things but, that time is more than enough to at least prepare for my next period.

Also, knowing the different kinds of periods -- menstrual period (which happens with ovulation), breakthrough period (which happens with anovulatory cycles) and withdrawal period (which the pill period is or could also happen with anovulatory cycles) -- helps me define what a healthy period is for me.

Kelly 5-22-2007 @ 6:29PM

This is what I thought I was getting all along. I was incredibly upset when I started on the pill at 16 only to find out I still had a period. Many times while I was on the pill I would skip the sugar pills and just get the next month's prescription early. It was easier with the NuvoRing, I just left it in for an extra week.

However, there is a much more important issue here. Forget about the period, I want to be able to take birth measures without the incredible depression that comes with them. Why don't they fix that?

Christi 5-23-2007 @ 1:43AM

@Kelly:

There are many different pills because everyone's physiology will react differently. You can look at a list of pills and their side effects (http://www.wdxcyber.com/ncontr13.htm) and choose another pill but, just keep in mind that you might be trading in one set of problems for another.

kristen 6-01-2007 @ 2:37PM

I LOVE the idea of no periods. I took Depo for 2 years and never got a period. It was wonderful. I stopped due to the black label warning saying it caused bone density loss. I'm very excited there is a new option out there. I'll be in line waiting for it to come out.