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| Thu, 11-04-2004 - 3:46pm |
I've been thinking of going on birth control for some time now but because I'm not currently having sex hadn't started making any steps towards it until today. Here's my problem. I will be backpacking throughout Europe from Christmas until mid January and I realized today that I'm due to have my period right in the middle of it. This would be a major inconvenience for me and so I'm wondering that if I were to get on birth control within the next two weeks would it be possible for me to avoid this cycle by skipping the placebo pills? I've done some research on the topic and know that there's generally a recommended time at which you begin using birth control, but because of the relatively short amount of time between now and this trip, I'm wondering if I would be able to either start as soon as I get a prescription (regardless of when it is during my cycle) or that if I were to wait until my next period (2 weeks from now), would I have time for it to be effective enough in late December for me to avoid having my period on the trip?
Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks - c

But, here`s the thing. Some women can skip periods successfully; some can`t at all. And it generally takes your body about three months to adjust to a new pill. During that time, your periods can be pretty irregular and you can experience a lot of annoying spotting. During this period of adjustment, your chances of skipping a period are probably pretty low. Sad but true.
If you start the pills with your next period, that gives your body five weeks. If you start as soon as you get your prescription, that`ll give you about seven. Either way, you can`t be sure how your body will react and if you`ll be able to skip a period successfully.
Generally, it`s recommended that you start the pill on the first day on your period - this is the time when your body`s natural hormones are at their lowest and introducing synthetic hormones are not as difficult for your body to tolerate.
Perhaps you should ask your doctor about when the best time to start would be! Either way, though, nothing`s really guaranteed but I guess it`s worth a try. :)
Lena
The answer is maybe. It usually takes 3 cycles for your body to adjust to the hormones in your pills. Attempting to skip a period during this adjustment interval often isn't successful, but you won't know for sure unless you try. Skipping works better if you are on a monophasic pill, one with the same dose of hormones in all the active pills, rather than a triphasic that has three different dosages over the three weeks of active pills. You can start your pills mid cycle but you are putting the hormones on top of your natural ones and it might be uncomfortable. If your ovulation process is too far along you might ovulate anyway and if that happens you will have your period about 2 weeks later regardless of where you are in your pack.
Another and perhaps better possibility might be to move your period with progestin pills. Ask your doctor about a 10 day regimen of progestin pills. These are not the contraceptive mini-pill (the progestin-only-pill) but something like Aygestin which contains 5 mg norethisterone. Women who are SCUBA divers sometimes use progestin pills to avoid having their periods on diving vacations and it seems to work well for most of them.
You might be able use the progestin pills to shift your cycle in several ways: take them early in your cycle to force your period early, or just before your period to delay it while you are on the pills or perhaps both shift your period with one dose and delay it with a second dose if necessary.
With both of these methods (since you are dealing with new hormones in your body) there is the possibility of side effects. Read the posts 'Common pill side effects' and 'Taking your pills correctly' in the FAQs.
Talk with your doctor about these possibilities and see what s/he says. I hope you have a great hiking vacation! Let us know what you decide and how it works for you, ok?
Good luck,
Jill