Is It Safe To Use Oral Contraceptives To Eliminate Periods? Harvard Women's Health Watch Explores The Question

The new birth control pill
Lybrel is the first oral contraceptive designed to be taken 365 days a year
with no pill-free intervals. Women who use Lybrel don't have regular
periods, although they may have breakthrough bleeding. There are risks and
benefits to suppressing menstruation, reports the September 2007 issue of
Harvard Women's Health Watch.



The idea of preventing periods is not completely new. Conventional oral
contraceptives also stop periods if they are taken continuously, and a
clinician may suggest this approach to enable a woman to skip her period at
an inconvenient time, such as during her honeymoon. The notion of
suppressing periods over a longer term has become increasingly attractive,
partly because this strategy has helped with treating endometriosis and
managing the hormonal swings of perimenopause.




There's some justification for reducing the number of periods or
eliminating them altogether. For some women, eliminating periods can mean
avoiding cramps, mood swings, headaches, and heavy bleeding that can cause
anemia. On the other hand, many women are uncomfortable with the notion of
not having periods. One concern about Lybrel is that if it fails, a woman
may not know she is pregnant.



The Harvard Women's Health Watch notes that there are no long-term
safety data on Lybrel, but its risks are thought to be similar to
conventional oral contraceptives -- an increased incidence of blood clots,
heart attacks, and stroke, especially in smokers. On the plus side, birth
control pills appear to lower the risk of ovarian and endometrial cancers;
Lybrel might do the same. But the effects of taking Lybrel for more than a
year are unknown. The use of continuous birth control has to be considered
largely uncharted territory.


Harvard Women's Health Watch

health.harvard.edu/women