Do you know what's period suppression? Read it all here
| Sep 1, 2019, 22:00 IST
Periods are a normal phenomenon for healthy women which is associated with reproductive wellness. As much as women might hate periods, it's still doing good to our body by throwing out all the waste blood from our system.
But a recent movement in the UK gained momentum worldwide where it said that menstrual or period suppression is also a thing. This movement allows women to decide if she wants to get her period later or at a lesser frequency or not at all. Women for decades have been taking oral contraceptives to guide their periods which allows them to do away with them altogether as well.
The National Women’s Health Network, Washington DC, USA says, “These pills are intended to change a woman’s bleeding pattern to produce either no periods (Lybrel) or just four periods a year (Seasonale and Seasonique), instead of a dozen. Menstrual suppression products are chemically identical to traditional oral contraceptive pills. The active tablets contain a combination of levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol. The difference lies in the way a woman takes the pills. The traditional OCP is taken for 21 days, followed by 7 days of placebo pills. Seasonale and Seasonique are taken for 84 days consecutively, followed by 7 days of placebo pills. In both cases, while the woman is taking the placebo pills, she gets her period. Lybrel uses the same hormones, in a slightly lower dose, with no change in hormone dose throughout the year. Lybrel is designed to produce no periods at all.”
There are a few pros of menstrual suppression, the first most benefit is the idea that a woman can do away with pain, cramps, discomfort and messiness that the monthly periods bring. It can also prevent pregnancies. The disadvantages are obviously that you're tampering with your body's natural cycle which gets in the way of determining your reproductive health. The risk of blood clots and strokes associated with oral contraceptives also increases.
But a recent movement in the UK gained momentum worldwide where it said that menstrual or period suppression is also a thing. This movement allows women to decide if she wants to get her period later or at a lesser frequency or not at all. Women for decades have been taking oral contraceptives to guide their periods which allows them to do away with them altogether as well.
The National Women’s Health Network, Washington DC, USA says, “These pills are intended to change a woman’s bleeding pattern to produce either no periods (Lybrel) or just four periods a year (Seasonale and Seasonique), instead of a dozen. Menstrual suppression products are chemically identical to traditional oral contraceptive pills. The active tablets contain a combination of levonorgestrel and ethinyl estradiol. The difference lies in the way a woman takes the pills. The traditional OCP is taken for 21 days, followed by 7 days of placebo pills. Seasonale and Seasonique are taken for 84 days consecutively, followed by 7 days of placebo pills. In both cases, while the woman is taking the placebo pills, she gets her period. Lybrel uses the same hormones, in a slightly lower dose, with no change in hormone dose throughout the year. Lybrel is designed to produce no periods at all.”
There are a few pros of menstrual suppression, the first most benefit is the idea that a woman can do away with pain, cramps, discomfort and messiness that the monthly periods bring. It can also prevent pregnancies. The disadvantages are obviously that you're tampering with your body's natural cycle which gets in the way of determining your reproductive health. The risk of blood clots and strokes associated with oral contraceptives also increases.