Pill/patch 4 weeks a month

FX Meister

My girlfriend is on the contraceptive patch. Basically she uses it for three weeks then goes off it for a week, when she has her period. eth0_ mentioned in another thread that women can just stay on it 4/4 weeks and never have a period. Do many women do this? I ask because we are going on holiday soon and she will be due her period one of the weeks, it would be handier if she didn't have it so she could still go swimming as well as other things . Has anyone any advice on this topic?

koneko

Some research indicates it can be bad and mess up hormonal cycles/menopauses/periods if done for extended periods, but we're talking over 4 months here. But others claim that isn't true and it's perfectly fine to do it. In short, we don't know

Skipping the odd period by taking the pill is not a problem though. Lots of people do it if they have a holiday or event coming up when their period is due.

Don't know about the patch myself, but that's with the pill.

FX Meister

The patch is the same as the pill, the stuff is just released over a week through the patch, a bit like a nicotine patch. She's not too good with remembering to take pills hence the patch. Maybe I'll mention it to her tonight and see what she thinks.

drusilla

D'ya know, it's really nice to see a fella take responsability over this kida thing. Well done, m'laddo.:)

FX Meister

Thanks Dru. I think it's something both people in a relationship should talk about. She takes the patch but we both use it I guess you could say. I talked to her last night and she thought that I had read the leaflet that came with it again, but to be honest I couldn't remember the part about missing a period, but she said it is in there and had been thinking about it. Shes worried it might mess with her hormones but she is going to think about it and we will talk about it before we go.

dudara

I've done it a few times and taken pill packets back to back when going on holiday. It's worked and I haven't had a period, but I have noticed spotting towards the end of the second packet. Nothing heavy though.

Once I took the break after the second packet and went back to the usual routine, everything was fine.

koneko

Spotting is normal, nothing to worry about. I don't think hormone balances would be a problem if she's only doing this once. If she's considering doing it long(er) term, she should speak to her doctor.

FX Meister

It's just the once, even now she gets spotting so that's kinda what's got her worried about going back to back.