TMI..Birth Control to control your cycle during wedding/honeymoon?

gingerbride82

I didn't know where else to post this, but FI and I are planning to conceive ASAP after the nuptials.  Due to concerns regarding age and fertility, I'm stopping oral contraceptives and we're going to use backup methods until the wedding.. while I know backup methods aren't foolproof or even efficient, we're not worried about the prospect of possibly conceiving PRIOR.  My main, and only concern really is that since my cycle was never really regular (TMI, I warned you..) pre-birth control I don't want to be bleeding to death during wedding/honeymoon.

So, the question is: have any of you used the pill to merely stop/prevent your cycle for a short period of time? i.e. took the pill only for a week leading up to/during the event? 

ShallowSeas

I haven't used the pill to prevent/stop my cycle for a short period of time, but I have read from multiple sources and have heard from my GYNO that taking bc pills for an extended amount of time does not make it harder to get pregnant. You don't have to stop bc a month or two in advance to get pregnant, you just need to stop it around the time you are ovulating and try when you are actually ovulating. 

flyingfoxes

I was going to do the same - go off the Pill before the wedding. FI is going to undergo a vasectomy reversal next year, but then I asked my gyno how long before TTC I should stop taking the Pill and she said only 1-2 months. I thought it would stay in my system longer, but since it's that short, I will stay on the Pill to make sure my period doesn't happen over the wedding or honeymoon either. I use the Pill to skip periods anyway, so I only have them 4X per year - I'm going to hate losing that benefit, but I'm afraid that after we would have a child, I'd be 39 and I doubt anybody's going to put me back on the Pill at that age. =/ So - long story short, if it's that short of a time period for it to leave your system, can you just stay on the Pill until your honeymoon ends and then go off of it permanently if it might only take 1-2 months to conceive afterwards?

grumbledore

gingerbride82 said:

I didn't know where else to post this, but FI and I are planning to conceive ASAP after the nuptials.  Due to concerns regarding age and fertility, I'm stopping oral contraceptives and we're going to use backup methods until the wedding.. while I know backup methods aren't foolproof or even efficient, we're not worried about the prospect of possibly conceiving PRIOR.  My main, and only concern really is that since my cycle was never really regular (TMI, I warned you..) pre-birth control I don't want to be bleeding to death during wedding/honeymoon.

So, the question is: have any of you used the pill to merely stop/prevent your cycle for a short period of time? i.e. took the pill only for a week leading up to/during the event? 

Idk if this short a period of time of taking it would work.  I worry about having mine for the wedding.  I've been tracking it closely so if I need to I can start BCP a couple of months before if it looks like it will coincide but I am not interested in being in BCP in general.

Ask your doctor.

littlemushroom

You will have to see how it works for you. What I did is not exactly the same as what you are proposing, but I think it may work similarly.

 I wanted to move my period up a week so that it wouldn't be during our wedding.  I skipped the placebo pills one month and just went right into the new pill pack.  However, I still got my period that month (it was much lighter though) AND I was spotting pretty heavily for the week and half after that as well.  So for about 2 and a half weeks I was "on my period."  Then I had a normal period when I hit the placebo pills that pack, and everything went back to normal.

My doctor told me that I could have just skipped the period all together by immediately starting the new pack, or that I could have a very light flow the entire month following until I started the NEXT pill pack after being on the placebos for a week.  Likely, the same options could happen with just trying to start the pills for a week after being off them.  So you may want to do a trial run before the wedding to see how your body responds.

emmyg65

I have to admit that I never really understand the concern about this, at least not to the point of actively trying to stop it (unless you have debilitating periods or something). I had my period on my wedding day, complete with my usual terrible symptoms, and it really wasn't a big deal. It wasn't ideal, but it wasn't awful either.

littlemushroom

@emmyg65 (since TK will not let me reply):  Honestly it was because the day of the wedding would be one of the heavy days and I do NOT want to worry about staining my white dress.  Plus, it would be awkward if my MOH had to help me in the bathroom to keep my dress out of the toilet.  I would rather just not have to deal with it, so I moved it and now I don't have to worry.  

flyingfoxes

^ I skip 'em on a regular basis and actively skip them when I'm on vacations and stuff, so to me this is business as usual, lol.

jenna8984

april182015bride said:

^ I skip 'em on a regular basis and actively skip them when I'm on vacations and stuff, so to me this is business as usual, lol.

Me too...I'm on the 3 month packs so the period is only 4 times a year anyways but I still sometimes push it a week or 2 back. I honestly don't understand why everyone does not take the 3 month packs? Seriously? Why would you do that to yourself monthly when you don't have to?

OP I would also suggest just staying on it until the wedding to be sure.

gingerbride82

The pill I'm on is actually a continuous cycle, so I don't have placebo pills/or a period..   I know science  and literature dictates that there's no direct correlation between when you stop bc and delays in conception. I guess I'm just nervous/scared due to the experience of the majority of my girlfriends who've been trying to/tried to conceive for over a year... I know everyone is different... my clock is just so dang loud.  

JCbride2015

I routinely use my NuvaRing to skip periods.  I just leave the ring in for the full 28-day cycle instead of taking it out after 21 days.  There's enough medicine left in there to stop my period.  I will get my period on purpose every 3-4 months just as, like, nature's pregnancy test.  But even that I recognize is silly.

I plan to stick to that practice around the time of the wedding.  No period for me.

artbyallie

Why would you not just stay on the pill until after the honeymoon then? If you're in the U.S. and have health insurance, it should be free...

flyingfoxes

^ I understand, and I had a friend who also went over a year before she conceived. It was MUCH quicker with her second, and she swears by the ovulation-tracking kit - it helped her out a lot in figuring out the best time for her to get pregnant.

theartistformerlyknownas

I don't feel like this would be the most effective way of going about it. I've used the pill to tweak what day it starts on (like ending the active pills 2 days early), but it hasn't been all that effective in allowing me to completely skip a period. I still get spotting at random times, which IMO is worse. 

I would count out when you expect it to start, adjust as necessary so it ends before your wedding, and make that your last pack of pills. 

blabla89

I will confess that there have been quite a few times when I've skipped to a new pack of pills because I just couldn't deal with my period that week for whatever reason. I will definitely do so for my wedding/HM if necessary. We won't be TTC for quite a few years, so I'm planning to stay on the pill so that I can skip my period if I need to, and then get an IUC as soon as we're back from the HM.

TMI alert - when I start a new pack of pills to skip my period, I get a little bit of light pinkish spotting around the time it was supposed to start. I made the mistake of skipping two in a row once and that led to severe spotting that was longer than my actual period. Do not recommend that at all.

JaniV123

I would stay on the pill (ETA: until the wedding/hm) and read into Charting. I recommend the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler as it explain female fertility how to how TTC effectively by understanding your body. 

Sugargirl1019

I would just start pills now, as it can take your body like 3 months to adjust (nausea) and then just stop your pills after the honeymoon. Don't take them just for one month. There's no guarantee what your body will do. Talk to your doctor how to skip periods without spotting.

emmyg65

Definitely check out Taking Charge of Your Fertility. It's awesome whether you're TTC or not, and whether or not you decide to chart. Thanks to that book, I realized I actually don't have yeast infections every month.

Knottie37373131

I actually use an app on my phone to track my period each month. So when I was setting my date I new what month I wanted and not the date. I ended up planning around it and now I will be going to Jamaica period free!

jdluvr06

I have a bit of a horrid confession. A few years ago they discovered I had a small benign pituitary tumor (no worries it isn't that serious and it is gone now) and it would produce hormones that would stop my period. So I had to take these pills that helped shrink the tumor and keep everything regular. Well we were getting ready to go on vacation and to make sure I didn't have my period while on vacation I stopped taking my meds a month before we went. It worked and my doctor didn't yell at me too much.

Peaseblossom55

I'm planning to TTC a few months after the wedding, my GYN told me to keep taking the pills until I'm ready to start trying he said women are usually most fertile after going off the pill.  I'd just stay on it until after the wedding.

artbyallie

Incidentally my current pill pack is going to run out of active pills halfway through our Puerto Rican vacation. I'm going to go ahead and get my next one filled to bring along because there's no way in hell I'm bleeding at the beach.

CamiSelene

This is something that you should really talk to your doctor about. I worry about having mine too and based on my tracking, I probably will have mine (which sucks!) but I can't take the BCP anymore because it caused Pulmonary Embolisms (blood clots in my lungs which also killed part of my right lung) that almost killed me a few years ago.

huskypuppy14

Taking the pill for only a week will probably not do anything, but make your system more irregular. You need to be on it for at least a month for it to do any good. You need to discuss your concerns with your doctor.

phira

Honestly, while I get wanting to conceive as soon as possible after your wedding, I think there are two things you need to keep in mind:

1) You can't get off the pill before the wedding so you can start trying right away AND stay on hormonal birth control to prevent your period during your wedding and honeymoon. While some folks adjust to meds very quickly, most people need a few months to get to a point where they can skip their period with the pill. So basically, if you're hoping to use hormonal contraception to prevent your period during a specific period of time, you need to be on that hormonal contraception at least 2-3 months in advance of the event.

2) I don't think you should worry so much about how easy it'll be to get pregnant after you stop birth control. My cycle was 100% regular after I stopped my pill (like, I stopped talking it mid-way through a pack and still got my period when I was supposed to, and it was scary-regular till I got an IUD). There's a significant chance that if you struggle to conceive for a while after going off the pill ... it's likely you were going to struggle to conceive anyway. If you're worried about fertility, it's good to see a doctor right away, start monitoring your ovulation, etc.

Bottom line: You can't really use birth control to prevent your period for your wedding/honeymoon but not be on it for a few months beforehand. You kind of need to decide what's more important for you. Just keep in mind, being on the pill alone doesn't usually fuck with fertility.

OnceUponAVine

I'm on a continuous does of birth control meaning I never take placebo pills so I never get a period. Its fantastic and both my primary & my gyn have told me that when I'm ready for kids all I need to do is stop the birth control and my periods should resume.

JennyColada

When did you last have natural cycles? I'm guessing that you've been on BC for some time, so it's very possible that your cycles now would be very regular (in contrast to your cycles from years ago).

gingerbride82

It's been 10+ years since I've had a natural cycle

phira

gingerbride82 said:

It's been 10+ years since I've had a natural cycle

I was on the pill for 8 years. From the ages of 12 to 16 (when I started the pill), I think I had about 10-15 periods, total, and they were always irregular. After I went off the pill, I had clockwork periods. It was the best.

(Now I have zero periods. Thanks, Mirena!)

countrygirl061513

NikkiJay3333 said:

@emmyg65 (since TK will not let me reply):  Honestly it was because the day of the wedding would be one of the heavy days and I do NOT want to worry about staining my white dress.  Plus, it would be awkward if my MOH had to help me in the bathroom to keep my dress out of the toilet.  I would rather just not have to deal with it, so I moved it and now I don't have to worry.  

I got my period a couple days before my wedding, and everyday is a heavy day for me. What I did when I needed to go to the bathroom was have my SIL take my dress off so I could go solo and then put my dress back on completely after I was done. I agree it was a headache but it worked out.

JennyColada

phira said:

gingerbride82 said:

It's been 10+ years since I've had a natural cycle

I was on the pill for 8 years. From the ages of 12 to 16 (when I started the pill), I think I had about 10-15 periods, total, and they were always irregular. After I went off the pill, I had clockwork periods. It was the best.

(Now I have zero periods. Thanks, Mirena!)

Same here!

I had regular 5 week cycles from 15-19 and then I went on The Pill from 19-30, had a regular 4 week cycle, then went on Mirena and now no periods.