How to stop your period (but do you really want to?) – Cora

How to stop your period

Ultimately, deciding to stop your period is a choice that you can make with your doctor. The goal here isn’t to tell you how to live your life (your uterus, your choice, #feminism), but to give you comprehensive information that will allow you to make an informed choice. If you have decided that you want to stop your period, there are a few different ways your doctor will likely suggest you can go about it.

If you want to stop your period using the pill, you can skip the sugar pills and take the hormonal pills continuously.

If you don’t want to stop your period entirely, you can opt for a birth control, like Lybrel, Seasonale, and Seasonique, that only gives you 4 periods a year.

Many women who have the Mirena IUD, which can protect you from pregnancy for up to 5 years, find that their periods become shorter and less frequent. In some cases, they disappear completely, though there’s no guarantee of this.

One of the most effective forms of birth control, the Depo shot causes some women’s periods to stop after a year of continuous use. You’ll need to get the shot every 12 weeks to make it effective.

Similar to the Pill, the vaginal ring (or NuvaRing) is meant to be worn inside your vagina for 3 weeks and then taken out for the 4th week, so you can have a period. To use this to skip your period, you just replace the old ring with a new one with no break in between.

If you do decide to stop your period, have a discussion with your doctor about using birth control with that intent. Messing with your menstrual cycle using hormones can be risky. Sure, the benefits seem great now but when it comes to your reproductive health, it’s important to take long-term risks into consideration. It’s your choice, girl. Just be informed and confident about how and why you’re making that choice.

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