Is There a Safe Way to "Pause" Your Periods?

You don't need to be told that periods can be incredibly annoying, inconvenient things. As important as they are to your well-being, they can often get in the way when you have something important to get done.

With every annoying thing that they do, it makes total sense that you might have wondered about whether it's possible to just hit pause on your period, like a hold button to let you get on with what you need to do. Well, this article is here to tell you that you might be able to do exactly that.

How You Can Hit Pause

Rather than keep you held in suspense for too long, let's jump right to the meat of the matter and outline how you can hit pause on your cycle and keep your period at bay.

As simple as it might sound, there is actually a pill that you can take to keep your progesterone levels elevated, thus keeping your period at bay. You can get the pill from most pharmacies – including online ones like Chemist Click – and get your hands on it pretty quickly.

The reason the pill works is that during your natural cycle, a drop in your progesterone levels is what triggers your body to start your period. By working to keep your progesterone levels elevated, the pill keeps your period from starting and allows you to hold it at bay. When you stop taking the pill, your progesterone levels will drop again, and your cycle will continue.

The Dangers of Stopping Your Periods for Too Long

Of course, as nice as it might be to keep Mother Nature at bay, it's never going to be safe to keep her locked up forever. As you well know, your period is an important process to remove the excess lining that has built up in your womb over the last month. However, by stopping your period, you prevent the removal of that lining, and your body will just keep on adding more on top. 

That might not sound too bad on the surface, but the problem is that it can actually lead to a heightened risk of ovarian cancer – an issue that people with irregular periods from conditions like polycystic ovaries have to contend with.

So, as helpful as it might be to "pause" your periods when you need to, remember that it is also incredibly important that you allow your natural cycle to continue as soon as it is convenient to do so.

When to Take the Pill

There are plenty of situations where you might rather avoid having your period. For example, if you are planning on attending a wedding (or planning your own wedding) or have an important deal coming up at work. 

Ultimately, you are always going to be the best judge of when this kind of medication is going to be helpful to you and when you aren't going to need it at all. The most important thing is that you are careful to follow the instructions of the medication and are safe while you do so.

This is a guest blog entry