Caution: Girl Stuff

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Guys - you've been warned. I'm going to get a bit detailed.





Late last summer I decided to try something with my birth control pills. I had heard that if you skip the placebo week and just start your new pills pack, your periods either cease or happen rarely. I believe someone from this group had done this before (I think they wrote about it on Fab's board?) and I've heard from other people that recommended it. Like every other woman on earth, I am annoyed by my monthly BS and thought it was worth a shot.

At first it was great. No periods. No mood swings, no cramps, no gastrointestinal distress, no accidents, no tampons. Nothing. It was so freeing. I also noticed that instead of waxing and waning as they usually did, my boobs were staying big and getting bigger. I had the biggest breasts I've ever had - a solid B cup.

But after a few months I started getting discharge problems that lingered. Instead of an actual period I had weeks of not-really-a-period-but-requires-pantiliners. It would go away a bit and then come back, far more often than my period. It was enough to annoy me into going back to the old way.

In December I went in for my pap. I admitted to my (new, due to moving) doctor that I had manipulated my pill schedule. He was immediately dismissive and gave me a ton of scare stories about too much estrogen, and that the body needed to clean out the uterus, yadda yadda. He said the opposite of everything I'd heard around on the topic. I asked about other alternatives but again, everything he mentioned had dire warnings about side effects and bad reactions. No, he recommended I stick to the old school pill with the old school schedule, saying it was the safest, best way.

So, I have. Going back to having a period wasn't as annoying as I thought it would be. I guess I'm just used to having it, so it's no big deal. The other side of it has been more interesting for me though.

In the last couple weeks I've really noticed the difference in my breasts. We've been hitting the hot tub most evenings and my bikini top just isn't what it was two months ago. I think my bras have stretched out as well...or at least my expectations for my bras have changed. The realization that I'll never have those boobs again has affected me far more than I thought it would, hell, far more than I hoped it would. I know I'll get over it but it's kind of odd to confront it.

So - I checked WebMD.

Originally Posted by WebMD

9. Myth: It's not safe to use birth control pills to manipulate your cycle.
Fact: It is perfectly safe, and doctors have been using the pill in this fashion for decades. Indeed, because you aren't ovulating on the pill, the lining of your uterus does not build during a monthly cycle. Therefore there is no need to shed or "cleanse" your uterus with a menstrual bleed. In fact, the "period" you get while on the pill is not a menstrual bleed at all but instead your body's reaction to hormone withdrawal -- which occurs when you take the seven "placebo" pills in your pack at the end of each month. As such, skipping the placebos and continuing to take the pill without a bleeding break, is not harmful.

I'm thinking of looking for a new doctor who will actually talk to me about this instead of being dismissive. Thing is, I am totally aware that the main reason I would do so is because of the breasts, not the periods. And that is enough to make me think I shouldn't do it.

Sigh.