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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Period delaying pills - is it now normal ...

128 replies

Figmentofmyimagination · 29/05/2015 11:00

...for young people to use these to delay their period so they can eg "swim while on holiday"? I'm pretty shocked to be assured this is now normal - (and of course taxpayer funded, as they are in education).

This is not a contraceptive. According to NHS choices, it is a pill available on the NHS to treat menstrual disorders, also used when treating some breast cancers.

Perhaps unsurprisingly its listed uses do not include "delaying your period to have a nicer holiday".

OP posts:
Mousefinkle · 29/05/2015 20:35

Why shouldn't a woman be allowed to control her menstrual cycle if she so wishes?

Nobody wants to be on a period on holiday or at their 21st birthday party. I don't understand the issue here at all.

AnyFucker · 29/05/2015 20:38

I am happy as a "tax payer" for women to use anything at their disposal to make their lives easier

Idontseeanydragons · 29/05/2015 20:48

YABU but you know that now Smile
You can buy it over the counter? That's fab news - my cycle appears to have gone tits up recently and I will more than likely on when I'm on our first beach holiday for years. It's a bit pointless me being on the pill (used that method a few times myself) as himself had the snip a couple of years ago.
I will investigate further and pay for it myself so I won't be a burden on the poor taxpayer Wink.

Doilooklikeatourist · 29/05/2015 20:55

I took DD to the GP to get this , so she wouldn't get her period while we were on holiday
Win win
Makes everyone lif much easier
And .. We live in Wales so the prescription was free

And ( again ) we were not BU

AliceInSandwichLand · 29/05/2015 21:13

Both my daughters took it, once each, during the teenage years - one when going on a French exchange with total strangers for the first time, not wanting to deal with pain and embarrassment away from home, and the other when camping on her D of E expedition. Both were glad they'd done it. I don't see any downside to a one off like that. Given how seldom I took them to the doctor when they were little, I don't think we took the piss from the NHS with the cost of two packets of it...

Sunflower1985 · 29/05/2015 21:51

I trialled norethiserone last year as a contraceptive. Gave me suicidal ideation. Just as a warning - it's not suitable for everyone.

TinklyLittleLaugh · 29/05/2015 22:10

My DD has run her pill over several times for festivals and holidays. I'll admit I was a bit concerned; when I was on the pill, (back in the dark ages) I wouldn't have dared mess with it, none of my friends did either. It's really good that women have more choices and more control over their bodies.

Topseyt · 29/05/2015 22:19

We are going on our first family holiday abroad for many years this summer.

I am nearly 49 and peri-menopausal. I suffer horrendous flooding, which is partially controlled by taking Tranexamic Acid for a few days each month. They are very incapacitating.

I am very likely to be due a flood while we are away. If I can take a pill to postpone it then why would I not. I intend to visit my GP to discuss options in the next few weeks.

Women should be under no obligation to suffer just because of being female. Nor should teenage girls.

Heavy periods are not just an inconvenience and embarrassment. They can cause significant health issues as iron levels deplete over time. I know someone who became very ill due to this. She collapsed due to serious anaemia brought on by prolonged, heavy, flooding each month. It happened in front of her teenage daughter, who was terrified and had to call the doctor out.

YesThisIsMe · 29/05/2015 22:23

A teenaged mate of mine was given the pill to avoid having to handle having a period on CCF camp. This was the mid eighties so thirty years ago. When I was on the pill for contraceptive reasons a couple of years later it came entirely naturally to me to run packs together when it was more convenient not to bleed - why wouldn't you?

As PPs have said, bleeding once every 28 days for thirty five years with two short breaks for babies is the very opposite of natural.

AnyFucker · 29/05/2015 22:37

tranaxemic acid ! how entitled are you ? Wink

LucasNorthsTwiglets · 30/05/2015 01:13

To the PP who said she took norethisterone with irregular periods, how does this work? AFAIK you have to take it about 3 days before you're due and if yuo have a very irregular cycle you don't know when it's 3 days before (I ask because would like DD to take it but her cycle is all over the place).

QOD · 30/05/2015 09:55

My dd has had it before aged about 13
She's just got the pill prescribed only yesterday as she has 3 different weeks away in the summer doing various activities and her heavy and irregular periods that last 7 to 10 days make it hard to plan.
She may just take it for 2.months then stop, she may carry on, the pill is there for contraception but also has the lucky added bonus of control over flooding periods
The gp offered to put her on it at 13 but we decided to wait until 16 ish just ... because. And I'm pleased she doesn't have to spend 2 separate weeks in a tent away from home using maxi towels etc

SomewhereIBelong · 30/05/2015 10:03

DD12 had norethisterone prescribed last week - on a watersports holiday and she was not happy to try tampons for the first time less than a year into having periods.

Perhaps young girls should just not take part in things - stay close to home during their periods?

Never occurred to me to not ask the doc if there was anything she could take to delay the onset of her period for a few days... they were happy to prescribe over the phone - so not wasting a whole appointment at the surgery.

Sallystyle · 30/05/2015 10:28

I didn't know it was so easy to get.

If my period is due when we go camping in the summer I will definitely take it. I don't want to flood and have to rush to the paid toilets every 30 minutes.

whois · 30/05/2015 10:45

I back up my pills to prevent periods on a regular basis. As others have said, they aren't real periods anyway on the pill. Generally back up three or four packs in a row and then pick a time to have a bleed so not on holiday or whatever.

hairypaws · 30/05/2015 10:48

My 12 year old suffers from very heavy periods. We'll def be delaying her period for our holiday if the gp is happy to prescribe. She is stressing at the thought of having to deal with her period in summer clothes and would be mortified if she flooded through.

Would you deny a 12 year old this option, really?

GnocchiGnocchiWhosThere · 30/05/2015 11:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

crazykat · 31/05/2015 20:24

I cant see the problem tbh. Why shouldn't women be able to delay their period if they choose?

I've been taking them for the past week and have enough for another week, I have a uni exam next week and can't risk having a period which is due any time this week. My periods are unpredictable and for the first three days I go through a box of super plus tampons each day and I'm doubled over in pain despite prescription strength cocodamol and naproxen.

I've been through labour without so much as paracetamol and all but the last half hour or so of labour is preferable to my periods. No way could I sit a three hour exam, even without the pain I'd spend half the exam having to go to the loo, so I asked the gp for northisterone and was given two weeks worth.

Bakeoffcake · 31/05/2015 20:31

My dd uses it when she goes to festivals.

She doesn't fancy having a period and having to use the toilets provided. It's a blooming good idea IMO.

Why shouldnt women use something to make their lives more enjoyable?

muminhants1 · 31/05/2015 20:54

I didn't know that you didn't need a prescription. I was thinking the biggest barrier for me would be trying to get a appointment with a GP to get hold of it.

doomkittycleo · 08/06/2015 07:52

They advised me I as soon as I started the pill when I was 15 that I could do this any time I wanted. There is actually no medical reasons to stop the pill for the 7 day break. It is just to make you feel normal by letting you have a bleed. I've done it several times in the course of my adult life with no adverse effects. If it was the injection or the implant you don't have periods for years sometimes.

May make it take longer to get back to normal if you want to ttc soon, but otherwise it is normal practice.

JacquesHammer · 08/06/2015 11:49

AliceScarlett - You can certainly take similar on Cerazette

After years of struggling with appallingly heavy periods, I went on the mini pill, amazing relief from flooding but prolonged irregular spotting. I talked to my GP on the phone because I was going away with my boyfriend and I wanted to have sex quite frankly, I was prescribed Provera to stop the spotting - I started it on the Monday and by the Friday it had stopped. I stopped taking the tablets on the Sunday and haven't had a bleed since.

It has been a GOD send to me

bottleofbeer · 08/06/2015 13:50

I use them quite often. Absolutely no problems. If you want to try them all I can say is go for it and enjoy whatever it is you want to use them for. Alternatively, suffer, women everywhere!

Wood7 · 23/11/2019 14:45

Hi.

I am 19 year old female.

Advice needed. I am stressing and worrying my self over this

I took norethisterone in July for just under 3 weeks ( doctor prescribed ) to stop period for my holiday. I stopped taking the tablet once home and started period about 3 days later ( on 5 th August ) it was painful but not that heavy kind of just as usual. It lasted for approx 5/6 days

Now I haven’t had a period since 5th - 11th august (3 month) Is this due to the tablet messing up my cycle or should I be worried ?
I also am very stressed with university work so this could be having a impact ?

Thanks in advance smile