To be utterly outraged by this a month later?

[MaryBoBary]

Sorry if this has already been discussed - I did do a quick search but couldn’t find anything relevant.

I think it was around the end of January that it was announced that NICE guidelines were changing to inform women that the contraceptive pill can be taken every day, and the advised weekly break in week 4 was not actually necessary. The break was only advised in a failed attempt for the pill to be approved by the Pope for catholic’s to use.

I am still absolutely fuming and utterly disgusted that the advice I have been given for the last 12 years I have been on the pill was not based on medical fact or reason, but religion. Is it unreasonable to expect that medical advice is not influenced by religion?

I can not understand why there has not been an uproar about this. I think it is utterly outrageous and is there any other medical advice that isn’t based on scientific facts? Maybe it is just me feeling so angry about this, but I really hope not.

I first took the pill back in the late 60s. I've never heard anything about the idea of the break being an attempt to appease the pope, and tbh can't image how on earth it would. It's still contraception even if you bleed once a month.

I was under the impression that the reason for the break was that it was thought women would feel more normal if they had a bleed each month and that it would reassure them they were not pregnant.

I always thought it was down to cost... ie, if you take it continuously, the extra week every four weeks means's an extra three months' worth of pills that have to be prescribed and funded.

ShesABelter No it's not a real period but I think it was meant to be more about perception than reality, as clearly it makes not difference whether you have a break or not.

I can’t help but wonder that if this was a medication for men, if it would be more widely publicised.

I don't really understand this. Most people here have said they knew many years ago because their doctors told them. Im not sure why NICE guidelines are only being changed now but guidelines change all the time and it doesn't get publicised by the news, whether for men or women.

I have been taking it without a break for years for endometriosis, this has been known in the medical profession for a long time.

Yanbu, I’m another one who was told it’s not healthy not to have a “period” whilst being on the pill.

Fucking men. If I could get a magic wish it would be for those doctors/scientists/politicians/the pope whoever made those decisions, to have to bleed clots from their nob once a month with crippling stomach pains for all eternity

FlippinNora1

I hope you took a weeks break in your month of being “outraged”?

And yes, it’s clearly men’s fault women have periods....bloody men!!!!

When I took the pill back in the early 80s to the early 90s,my doctor told me it was fine to take the packets back to back,that there was no medical reason for a break. When I read recently about the reason for the suggested break (i.e. religious reasons) I must say I was totally gobsmacked. So I'm not surprised that you are annoyed OP.

It’s not really the ‘pope rule’. One of the inventors was Catholic and did think this would make the pill more acceptable but it was also thought that women would be find the presence of a period more reassuring as a confirmation the contraception was still working.

I don’t think this is exclusively due to men you get all sorts of guff posted by women too about the mystical moon magic of periods and how they make women powerful. A lot of people of both sexes seem determined to force our menstruation on us whether we want it or not.

To the posters mocking me for being angry about this - that’s fine, if you don’t care what you are told by medical professionals that’s your call but I really do think it is terrible to be medically advised to do something when it is not medically necessary.

I didn't get on with pill, but I did read the thing about the break was pointless long ago... like 15+ yrs ago I learnt that.

xpost.. if point of pills is to prevent conception, then taking them when you don't need them (to achieve the medical goal) is very unnecessary.

@gamerwidow even if that is the case, it is still because “someone thought women would prefer it” and not because it is medically required. That’s is no better in my opinion.

@ShesABelter it's not a real period? Is that true? I honestly had no idea! Feels bloody real at times!!

I haven't used the pill for years (I'm on a Mirena coil) but I definitely wasn't told this when first prescribed it in the 1980s.

And the blister packs - don't they have three weeks worth of pills in them? Which rather implies that you take it for three, off one?

Depends how you look at it Marybo, it's not medically required to take it continuously to meet its purpose, so advising this would also be something that is not medically required.

I've also known about this for years... And the pope thing isn't even a new (false) story, it's been around for years too.

@WhereYouLeftIt yes I agree the packs definitely support the idea that you should only take for 21days before having a break.

Can you do this for extended periods (sorry) of time? Like years at a time?

I started the pill 18 years ago and my Dr told me it wasn’t medically necessary and that I could run my packs together.

MaryBoBary oh absolutely it’s shit reasoning whatever way you look at it.

yes I agree the packs definitely support the idea that you should only take for 21days before having a break.

My doctor said that taking it for about 3 weeks meant that you wouldn't get pregnant when having a week not taking it so this was the reason for the 3 weeks. So I presume taking it for a week and having a week off wouldn't ensure there was enough hormones in your body to stop pregnancy. When he told me I didn't have to have a break between packs, he also said some women prefer to have a break as they aren't keen on putting more hormones than necessary in their body. I personally didn't care as I just wanted to not get pregnant and not have periods.

I can’t take anymore than three packs in a row because I get really bloated and start to get cramps and bleed anyway.

Contraception is free on nhs and it would be a lot more expensive for them if every woman took the pill continuously without a break, so it’s not in their interests to encourage women to do this.

I was told to leave a gap, that it would be bad for me in some mysterious ways not to.

I'm 38 and only stopped taking it at 30 so this is recent.