Stopping pill early to force a period

[pppickupapenguin]

I am going on holiday next week and am due to come on the day we go, which I want to avoid. Normally I would just run 2 packs together so I miss out that period, but I'm feeling a bit PMTish and bloated and so I'd presumably be feeling like that whilst we're away. So I wondered about ending this pack early, so that I start my period early. Would that work? Do you always come on a few days after you stop taking the pill, whether it's at the end of a pack or in the middle? And one last question - if I did that, when would I start taking my next pack?

(I know that I wouldn't have contraception protection whilst doing this).

It doesn't sound ideal TBH, and I don't know how soon after restarting you would be covered so you should be very very careful.

But yes when I was on the pill I usually started bleeding on day 3 of no pill.

So you think that running 2 packs together would be better?

For just ensuring not-bleeding-while-on-holiday I would run 2 packs together, but you are hoping to get rid of PMS-y feeling too.

If you stop this pack early I wouldn't feel safe about it working as a contraceptive until you have finished the next full pack. That's not a medical opinion just a feeling.

NHS doesn't exactly say what to do if you miss a large number of pills, and I guess in order to fully get rid of this "period" you're planning on missing 5 or 6 or even 7.

You can't be feeling PMTish if you're on the pill! The pill changes your hormones so you don't have a monthly cycle at all. When they first invented it, you never had a break between packs, but women didn't like not having a period, so they made it so you could take a break each month, but it's not a real period and you shouldn't be getting PMT.

I'd suggest running pills together so no break but what you can do depends on what pill you are on and where you are in the packet.why not see family planning Dr or nurse at your local clinic or gp to make sure advice tailored to you and your pill.

Flamingo, this is something that I've been wondering about! I did think that it was impossible to have PMT whilst on the pill but I've definitely been having PMT feelings the week before I'm due. I wondered if it it was just in my mind (ie. I was expecting to feel it, so I did) but then I get sore boobs too and I can't be imagining that

I have an appointment tomorrow so will see what they say. As far as I know it doesn't matter how many pills you've missed, you are protected straight away if you start your next pack on the day of your period or within 7 days if you start them at any other time. Though obviously no protection on the days of the missing pills.

Right, so I went to the FP clinic tonight and they said that it is entirely possible to get PMT whilst on the pill. Some pills (inc. the one I'm on) have quite low oestrogen levels and so they don't affect your own hormones enough to stop PMT. Some stronger pills can lessen PMT, however.

That's interesting. Thanks for sharing, penguin :)

Hi pppickupapenguin - not sure if you've already decided what to do, but thought I'd throw in my two pennies worth.
I have sort of done this on one or two occasions where I have gone on a trip for a couple of days and forgotten to take my pill pack with me (doh!). I found that light bleeding/discharge tended to start about 3 days after the last pill, so pretty much in line with what it normally does at the end of the pack, only much lighter.
The problem I found is that once I started taking the pills again a few days later, my system was a bit confused, and I might have a bit more discharge a few days later. All was normal at the end of the nex packet though.
However I would suggest it would be much easier to run two packs together, if only to avoid unpredictability.
HTH