so I haven't been able to get ahold of any of the nurses at the community clinic where I get my birth control...so I was wondering if any of you very knowlegable womyn would be able to help me out. I'm currently on ortho-cept birth control, which I believe is monophasic (right? All the pills are the same color=same amount of hormones, with 7 sugar pills). anyway, I'm going camping this next weekend and I'm supposed to have my period. I want to just skip the sugar pills and start a new pack so I skip my period, but I wanted to make sure that: a) my birth control would still be effective and b) that it's ok/healthy to skip my period for a month thanks for any input you guys have!
I would try to talk to the doc, midwife or nurse, but skipping one period, and starting the new pack, without the placebo pills is commonly done. The new pill "Seasonal" is just that, basically, you take 3 months at a time and then stop for a week to get a period. Most of the research has shown that for MOST womyn, this is usually safe. Please talk to a HCP, for their opinion, though. But, it should be OK.
thanks, Maggie, I appreciate your response. I am still going to try and get a hold of one of the nurses at the clinic. Usually they're pretty good about calling you back, but they must be busy this week or something...
fyi there's also a birth control subforum in love and sex. You should be fine. When I did that on my current brand (Alesse), I ended up getting my period a week later than normal, while I was still on the pills themselves not sugar pills. And then another one, but much lighter than normal, during the sugar pill week. It's rare that that happens though, but be aware it can - depends on your body and the dose of hormones (alesse being a rather low dose)
