Posted on 05/24/2006 10:50:34 AM PDT by Ben Mugged
For young women with a world of choices, even that monthly curse, the menstrual period, is optional. Thanks to birth control pills and other hormonal contraceptives, a growing number of women are taking the path chosen by 22-year-old Stephanie Sardinha.
She hasn't had a period since she was 17.
"It's really one of the best things I've ever done,'' she says.
A college student and retail worker in Lisbon Falls, Maine, Sardinha uses Nuvaring, a vaginal contraceptive ring. After the hormones run out in three weeks, she replaces the ring right away instead of following instructions to leave the ring out for a week to allow bleeding. She says it has been great for her marriage, preventing monthly crankiness and improving her sex life.
"I would never go back,'' said Sardinha, who got the idea from her aunt, a nurse practitioner.
Using the pill or other contraceptives to block periods is becoming more popular, particularly among young women and those entering menopause, doctors say.
"I have a ton of young girls in college who are doing this,'' says Dr. Mindy Wiser-Estin, a gynecologist in Little Silver, N.J., who did it herself for years. "There's no reason you need a period.''
Such medical jury-rigging soon will be unnecessary. Already, the Seasonale birth control pill limits periods to four a year. The first continuous-use birth control pill, Lybrel, likely will soon be on the U.S. market and drug companies are lining up other ways to limit or eliminate the period.
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
When these women get cancer and die their family will sue the drug companies for their stupidity.
Stupid male question here...is that healthy? For the female that is??? 8->
Several young women have ALREADY died from the birth control patch. You can't fool mother nature. Those of us who had hysterectomies wish we could go back in time.
This poor misguided woman is not going to know the extent of her self-inflicted injuries until it is far too late.
Nope, if you read the fine print it is stored up for the time they stop taking the drug, then any slight misstep by a man will send her off in a six month long b$tchfest...
There are four freshmen girls on this pill? /ducking
Talk about taking big chances fooling around with our delicate mechanisms.
I don't think it's a dumb question. I don't think it's been studied well enough to know. It just seems like a bad idea to me.
There will be some unintended consequences for meddling in this cycle, of which sterility will probably be the major one. I'll bet it will be like a man taking testerone, where his gems shrink from lack of use. A woman who stops her menstrual cycle will sooner or later stop ovulating and then there will be hell to pay as the ambulance chasers step in and win megabucks lawsuits against the pharmacetical companies and doctors.
Man are women going to be pissed in 30 years when they find out what these hormones are doing to their body..
You're evil.
A nurse advised her to mis-use pharmaceuticals? The state board of licensing might be interested in that....
It's not nice to fool mother nature!
Not that I'm against anyone improving their sex life, but generally suppressing or altering the natural processes can have some unintended effects.
I don't think it's a dumb question either. Radically changing the way things work is just inviting trouble.
Even if we're wrong about that, wouldn't it be better for these women to have some science backing up the safety of induced amenohrea before trying it?
"Rocky Ground"
SD
the slippery slope of legalizing contraception.
Natural selection at work.
I have serious doubts that it really enhances sexual hormones in women. There was an earlier story on here that BCP's diminish sex drive.
You remind me of that absurd line from "Raising Arizona:"
"For my womb was a rocky place where his seed could find no purchase..."
LOL
(Well, that and the parable about sowing seed.)
SD
I believe that goes without saying.
I'm just not seeing any problem, as long as women are properly informed of potential risks and side effects. And trying to prohibit contraception is an excellent way to insure that Republicans become a permanent minority.
>> Dry Creek?
LMAO!!
If you remember that commercial, you're probably not having yours any more anyway.
"PMS is optional?"
One can only pray...
You mean as long as they're not using the products in unapproved ways based on suggestions from their nurse practitioner-aunts?
And trying to prohibit contraception is an excellent way to insure that Republicans become a permanent minority.
#1, who said anything about "trying to prohibit contraception"? Can't people discuss the problems of contraception and the contraceptive mentality without being accused of trying to ban them? Maybe we believe in people making informed and moral choices without coercion.
#2, Promoting contraception is an excellent way to insure that republicans (small "r" on purpose) become a permanent minority.
SD
This is an "advance" not fraught with unintended consequences. Nuh uh. It's always safe to toy with the procreation of the species. Uh huh.
-PJ
I haven't had a period since I was 52.
I'd make the case that long stretches of time WITHOUT pregnancy and/or breastfeeding are unnatural. In the time before sex and pregnancy were connected (one of the first "discoveries" of an agricultural society), it would have been the normal lot of women to have been in one state or the other, and the monthly cycle would have been a rare occurrance.
Genetically speaking, women were not designed by biology to have some 300 periods (12 times 25 years). That's my take on "mother nature".
Depends on the relative risk and the individual's preferences. Is driving to the movie theater worth risking death in a traffic accident?
I clearly recall that commercial and you're correct,I'm not having periods.But then,my draft board didn't buy my claim of having regular periods.If they had,I never would have had to have visited Ft Knox (and other fun spots).
You might want to post a link in the threads about Duke.
When we were married, my husband and I agreed to share everything. I'm still waiting for him to take his turn.
Wow, you sure like those feminine hygiene commercials, don't ya? Hey, all us gals wanna be springtime fresh! You got a problem with that? Lol!
... and time is running out.
I'm tellin' ya,ya just can't trust guys.They'll lie to ya every time! ;-)
I wouldn't recommend it, but it should be their call. And as the article notes, "approved" products will be available soon.
Maybe we believe in people making informed and moral choices without coercion.
I'll gladly join you in opposing mandatory contraception, should that ever become an issue.
So how does she know the plumbing still works?
I don't get PMS, but I fake it real good. I scream at him "IT'S YOUR TURN! WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE YOUR TURN?" He'd have it easier if he'd just take his turn.
Hell's Canyon
Purgatory Chasm
Have there been any studies of women using the product to prevent menstruation for years on end? I know I would rather someone else play guinea pig.
SD
They are calling it "The Red River dam".
It's doubtful that the contraception genie could be put back in its bottle, but, it will be the reason that the west will eventually fall as our birthrates continue to plummet. On the plus side, however, it seems that consevative religious folks are the only ones who haven't gotten the "do whatever feels good" message and are still having more than a couple of bairns. That bodes well for the future of the conservative movement after the bluestaters wither and there is no one left to replace them. See, natural selection DOES work!
This causes cancer?
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