Ways to Take Birth Control Pills Continuously

This post is part of a series about continuous birth control pills. Please check back for more. And remember to seek advice from your medical professional before changing the way your take your birth control pills.

If you’re already taking birth control pills, you can possibly skip the unpleasantness (cramps, etc.) of the placebo week. When birth control pills were first developed, they included the placebo week of pills for cultural, not medical, reasons (so that women wouldn’t miss their periods). The pills were supposed to feel more natural that way.

Some women have been using birth control pills to manipulate the timing of their periods for years. For instance, delaying the placebo week for a few extra days to allow for important events.

Doctors have also prescribed “regular” birth control pills to be used continuously. But lately, there’s a new crowd of birth control pills on the market designed especially for having fewer or even no periods. These pills skip the placebo week for you.

Those pills include Lybrel (no periods), Seasonique (only four periods a year) and Seasonale (also only four periods a year).

And they may work great for you, but I haven’t tried them.

I use plain old “regular” Loestrin and skip the placebo week. Actually, I use the generic — Microgestin! And that’s one benefit to taking regular birth control pills that aren’t new and specially designed to help you miss your period — There’s actually a generic available. That’s not to say these new pills won’t have a generic one day too. Seasonale already has a generic.

There is a downside to taking regular birth control pills continuously. Unless your doc writes the prescription in a way your insurance will accept, you’re paying for a four week supply, but only getting a three week supply. It can be tricky. The manufacturers still include that week of fake pills, and you may not be able to avoid paying for them.

What about side effects? In addition to the regular side effects of birth control pills, taking them continuously may present you with additional concerns. We’ll talk about that in a post coming up soon.

Have you tried any of the birth control pill brands mentioned in this post?

Paris pharmacy cross image via flickr.