Delay the rules

What is it about ?

You may want to postpone or skip your period, for example during a trip or an important event like a wedding. This can be done with the birth control pill or with medicines that contain “progesterone” or a derivative of it.

How does it work in practice?

Yes you do not take birth control pill, you will be prescribed progestin-only tablets containing norethisterone or lynestrenol.

Norethisterone is started at least 3 days before the expected start of your period. You can take it for as long as you want to delay your period, with a maximum of 14 days. Prolonged intake can cause inter-menstrual bleeding (or metrorrhagia). Normal menstruation resumes two to three days after stopping the tablets.

Lynestrenol is started 4-5 days before your expected period, and you can take it longer. In the presence of menstrual bleeding, you can increase the dose a little for 3-5 days.

Yes you take birth control pill, you can also use it to delay your period, since it already contains progestins.

The mini-pill is too light. That is why you need to take 2 pills at the same time to delay menstruation. You can also take progestin-only tablets containing norethisterone without stopping the minipill. You can also switch temporarily to another pill.

You can continue to take the monophasic pill for as long as you want to delay your period, for example 2 or more whole packs in a row, then a 7 day pill-free period during which your period starts.

Please note: with some brands of pills, the ‘pill-free’ period is replaced by a period with a ‘fake’ pill, a pill that does not contain hormones. If this is your case, skip these placebos pills and start a new pack.

With sequential, biphasic and triphasic combination pills, the dose of “hormone” changes depending on the time of the cycle. In this case, only the last 10 tablets should be continued to delay your period.

If you have any questions or doubts about this, contact the doctor.

Want to know more?

• The rules, C kwa that?, Here, Where to find on this page of the Christian Mutuality
• Contraceptions: what are we talking about? how much does it cost ? what is the female menstrual cycle? – LoveAttitude
• My Contraceptive – O’Yes

Are you looking for more specialized help?

• Approved family planning centers in Wallonia and Brussels – LoveAttitude

Source

Foreign clinical practice guide ‘Modification of the period of menstruation’ (2000), updated on 09.08.2017 and adapted to the Belgian context on 20.12.2019 – ebpracticenet