Is it safe to keep taking the birth control pills without taking the week off from them? Are there any effects? I read that some girls do for different reasons and I was wondering if that's true.
Follow Ups:
Re: birth control pills
Posted by Walt Stoll on January 28, 1999 at 10:39:40:
In Reply to: Re: birth control pills posted by Sherry on January 26, 1999 at 12:50:32:
Dear Sherry,
Your uterine lining is designed to be shed once a cycle, It you take active BC pills every day, you would have no menses until the lining got too thick to be sustained by the hormonal dosage and you might have to have a D&C to scrape it all out.
People with endometriosis can be benefitted by taking active BC pills every day to prevent having a menses for at least a year. In the begining that just prevents the pain of bleeding internally that is the cause of the pain during menses caused by endometrium outside the uterus (the definition of endometriosis). When the preson starts to spot, that means that the lining of the uterus is too thick and the dosage is just increased until no more bleeding happens. This increasing dosage is continued til the year is up no matter how much it takes. I have had people that needed 6 tablets a day to prevent bleeding.
In SOME people this "starves out" the endometrial pockets that are outside the uterus and they are better for years (sometimes permanently) from this approach. Most have recurrence in a few years (if not immediately).
Walt