Making the Most of Menstruation Postponement Medication

• Menstruation postponement medication cannot be used as a substitute for birth control drugs as its effects do not extend to pregnancy prevention.
• Menstruation postponement drugs are most effective when used by women who have a regular period, and whose period can be accurately predicted.
• Women who experience menstrual abnormalities should seek medical attention because the use of menstruation postponement medication could potentially obscure some other medical conditions.

Menstruation postponement medication is an option available to ladies who do not want their menstrual cycle to negatively impact their daily life as there may have already been numerous times when their period has led to them delaying trips or holidays. Thus, turning to menstruation postponement drugs can be an effective option for these women.

All women will experience vaginal bleeding, or the period, when their bodies reach a certain point of maturity. This bleeding will occur every 28-30 days and, from the end of the period until the middle of the menstrual cycle, the female’s body will prepare for ovulation, meaning that for those women whose cycles regularly last 28-30 days, the 14th-15th days subsequent to the start of the period is when ovulation will occur. At this time, the body will produce progesterone to thicken the endometrium for around 2 weeks in order to prepare it for fertilization. Then, if the female is not impregnated, the brain will send signals to halt progesterone production and the thickened endometrial walls will become displaced, exiting the body as menstrual bleeding.

Menstruation postponement medication contains the progesterone group of hormones, which work by stopping the thickened endometrium from being displaced. Those wishing to postpone their period must be certain of the dates involved in their menstrual cycle. For instance, in a case where the period arrives on the 29th day of each cycle and regularly lasts 2-3 days, it means that ovulation will occur around the 14th-15th of the cycle. Hence, if a woman wishes to postpone her period, progesterone levels must be maintained by lengthening the natural production of progesterone which begins around the middle of the cycle. This can be done by taking progesterone drugs according to the number of days by which they wish to postpone the period. Then, once taking the drugs is discontinued, the endometrium will immediately be displaced and the menstrual bleed will occur.

Progesterone is naturally secreted around 2 weeks prior to the menstrual bleed, so the most effective time to take menstruation postponement medication is around 1 week before the period is anticipated to arrive, as this will give plenty of time for progesterone levels to be increased. In cases where the drugs are taken during the period, or a mere 2-3 days prior to the period, their effectiveness may be reduced because the body will already be aware that no fertilization has taken place and the process of menstruation will have begun as normal. The drugs should be taken daily until the desired date of the menstrual cycle, which will begin as soon as taking the drug is ceased.

• These drugs will not be effective for women whose menstrual cycles are irregular, or where the date of each cycle cannot be accurately predicted, because of the inability to predict the ovulation date.
• Despite these drugs containing the progesterone group of hormones, they have not been linked to the onset of cancer or ovarian cysts, so they may be taken over multiple days and on numerous occasions. Nevertheless, if such drugs are taken continuously, it could disorientate the menstrual process, leading to delays in the body returning to a normal state. For this reason, they should not be taken for more than a week at a time, and never be consumed for longer than is absolutely necessary.
• For women who experience irregular periods, and who are unsure if bleeding is because of their menstrual cycle or due to other reasons, medical advice should be sought in order to undergo screening for cysts or cancer, or to identify the true cause of the irregularity. This is because the use of menstruation postponement medication has the potential to obscure some other medical conditions.
• Taking period postponement drugs is still considered safe in cases where the woman is unsure as to whether she may be pregnant as the body will naturally produce progesterone prior to a pregnancy to support fertilization and, when fertilization does occur, progesterone production levels will be increased once more. Therefore, taking menstruation postponement medication will not adversely affect a pregnancy.
• Those who regularly take birth control medication need not use period postponement drugs as they are able to manage the timing of their period through the use of their regular birth control medication. When one month’s course of the drugs is completed, the woman should continue with a new monthly pack until they wish to have their period. Such a tactic is suitable for standardized packs of 21 birth control pills. However, where packs containing 28 pills are being used, only 21 of those pills will be progesterone-based, with the remaining 7 pills being flour-based. For these courses, the woman should remove the 7 flour-based pills and start a new packet once the 21 hormone-based pills have been taken. Hence, those taking birth control drugs should not be using period delaying medication. Additionally, menstruation postponement drugs cannot be used as a form of birth control as their effects do not extend to pregnancy prevention.

While it is true that menstruation postponement medication does not have any negative side effects for the body, prolonged or overly frequent use of these drugs could potentially result in menstrual cycle irregularities, with the body requiring more and more time to return to its normal state. Thus, such drugs should only be used when absolutely necessary.

In cases where abnormalities arise, or where uncertainty surrounds your menstrual cycle, seek medical attention from a qualified obstetrician in order to identify the causes, receive advice, and undergo any appropriate treatment thereafter.