This can't be good for you..

[brak7103]

Dear Ladies,
Please read: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6684511.stm

Does anyone else think that this s a terrible idea? Outright stopping a bodily process is ...call me crazy.. not a good idea.

mark

Comments

[kwanboa]

Products like DepoProvera and Seasonale usually cause you to menstruate about 4 times a year.

Incorrect. Depo-Provera, when used correctly and boostered in Weeks 11-13, has no menstrual period whatsoever. Menstruation probably will occur if you're a bad monkey and go over Week 13 (I have done it more than once), but otherwise no.

Cannot speak for Seasonale, but with Depo, I haven't had more than breakthrough bleeding around Week 12 since I was about 22 (I'm nearly 25 now).

[kayapapaya]

"just that reducing menstrual periods is not necessarily a bad thing on principle"

yeah physically I agree with you Meaghan, but I think that psychologically it poses an interesting question. S de Beauvoir or some such would suggest that women are becoming alienated from their bodies, their physical lives and relatities, and are therefore cutting off part of themselves, thus learning to see themselves as (subbordinated) "others." And like, she has kind of a point. Except that, lots of women naturally don't menstruate, as you said, and shouldn't taking control of yourself be empowering? Anyway I think it could be an interesting subject for debate.

[kwanboa]

I've been stopping my period since 2002, it's called Depo-Provera. It's the shot, not the pill. Basically my body thinks it is menopausal.

And since we go into menopause anyway, I fail to see how this is a bad idea at all.

il fait chaude dans mes culottes

[kayapapaya]

Yeah Depo does this already. And Depo is associated with a lot of negative side affects, moreso than the pill. For instance, while the pill can increase bone density, Depo-Provera has been shown to reduce it (remember that women are prone to osteoporosis anyway). In fact, when was off the pill but my cycles were super-irregular, my doctor warned me that if I was going more than 60 days without menstruating, I wasn't getting the hormonal fluctuation needed to maintain my bones. She gave me progesterone to take in that event, to force my cycle to reset and my period to start.

There is a hormone for everything. Should we take some, none, or many? To each her own, but I'm sure you can guess my personal answer to your question.

!
As an aside, women who are lacating are shown to be able to regain lost bone density, the only time in a person's adult life that this is possible.

Re: il fait chaude dans mes culottes

[kwanboa]

I never gained an ounce when I started Depo; one of the things the harpies will tell you is that you'll gain 30 pounds. I am a crazy monkey when the drug wears off, mind, but I'm really MUCH better about minding my cycle as I get older^^;;;; I have yearly Dexa scans as required by my insurance because of my birth control choice (I will freely admit that as a homosexal female, I have Depo solely for the purpose of NOT menstruating), but I eat lots of dairy and take calcium supplements. Every year the Dexa tells me my bone density is fine for my age and I'm not losing it unnecessarily ^_^ There IS a hormone for everything, but if you want to use one, better be sure you plan for all the possible issues and take precautions!