Do you have any medical evidence saying we need to? Apparently there isnt strong evidence because I've looked into it more since posting this. There are multiple period free options on the market in the past few years.

@MsAl yeah,because everything Big Pharma puts out is Sooooo good for us! I prefer my brain!

The point of the article was that you could take the pills the whole time. They only pause to make you have a period because it appeared the Pope because it. was considered more natural. Apparently there is no medical reason, which we all assumed.

The way I read it was that you could take the pills the whole time. They only pause to make you have a period because it appeared the Pope because it was considered more natural. Apparently there is no medical reason, which we all assumed.

@MsAl no, that is incorrect on several levels. first of all, you always pause to have a period. that has nothing to do with the pope. some pill manufacturers put only the real pills in, or used to, and you'd have to remember to start up again after a week. others put in the placebos to make it easier not to forget to take your pills again. the pope never told anyone to put those pills in the pack. the pope is not connected in any way to how birth control pills are packaged, and he would have no reason to be, because regardless of the packaging, birth control pills are only taken for three weeks out of the four. the fourth week's worth of pills were placesavers, placebos, just to keep your schedule normal. i was on them for decades. i know this. seriously, it has nothing to do with the pope at all and never did.

g

@genessa According to the inventor of the pill the pause was created to placate the Pope, not for medical reasons. We have been lied to since then and told our body needs to pause and have periods.

[newsweek.com]
[glamour.com]

@MsAl the glamour link doesn't work. newsweek says scientists say.... no source, no link. however, i did find other sources. it sounds weird to me but i sit corrected.

g

@genessa I didn't put as much backup as I could. I didn't realize it would need defending. I saw it on FB while at work.

@MsAl yes, when you post something like that, you need to have good sources! i am still not totally convinced that a period is not medically necessary. the only part i now accept is that the creator of the pill tried to appease the pope. birth control pills were such a blessing to me, and not just, or even mainly, for contraception. i had dysmenorrhea, BAD. now that i am post-menopausal my uterine lining is all thickened up and i need an hysteroscopy. if i were not post-menopausal, if i were still having periods, i don't think this would be the case; those cells would have been shed every month. there is no one to blame; menopause happens, and i am in general glad to be rid of those painful periods (whether thanking the pill or thanking old age) but i can't help thinking that if i had eliminated periods altogether when i could have them, i might have had this problem sooner.

so the pill-maker didn't know what he was doing, and the pope is the last person on earth to know shit about menstruation, and yet menstruation has an important purpose, despite them, maybe even despite the scientific trend of the day.

g

@genessa Actually Iv looked into it since posting. There are quite a few period free options out there these days.
I'm generally an a proponent of ditching the pill all together for long term options anyway. Seems silly to take a pill every day when you don't have to and is less effective.

@MsAl well, i can't change history, and i am old enough that the options you're thinking of may not have existed, or been effective if they did exist. and the pills i took were VERY effective. "these days" doesn't apply to me. i am sure it doesn't apply to anyone who began taking the pill when it was invented, either.

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Yes but according to the article le the pause is not medically necessary. It was created to appease the Pope.

@MsAl ummmm, how many birth control pills have you taken? All of them have a "pause" built in, otherwise there is no menstruation!

@AnneWimsey Yes that is the point. This pause was created in the beginning by the inventor of birth control
He created it to make the Pope accept them, not for medical reasons. There never was a medical reason to stop and have a period.
[newsweek.com]
[glamour.com]

@MsAl horsefeathers! All that stuff that is built up on the uterine wall over the month needs to be shed or it could putrefy.

@AnneWimsey Yes, OK But I looked further into it. There are many sources besides the one I gave. The man who invented the pill said that we need to pause for a period. He's recently admitted it was made up by him with no medical reason. It appears that hasn't been studied to know if that is true or not.

If you get the IUD that realeases birth control the period slows down and sometimes stops. Sounds great to me. I got the copper one with no hormones because I was a smoker at the time. I was on pills in the past before I was married.

There are many concepts in medicine that were brought into existence with little evidence and kept because no one bothers to question
This appears to be one of them.

@MsAl well, let's just use our brains, shall we? We know that Nature does not normally do wasteful things. The lining of the uterus needs to be a vibrant, nourishing place for an embryo to grow......much like rich compost for a garden, not trying to grow delicious nutrition-filled vegies in clumps of soggy newspaper. The interior of the uterus frequently sheds the old "growing medium" to insure a vibrant home for the embryo.
I personally, as a woman for "only" 70 years, do not want stuff drying up & decaying inside of me! Yes, there are pills/devices, that will add stop the growth of the lining, thus no period. But if I am taking standard pills, I want that stuff renewed/replaced every month, as designed, and I do not want to miss any doses and get pregnant, either.. the placebo pills allow this to happen....Simple! every morning, take a pill.
Also note that with modern low-dose birth control, effectiveness is Very dependent on timing & consistency of dosing...if you miss just one pill, it is strongly recommended you use an additional form of birth control through to the next cycle!
And, What do you mean, "there have been no studies of this"?????!!