Is it good to inhibit menstruation with birth control pills?

How many women have not looked in amazement at the everlasting prospect of birth control pills?

How many of them have not rejected them for fear of migraines, mood swings, or have

How many have calculated the days for the next menstruation to see if it coincided with the next vacation?

These realities, present in any group of friends, raise and feed

about contraceptive pills.

When a woman says that she has not menstruated for a year because of taking the pills in a row, those who listen to her tend to throw their hands up.

But if there is such a possibility,

"The mission is that the woman thinks that she has her period, that she lives it in a similar way to her normal cycle," explains

a gynecologist at the Infanta Leonor Hospital in Madrid.

"There are those who, for peace of mind, prefer to have the cycle every month, but it is by no means mandatory or necessary."

These pills maintain a hormonal constant that generates the lack of ovulation, hence the contraceptive effect.

During the 'rest' week, the cycle, which without taking contraceptives is conceived as menstruation, is renamed

, as it does not fulfill the same function as the period of a woman who does not take the pill.

After 21 pills (number that varies according to brand and type), the days of placebo capsules appear, "in the absence of this hormonal treatment, the endometrium -inner layer of the uterus- that grows every month,

, specifies the gynecologist.

To begin with, with any treatment it is essential that

"Nothing would happen for not respecting the placebo capsules, but it is likely that at some point the endometrium will flake and stain," details the specialist.

In this case, doctors recommend that you take advantage of this random bleeding to take a break.

The advantages of this matter go beyond being able to organize the holidays.

"It must be clear that the benefits of taking it without rest are for women with

-intense pelvic and abdominal pain-, or a lot of bleeding, among other issues", details Sobrino.

"The probability of reducing some types of cancer is given by the general use of contraceptives," she adds.

Both in the complete guidelines without a period, as well as the guidelines with a period,

, explains José Ramón Serrano, gynecologist and member of the Spanish Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics (SEGO).

In addition, "it improves benign breast pathology and endometriosis almost 100% of the time," he adds.

Among the contraception methods available,

of women, with an active sexual life, choose the pill, according to a survey carried out in 2020 by the

(SEC), with many others resorting to this method for hormonal reasons.

"It is the job of the specialist to offer women all the methods of contraception available to her and for

Serrano specifies.

When choosing the pill, "an anamnesis is necessary - a clinical study of the patient and her family history - and a blood pressure measurement," explains Sobrino.

Both specialists agree that the benefits of taking the pill outweigh the risks.

"In the old days, doctors used to recommend a few months off to patients who had been taking them for years," says the gynecologist.

Today, it is no longer necessary.

"The abandonment of the pill is contraindicated if the woman intends to resume them. The fact of

which are few, but exist," warns the gynecologist.

Numerous studies have shown the relationship between thrombosis and contraceptives.

Now, the new formulas have a lower risk than that assumed by a woman after pregnancy.

"The probability of suffering a

with contraceptives occurs mainly in the first year of taking it, once this period is over, the percentage becomes very low", explains Sobrino.

When a break of more than a month is made and the contraceptive is resumed, "the highest peak of risk is recovered, therefore,

," she points out.

Added to all this are the alleged

"That this pill affects women's fertility is not true; there is no study to prove it," explains the gynecologist.

These ideas are rooted in old contraceptive formulas and have been strengthened by cases of

or other difficulties.

"A girl with this diagnosis, when leaving the method of contraception, continues with these characteristics, which may affect her fertilization process. This is not because of the contraceptive, but because something already existed that would make the process difficult," she concludes. the doctor.

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