Period

[Maine_girl]

I've been on my birth control consistently for the past 2 years. It has lightened my period but never shortened it. I still go the full 7 days. By day 5 it's not even heavy enough for me to put in a tampon comfortably. Should I look into a new birth control pill?
Thank you!

[ajh2585]

Im trying to get pregnant now too

[Maine_girl]

Thanks for all the help. I'm usually more fond of pads just for the fact of comfort. I only use pads if I'm trying to go swimming. I guess I will try to talk to my doctor about it. Thanks again.

[Anonymouse88]

You could try another form and see what happens.  I tend to have a shorter but heavier period on some of the higher dose pills.  You could also try the Mirena IUD, since that can stop periods altogether.  If you're on a monophasic pill (same dose for every pill), you can skip your period, as long as you do have one after every three packs (I was told this was to reduce cancer risk, but some people have to stay on them constantly and don't have problems).  If you can't put in a tampon, just use a pantiliner, because that means there's very little blood coming out.

@Eve: The condition you're thinking of is TSS (toxic shock syndrome).  It comes from getting a staph infection from leaving a tampon in too long.  Some experts think that you have to be colonized by sufficiently virulent staph to get it at all, and it's not a huge risk.  I've certainly left tampons in longer than 8 hours by accident, and once left my last one in for a week or so by accident (it smelled awful, sorry for the TMI, but I didn't get sick).

Please don't be so extreme about birth control methods.  There are risks to the pills, but all pills have some risks.  Certain people shouldn't take them, like people over the age of 35 or smokers, or people predisposed to clotting disorders, but having issues is pretty rare.  Of course people should know the possible risks of anything they take, but you're overstating the risks.  Take a look at all of the side effects for any medication you take, especially something really common like aspirin or tylenol.  Those can have life-threatening side effects too, but people use them anyway because the benefits far outweigh the risks.

[evewisewoman]

Hi Maine_girl,

Just finished reading your post. I have a couple of suggestions.
First of all, you might consider switching from tampons to period pads.
Leaving tampons in too long can cause a condition called toxic something.
That's if you leave the tampon in between 6 - 8 hours. Can't remember
the name of this condition, but it's very dangerous. Secondly, you might
want to reconsider using birth control pills. Are you aware that birth control
pills can have some really serious side effects. They can cause stroke,
blood clots, heart attack to name a few. Under no circumstances should
you use a product called YAZ or YASMIN. There are a number of lawsuits
pending against the manufacturers of these types of bc. I used to take
birth control pills for a number of years actually. Until I decided to read
the pamphlet that comes with the pill pack and discovered all these
horribly dangerous side effects. For you own safety, find another form
of birth control other than birth control pills. Your life may depend on it.
I wish you well. Eve