What Causes Absence Of Periods While On Birth Control Pills?

Hello and thank you for your question. The quick answer is that if you did not miss any pills, and you did not have sex in the first few weeks of the pills without using some other contraception, you are not pregnant and you are lucky and may just not have a period with bleeding and cramps every month while you take this pill. The menstrual period comes from building up the lining of the uterus and then letting some of the surface that has built up go. This happens because our hormones increase to a certain point in our cycles and then drop down to a lower level again. Birth control pills are very effective, about 99% effective over an entire year, if you always take them. Birth control pills work by a few different ways - one is to keep your ovary from releasing an egg. The other is by controlling how the lining of your uterus builds so that if there were an egg and sperm it would not implant. Typically with birth control pills, we have a lot less buildup of the lining than with our own hormones, and for many women, the buildup of the lining is so small that they do not see any bleeding. Or get any cramps or the other things at the usual time of their period. In general, if you take the pill every day and you do not get your period, you can be happy that you are one of the lucky people who can skip the period. It is possible to get pregnant while on the pill, especially if you have sex in the first few days that you are taking the pill and do not use some other form of contraception. The pill is considered completely effective after you have been taking it for one cycle (28 days) and is fairly effective after a few weeks. So if you think you might have gotten pregnant before the pill started working for you, please do a pregnancy test to check. The pregnancy tests are quite accurate after about 5-6 weeks, so a negative test is very reassuring. Then you can relax and just not have a period every month. Some people prefer to get a period so that they will not worry. Your doctor can change your medicine to a slightly higher dose of hormones so that the lining of your uterus will build up a little more and you will get a period. Getting a period or not getting a period while you are on the pill does not mean pregnancy, but your doctor can choose a pill for you that makes you feel the most comfortable. Because the pill can cause some women to get less period (lighter bleeding, less cramps) or no period, it is sometimes used for women who are having heavy periods with bad cramping to help them not feel so bad every month. This is one side effect of a medicine that can be very good - once you are not worried about pregnancy. I am sorry that this answer is so long. I wanted to explain why. In my practice, over half of my patients have at least lighter periods, with less bleeding and cramping. Perhaps 1 person in 10 or so has no periods at all - and some just enjoy the relief, while some ask for a slightly higher dose pill so that they do not worry. The pill is equally effective whether or not they get the period, but it still is reassuring because it is what we are used to. I hope that this has answered your question. If you have further questions, please feel free to check back with us. I hope that you feel comfortable with your birth control, and continue to have a break from periods if that is something you can feel easy with.