Not having a period for a while
Sometimes getting your period just isn’t convenient. For example, when you go on vacation. How do you delay your period for a few weeks?
If you take a contraceptive pill, you can use it to bring forward or delay your period. Exactly how to do that depends on the type of pill you are taking.
single phase pill
The single-phase pill is the most commonly used type of birth control pill. With this type, all the pills in the strip contain the same amount of hormones. Usually you take 21 or 22 pills, followed by a 7 or 6 day off week. To delay your period, simply skip the gap week. Start immediately with the next strip. There is no harm in skipping a gap week several times, but you do run the risk of bleeding in the meantime.
If you have pill strips with 28 tablets (the last 6 of which are placebos or fake pills), skip the last 6 pills and then go straight to the next strip.
By not finishing a strip completely, you will bring your period earlier. Always take at least seven pills from a strip. Then insert a stop week and then start the next strip. You may also shorten your gap week to postpone the next period. Never make the gap week longer, because then you are no longer protected against pregnancy.
Other Birth Control Pills
With two-, three- or multi-phase pills it is a bit more complicated. With these pill types, the composition of the tablets in a strip differs, which you can see from the different colors of the pills.
You postpone your menstrual period by continuing with the pills from the last phase (ie with the same color and composition) of a new strip after swallowing the last pill from a strip. If in doubt, read the package insert. Another option is to temporarily switch to a single-phase pill.
You take the mini-pill daily, without stopping weeks. It is not possible to delay menstruation with the mini-pill. You can temporarily switch to another contraceptive pill.
Ring or Band-Aid
Even if you use the nuvaring or a contraceptive patch, it is possible to delay the menstrual period by skipping the stop week. Replace the experience with a new one immediately after three weeks. Or apply a new contraceptive patch immediately after removing the previous one.
Primolut
Are you not using a contraceptive pill, ring or patch? Then the doctor can prescribe pills with hormones that you can use to postpone the menstruation for a maximum of two weeks.
You start taking pills containing norethisterone (brand name Primolut) three days before the day you expect your period. Then you take them daily for up to two weeks. You will still have your period about three days after stopping norethisterone. This way you can delay your period for up to two weeks.
Pills containing lynestrenol (brand name Orgametril) should be taken from two weeks or up to three days before your menstrual date. Take them as long as you don’t want to menstruate. If you stop taking it, you will have your period after two to three days. It is most effective if you start taking it two weeks before your period. If you only start taking lynestrol three days before your period, you can only delay your period for a week.
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