VaginaPagina

God, I hope so! I am SO over periods. I'm only 24...lol oops.

According to what I've heard/read, there's no medical need for a "period" on the pill. And there are even pills like Seasonique and others that already replicate the no period effect of stacking.

I started stacking two months ago, then life got in the way of sex, so I figured I'd save myself some $$ and a week of pills and unstack for this month. SO not worth it. So, anyway, I'm right there with you. :P

Oof. That sucks. I just had like CRAZY bad cramps like I've never had before.

I haven't hear any and when I went to my OBGYN at the end the last summer I specifically told her I wanted a birth control solely for the purposes of stacking 'forever' and just doubled-checked with her that there wasn't any reason I couldn't do so. I get super awful cramps (though no endo, or any other explicit reason, just baaad cramps) and frankly I just fucking hate having my period. I was prescribed Loestrin 24 but got the generic. I think it's called Giselle or something like that. The only thing I have possibly noticed is that since stacking 'forever' it seems like I am always teetering on the edge of getting a yeast infection. Before I never ever used to get them. Seriously I've had 2 in my life before this. At the same time though this could be complete coincidence and is absolutely just a correlation. I'm about to turn 28, started my period at 11 so my body's likely going through some hormonal changes from what I understand about cycles of changes in the body at my age. Plus my work has been crazy super duper stressful. So I don't know if it's the BC or not. Though when I got a nasty one several months ago I did read all of the sudden on the BC and maybe even the medication package that BC in general (not just my kind or stacking) can increase the risk of YIs. Never heard of this before though despite having been on BC since I was 14 (with a break of a few years in my mid-twenties). Hope maybe this is kind of helpful!

Nope. I'm basically prescribed to stack mine as long as possible because of the negative effects that my periods has on me. (Between mood swings, fibro flare, intestinal upset... yeah...) For me, this is about 6mo before my body decides "Sorry, no, you get to bleed anyway."

I used the NuvaRing to stack every other month. If I stacked longer than that, my next period would be very clotty, heavy, and painful. When I stacked, I never skipped three periods in a row, but don't recall whether I simply would have breakthrough bleeding before period 3, or if I never tried.

In my experience, there is something to the "no period for a while -> yeast infection" that abalone99 mentions. However, I've managed to get my imbalances under control with cranberry, acidophilus, adequate water intake, and dedicated post-ejaculate cleanup.

Progesterone-only methods often eliminate the period, and the only one with documented negative effects (from the med not the stacking) is Depo. For those with endo or other bleeding issues, eliminating the period is a medically beneficial thing.

Many of my pharmacy patients stack continuously- that's why they even have pill packs with only 21 pills rather than 28. You just need to make sure your prescription indicates you are only taking the pills for 3 weeks as directed/only taking the active pills/etc to avoid problems with insurances not covering it early if the pharmacy bills for the usual 28 days. I have used Depo Provera around 7years out of the past 10yrs and have no period while on it. I also do no have any problem with that causing any kind of YI. It is strongly believed that having a period helps to balance the pH of the vagina which would keep yeast growth under control for the most part. If you experience this or it is of concern to you, I'm sure your doctor could tell you the proper preventative measures that you could take to avoid it. Good luck!

Unfortunately, I don't think there's any research to show that it's 100% risk free in the long term (which might be nothing!)

i dont know anything for sure, only what i have been told, but i stacked my HBC for years and after having a massive acute PE for which i had no other risk factors, was told it was likely the cause of the clot. Was also told not to go back on them unless i was also on bloodthinners.

sorry, pulmonary embolism. a blood clot blocking the flow from my heart to my lungs.