Welcome to Gaia! ::

I have to say I agree with that poster. I see periods as perfectly natural signs that we're healthy, fertile, adults.

A lot of women want to get rid of their period simply because they think it's "gross." And they're even willing to risk their health in order to do so.

For example, a lot of women try to get to an unhealthy weight or get on Depo for the sake of not having a period anymore. And Depo isn't just "iffy;" the FDA says to use it with caution, never for longer than two years, and only as an last resort. So we know that starvation and Depo are both very bad for your body.

Other women take the birth control pill that only gives you four periods a year, or they skip their placebo pill in an effort to not get a period. And both of those things seem like they might be ok to do right now. But there also isn't a whole lot of long-term research done on the subject. And there are already some theories saying that periods may help to keep our iron levels from getting dangerously high and increasing our risk of cardiovascular disease. And many doctors worry about what effect all those hormones will have on our bodies. The extra hormones may have ill effects on our bones, breasts, and internal organs. That isn't even including the serious but rare side effects that the pill is known to have. So more research needs to be done. After all, it took decades before the FDA said that Depo was not so good. So I'm fully expecting them to say something bad about the pill in general, or about the pill that gives you four periods, or about skipping your placebo maybe twenty or thirty years from now. So I recommend taking the pill if you need birth control. But I do not recommend putting those extra hormones in your body simply for the sake of "convenience."

So a woman who has extreme periods, fine, she can do what she can to get rid of it. And it's probably fine for women with normal periods to do once or twice (on a honeymoon for example). But women who have healthy and normal periods should probably not be trying to get rid of all or most of their periods. Because the jury is still out, and it might not be healthy to do so. So why risk it?

If you want to read more about it, go here:
http://www.webmd.com/sex/birth-control/features/no-more-periods

I don't blame you.

She's right that there are serious side effects with every hormonal method of course. But the serious side effects are rare with every method other than Depo. Depo has some irreversible side effects too. And there's even the chance that there are more long-term issues that we just don't know about yet. A lot of people are even claiming women have died as a direct result of Depo, but more research needs to be done before we can confirm or deny that.

But despite that and despite the FDA warnings, I hear a lot of doctors saying it's "not a big deal" and even urging teens to get on Depo because it's so easy and effective. And while I commend them for wanting to decrease accidental teen pregnancies, I think it's unacceptable that they sugar coat the side effects. They even use "you probably won't get a period!" as one of the selling points for the kids. But the kids don't fully understand what Depo is doing to their body and that they at least need to be taking calcium if they have to be on Depo. In a lot of cases it seems like sheer laziness. They'll get kids to go on Depo so that they don't have to teach them how to take/use another (safer) method. And who knows, maybe it's for the best when it comes to immature, irresponsible, yet sexually active teens. But a lot of teens are mature and responsible enough to use another method as directed, so it's really a shame when they get pressured into taking Depo.

It sort of amazes me that we've come so far in terms of medical advances and have had the need for contraception for so long yet we still don't have a method of birth control that's entirely safe and completely effective? I've been hormonal birth control-free for about five years now and am very happy. But I've also been in a position where pregnancy wouldn't be bad since I've been an adult those fives years. If I were a sexually active teen right now and knowing what I know now, I am not really sure what method I would use. I'd probably go with some combination of condoms and the pull out method, the calendar method, or spermicide.

I also agree that a period is a good indicator of health and women should not go to risky lengths to get rid of it. However, I don't think that women that don't want a period are automatically ashamed of their bodies, which seemed to be what the poster was saying.