QuestionHi! I am getting married in just less than four weeks. I have been doing a good job charting my fertility cycle and am usually quite regular, but had a particularly short follicular phase this past month. Calendar-wise, this means I am now scheduled to experience a painful, stressful menstruation DURING my upcoming wedding... To complicate things, I am currently participating in a perfectly harmless medical study that will however not allow me to take hormonal contraceptives until Nov 20th. (For reference, the wedding is Nov 27th, and I just began menstruating Oct 30th.) A secondary method of birth control (such as condoms) is no problem, so contraception is not the issue, but my question is this: If I take the pill (specifically Necon 1/35) starting Nov 20th, after I have already ovulated for the cycle, will it successfully delay my period until after the wedding? In other words, if I am scheduled to ovulate about Nov 13th, and most likely due to get my period Nov 25, when exactly would I need to take the pill in order for it to prevent/delay menstruation?
Thank you SO much for your help!
- A.
AnswerThe best way to delay your period would be to start taking the pill now, so as to prevent ovulation, and then either stop around Nov. 19 so that your period would come and be over by Nov. 27, or else keep taking the active pills right through until you want your period to come. However, if that's not possible, you can probably delay your period by starting the pill about 3 days before you expect your period to come. It's the fall off of hormone levels that brings on a period, so by taking the pill, you keep your hormone level up. It doesn't always work as well in practice, but if you get some bleeding anyway, you can probably stop it by doubling up on the pill (one pill twice a day) until you want to let your period come.
