Birth Control to "adjust" cycles

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ProudArmyWife

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A friend asked me this question and I wasn’t too sure of what the response should be, so I told her I would look it up here!

So, here it is. They are a military Catholic family with kids. Her husband is deployed. She wants to know if it is permissable to use birth control to ‘adjust’ her cycles so she won’t have a period during her husband’s mid-tour leave. She is open to life (wouldn’t mind more kids) and said she would stop using BC prior to her husband coming home. Since she is not having any relations, and not planning to with anyone other than her husband, is this permissable? :confused:
 
I was prescribed the Birth Control Pill for a reason other than BC. I checked with my priest and he said that it was licit. I stopped of my own accord later, after doing some research.

IMHO I don’t really think it is a good idea to mess around with the reproductive system, and the Pill has repercussions/side effects that can be nasty…weight gain, migraines, blood clots, breast cancer etc… If she was my daughter, knowing what I know now, I would recommend that she not do it.

I can understand why she would want to do this but would suggest she consult a priest if possible. For her own peace of mind.
 
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ProudArmyWife:
A friend asked me this question and I wasn’t too sure of what the response should be, so I told her I would look it up here!

So, here it is. They are a military Catholic family with kids. Her husband is deployed. She wants to know if it is permissable to use birth control to ‘adjust’ her cycles so she won’t have a period during her husband’s mid-tour leave. She is open to life (wouldn’t mind more kids) and said she would stop using BC prior to her husband coming home. Since she is not having any relations, and not planning to with anyone other than her husband, is this permissable? :confused:
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This is a bad idea for many reasons including the fact that coming off of the Pill can create all sorts of irregular period issues. She might end up bleeding the whole time!

The Pill is not meant for a short term use like that. It is strong hormonal medicine that can do more harm than this perceived good.

She should leave the whole thing up to nature. Stress and emotion can play havoc on her hormones too, so her period might not even come when she expects is over the next several months.

Morally, it’s not really an issue as she is celibate at this time. But, physically, she could be opening a can of worms.
 
I don’t think this plan would work because the only way she could be guaranteed not to be on her period when her husband came home, would be to be on the pill, and then she would not be open to life. Once she went off the pill, there would be no guarantees that her cycles would continue as they were on the pill. I don’t think it would work the way she is picturing it working.
 
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Ham1:
Why does she want to do this???
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I’m with Ham…WHY???

The friend needs to embrace her womanhood - all of it - not pick and choose, manipulate and control. Trust me, if she plays with her cycle like that she will regret it down the line when she has problems conceiving.

Besides, if she’s Catholic and it isn’t required medically to save her life or reproductive organs than I would venture to say it’s off limits.
 
FEDERAL REPORT ON CARCINOGENS AND THE ABORTION-BREAST CANCER LINK

By Karen Malec May 21, 2003

An official list of “known human carcinogens” released by the Department of Health and Human Services in December 2002 includes steroidal estrogens for the first time. The Report on Carcinogens states that steroidal estrogens are used in estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) and common abortifacient drugs. Both kinds of drugs have been widely utilized by American women. The federal report is available on the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences website. [1]

While certain pharmaceuticals might provide limited medical benefits, women must balance these considerations against the fact that breast cancer is the second greatest cause of cancer among American women.

Clearly, the Report on Carcinogens presents a serious conflict for the National Cancer Institute (NCI), an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. In February, a panel of grant-dependent scientists chosen by the NCI swept under the rug staggering biological and epidemiological evidence supporting a causal relationship between abortion and breast cancer which has been amassed over the last 46 years.

What do ERT and abortifacient drugs have to do with the abortion-breast cancer (ABC) link? Estrogen overexposure provides the biological explanation for most of the risk factors for breast cancer, including abortion. Estrogen is known to increase the rate of cell division. It causes normal and pre-cancerous cells to multiply. A few days after conception, estrogen levels start climbing, so that by the end of the first trimester, a mother’s estrogen level is increased 2000% and her breasts are swollen. Scientists theorize that only a third trimester process, differentiation (maturation of cells), neutralizes the mother’s exposure to estrogen and provides her with increased protection against breast cancer.

more…
 
OK…granted I am Lutheran, and don’t necessarily agree with all of the Catholic ideas on family planning (especially since the couple that was teaching Natural Family planning classes at the Church I attend with my sweetie has the BRATTIEST brood I’ve ever seen!! SIX HORRIBLY, BRATTY KIDS!!!), and birth control is an issue that I don’t agree with.Sorry. But your Church does request this of you.

BUT, you do need to get facts straight. Many Drs. do prescribe **low dosage birth control pills ** for other reasons than birth control. Most use them as a last resort, when the patient has tried everything else. Getting periods regulated is one that they will use them for, AND they don’t prescribe them for a long period of time if the person using them isn’t sexually active, AND if the patient doesn’t really want them for religious or other reasons. Taking the pill for approx. 3 months will get your body back in sync. Girls that are very athletic are starting to have a lot of problems with regular periods. They are so active that female hormones are being supressed that trigger their periods. SOOO…they need start them somehow and get them back on a regular cycle. My youngest daughter had to go on for a short time for this very reason. It didn’t hurt her at all, and she has no problems now. She’s very regular. Did I question this when she went on? of course I did, but it did work. Drs. will also presribe the pill after a spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) if a D&C won’t clear things up, to get cylces back on a regular basis. They would like the body to go back naturally, but sometimes, it needs a little help. The pill is also prescribed for acne that won’t respond to other medicines.

It would be nice to think that nature always cures things on it’s own, but we know it doesn’t. AND yes, you can pray that God will take care of it. But does he always answer prayers the way you want him too? That’s why he gave us freewill…to sometimes use common sense to care for our bodies. Yes, the pill could and sometimes does have adverse effects. But the list that Eileen has isn’t totally accurate. Weight gain-I actually lost weight, migraines-I had fewer when I was on the Pill (but some types do get worse), blood clots-very rare in women under the age of 35 who DON’T SMOKE, breast cancer, other serious problems…after long extended use. Some women have lighter periods, less cramping, and the pill has also been found to protect from some forms of breast disease, ovarian cysts, and uterine cancer. The main thing is to talk to your doctor for alternatives, tell him/her about your religious convictions, and then if the Dr. and you have tried everything else, and the Pill just might be the answer, talk to your priest.

Yingyangmom brings up the valid point of conceiving after the pill. Granted, it could take longer, but I had no problems ever conceiving either of my girls, and if she’s only on it for a short time to get her cycles back to normal, they shouldn’t really affect conception. PLUS, if she’s not regular, there’s a good chance she won’t conceive anyway. To tell her to just leave it alone and if it’s not life threatening is really BAD advice. Check w/another dr. if nothing else, but don’t ignore it!! That’s really unhealthy! Bad idea! Get medical help…get the facts…not just rumors and scare tactics. Sorry if I offended anyone, but it scares me when people play with their bodies…OR someone elses and they don’t have complete information. The Church does let medicine help it’s members.
 
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aria13:
OK…granted I am Lutheran, and don’t necessarily agree with all of the Catholic ideas on family planning (especially since the couple that was teaching Natural Family planning classes at the Church I attend with my sweetie has the BRATTIEST brood I’ve ever seen!! SIX HORRIBLY, BRATTY KIDS!!!), and birth control is an issue that I don’t agree with.Sorry. But your Church does request this of you.

BUT, you do need to get facts straight. Many Drs. do prescribe **low dosage birth control pills ** for other reasons than birth control. Most use them as a last resort, when the patient has tried everything else. Getting periods regulated is one that they will use them for, AND they don’t prescribe them for a long period of time if the person using them isn’t sexually active, AND if the patient doesn’t really want them for religious or other reasons. Taking the pill for approx. 3 months will get your body back in sync. Girls that are very athletic are starting to have a lot of problems with regular periods. They are so active that female hormones are being supressed that trigger their periods. SOOO…they need start them somehow and get them back on a regular cycle. My youngest daughter had to go on for a short time for this very reason. It didn’t hurt her at all, and she has no problems now. She’s very regular. Did I question this when she went on? of course I did, but it did work. Drs. will also presribe the pill after a spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) if a D&C won’t clear things up, to get cylces back on a regular basis. They would like the body to go back naturally, but sometimes, it needs a little help. The pill is also prescribed for acne that won’t respond to other medicines.

It would be nice to think that nature always cures things on it’s own, but we know it doesn’t. AND yes, you can pray that God will take care of it. But does he always answer prayers the way you want him too? That’s why he gave us freewill…to sometimes use common sense to care for our bodies. Yes, the pill could and sometimes does have adverse effects. But the list that Eileen has isn’t totally accurate. Weight gain-I actually lost weight, migraines-I had fewer when I was on the Pill (but some types do get worse), blood clots-very rare in women under the age of 35 who DON’T SMOKE, breast cancer, other serious problems…after long extended use. Some women have lighter periods, less cramping, and the pill has also been found to protect from some forms of breast disease, ovarian cysts, and uterine cancer. The main thing is to talk to your doctor for alternatives, tell him/her about your religious convictions, and then if the Dr. and you have tried everything else, and the Pill just might be the answer, talk to your priest.

Yingyangmom brings up the valid point of conceiving after the pill. Granted, it could take longer, but I had no problems ever conceiving either of my girls, and if she’s only on it for a short time to get her cycles back to normal, they shouldn’t really affect conception. PLUS, if she’s not regular, there’s a good chance she won’t conceive anyway. To tell her to just leave it alone and if it’s not life threatening is really BAD advice. Check w/another dr. if nothing else, but don’t ignore it!! That’s really unhealthy! Bad idea! Get medical help…get the facts…not just rumors and scare tactics. Sorry if I offended anyone, but it scares me when people play with their bodies…OR someone elses and they don’t have complete information. The Church does let medicine help it’s members.
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I agree with most of what you say, but the lady in the OP does NOT have any medical problem requiring “treatment”. She merely wants to change the time her period comes. As was mentioned, it is almost impossible to “time” the period like this unless you are STILL taking the Pill or have only very recently stopped a few weeks before. And the contraceptive effects of the Pill can continue for months, or in some cases years, after stopping it. (Another problem if they are using NFP is that the Pill will disrupt the symptoms and temperature cycles which NFP depends on for some time after stopping the Pill.)

If her husband really loves her he will love her ALL the time just as he finds her, and will not mind that she has her period during his leave time. Nor will she mind if she really loves him and wants what’s truly best for him. It’s understandable that she wants to “be at her best” for her husband, but that does not necessarily include maximising the number of possible times they can have intercourse during his leave. I’m not criticising this lady but I’d say that the idea behind her idea, that her husband’s visit is devalued because they can’t have marital relations for a few days, betrays an attitude of commodification of the sex act, which she should try to correct.
 
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aria13:
OK…granted I am Lutheran, and don’t necessarily agree with all of the Catholic ideas on family planning (especially since the couple that was teaching Natural Family planning classes at the Church I attend with my sweetie has the BRATTIEST brood I’ve ever seen!! SIX HORRIBLY, BRATTY KIDS!!!), and birth control is an issue that I don’t agree with.Sorry. But your Church does request this of you.

BUT, you do need to get facts straight. Many Drs. do prescribe **low dosage birth control pills **for other reasons than birth control. Most use them as a last resort, when the patient has tried everything else. Getting periods regulated is one that they will use them for, AND they don’t prescribe them for a long period of time if the person using them isn’t sexually active, AND if the patient doesn’t really want them for religious or other reasons. Taking the pill for approx. 3 months will get your body back in sync. Girls that are very athletic are starting to have a lot of problems with regular periods. They are so active that female hormones are being supressed that trigger their periods. SOOO…they need start them somehow and get them back on a regular cycle. My youngest daughter had to go on for a short time for this very reason. It didn’t hurt her at all, and she has no problems now. She’s very regular. Did I question this when she went on? of course I did, but it did work. Drs. will also presribe the pill after a spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) if a D&C won’t clear things up, to get cylces back on a regular basis. They would like the body to go back naturally, but sometimes, it needs a little help. The pill is also prescribed for acne that won’t respond to other medicines.

It would be nice to think that nature always cures things on it’s own, but we know it doesn’t. AND yes, you can pray that God will take care of it. But does he always answer prayers the way you want him too? That’s why he gave us freewill…to sometimes use common sense to care for our bodies. Yes, the pill could and sometimes does have adverse effects. But the list that Eileen has isn’t totally accurate. Weight gain-I actually lost weight, migraines-I had fewer when I was on the Pill (but some types do get worse), blood clots-very rare in women under the age of 35 who DON’T SMOKE, breast cancer, other serious problems…after long extended use. Some women have lighter periods, less cramping, and the pill has also been found to protect from some forms of breast disease, ovarian cysts, and uterine cancer. The main thing is to talk to your doctor for alternatives, tell him/her about your religious convictions, and then if the Dr. and you have tried everything else, and the Pill just might be the answer, talk to your priest.

Yingyangmom brings up the valid point of conceiving after the pill. Granted, it could take longer, but I had no problems ever conceiving either of my girls, and if she’s only on it for a short time to get her cycles back to normal, they shouldn’t really affect conception. PLUS, if she’s not regular, there’s a good chance she won’t conceive anyway. To tell her to just leave it alone and if it’s not life threatening is really BAD advice. Check w/another dr. if nothing else, but don’t ignore it!! That’s really unhealthy! Bad idea! Get medical help…get the facts…not just rumors and scare tactics. Sorry if I offended anyone, but it scares me when people play with their bodies…OR someone elses and they don’t have complete information. The Church does let medicine help it’s members.
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That was a very long post with lots of specific information about your own personal situation, and frankly, seemed rather dismissive of Catholic morality…but I’m afraid you might have completely missed the point of the original scenario.

If I am understanding the original post correctly, the woman in question wishes to find a way to make sure that she will not have her period during her husband’s mid-tour military leave.

In other words, in the near future her husband is going to come home. They have been apart for a long time and will understandably want to make lots of love. She’s hoping that she won’t have the inconvenience of her period. Period.

Nothing about irregular cycles, regulating periods, or finding a natural cure for anything.

The original poster’s scenario is a perfect example of the ways in which husbands and wives exercise free will and either choose to make love anyway, or choose to abstain and find other ways of expressing their love for each other.
 
Morally speaking, that sounds fine. It should be understood, however, that birth control is always immoral if you have sex while on it, even if for medical reasons.

The safety of the pill is a whole other issue. It seems that other people have already mentioned that though.
 
UK Catholic Guy~
Could you please break down your logic for saying that in ***this ***scenario it “sounds fine,” morally speaking?

In my mind, based on my understanding of marriage & the natural cycle of fertility, it is so obviously not “fine”; I’m just wondering how you arrived at your conclusion.

Thanks.
 
One thing I would keep in mind:
if there is even a 0.00000001 % chance of a pill effecting any conception in the future to be even that much weakened, it is not a caring enough measure shown to one created in GOD’s Image, after HIS Likeness, who has as of yet wronged no one, and desrves to have the best possible health for life (and not need heart pills, or birth control pills, or whatever). I wonder how many asthmatic sufferers would be asthma-free if their mothers or fathers had quit smoking when they started expecting a little one. Is there all assurance of no compromise of a future conception’s lifelong health, or strength at birth?
 
Stephanie,

first, let me say Thank You for caring so much about traditional Catholic morality. So many people today try to find every loophole possible. For example, one that always comes up on these forums is the issue of using the pill for medical reasons while still having sex. I think it’s only common sense that anyone on the pill- a chemical which can cause abortions-- absolutely abstain from sexual relations while on the pill-- no matter what the reason. The apologists at CA happen to disagree with me. They maintain that a woman who is on the pill for medical reasons can continue to have sexual relations, and that any abortions that may occur are simply incidental, not willed, so it’s morally ok. I think that is damnable advice.

So, my point of saying all that was to stress that in no way am I trying to undermine Catholic morality. I re-read the OP’s question in light of your question, and I feel that I must retract my original “morally fine” statement. I was led to say it was morally ok because the wife will not be having any sexual relations while on the pill. Thus, there is no danger of abortion and the pill is not being used to contraceptive reasons.

However, upon re-reading, I don’t know if simply not wanting a period is a valid reason for using the pill. It’s my understanding that the Church only allows one to use contraceptive medicine IF it’s for a valid medical reason, and even then the couple must abstain from sex. So, the woman in this situation has met 2 of the 3 conditions for a morally ok way to use the pill: 1) she’s not using it for contraceptive reaons, and 2) she’s abstaining. However, she has not met the 3rd, which is a valid medical reason.

So, my new position is that the use of the pill in this case IS NOT morally justified.

Thanks for brining it to my attention.

God bless.
 
I don’t think this plan would work because the only way she could be guaranteed not to be on her period when her husband came home, would be to be on the pill, and then she would not be open to life. Once she went off the pill, there would be no guarantees that her cycles would continue as they were on the pill. I don’t think it would work the way she is picturing it working.

This is true. Once the hormonal support of the endometrium is stopped, she will have a withdrawal bleed. Just like the pill free well following the 21 days of hormones. Some women will have a delay, but there is no way to predict how she will respond.
But the list that Eileen has isn’t totally accurate
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Actually, Eileen’s list is accurate. These are certainly potential side effects, but of course not every woman will experience these side effects. A few of the less known potential side effects include urinary tract infection, hay fever, vitamin and mineral changes (i.e., decreased Folic Acid), allergic rhinitis, elevated total cholesterol, elevated triglycerides, and elevated LDL cholesterol. I am one of those women who experienced side effects.

I gained 10 pounds in one month, my face broke out, my cholesterol reached ~ 230, my triglycerides ~ 250, and my LDL was ~ 160. This was only after completing one cycle of Tricyclen. Based on my experience with pill follow-ups, many women experience side effects.
 
UKCatholicGuy~

Cool!

It takes a humble & true servant of God to admit when he’s erred.

Just to share my thinking on the post: The couple in this case would seem to me to be no different than a bride and groom-to-be preparing for their honeymoon. (Come to think of it, shouldn’t that be every couples’ mentality each time they renew their marriage vows through their marital embrace?)

Anyway, whether it’s the bride who knows she’s going to ovulate on her wedding night, but they’ve discerned a need to postpone children, or whether it’s the bride who knows she’ll start her period for her honeymoon, that’s the beauty of God’s design: there’s a cycle of fertility that is in place for a purpose. All of our plans for honeymoons, mid-tour leaves, or a date night without the kids are wonderful and good, but they don’t override the whole purpose for the design!

And of course, there are plenty of couples who see no obstacle to having intercourse during a woman’s period.
 
That was a lot of information! Thank you to all who participated.

I will need to just get her over to my house to read it all up - better yet, try to get her to join Catholic Forums and she can read it from her own home! 😃
 
speaking from a military wife’s perspective… I totally understand why the friend would want to try to swing her cycle so it’s not on while her DH comes home… my only issue is that DH’s schedule might unexpectantly be changed at the last minute

SOOOO… why bother? Ya never know what God has in store. A good friend of mine had her husband come home for his mid-tour R&R and after 9 months of me working her heart to get off BCP’s, I had taken the first five months of her husband being gone to teach her some NFP charting and what to look for… Well, luck would have it that she was supposed to be in her fertile time while DH was home for R&R. According to her… they had lots and lots of lovin… but she never got pregnant! She said that that was the biggest leap in faith that she’s ever had to prove to her and her husband that God really is in control. They didn’t want to get pregnant just yet because DH still had 7 months left of his tour in Iraq, but they plan to get pregnant ASAP when he returns.

So… trust God… 🙂
 
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