The monthly period may come at a very inappropriate time and it can also be very annoying – especially at any very important event. Are you going on a beach holiday and spending long hours on the beach, or maybe you’re getting married? It can be very troublesome during these occurrences. 

Fortunately, there are treatments that allow you to postpone your menstrual period to a more convenient time without the need for birth control pills! The treatment uses hormones to affect the body’s cycle, but only for a limited period of time. This means that you can delay the menstrual period for up to 2 weeks, and then return to your normal cycle again.

Many people use birth control pills to control their menstrual period. However, this is a treatment that affects your entire cycle and is not a short-term treatment. Therefore, many people want to have a different form of control over their cycle so medical treatment is the only necessary when it is very beneficial to delay the monthly bleeding.

What’s on this page:

Why postpone your period?

There are some clear advantages to controlling the menstrual period and postponing it for up to 2 weeks. Some of these include:

  • You get more control over your period
    especially if you have an important event in front of you. For example, if you go to a wedding, a beach holiday or participate in any sports competitions.
  • The treatment can help alleviate some of the symptoms such as stomach ache, cramps and general discomfort.
  • You do not need to use contraception pills or other hormonal contraception just to delay your period once in a while.

How to postpone your period?

When you want to delay your menstrual period, this can be done using an artificial hormone called norethisterone. This hormone also exists in various forms of contraception such as mini pills and hormone treatment for menopause.

Norethisterone is an artificial version of one of the body’s own hormones: progesterone. This hormone has an important function in relation to your cycle as it affects the mucous membrane to grow in order to receive a fertilized egg. As the level of progesterone decreases, the mucosa will stop growing and will instead be excreted. This is where the menstrual period occurs.

When artificial adds to the progestogen in the body, the body will believe that the uterine lining still needs to mature and get ready for an egg. Therefore, there will be no rejection of the mucous membrane, and this helps to delay the menstrual period.

This is a similar process that happens when you take birth control pills and skip the “sugar” pills. This method of delaying your period is, therefore, best suited for women who do not already take contraceptive pills or other hormonal contraceptives.

Alternative and natural ways of delaying menstruation

Even though there are pills and medicines that can delay menstruation, the synthetic and hormonal substances can create many complications in the reproductive organs in the future. Therefore, some prefer delaying their periods through natural remedies. 

Liquorice powder

Use of liquorice powder to delay the period is one of the best natural remedies available. This drug is very effective and is widely used all over the world. Liquorice interferes with hormones present in the female body, and as a result, delays your monthly cycle. This method only requires two ingredients: liquorice powder and a cup of drained rice water. Mix about 3 to 4 grams of licorice powder into drained rice water and mix well. Make sure there are no lumps in the drinking water. You must drink the mixture and prepare for a week before your period is supposed to start, then postpone it.

Coriander seeds

The benefit of coriander seeds is not only limited to adding flavor to the food, but it is also very useful to delay your period naturally. To delay your period with coriander seeds, prepare a smoothie. To make this, use about 20 grams of coriander seeds and 2 cups of water. Boil the water for 10 minutes on low heat. This action will be more useful if you let the water pull and then you will end up with half the water you put in. Drink this water every day for a week before your period is supposed to start in order to postpone them.

Watermelon

If you want to delay your period, you can start having watermelon on a daily basis a few days before your period. Watermelon contains a high amount of water and helps to cool the body. The cooling ability of a watermelon helps delay the period for a few days. Often due to climatic conditions, there may be a generation of excess heat in our body, and this excess heat can lead to early bleeding. Like watermelon’s cooling features, it can help postpone your monthly bleeding.

How to delay your period with contraceptives

Contraceptives are something that contain hormones that change the function of the body to prevent pregnancy. Hormones are chemicals that control the function of the body organs. In this case, the contraceptive hormones control the ovaries and the uterus. Women who use this, will not have normal bleeding, but rather estrogen-related bleeding that occurs when hormone levels fall.

Postponing your period with contraceptive pills

Contraceptive pills usually come in four weeks’ packages, meaning that the first three weeks of pills contain hormones, and the last week is usually placebo (or sugar) pills. But if you want to postpone your bleeding, just skip the last row of sugar pills and go straight into the next package. But taking continuous contraceptives is not always failproof. Some women will get bleeding in between and others may notice other symptoms depending on how sensitive the woman is for her contraception. Nevertheless, other women will feel absolutely no side effects – other than the lack of bleeding, of course.

How to delay your period with a contraceptive implant

If you want your monthly bleeding to disappear like a distant memory, consider a hormonal contraceptive implant as a method. Women that use this option can have a slight bleeding or do not get a bleeding at all in five years. This is because progesterone is excreted by the contraceptive implant and dilutes the wombs wall, so it bleeds significantly less than it would otherwise.

How to delay your period with contraceptive patches and a vaginal ring?

Skipping your period with these methods of contraception is similar to the monthly pill. After three weeks of having the patch or ring, you only need to replace it with a new one instead of anticipating it for a week. As with the pill, you may have some dermatitis, but everything depends only on your body. Just be sure to mention your plan to your doctor so you have a new ring or patch ready to use.

How do I use such treatment?

In order for such treatment to delay your menstrual period, you should start treatment 3 days before you expect your normal menstruation cycle to begin. By consuming the hormone during the period up to expected menstruation, you can influence your body to change the cycle so that you do not get bleeding.

You must continue the treatment until you no longer want to delay the bleeding. However, it should not go more than 14 days as this is only meant for a temporary postponement and is not a long term solution to avoid menstruation. If you want better control over your period, you can consider birth control pills or other contraceptives as well as protect you from pregnancy, and you can also give you better control over the menstrual period.

Who can postpone their period?

Most women can use hormone treatment to delay the menstrual period. However, it is important to note a few things:

  • The treatment contains hormones. These may be the same as in, for example, birth control pills, mini pills and hormone replacement therapy. Therefore, it is not optimal to use a worn treatment to delay your period if you already use hormone-containing medicines. However, it may be possible in some cases, but you should always consult your doctor first.
  • If you have previously had negative reactions to hormone-based medicine, you should also not use medicines for postponement of menstruation.
  • If you have previously had a blood clot, bleeding from the vagina for unknown reasons or hormone-related cancer, hormone treatment is often not recommended. However, you can always talk to a doctor about your needs and see if it is safe to use for you.
  • Pregnant and breastfeeding women can not usually use drugs that delay the monthly period.

Is it dangerous to delay your period?

This has been a topic that has been discussed for a very long time, and many believe it is dangerous to delay the menstruation by, for example, skipping a pill or by using medicines that delay your bleeding. Research shows that it is not dangerous for women not to menstruate each month. However, many women feel that it is unnatural not to have their monthly bleeding, but in itself, it is not dangerous to avoid having menstruation. However, it is important to keep in mind that your menstrual period is usually a sign that you are not pregnant. If you skip your period, it is a good idea to take regular pregnancy tests to make sure you are not pregnant.1

The various medical treatments may have some side effects that should be noted. Therefore, it is also not suitable for everyone, although most people will be able to use such drugs without problems. The very concept of postponing the menstrual period has not been shown to cause inconvenience.

Medicines for postponing your period available online in the UK

If you have an important event and you know your menstrual period will begin at the same time, you do not have to worry if you do not have the time or want to go to the doctor. You can go through a quick medical consultation online and get a prescription on drugs that delay your monthly bleeding that will be sent home to you by post. Because the treatment contains hormones, it is not prescription-free in the UK and therefore the GP must always be responsible for printing the prescription. Always remember to disclose all health information, what other treatments you are taking, and if you have previously used such medicines.

References:

  1. Is it dangerous? – NHS