How to delay your period?

Also read: Dysmenorrhea (menstrual pain): what to do about painful periods?

Also read: HMB: Heavy menstrual bleeding

Postpone menstruation

• If you no hormonal contraception used: Then the doctor can temporarily prescribe the contraceptive pill. Start at least 2 months in advance. An alternative is a progestogen pill (for example lynestrenol or norethisterone) that is prescribed by the GP. If you take this about 1 week before the expected start of your period, you can postpone your period for 2 to 3 weeks. If you stop taking the progestogen pills, you will get your period 2 to 3 days later. The blood loss is usually heavier then. Please note: the progestogen pill is not a contraceptive.
• If you have a single phase combination pill: Start a new strip immediately as soon as the old strip of 21 pills is finished, so without a break week. Taking the monophasic pill for up to a year without a break week in between is considered safe. If you use a monophasic combination pill with a strip of 28 tablets (of which a number of pills are dummy pills in a different colour, which do not contain hormones), skip the dummy pills and continue with the new strip immediately.
• If you have a two phase combination pill used: Then continue with the pills from the new strip that have the same colour/composition as the last pills from the previous strip without a stop week.
• If you have a three phase pill or multiphase pill used: With a triphasic or multiphasic pill, the order of the pills – which contain different amounts of hormones – is very important. Delaying your period with the help of these contraceptive pills is therefore more difficult. Ask your GP for advice to prevent an unintended pregnancy. Please note: the longer your period is postponed with the help of oral contraception, the greater the chance of breakthrough bleeding (spotting) becomes. This form of intermediate bleeding is harmless, but of course annoying. That is why it is also advised to insert a stop week after 2 to 3 strips.
• If you hormone patches or hormone rings used: You can also delay your period using hormone patches by sticking them on for 1 or 2 weeks longer and therefore not having a patch-free week. The same applies to hormone rings: insert a new ring immediately after 3 weeks and skip the ring-free week with the monthly bleeding. The longer you delay your period in this way, the greater the chance of breakthrough bleeding. Discuss with your doctor how long you can use patches or rings without a stop week. Compared to the pill, these forms of hormonal contraception carry a slightly higher risk of thrombosis.
• If you the progestogen only method used: With the progestogen-only method (minipill, hormonal IUD, progestogen implant) there are actually no possibilities to delay the period. But with these methods the menstruations (amount of blood loss) are usually already very limited.

Also read: Is it harmful if you take the pill repeatedly?

Advance menstruation

Would you rather have a withdrawal bleed, for example to reduce the chance of intermittent bleeding? With the help of the single-phase contraceptive pill, you can easily bring your period forward. Reduce the number of days between two strips. Or stop a strip earlier; after 2 or 3 days you will then have a bleed. Then you start a new strip. Always take the pill for at least 14 days in a row and never make the stop week longer than 7 days. If you do, the pill becomes less reliable.

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