In most cases, the use of birth control pills provides a reliable way to postpone menstruation. Many birth control pill packs include a set number of pills that contain hormones used to prevent conception. They also include pills, often seven per pack, that are placebos. This means that they have no effect on conception and are not used to prevent pregnancy; You will usually start to bleed vaginally while taking the placebo pills. You can postpone your period by skipping the placebo pills and switching to a new pack of pills correctly.
It is important to note that you can use birth control pills to postpone your period, but the bleeding that normally occurs while taking inactive birth control pills is not really your period. In a normal cycle, hormones stimulate ovulation and a nutrient-rich lining forms in the uterus. In the event that an egg is not fertilized and implanted in your uterus, your body begins to shed the uterine lining at the end of your monthly cycle; This is the real menstruation. However, the bleeding you get when you take placebo pills is really your body's reaction to the lack of hormones in the pills. As such, it is actually withdrawal bleeding rather than menstruation.
While traditional birth control pill packs include 21 hormonal pills and seven that don't contain the hormones used to prevent ovulation, some birth control pills don't work this way. To postpone menstruation, you can also consider a type of contraception that does not involve any inactive pill. In such a case, each of the pills you receive during a cycle will contain hormones that prevent ovulation and conception. Since you will not be taking any inactive pills, you should not have any period-like bleeding.
You may prefer to use a traditional type of birth control pill if you expect to postpone your period for only a month or two. This way, you can start taking your inactive pills again once you're ready to go back to cycles that include withdrawal bleeding. However, if you want to postpone your period for a significantly longer time, a type that does not include inactive pills may be easier.
In general, using birth control pills to postpone menstruation is thought to be safe. One potential problem with using this method is the fact that birth control pills are not 100 percent effective. It is possible for you to get pregnant while taking these pills. In such a case, you may not be aware of the pregnancy because you will not have the missed period of menstrual bleeding as an obvious symptom.