I may be nold fashioned but when I hear the TV say, "there is no need for women to have more than 4 periods a year." Well that makes me wonder. GOD made us a certain way and that was having 12, HEAQLTHY, cleansing periods a year. Sure they're a real pain sometimes but if not necessary God would have done it different, right? These drug companies are selling pills or do dads that interrupt the natural flow of our lives. If I had a daughter and she opted for 1 to 4 periods a year taking pills, I would be horrified and scared to death for her. Am i being crazy?

There is a rhythm and flow to live. Don't mess with Mother Nature!!!

I took birth control pills way back when and began having frequent blood vessel breakage, forcing me to quit taking those type pills.

I too took them many years ago and my entire body functions changed, and not for the better. I developed IBS for years afterwards and it was dreadfull.

I went and got a Lapriscopic Tubaligation, in and out of the hospital in an afternoon with no side effects ever! I wish I'd have done that instead of taking birth control pills which messed up my system.

Cookie I'm not so sure everyone is so careful to use rhythm method.

I've never taken birth control pills and glad that now am in perimenopause.

Some of women abit younger than I, use a menstrual cup. Brand names like Diva Cup, etc. Personally this is too much effort for me.

Orchid. Rhythm method. Gawd NO!!!! LOL!

I was commenting on Chatty's comment. Maybe I misread it. I thought she was saying that there was a pill that would only allow a woman to have periods 1 to 4 months out of a year.

I didn't think that was a good idea. There is a rhythm and flow to our bodies.....don’t mess with it. That was my thought anyway.

I agree that it's best not to "mess with Mother Nature."

I too took the pill in my 20s, but had to stop for health reasons. I used a diaphragm for the decade of my 30s and then -- at 39 as I recall -- I, too, opted for a tubal ligation.

Best decision I ever made, since by then my docs had told me it wasn't medically wise for me to have any more children.

I suppose birth control of any sort is "messing with nature," but I can't imagine what long-term health ramifications might come from limiting ones' self to only 4 periods a year...

(Besides, my periods were always so heavy and long, I'd hate to think what kind of flow I would have encountered after 3 months!! Yikes!)

Anne,
Your birth control history mirrors my own. Best decision I ever
made was that tubal.

A period 4 times a year can't be good in the long run...it just doesn't seem right.

I haven't had a period in 9 months and I don't miss it at all. I hate the hotflashes and night sweats that come with the process, but I'm coming down to the home stretch! I hope

I believe there is a reason GOD made periods, one every month, for a reason and don't trust these people who strive for one every four months. Can't be healthy, God doesn't make mistakes...

You know, this topic sounds a bit startling to us, but, like you, I messed with Mother Nature just the same way. We could make an argument that anything other than no birth control at all is messing with Mother Nature, and almost no one in modern countries does that. We don't want 15 children!

Women use hormones and devices to keep from getting pregnant and take hormones and treatments to lessen the effects of menopause. An enormous number of us choose to help things at various stages of our lives. I'm going to withhold judgment until there are some studies that tell us whether this is harmful or neutral.

Did a little refresher Googling this am and some interesting facts about The Pill:
--It has been in use for 50 years.
--The periods women get during 'normal' pill usage -- 3 weeks pill, 1 week off -- are not real periods. The pill works by basically tricking your body into thinking it's already pregnant -- the added hormones result in no eggs being produced. The lining of your uterus doesn't thicken much during each month because there's no egg released in anticipation of possible fertilization. The period women experience is caused by the drop in hormones.

The folks who developed the pill felt that women would be more comfortable with a 'regular' schedule, but it's all chemically induced. The way I see it, the newer pills are no more unnatural than the old pills are, but the idea of few periods *is* a bit startling to us older women.

Personally, I understand that women have benefitted tremendously from being able to space their children, but have become so overdependent on the pill that they often don't consider alternatives. Everyone cannot take the pill and a lot of people choose not to. But of course in the olden days women didn't have much in the way of choice at all.

Fascinating, Ellemm, I had no idea that's what was happening.

Another point to consider
Previous generations may have due to several pregnancies and breast feeding not had a menopause in the same way as experienced nowadays.Indeed the menopause may have been a relief due to the hard work of carrying multiple children.Life span was also shorter and epidemics rife.Grief through child death would also figure.
The physical toll on a womans pelvis in itself must have been a trial.In a time when open discussion about incontinence/prolapse was restricted few womens magazines..no internet life could have been fraught with discomfort.
Marie Stopes when she opened clinics was frowned upon by many.
On balance we do have choice...and I agree hormones should be researched .

I agree Ellenm.