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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 | 3 But Petriella said many women still feel a strong psychological attachment to their period and do not want to give it up, however inconvenient it may be.
"Sometimes [ending periods] is just emotionally uncomfortable for women," he said. "They don't feel right about not having their period. For those women, obviously Lybrel and other such products are not good products for them."
Petriella believes that, at least in the short-term, Lybrel will appeal to only a minority of women. They include those with menstruation-linked conditions such as endometriosis and menstrual migraine, or those who have already tried -- and liked -- period-limiting products such as Seasonale, he said.
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As with any pharmaceutical contraceptives, women who decide to go on Lybrel may experience random breakthrough bleeding, Davtyan said.
So, for the 59 percent of women who have no bleeding or spotting after one year, "I think Lybrel is a great deal," Davtyan said. "For the remainder, if they have the patience to hang in there for a few months, the spotting might abate. There will be an occasional patient that will continue to spot, and then, clearly, it's a better deal to have a scheduled period than to start spotting at an unknown time and maybe in an uncomfortable circumstance."
Women who decide to resume their monthly cycle -- for example, those who wish to become pregnant -- can typically expect to resume their normal cycle within days of stopping Lybrel, Shames said. He said that short timespan to resumption of ovulation could leave women who skip or miss pills open to unplanned pregnancy, so the FDA is advising that women consider a second form of birth control while on Lybrel, as a safeguard.
Both Davtyan and Petriella stressed that young women who are considering a pharmaceutical end to their period should not be concerned that doing so will harm their health.
"Remember, there's no real physiological value to hold on to the period that a woman has while she is taking the Pill, unless it is a psychological value, which I respect," Davtyan said.
More information
There's more on various forms of birth control at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
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