Haven't done it, but would definitely do it if the day or an Ironman was looking to be the same day as Day One.

If you start a couple months out and manipulate by a day or two every cycle, it seems like it really wouldn't be all that much to get it to align so race day didn't involve heavy bleeding.

just started cycling without periods as I found that the estrogen drop on day 1/2 affected my strength and speed. so heck yeah!
and I have cycled athletes without menses for YEARS!


cat

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cat
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i've known pro women who've done it, and pro women who haven't. one problem for women who don't time their cycles is that some times a lot of hard work followed by a few very easy days before a race seems to tell the body it's okay to have a cycle. so a small 2- or 3-day taper brings it on just when you don't want it. this, not from medical knowledge but from anecdotal personal experience (well, not first-person experience, since i'm a guy).

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I have done it. But now I am on a very low dosage and basically don't have a period but once a year. And it lasts maybe a day or two. Its so light I hardly know I'm having it. I'd talk to your doctor about it. Mine specifically gave me this and told me to take 4 months, skipping the placebo week every pack until the 4th month, that was supposed to cause me to only have it once every 3 months. But even that didn't amount to having a period. Now I just take a regular 4 weeks (including the placebo) and rarely have the period. I'm 41, average weight. My doctor is not concerned that I do not have it. I get yearly checkups and have no medical problems.

yes. by slowly shifting my period by two weeks over 6 months.

Just recently I did a race on day 1 of my period (first time this happened in five years of running/tri's, guess I'm lucky) and I would absolutely switch things around if I could, running a half marathon with cramps was hell.

Friends of mine have rescheduled it for their wedding, why not do it for a race!

Forgive my ignorance, but how do you manipulate it? I'm assuming it's a birth control pill thing?
Oh yeah, if the answer involves something graphic, I don't really want to know :-)

I've been using birth control pills (Desogen:21 days on + 7 days of placebo/period) for 15+ years and have taken a new pill pack on the placebo pill week 3 times to skip a period. Each and every time I had spotting and the next placebo week was pure hemorrhaging. (God bless the girls' forum!). I don't think it was worth it, but was silly enough to try it 3 times.
I'm on a new kind of pill (Seasonique) which result in a period every 3 months. So far no spotting or breakthrough bleeding.
For an "A" race, especially long course, I would seriously think about NOT having the period. While the blood lose may not be significant for some to affect V02 max, the discomfort and overall icky-ness during an IM or HIM is enough to consider hormonal manipulation.

Absolutely. I took BCP's continually for about 2 years and didn't have a period at all, ever. It was great.

seasonique is desogen just extended out....if you had just kept taking your desogen active pills for 3 months before a placebo week same effect.

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cat
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I have, went 3months+1 week for almost a year in training for IMWA. But since my cycle has been shite for the last 2+ yrs after that, I have given up on the idea. (too much breakthrough bleeding to actually make it work). Won't do it again. :-(

AP

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"How bad could it be?" - SimpleS

I have -- as some others have mentioned by skipping the placebo week of pills to move it by a week. Although I did it to move my period earlier as I found I felt short of power (and too emotional!!) the week right before it, so I put my IM last year on the week right after. I had no issues doing it, but I've always have a relatively easy and light period.

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Miles of Life --- Powered by MarkyV

i hear you, but the reality is that the hormones are already being manipulated (by virtue of taking hormone to not get pregnant) and the menstral cycle while on the pill, is not really a true cycle. since there is no ovulation, there is no lining to bleed out.

back in the day when the pill was designed, doctors (men) formulated the pill to include a "false" period, so the women would feel more "natural".

the truth is that it is not necessary to have a period while on the pill, and now we have BCP products that enable a woman to continue the pack month after month. it has no effect to do this, that's why the 3+ month packs are on the market. it wouldn't surprise me if in time there are longer packs, possibly 6 months or more.

for a race, IMO, it is not a big deal to plan ahead and adjust the pill so there is no cycle. it's a fake cycle, there is no lining to bleed out, honestly, that period is only there to make you feel your body is "naturally" doing what it's supposed to do. arguably, there is no benefit of having a period while on BCP, outside of feeling that you're "supposed" to have it, and the period is natural (but, this BCP period is not a normal period, which is to bleed out a uterine lining from ovulating).

my suggestion for our ST'er is to start now, or early enough to get her body adapted to continuing the pill month after month so she will not suffer with breakthrough bleeding during the race.

additionally, starting early enough will provide plenty of time to determine if making this change is positive, negative, or completely normal in how she feels (and performs in sport). if there are have negative side effects (ie, headache, stomach ache, whatever) then obviously this is something that's not good to do. but if she feels business as usual, or better (which is what happened for me), voila! no period!

Yes I would if I could do it. You train so hard for your A race why not?

I'm not sure I can b/c I'm over 40 and have a history of HTN.

Thanks for asking that question. I have been wondering that myself. Nobody has answered yet. Maybe its one of those things us guys arent supposed to know.

I have. I use the nuvaring and used two in a row without the week break (similar in nature to not taking the placebos with the pill) prior to the Disney marathon this year to keep my period away for the race. The only effect I had was that my next period came a bit early but was just as light as normal.

I also just went through my calendar and realized that on my current schedule, I would have my period for the DATT and IM Wisconsin. I did some planning and now my periods are the week before the races. I asked my GYN about doing this and she said its fine. She actually uses the nuvaring without breaks for several cycles without breaks.

I take my pills continuously--and even when I DO take the placebos, my pill schedule is set up so my "period" runs Monday thru Thursday. It pretty much eliminates the problem of having my period during a race.

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mmm-mmm-Momo Charms
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how do you manipulate it?

It's usually by birth control pill. Many of the pills are set up where you take the pill for 21 days and then you're off for 7 (or you take a placebo pill so that you're always in the habit of taking a pill every day). During the time you're off, you typically would get your period. After the 7 days, you start on your next month's set of pills.

When you manipulate it, you don't come off at all. As soon as the first month's 21 pills are done, you start right away on the next month's pills.

I def would if I was still on the pill. I have been wondering what happens if your IM day and heavy flow day coincide. This is my worst fear re race day.

Sarah

With me, it's not so much heavy flow. It's that in my early 20s, I went through a stretch of time when day one meant puking to dry heaves. And I'll still once or twice a year have a bad cycle reminescent of those days.

I couldn't imagine trying to manage nutrition in a long race when it's iffy if I could keep anything down long enough for it to do good.

No. I went through two straight years of having my period for EVERY (including multiple 1/2 & full IM's) race I did. It really didn't affect my performance at all.

I used Instead instead of tampons and had no real problems except for minor "cosmetic" issues early in the cycle.

I don't like drugs, hormones or gratuitously messing around with my body. In the big picture, a little inconvenience is a small thing.

It does look like I'm in the minority on this. Now, approaching 50, I am just waiting for the whole mess to be over. Course then I will have other issues to deal with. ;-)

G

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It's a little like wrestling a gorilla.........you don't stop when you're tired.........you stop when the gorilla is tired.

I tried this and it really didn't work well at all for me. I"m on Synphasic and what it did was make me completely irregular - very frustrating.

I think, however, that if I was going to do it again, I'd ask my dr. to get involved, I essentially just skipped the off week and kept going.

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Tri Hard !

Thanks for the comments, but I think I may agree with you here...but wanted some input. Now I have to google 'Instead'....
the pain I can deal with, its the very heavy flow.

Desogen is composed of .15 desogestrel/.03 ethinyl estradiol.

Seasonique is composed of .15 levonorgestrel/.03 ethinyl estradiol.

Slightly different progestogen so not the same.

Seasonique is most similar to Nordette used continuously for 13 weeks followed by .01mg ee tablets to limit breakthrough bleed.