Pill offers hope on limiting periods “Seasonale” – on trial for a year in the US – is essentially a low-dose birth control pill that comes in an 84 day packet. I admit I had presumed that there was a reason why women on the pill menstruated anyway but it appears there is some doubt about whether it is necessary.
” ‘It’s perfectly medically acceptable,’ said Pat Robinson, a Paramus gynecologist who says she shows an average of two women a month how to manipulate their cycle. ‘Whether a woman has a period 13 times a year or six, there’s no medical importance, as long as she knows she’s not pregnant.’
But most women, she finds, feel healthy and reassured when they get their periods. …
[One woman said] ‘Are you kidding? A period four times a year? I’d love it. I’m sick of the bad moods, the swollen breasts, the inconvenience, the bother.’
That’s precisely the sort of response Barr is betting on. The company expects to plunk down $10 million to $15 million on Seasonale by the time the study is over, and that doesn’t include dollars spent on marketing.”
