Well, it's considered normal on birth control to miss a period, and they recommend only testing if 2 periods in a row are missed. That would at least cut down the worry to every 2 months instead of every month, if nothing else.
Consider the fact that there are methods like Seasonale out there where users are only supposed to have periods once every 3 months. Those users aren't expected to have to see their period every month, or assume that they're pregnant. It sounds stupid, but maybe just thinking about how they don't *need* to see a period every month to still be protected from pregnancy might make you feel a bit better about it too. And I'm sure you already know this, but BC works by preventing ovulation, thickening cervical mucus, and thinning the endometrial lining, all factors that help to prevent pregnancy, so unless you had a major user error, you would have absolutely no reason to doubt your protection beyond your missing period -- and you already know that that is quite normal for you. Someone who had very regular periods and missed one entirely would definitely have reason to worry, but someone who got them sporadically and continued to do so would have no reason to suspect that something was wrong.
Personally I wouldn't like not getting my period at all, for the same reason you mention. However, I'm fine stacking birth control for two months to avoid a period, or something like that, and don't worry about pregnancy because I know there's been no slipups in my use. Hopefully between going over the multiple ways BC works, and remembering that you are using it perfectly and that you have irregular periods on or off BC, will be enough to cut down on the anxiety and maybe you'll only need to test every couple of months, or not at all.
If just HBC just isn't enough for you, there's always using condoms and/or withdrawal on top of it -- lowering the chances of pregnancy, even in a perfectly normal-cycled woman, to almost entirely zero. With multiple methods you'd have even less reason to suspect at all you were pregnant, since you know that you have irregular periods anyway, and that you used a whole ton of protection to boot.
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Date: 2008-09-30 04:23 am (UTC)Consider the fact that there are methods like Seasonale out there where users are only supposed to have periods once every 3 months. Those users aren't expected to have to see their period every month, or assume that they're pregnant. It sounds stupid, but maybe just thinking about how they don't *need* to see a period every month to still be protected from pregnancy might make you feel a bit better about it too. And I'm sure you already know this, but BC works by preventing ovulation, thickening cervical mucus, and thinning the endometrial lining, all factors that help to prevent pregnancy, so unless you had a major user error, you would have absolutely no reason to doubt your protection beyond your missing period -- and you already know that that is quite normal for you. Someone who had very regular periods and missed one entirely would definitely have reason to worry, but someone who got them sporadically and continued to do so would have no reason to suspect that something was wrong.
Personally I wouldn't like not getting my period at all, for the same reason you mention. However, I'm fine stacking birth control for two months to avoid a period, or something like that, and don't worry about pregnancy because I know there's been no slipups in my use. Hopefully between going over the multiple ways BC works, and remembering that you are using it perfectly and that you have irregular periods on or off BC, will be enough to cut down on the anxiety and maybe you'll only need to test every couple of months, or not at all.
If just HBC just isn't enough for you, there's always using condoms and/or withdrawal on top of it -- lowering the chances of pregnancy, even in a perfectly normal-cycled woman, to almost entirely zero. With multiple methods you'd have even less reason to suspect at all you were pregnant, since you know that you have irregular periods anyway, and that you used a whole ton of protection to boot.