Is it unhealthy if you skip your period while using Mirena or other birth control methods?

By Emily @ Planned Parenthood | Sept. 22, 2014, 8:02 p.m.

Category: Ask the Experts, Birth Control

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does having an IUD in and not having a period affect your body in negative ways?

Hormonal IUDs like Mirena, Skyla, Liletta, and Kyleena can lessen the number of periods you get, or stop them altogether. For some people, that’s a huge benefit to using one of those methods. The implant and shot can also have that effect, as well as the pill and ring if used a certain way.

If you’re thinking about using one of these methods to avoid having a period, you may be wondering if it’s healthy to not get your period every month. The answer is that it’s actually totally safe to not have periods because of birth control.

A lot of people believe that their period is a way the body "cleans" itself, or that period blood will "build up" over time if they don't have a period every month — but that's not true. Your body only needs to menstruate to shed the uterine lining (in the form of period blood) that it makes every month to prepare for a possible pregnancy. But hormonal birth control safely helps stop that uterine lining from building up in the first place, so there isn’t anything to shed or bleed out. And this isn't permanent — when you stop using your method of birth control, your period will go back to what's normal for you.

So don't worry: it's totally safe, healthy, and normal to not have a period while you have a hormonal IUD.

-Emily at Planned Parenthood

Tags: birth control pills, birth control implant, Mirena, IUDs, no period, ring, skip period, Skyla