New Birth Control Pill Lybrel That Ends Menstrual Periods Approved by FDA

May 28th, 2007

This month the FDA approved the first birth-control pill designed to stop women’s menstrual periods indefinitely. Lybrel, expected to be on the market by July, is approved for continuous use to prevent pregnancies.

Lybrel can have troubling side effects for some women, especially in its first year of use. About half the women enrolled in the study of the new low-dose hormone pill did not continue in the study. Many dropped out due to irregular and unscheduled bleeding and spotting that can replace scheduled monthly periods.

In one test of Lybrel, 59% of women who stayed on the pill for a year had no spotting or breakthrough bleeding in the last month of the study.  Because many women dropped out, only about one-third of women who originally entered the study experienced this result.

Women with especially difficult periods due to headaches, breast tenderness, cramps and nausea may be willing to put up with initial unscheduled bleeding and spotting that may last for a year. Some do not experience these side effects. In those who have no periods while on Lybrel, it may be difficult to know if they become pregnant.

With a lower-dose pill, its effectiveness can be reduced, although it is still able to prevent pregnancy approximately 96% of the time. Lower-dose pills have been developed to reduce the risk of serious side effects such as blood clots and stroke.

For many women, menstruation is a natural part of their experience. They may not want to treat a normal function as though it were a medical condition. Others may rejoice to be able to skip their menstrual periods indefinitely.

Another method of eliminating monthly periods is by receiving the hormonal contraceptive Depo-Provra by injection.

Other pills already on the market (Seasonale and Seasonique) can reduce the number of periods a woman has to three or four a year. Some nontraditional pills such as Yaz and Loestrin 24 are able to shorten monthly periods to three days or less.

Source:  CNN.com 

Entry Filed under: BIRTH CONTROL, Birth Control, PRESCRIPTION DRUGS