does birth control pills that limit your number of periods a year post-pone menopause?
Ashlyn
2010-11-16 18:08:33 UTC
i was wondering if birth control pills such as "seasonique" that limit your number of periods a year could post-pone menopause.... since menopause occurs when you run out of eggs... it seems to me that limiting your egg output would post-pone this.
hope that made since thank you!!!
Three answers:
Q
2010-11-17 02:24:10 UTC
No. All birth control pills prevent eggs from being used, not just the pills that limit the periods. Eggs are used in ovulation, and periods don't necessarily mean ovulation. And actually, that bleeding you get while on the pill isn't really a period, it's a simulated period.
Anyway, you would think that you could save eggs by stopping ovulation for years at a time. But it doesn't work that way. We all have hundreds of thousands of eggs, so there are far more than we'd ever need. But what limits the eggs is their expiration date. They age just like the rest of the body, and they die off as they pass their prime. And that's related to how old you are, not how many times you have ovulated in your lifetime.
S P
2010-11-16 18:35:07 UTC
No. It has nothing to do with menopause. It doesn't limit the amount of eggs. It limits the amount of eggs that get released. Two different things.