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Delaying period for vacation

9 October, 2019
Question:

Wanted to ask how I can delay my period or lengthen my cycle. I am 45 years old, not on any pills, my period is around 24–25 days. I am going on 2 weeks vacation in August. And my mikvah would be a week before the vacation starts and the next period starts in the middle of the vacation. I would love to move the mikvah day closer to the vacation start day. Is there a medication you can recommend? Can it cause staining?


Answer:

Please speak to your doctor about taking progesterone (Norethindrone, also called Norethisterone) to delay your period.

The usual dose to delay periods with Norethindrone is 5mg (sold as the brand name Aygestin in North America or Primolut Nor in Israel) 2-3 times day, starting 3-5 days before you expect your period and continued for as long as needed to delay menstruation. Prolonged continuous use may cause staining, so it is best used for no more than two to three weeks at a time.

You do not have to observe your usual onot while taking the progesterone, since the medication is working to delay your period. You should treat days 2-4 after stopping the progesterone as an extended onah, during which you should abstain from relations. If you haven’t begun bleeding by the end of the extended onah, you should perform a bedikah then.

You can refer your physician to this article about using Norethindrone to delay menstruation:

Dean et al. Norethindrone is superior to combined oral contraceptive pills in short-term delay of menses and onset of breakthrough bleeding: a randomized trial. BMC Women’s Health volume 19, Article number: 70 (2019).

Please feel free to get back to us with any further questions.

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