Birth control to stop periods

The most reliable birth control methods to stop or pause your periods are:

• Hormonal IUD — this thickens the cervical mucus and thins the uterine lining until you have so little uterine lining (or none at all) that you just don’t get your period anymore
• Implant — this similarly thins the uterine lining, but may not thin it completely/enough such that you don’t get your period anymore
• Shot — this suppresses ovulation and thickens the cervical mucus

However, none of these three methods guarantee that you will not get your period. Every woman’s body is different. Birth control pills, ring, and the patch can also be used to stop or pause menstruation. For example, the birth control pill suppresses ovulation, thickens the cervical mucus, and thins the uterine lining. In every one-month pack, 7 of the pills are placebo pills, which means you’re supposed to get your period on those days. If you skip taking those 7 pills and move straight onto the next pack, you’ll have effectively skipped your period for that month.