Can You Delay Your Period for Vacation? (2024)

Put a finger down if you’ve ever had to scour a resort gift shop for a tampon or pad. Yeah, it’s not exactly vacation vibes. But that’s what happens when your period makes a surprise visit and completely interrupts your plans of basically living at the swim-up bar. So can anything be done about this inconvenience? Is there a way to scam the menstrual cycle to avoid having a period while you’re on vacation?

You’ve probably searched this exact question on TikTok and heard a variety of responses, from different methods on how you can nix your period to some “health” “influencer” urging you not to and instead promoting a suspect supplement or home remedy. So because there’s so much noise around this, we hit up a few reliable sources, aka doctors and experts, to let you know if you truly can delay a period for vacation and how to go about doing it in a healthy way.

Can you delay your period for a vacation?

According to experts, this is something that’s absolutely possible and not just for vacation; you can basically delay your period whenever you want for whatever you want. “We tell patients all the time that they can delay a period for any reason really—you don’t need a 'good reason' to skip a cycle," says Dakisha N. Lewis, M.D., an OBGYN at Advocate Medical Group in Chicago, who mentioned that she gets this question often. "We’ve all heard from our moms and our grandmas, ‘This is how our body cleans us out.’ That’s not actually what’s happening. Your period is just the absence of getting pregnant.”

There are all kinds of reasons someone might not want to not bleed monthly, like people who are in the military who prefer not to menstruate while deployed, says Dr. Lewis, who's had patients in this situation. But your reason doesn't have to even be this major, she reiterates. You don't need some big, elaborate reason to make your period suit your life, says Dr. Lewis.

How can you delay your period for vacation?

Hormonal birth control pills can be used to delay or avoid menstrual bleeding, says Dr. Lewis, specifically any combined estrogen-progestin types, according to Mayo Clinic. This method is called “continuous-use” and it’s exactly what it sounds like—continuously taking the hormonal birth control pills instead of that fourth placebo-pill week (aka the pills without the hormones).

Here’s how it works: Some birth control pill packs have 28 pills, one to take every day for four weeks. The first three weeks have hormones in the pills, and the final week doesn't (aka that placebo week just mentioned above). During that last week, your body is having what Mayo Clinic calls “withdrawal bleeding" and it's basically just your body responding to you stopping those pills (this is different from an actual period, JFYI). If you wanted to skip that week of withdrawal bleeding, you would just start your new pack right away and skip the placebo-pill week. And boom, no period. This also works for birth control packs that have 21 pills.

All of this basically stops your body from getting an alert that the hormones suppressing your cycle have stopped and a green light to bleed.

Can you do this with any type of hormonal birth control?

Yes, you can also do the same continuous use method with the birth control ring. Similar to the pills, you’re typically supposed to leave the ring in for three weeks and the last week you'd take it out and bleed. But if you were skipping your period, you'd keep the ring in for one extra week (so four weeks total), says Lewis, then swap it out and immediately put a new one in. You can also do this method with the patch, although most of the research around using hormonal contraception to nix a period is mostly around the pill and ring.

When it comes to long-term birth control, like an IUD, things get a little tricker, says Lewis, but options exist. “Sometimes we can utilize pills on top of those long-acting birth controls,” Lewis explains. But since IUDs impact everyone a little differently (you already might not have a period, or a super duper light one, if you have an IUD), and there are so many different kind in terms of hormones, be sure to talk with your doctor about this.

Is this OK to do for my body?

If it’s generally considered safe for you to use hormonal birth control by your doctor, you should be in the clear about using it continually also. For most birth control methods, there is no required or recommended need to “give your body a break,” says Dr. Lewis. Your uterine lining isn’t “building up” because hormonal birth control already keeps it pretty thin. There isn't a time limit on how long you can do this either, says Lewis. And according to Mayo Clinic, that withdrawal bleeding we talked about earlier isn't necessary for your overall health.

Even though it's a totally fine thing to do, delaying your period is not something your doctor will likely bring up on their own, so you can start the conversation by saying, “I’m going on a trip, I need to guarantee that I’m not going to bleed,” says Lewis.

Are there any side effects?

Lewis noted that some people may experience breakthrough bleeding, which can be annoying but is not anything physically to worry about. “It’s not at all dangerous and doesn’t mean the pills aren’t working," she says. Of course, make sure to talk with your doctor to be certain that using hormonal birth control to delay your period won't mess with any other medications you are taking or medical conditions you have.

This article is not intended to be a substitute for medical advice or diagnosis. Always seek the advice of your doctor or other qualified health professional with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.