[Long-cycle treatment in oral contraception]

Surveys show that most women desire a change in their menstrual pattern in the sense that they would prefer less menstruations or even amenorrhea. On this behalf, there is no difference between women having spontaneous natural cycles and women taking the pill. The main reasons are less menstrual bleedings, better hygienic conditions, a better quality of life and less blood loss. In women wanting regular monthly periods, the opinion is dominant that suppression of menstrual bleedings is "unnatural". It is therefore primordial to inform women that contraceptive safety is even increased in users following the long-cycle principal and that a fertility decrease has not to be feared. The benefit of the long-cycle OC is a reduction of the hormonal fluctuations induced by the pill-free interval with its consecutive somatic and mental symptoms, as well as an increased contraceptive safety. The following cycle- and menstruation-dependent symptoms as listed as an indication for the long-cycle use: Endometriosis, hypermenorrhea, dysmenorrhea, hemorrhagic diathesis, uterine fibroma, polyzystic ovary syndrome, migraine due to estrogen-deficiency in the pill-free interval as well as premenstrual syndrome.