TikTokers Are Using This Pain Med To Stop Their Period — And Doctors Have Thoughts

TikTok is known for oft-questionable health and fitness advice, such as claims that a dietary supplement is “nature’s Ozempic” and that a “parasite cleanse” is necessary for everyday health.

And now a recent viral TikTok video claims that if you combine Jell-O, lemon juice and ibuprofen, you can delay or stop your period. Many people online say that they have done this, claiming that it really did stop their period for a few hours or even days. But is this legit?

Dr. Karen Tang, a board-certified gynecologist and the author of the forthcoming book “It’s Not Hysteria,” replied to the TikTok trend with a video of her own in which she said the period-stopping tip isn’t totally wrong.

“Ibuprofen and other medications in that family of the NSAIDs — nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs — work to decrease period bleeding and cramping by decreasing the production of something called prostaglandin. Prostaglandin is something that acts like a hormone, and it causes uterine cramping,” Tang told HuffPost. “So, the less the cramping, the less that you’ll actually shed blood.”

In fact, NSAIDs are a standard treatment for painful and heavy periods, Tang noted.

When it comes to lightening your period, “the research and the evidence shows that taking high-dose ibuprofen… can decrease the amount of flow of your period during your menstrual cycle by about 30% to 40%,” said Dr. Hillary McLaren, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Chicago Medicine.

For ibuprofen to lighten your period, you’d need to take between 600 and 800 milligrams three times a day, according to McLaren. This isa lot of ibuprofen, but McLaren said that it falls within the top range of what she’d recommend for a normal, healthy adult.