TER General Board
I don't work because I am not in the mood to do anything around that time. I relax and soak my feet, watch my favorite shows and chill out. It isn't a health issue for me. I think that all providers should not work non stop. I have seen that it gets them jaded, tired and hard. We all need time for ourselves and my menstral cycle is that time. I don't even think about seeing my friends. I do well enough to not have to fret over missing a few days. I have had one time where during the session I had some spotting due to the onset of my period. I immediately informed my friend and we did other things except the main course. I rescheduled him and threw in an extra hour of time together for his inconvenience because he had wanted to see me for a long time and when he had the chance nature interrupted us. I do mention to my friend that I take time off during that time and I won't offer french or greek. I just want that time for me and only me. 
"Truth is, nobody knows what the long-term effects of artifically stopping the menstrual cycle for long periods of time are."
Actually, just to be Devil's Advocate here, taking the Pill and having a break for menstruation every month is scientifically bizarre. The whole point of the Pill is to convince the body it's already pregnant so it won't allow conception.
But pregnant women don't menstruate. The only reason the scientists who developed the Pill put a break in there for a period every month is because they believed women would feel 'less womanly' if they didn't have a period. That's not science; that's a remnant of the social beliefs at the time.
For most of history women, once they were able to menstruate were then either pregnant or breast-feeding most of the time. Their life expectancy was much much shorter than ours. The upshot of all this was that women hardly had a chance to even have periods, and only had a fraction as many as the average woman does today in her life time.
There is a correlation between how many periods you have in a life time and cancers like endometrial cancer for example;
"If you started menstruating at an early age — before age 12 — and continue to have monthly periods into your 50s, you're at greater risk of endometrial cancer than is a woman who menstruated for fewer years. The more years you have had a monthly period, the more exposure your endometrium has had to estrogen"
http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/DS/00306.html
So...essentially less is more, as far as periods are concerned, so taking the Pill continuously is thought to be safer than taking the Pill as it's usually prescribed; it's been something women doctors have been doing for ages. Of course, not adding any chemicals to the mix would be even better, but...
The link below explains it in way more detail
-- Modified on 9/22/2005 1:13:41 AM
-- Modified on 9/22/2005 1:15:08 AM
...But if a woman said she was PMSing to me, I would think that she was before that time of the month, was in a bad mood, and wanted chocolate bon-bon's to nibble on to make her feel better.
OTOH I guess many men just do not want to even think that the women that they see professionally are anything but "perfect women", who never fart, have a period, get sick, etc. Too bad for them. One of the most fun sessions I have had was a few years ago when one of my favorite women who was seriously not feeling well. I brought her some ginger ale, and rubbed her whole body with oil. By the end of the session, she was feeling much better.
Thanks Luv, did an edit, not a word I spell everyday 
I have heard from other providers that a product called "Instead" is a solution. See link below. Lisa of Boston