kateandlisaAre You Experiencing Concerns About Coming Off Hormonal Birth Control?
If you are, you are not alone. I get asked about the consequences of coming off hormonal birth control a lot. Some are concerned they will get pregnant. Others have concerns about how it will affect their PCOS and other hormonal imbalances. Most don’t know where to start.
Some women come to me because they are experiencing post-birth control related 
symptoms like:
- missing periods
- cycles without ovulation
- extreme mood swings
- anxiety
- depression
- hair loss
- acne
- and more!
No wonder there are concerns and hesitation to come off hormonal birth control. And, there is good news! Targeted nutrition and lifestyle shifts that are addressing your personal root cause of your symptoms can restore a symptom-free peaceful cycle after birth control in as little as 3 – 6 months.
So, how do you transition off hormonal birth control without all these crazy symptoms regardless of whether you have been on it for 5, 10, or 15 or more years?
The pill shuts down communication from the brain to the ovaries to prevent ovulation so a pregnancy can be prevented. When stopping the pill, this hormonal communication needs to wake back up – then your body will start producing hormones on its own.
Your pre-birth control picture determines how long it will take to restore a healthy cycle where you will have regulated hormones. How long you were on it, genetics along with nutrition and lifestyle factors are also part of determining this time frame.
Some have no issues and get a healthy cycle right away and others may have rougher transition. Some symptoms you may experience after birth control are:
- Acne
- Hair Loss
- Gut Issues
- Missing/Irregular Period
- Pre-Birth Control Symptoms Return
- Fatigue
These are driven by hormone imbalances like:
- Elevated Androgens
- Estrogen/Progesterone Imbalances
- Cortisol Imbalances
Androgen rebound can occur after stopping birth control. This happens when your androgen levels can rise and become elevated after being suppressed by the pill. Androgens are testosterone, DHEA and DHT.
Let’s look at the four major areas to focus on that will help reduce the severity of symptoms and support your hormonal communication system and therefore, ease the transition as much as possible:
Liver
Our liver plays a very important role in hormone metabolism and detoxification. Also, the processing of medications or pharmaceuticals – i.e. the pill, is done by our liver. Altered estrogen metabolism who have stopped birth control can happen.
Gut
Hormonal birth control can affect our overall gut health. Optimal gut functioning is needed to be sure we are properly digesting/absorbing nutrients for building hormones.
Adrenals/Stress
Our adrenals govern our stress response and produce our main stress hormone, cortisol. DHEA is produced by our adrenals also. If we are in chronic stress, it can have a downstream effect on our sex hormones.
Nutrient Repletion
Using hormonal birth control can cause many nutrient depletions. How our body metabolizes the pill can lead to nutrient depletions over time. Vitamin B, B6, B12, folate, vitamin C, zinc and selenium can be compromised. These all play a very important role in hormone production and mood chemical production. Nutrient deficiencies can be tied to your period or mood related symptoms.
Doing a Function Lab test can help to determine hormone imbalances and give us much information about how you are processing hormones and what your levels are as well as much more. If you would like to know more about functional lab testing, get in touch or refer to this page. I will review your labs and we can set up a plan of action.
Uncovering your root causes and then focusing on an individualized program, we can get your symptoms under control and your cycle back on track. If this is something that you would like to work on, let’s set up a complimentary discovery call and get started! Your program will offer practical advice that is based on proven methods to address all of your period symptoms and concerns.
