Coming Off Hormonal Birth Control: Here's What You Need to Know

I have this conversation all the time in my office. It’s often the only option that is presented to a lot of women and it’s certainly the first so it’s like a major act of rebellion to choose that the pill or IUD is no longer the right option for you. On top of that, if you’ve been on hormonal birth control for some time, it might take some time and a little extra intention to bring your body back into balance.

With the feedback loops that exist, having more hormones around than you’re technically supposed to leads to the glands that should be producing those hormones to feel like they can take a break because they aren’t really needed. Excess hormones also have their own direct effects on the body and then your detox mechanisms have to work harder to clear the extra hormones from your system. That is one of the reasons hormonal birth control depletes nutrient stores and if your detox pathways are also bogged down by other toxins from your environment (poor quality skincare, food, water, yada yada) then you might have more trouble.

When you take out the external source of hormones, your own systems need to come back on line to start producing appropriate levels of hormones again. The longer you’ve been on birth control and the more toxic your lifestyle, the harder that can be. If you have other issues going on, like leaky gut, an imbalance in your microbiome, chronic stress or other illnesses the whole process can take longer and you could need more support to help your body find its rhythm.

Important areas to focus are a super clean diet (I’ll go more into this in my next post), liver support and helping your body reconnect with a rhythm. Go to bed at the same time every night, eat at the same time throughout the day and seed cycle (check out my seed cycling guide. Link in profile) If you’re still struggling beyond 3-4 months of stopping birth control, reach out. If you want to be super proactive, start working with someone before you stop your birth control to help guide you through the transition as held and nourished as possible.