BLOG
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.
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.
Fertility Awareness Method (FAM)
FAM is a reliable method of tracking fertility that can be used in preventing or attempting to achieve pregnancy, in addition to providing a deeper understanding of gynecological health. It is also so much more than that. Your body has an amazing monthly rhythm of hormones that translates into signals that you can pick-up on in order to understand your fertility status as well as the health and balance of your hormones. The main measures that are used are a daily morning temperature taken even before your feet hit the floor, as well as cervical fluid and cervical position.
What is Fertility Awareness Method (FAM)?
FAM is a reliable method of tracking fertility that can be used in preventing or attempting to achieve pregnancy, in addition to providing a deeper understanding of gynecological health. It is also so much more than that. Your body has an amazing monthly rhythm of hormones that translates into signals that you can pick-up on in order to understand your fertility status as well as the health and balance of your hormones. The main measures that are used are a daily morning temperature taken even before your feet hit the floor, as well as cervical fluid and cervical position.
Understanding your monthly cycle
The first half of your menstrual cycle is from the first day of your menses until ovulation, which is around day 14. This is called the follicular phase. During this time, estrogen is high and the morning temperature should be lower (generally below 98.0F). The second half of your cycle is higher in progesterone, which causes the morning temperature to be at least a few tenths of a degree higher that the first half. This second phase is called the luteal phase and spans from approximately day 15 until the day before your menses returns. If these daily morning temperatures are charted throughout the month, there should be a clear shift where the morning temperature rises, which indicates ovulation. Commonly, the whole cycle will be around 28 days and the luteal phase should last at least 14 days. If your cycle is much longer or shorter than 28 days or luteal phases that are less than 11 days it could mean that there is some degree of hormone imbalance. Tracking this information shows you exactly what is going on with YOUR body each month and that is priceless!
Something you were not taught in sex-ed class: you can really only get pregnant about 6 days each month, which means there isn’t really any need for birth control for the rest of the month. FAM helps you understand which of those days are your fertile days so you can either avoid having sex or use some form of non-hormonal birth control during that time.