Post Birth Control Syndrome + 5 Steps to Balance Your Hormones After the Pill

If you recently quit hormonal birth control, you're probably going through a bit of hell right now. I know it's not fair, but you are going through something called Post Birth Control Syndrome, which is a condition characterized by the cluster of symptoms that can follow after quitting hormonal birth control. These symptoms can start right away, or take up to 6-months to manifest. It’s important to note that Post Birth Control Syndrome can look different from female to female.

Common Symptoms of Post-Birth Control Syndrome Include:

• Amenorrhea (loss of menstruation)

• Heavy, painful periods

• Infertility

• Hypothyroidism

• Acne

• Migraines

• Headaches

• Hair loss

• Depression

• Blood sugar dysregulation

• Anxiety

• Gas or bloating

• Changes in bowels

• Inflammation and other immune imbalances

This withdrawal process from hormonal birth control (HBC) lasts anywhere from 6-12 months, and it peaks at month 6 (1).It's usually around this time that you might feel like giving up and going back on hormonal birth control. But if you stay strong and support your body through this phase, you will be rewarded with balanced hormones and regular menstrual cycles.

So why does Post Birth Control Syndrome happen?

These umbrella of symptoms manifest as a result of the detoxification process from synthetic hormones. And those who have more difficulty usually have difficulty detoxing and need detox and drainage support from a trained practitioner. The body detoxes through sweating, peeing, and pooping. So it’s important to make sure that one is supporting these bodily functions.

This withdrawal from synthetic hormones can also result in a surge of androgens (male hormones) which can cause acne, male pattern baldness, hair where it doesn’t belong, and irritability and mood swings.

To make matters worse, since you haven't ovulated or had a period all these years while taking hormonal birth control ( this is because hormonal birth control shuts down ovulation, so you've really just been having a "withdrawal bleed" or "pill bleed") you've been robbed from making the hormone progesterone.

Progesterone is literally nature’s chill pill, so trust me, you want this!

Calming you down is not all that this super hormone can do! Progesterone nourishes our hair and nails by reducing androgens (male hormones), as well as boosts energy by stimulating the thyroid and the metabolism. And recent research has found that women who don’t ovulate experience bone loss at a faster rate than women who do ovulate, so progesterone is also a crucial component of preventing osteoporosis.

And since you haven't been ovulating while taking hormonal birth control, it might take some time before your body starts ovulating and menstruating again. Research shows that it takes an average of 6 mentstrual cycles for ovulation to restore.

So what is a "pill bleed"?

Pill bleeds are pharmaceutically induced bleeds that involve no hormone production on your end at all. So all of the "periods" you had while on hormonal birth control were just for show. Let me repeat, these "periods" were completely fake (exception being the Copper IUD and Mirena IUD. Read below for statistics).

Shocking, right?

When a women ovulates without the use of hormonal birth control, she creates progesterone and estradiol. These hormones have a multitude of benefits for your mood, bones, thyroid and metabolism. They're pretty much essential for a women's physiology. This means that women who take a form of hormonal birth control are robbed of these crucial hormones that keep us healthy and happy.

This epidemic of females on hormonal birth control is one of the largest injustices to women's health today, and it's no wonder many females who take a form of hormonal birth control experience depression.

In October 2016 JAMA psychiatry released a study conducted by researches from the University of Copenhagen. In the study, titled "Association of Hormonal Contraception With Depression" they tracked one million women over the course of 13 years and concluded that women who use hormonal birth control are significantly more likely to be diagnosed with depression (2).

The fact that hormonal birth control is the most widely used form of contraception used today is infuriating. The practice is antiquated, and it's time this harmful trend comes to an end.

Now is the time to take our reproductive system back into our own control. For the sake of our health, and the next generation's. 

Your 5 Step Plan To Get Off Hormonal Birth Control:

1. Reestablish your natural hormonal rhythm by charting your cycles

Your hormones fluctuate during different times of your cycle. There are four phases of the menstrual cycle (to learn more about each one and learn how you can start charting your cycles check out my 28 Day Hormone Balancing Plan):

1. Menstruation- Estrogen begins to increase and progesterone is low.

2. Follicular Phase- Estrogen peaks, progesterone is low.

3. Ovulation- Estrogen begins to fall and progesterone peaks.

4. Luteal Phase- Both estrogen and progesterone dip.

Even if you are not yet ovulating on your own, it is important to encourage the production of estrogen and progesterone at the right times of the month. This will help you eventually start to ovulate on your own. My favorite cycle tracking apps are Read Your Body and Kindara.

Two methods to further reestablish natural hormonal rhythms:

1. Seed cycling. Seed cycling is one of the simplest and most effective holistic remedies for balancing hormones.This ancient technique helps restore the balance of the sex hormones estrogen and progesterone by rotating certain seeds into your diet during the two different phases of your menstrual cycle (follicular and luteal phase).

2. Vitex- Vitex, also known as chaste berry, is an herb that promotes ovulation by protecting your hypothalamus gland from stress and from preventing your pituitary gland from making too much prolactin. Basically, it increases your levels of dopamine, which lowers your levels of prolactin, which makes your luteinizing hormone go up, and then makes you ovulate and make progesterone!

A note of caution about Vitex: Please do not use vitex until you've been off of hormonal birth control for at least three months.

2. Replenish nutrient stores with a quality prenatal or beef organ complex

Hormonal birth control causes leaky gut, preventing your body from absorbing all the nutrients from your food. As they say in Ayurveda "you are what you digest.".This is why women who come off hormonal birth control are deficient in nutrients and minerals such as zinc, B12, magnesium, D3, iodine and selenium-all nutrients necessary for ovarian health. So it's imperative to replenish these levels ASAP. I prefer replenishing with a quality beef liver/organ complex such as PaleoValley’s Organ Complex. Using this link will get you 15% off your order. If organs aren’t your thing, I recommend this prenatal from Needed (use code THEPERIODGURU for 20% off).

3. Support detox pathways

It's important to open your detox pathways, as this is how you will flush out excess estrogen in the body, as well as all the synthetic hormones you've built up from the use of hormonal birth control . Ways to support the detox are by drinking dandelion root tea, bitters, or taking Glutathione or NAC for liver support. And of course, drink lots of water and eat plenty of liver supporting foods like broccoli sprouts, bitter greens, beets, and cruciferous vegetables. And don’t forget to reduce your exposure to toxic products. Our skin has tiny pores all over the body which absorb toxic chemicals directly into the bloodstream and overburden the liver.

Other great ways to detox daily are:

• Sweating through exercise or infrared sauna

• Coffee enemas

• Castor Oil Packs- I use Queen of Thrones about 3-4 times a week. You can get yours here for 10% off

• Dry brushing

• Taking binders such as activated charcoal, Pectin-C, or Bentonite Clay. This is best paired with one of the above to bind to toxins so they can leave the body instead of recirculating in the body.

4. Rebuild your gut

Most women's gut post hormonal birth control is in a state of dysbiosis due to leaky gut. You must get your microbiome to a healthy state in order to start digesting and absorbing your food properly. Do this by taking probiotics, eating 2-3 servings of fermented foods daily, and drinking gut healing bone broth and collagen. It’s also wise to take a quality probiotic.

Pro tip- try drinking 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar diluted in water 10 minutes before meals to support bile flow so you can better break down and digest your food.

5. Nourish your thyroid

If you're thyroid is not operating properly, it can prevent you from ovulating and having a healthy period.

Your thyroid is a butterfly shaped gland that powers every cell in your body. It sets your metabolic rate. Like an engine, it produces the needed amount of energy to move at whatever speed you want—and it does this by producing thyroid hormones that initiate your cells to function at a certain metabolic rate.⠀⠀⠀⠀

Your thyroid has many jobs, the following being the most important:

✅ Affects production of follicles and ovulation⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
✅ Controls metabolism⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
✅ Necessary for progesterone production
✅ Can raise or lower body temperature⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
✅ Affects how fast food moves through the digestive tract ⠀⠀⠀⠀

I recommend my clients to test their thyroid 1-2 times a year. For a convenient way to test your thyroid, I recommend the Paloma at home full thyroid panel. Use code PERIODGURU for a discount.

Okay, I know this is a lot of information to absorb, and it might be overwhelming at first. But please be reassured that although it might seem like the end of the world, you can and WILL get through this.

And know that you are not alone. My 6 module digital course, The Period Solution, will help you transition from the pill and restore your natural hormone rhythm so you can start ovulating again and having healthy menstrual cycles again, without all of the symptoms. Trust me, transitioning off the pill is much easier when you have support from a trained practitioner who can run the right diagnostic tests.

Your partner in health,

Jenna

* exceptions being the copper IUD which uses no hormones, and the Mirena IUD which has low levels of hormones. In the first year the Mirena suppresses ovulation in 85% of cycles , and in the second year 15% of cycles.

Sources:

1. Briden, L. (n.d.). Period repair manual. p.34.

2. Skovlund CW, Morch LS, Kessing LV, Lidegaard O, Association of Hormonal Contraception With Depression. JAMA Psychiatry. 2016 Nov 1;73(11):1154-1162.PubMed PMID: 27680324.