I was put on birth control at the age of 13 to prevent endometriosis. At the time, I had no idea what endometriosis was, but I knew that each month I received a visit from Aunt Flo, I didn’t want to get out of bed.
My period was irregular, I had awful cramps and my mom and doctors were concerned about my future if I continued down this road. I got regular migraines and even passed out once unexpectedly around the time of my period… resulting in trips to the ER and neurologist. But by medical standards, I was normal and healthy.
The pill seemed liked a reasonable option to regulate my periods and dissipate the pain from the cramps, so on I went. I remember my mom asking if this would affect my future as a mother, and the doctor cautioning that my future might be worse without it.
I really wouldn’t come to question, or even understand, this decision for about another 10 years.
WHAT IS BIRTH CONTROL?
The purpose of birth control is to give women the ability to control and prevent unplanned or unwanted pregnancies. There are many different kinds of birth control, but I’ll break it down into two main types— hormonal and non-hormonal birth control.
1. Hormonal
A woman can only become pregnant if she releases an egg, a process called ovulation, during her cycle. Hormonal birth control, like the pill, works by preventing the release of an egg, therefore preventing pregnancy. Hormonal contraceptives contain man-made hormones (estrogen and/or progestin) that prevent ovulation and alter the consistency of cervical mucus, making it very hard for sperm to navigate/stay alive.
There are combined hormone options, where both progestin and estrogen are released, like the pill and the nuva-ring and there are progestin-only methods, like Mirena and the Depo-Provera shot. There are often a list of side-effects of hormonal contraceptives ranging from weight gain to decreased libido.
2. Non-hormonal
Non-hormonal birth control doesn’t prevent ovulation with the use of man-made hormones, but instead, interferes with the sperms ability to reach the egg.
The most common form of non-hormonal birth control is the copper IUD. It is inserted into the uterus and uses copper to reduce sperm mobility and prevents it from fertilizing an egg. The other non-hormonal birth control options available are barrier methods and natural methods— think female condoms, spermicides, withdrawal, fertility awareness method, etc. The awareness, levels of involvement, and side effects differ for each, but they all prevent sperm and egg from uniting- whereas hormonal contraceptives prevents an egg from being released.
THINGS GET COMPLICATED WHEN BIRTH CONTROL IS TREATED AS A MEDICATION + NOT AS PREGNANCY PREVENTION.
Birth control wasn’t created to manage symptoms, heal acne, regulate periods, etc… but since it does, often times birth control is prescribed primarily as medication. But the truth is, if these symptoms existed before the pill, they will exist after the pill too, but with greater force.
I got put on birth control as a way to manage my symptoms and regulate my period, not as pregnancy prevention. And when I decided I wanted to come off of it, it proved to be a very long and difficult process to find normalcy again.
MY EXPERIENCE WITH BIRTH CONTROL
AGE 11, I got my period and experienced all of the symptom mentioned above.
AGE 13, I started a birth control pill where I only bled every 3 months. The pill helped to regulate my period, but I still experienced cramping and migraines, just fewer times a year. I stayed on this type of birth control for 7 years without question.
AGE 20, I stopped taking my pill but my period never came. I took progesterone pills to initiate a bleed and immediately went back on birth control pills.
AGE 21, I switched to a more hands-off approach and got the Depo-Provera shot.
AGE 22, came off of birth control completely.
For a long, long time I had a hands-off approach. I knew that I went on birth control at a young age, not as pregnancy prevention, but to regulate my period and to help me get pregnant in the future. But I didn’t know what effect it was having on my body or what would happen when I came off of it.
And truth be told, the pill did a really good job at masking my symptoms. Not much appeared to be wrong… until I stopped relying on it.
And since I started the pill at such a young age and didn’t experience many cycles without it, I didn’t fully understand that it was what was keeping my periods “normal”. I didn’t understand that when I wanted to come off of it, my body wouldn’t be able to regulate itself quickly or with ease.
THE BEGINNING OF THE END.
I only got the Depo shot twice before deciding I never wanted it again. I wasn’t getting my period at all and it took about another year, after stopping the shot, before I got another period. No matter what anyone told me, I just didn’t feel like it was normal not to have your period for almost 2 years.
Not to mention the additional side-effects that started showing up, even after I stopped the shot…
Anxiety
Dandruff
Chronic yeast infections/bacterial vaginosis
Irritability
Poor digestion (birth control affects your gut the same way antibiotics do)
Sharp, shooting stomach pains
Bloating
I didn’t understand what was happening… how everything could seem so related yet unrelated at the same time. I thought there was something wrong with me. I felt ashamed and started to develop a poor relationship with my body, I wished it would all just go away. I was terrified that I wouldn’t be able to get my period regular without the use of medication and that it would affect my ability to be a mother in the future.
Maybe it was because everything seemed to happen at once. Maybe it was because I was sick of not having control over my own body. Maybe it was because I was tired of people telling me that it was “normal” and to just go back on birth control. Whatever it may be, I grew very determined to figure out what was going on and to find another way.
WE MUST BELIEVE THAT OUR BODY IS CAPABLE OF HEALING.
The harsh reality was that I had been on medication for 10 years and when I decided to come off, my symptoms were way worse than when I started. I wanted to get my period back, without medication. I wanted to do it through diet and lifestyle changes that I believed could make a difference. I knew my body could heal, but it was even more capable than I believed.
A DIAGNOSIS.
There are many different reasons a women doesn’t get her period, but in my case, I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)- which meant that my irregular periods were a result of infrequent and irregular ovulation caused by a hormonal imbalance.
Symptoms of PCOS usually include weight gain, unwanted hair growth, acne, fatigue, and irregular menstruation. And since the only symptoms I displayed were irregular menstruation and I was diagnosed by blood test and not ultrasound, I can’t say for sure if the diagnosis was accurate. All I know is that when I left the gynecologist’s office with PCOS, infertility and birth control pamphlets in hand, I had more determination to change than ever.
I KNEW I DIDN’T WANT TO GO BACK ON BIRTH CONTROL TO REGULATE MY PERIODS THIS TIME AND THAT I WANTED TO FIGURE OUT WHY I HAD AN IMBALANCE IN THE FIRST PLACE.
Truth be told, I didn’t focus too much on the diagnosis. Maybe it was because it wasn’t confirmed or that every doctor told me something different. Or maybe it was because I believed so strongly that there had to be another way and that diet could most certainly impact my situation. Either way, I decided that I would stop relying on others to give me answers about my own body as I walked out that door. I decided that I would start paying attention, and listening, to what my body was telling me and that I had to accept the fact that no doctor would validate my choices, but that if I wanted things to change, I first needed to change my approach.
FIRST STEPS + LIFE POST-PILL
And as you can imagine, there are a lot of moving parts when it comes to women’s health. I experimented with balancing my blood sugar, switching to natural products, managing my stress, reducing caffeine, and much much more… but below are the few changes that I felt were critical to my success in the long run.
Mindset shift: For me, it all started with a mindset shift towards more positive thinking and resiliency. I knew that I had to change, that it would most likely be a bumpy ride, but that it would all be worth it in the end. I had to re-evaluate my life and see what was serving me and what wasn’t. I had to be okay with making mistakes along the way, learning things and unlearning a lot of things I believed to be true for so long.
Education: I researched a lot! I learned as much as I could about hormones, periods, natural methods. I read blogs, looked up programs and found out what everyone was doing and how it worked for them. There’s a lot of information out there, especially contradicting information, so I took my time, tried different things and ultimately found what worked for me.
Diet: The most important one. My diet had changed a lot over the past 2 years, but I have found that eating a diet high in fruit and vegetables, with very minimal dairy, eggs, animal protein and processed foods + sugars keeps me feeling my best. This was a lot of trial and error.
Support: I was lucky enough to have a very supportive family through this process that believed in me and encouraged me. Find support through a community, a friend or a coach. As with anything worth pursuing, it will be challenging, confusing and difficult, but support makes those bad days not so bad.
IT IS POSSIBLE TO REGULATE YOUR PERIOD THROUGH DIET + LIFESTYLE CHANGES.
My body had been on ‘autopilot’ for so long, that when I decided to come off of birth control there was a pretty steep learning curve ahead of me. I had to learn to be patient, to respect what my body was telling me and to appreciate how insanely capable my body was at restoring itself back to normal.
I now experience mostly regular, cramp-free periods without the use of birth control. I do have symptoms every now and then like bloating, sore boobs or unwanted pimples, but the symptoms are so mild that I no longer dread my monthly visits.
There were tons of twists and turns in this process but I have learned so much about my body because of that. Just remember that it’s possible and your body will heal itself if given the chance!
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