Coming Off The Pill

The true purpose of birth control is to prevent pregnancy, however over 60% of women take the pill for other reasons, often using it to mask existing symptoms.  Unfortunately, the pill is often touted as a quick fix for hormonal problems, and acne is at the top of the list!  The appeal is understandable – within months your skin can be cleared, PMS symptoms can disappear, and your periods may ‘normalise’.  This is exactly what you wanted – isn’t it?  Unfortunately, for many women, they may also start to experience a new set of side effects which can sometimes be worse than what they originally started taking the pill for.

Altered mental health (such as irrational thoughts, anxiety or depression), low libido, brain fog or even a sense of ‘mental numbness’ are all very common, yet undiscussed, side effects of the little white pill.  So many of us don’t even correlate these newfound symptoms to the use of the pill, usually because the onset can be a little slow. Many women often find themselves being prescribed additional medication for these symptoms, such as antidepressants – and so begins the viscous medication cycle!  Weight gain, headaches and fluid retention is very common and can be difficult to shift, however your skin has cleared and may even be glowing.

Keep in mind – the pill can be a useful tool in preventing excessive blood loss or reducing endometrial growth (such as endometriosis) and of course, a source of contraception.  However, it also shuts down your ovulation completely – putting you in a state of temporary menopause. 

The issue is that the fix is only temporary.  It is not designed for long term management of symptoms.  You must be prepared to trade improved skin, or a lighter flow for the long list of side effects (some may take a very long time to correct).  

In clinic, I have noticed that there is a small number of women who can tolerate the pill with no noted side effects at all.  However, this is rare as the majority don’t!  If you are one of these women that has tried many different forms of contraception with no luck, read on…

I believe that an apparent over-use of the pill to ‘solve’ our hormonal issues has led to a backlash of sorts, with an increase in women choosing to take control of their hormones by ditching the pill, or at least taking a break.  It is exciting to see younger women aren’t shying away from taking charge of their own health and fertility and are looking at it as something to be understood and aware of, without burying their head in the sand.

Please note…. coming off the pill can be a bit of a minefield of acne breakouts, wild PMS and missing or irregular periods.  It may take time to settle down and for your hormones to balance.  This is where Naturopathy really shines.  During a consult, I will use your past health history, current symptoms and blood tests results to come up with a treatment plan to rectify the issues that trigger your symptoms and prevent them from returning in the future. I will also guide and educate you to look after your body and hormonal health, long term, so that you can manage your symptoms naturally.  If you are concerned about stopping the pill on your own, it is important to seek the right help and advice before you decide to go ‘cold turkey’. Save your face the trauma & get advice first!

What Happens When We Stop Taking the Pill?

So, you have now taken the first step in reclaiming your hormonal health.  You have taken the last little tablet in the packet.
 
Perhaps you want to start trying for a baby in the near future? 

Or maybe you have grown tired of that numb feeling and decided you would rather feel something than nothing at all? 

You may even find that initially your skin is fine, and you may convince yourself that you can go it alone (this is very common). OR maybe you never had skin problems to begin with and have decided to take a break from the pill?

Either way, there is a plethora of reasons why we see women ditching the pill in clinic and we note that initially they feel pretty good for the first 6 weeks or so.  It can be a bit of a false sense of wellness as your hormones may not have ‘switched’ back on.  Well…. this is because often your hormones are still as flat as they were on the pill – only now you don’t’ have synthetic hormones running through your body. 

After about two months you may start to notice some changes, such as sudden bursts of cystic acne, mainly on the cheeks, neck and jawline.  This could be new or may be an ‘old friend’ returning.  Often it starts off as nothing too drastic, just here and there.  It might even start appearing in other areas such as your shoulders, back or chest.  Why does this happen?  Well, this is often because your androgen hormone levels were once suppressed on the pill (along with your libido) and are now rebounding in full GLEE.  Maybe your period has come back too? It might even be regular.  BUT if it is super light it may be a sign that your ovulation has not yet kicked back into gear.  Most often than not, you will have no or low progesterone production, which means limited hormonal protection to calm down those pesky androgens.  This isn’t normal and so your skin really takes the blow. 

Common complaints can be missing or irregular periods. Or perhaps they have returned with a vengeance.  Your hormones feel like they are all out of whack!  Other changes might include thinning hair, headaches, higher insulin levels (which can cause weight gain) or even thyroid conditions and nutrient deficiencies.  Microbiome dysbiosis and food sensitivities are the cherry on top of the post-pill pie!  For some women on the more extreme end of symptoms, these challenges can take up to a year or more to overcome.  It would have been nice have been given the heads up before taking it, wouldn’t it?!

It is common to see women give up or panic at this stage and some may go back to the very thing they know worked for their skin – the pill.   It’s such a disappointment as they were SO CLOSE to getting things back on track and finally feeling the wonderful effect of ovulation and having healthy hormones….and healthy skin.

There is so much you can do to break the contraceptive pill cycle and begin the healing process.  We need to get to the root cause of your hormonal issues.  If you haven’t come off the pill yet, but want to, you can definitely get a head start with detox and repair.  Ideally, I prefer to have at least 1-2 months before you come off the pill to prepare your body and minimise side effects.  But if that is not an option we can just get to work whenever we need to.

What Can Be Done to Fix Post-Pill Problems?

I tend to use a 5-step holistic approach, customised for each woman needing help with the birth control aftermath.

These steps might include:

+ Hormonal and Birth Control Detoxification
giving the liver a hand with metabolism and clearance

+ Correcting Nutrient Deficiencies (caused by the pill)
replenishing your zinc, magnesium, vitamin B and C levels (to name a few)

+ Microbiome and GUT Reset
healing and restoring your gut bacteria

+ Identifying and Correcting Hormone Imbalances
supporting your hormones with herbal and nutritional supplementation

+ Correction of any Metabolic and/or Thyroid Disturbances
lowering your insulin levels and/or using thyroid-specific treatment

The good news is that these symptoms are not ‘forever symptoms’ and can be addressed no matter what stage you are in.  It doesn’t always take a long time to correct these imbalances either – some women only need small levels of support.

My advice to you is – please don’t despair.  You have come this far! Now it is time to continue on the plan to reclaim your new normal.  You don’t have to settle for the pill side effects just because you feel it is better than the alternative.  True hormonal health is on the other side of that hill and you owe it to your body and your mental health to visit there at least once.  I promise, the view is nice!