One Thing I Wish I Had Known Before Stopping Birth Control
This could alternatively be titled “One thing I Wish I Knew Before Starting Birth Control” but I try to give myself grace. I was only 17 years old when I started birth control and it was my provider’s responsibility to ensure I was making an informed choice……..something I feel like modern medicine is STILL failing women at today. But we’ll save that conversation for a different day.
What I wish I had known before stopping my birth control: birth control depletes minerals & vitamins.
When I decided to stop my birth control, I was shocked that I lost my cycle all together for over 9 months and had an array of symptoms pop-up out of no where. Now I know that was linked to mineral & vitamin deficiencies I had after being on birth control pills for 8+ years.
Why Would This Be Helpful to Know Before Stopping Birth Control?
Birth control depletes folate, B vitamins, Magnesium, Zinc, Selenium, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, & more! Having depleted vitamin & minerals is a huge contributor to hormonal imbalances and side effects when you stop taking birth control.
Low thyroid function, adrenal fatigue, blood sugar imbalances, estrogen, progesterone, & testosterone imbalances, etc. are all possibilities.
More often than not, a woman chooses to go on birth control to help control, minimize, or eliminate some type of unwanted symptom. These symptoms often include acne, irregular periods, painful periods, PMS, PMDD, anxiety, depression, or mood swings.
Since most women are unaware that birth control depletes nutrients, they aren’t being proactive with their supplementation to support those nutrients while taking the birth control.
Then, when they come off the birth control, they typically find that the symptoms they started the birth control for, come back & are even worse than before.
This can be especially problematic for women that come off birth control planning to soon become pregnant, because sometimes it takes months for your hormones to regulate and your cycles to become regular again.
How Can I Support My Body While On Birth Control?
To support your body while you’re still taking birth control, and as you transition off, I recommend filling your diet with nutrient dense foods like fruits, veggies, protein, & whole grains.
You can also consider adding a high quality prenatal like this one from FullWell (you can use that link get 20% off your first order).
There are two additional supplements almost anyone can benefit from: magnesium & a probiotic (you can use code VANDA for 10% off your order).
You can also easily support your minerals by drinking adrenal cocktails like this one:
- 4-6 oz orange juice
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/4tsp Redmond’s sea salt
- may add water if desired
In addition to these supplement suggestions to support you when you are stopping birth control, I encourage you to really focus on your foundations of hormone balance as well. Things like eating to support blood sugar balance, ensuring that you’re getting adequate sleep, reducing toxin exposures when possible, and managing your response to stressors.
My free 5-day Hormone Reboot Challenge is a perfect place to get started supporting your foundations if you feel like you need help implementing these habits, click here to signup today!