What Your Doctor Probably Didn’T Tell You About Birth Control

Have you ever been on hormonal birth control? Are you on it now? Or are you considering going on it? 

Chances are you’re like the vast majority of women who fall into at least one of these categories (about 10 million women in the US are currently taking birth control pills), and the pill is still the most common form of birth control. Chances are also that you haven’t been told the full story about what this birth control actually does to your body, and the side effects it can cause. Many women don’t even go on the pill to prevent pregnancy, but rather to manage the side effects of imbalanced hormones.

Doctors seem to hand birth control out to menstruating women like it’s candy. Got acne? Here’s some birth control. Irregular cycles? Take the pill. PMS? Birth control will “fix” that. But is that really true? The answer is a big NO!

While birth control can cover up symptoms, it doesn’t actually fix anything, and may make your symptoms even worse once you come off it. The way the pill works is that it uses synthetic hormones to prevent you from getting pregnant.

There are two types of birth control pill: one that is a combination pill, which uses ethinyl estradiol (synthetic estrogen) and progestin (synthetic progesterone), which stops you from ovulating, and thickens the cervical mucus in your cervix. This thickening makes it more difficult for sperm to enter your uterus, decreasing the chances it will fertilize an egg.

The other pill has only progestin, and this pill only sometimes suppresses ovulation. It thickens the cervical mucus, making it hard for the sperm to enter your uterus and fertilize an egg.

Now, when you went on birth control or talked to your doctor about birth control, they might have told you there’s an increased risk for blood clots when taking the pill, but it’s unlikely they shared the other symptoms that can occur. My goal here is to educate and empower you to make the right decision for your body - I am in no way against birth control - but informed consent is a must. You should know what’s happening to your body when you choose to take the pill. So what are the possible side effects then?

Side effects of the pill can include:

• Nutrient deficiencies 

• Inflammation

• Depression

• Weight gain

• Intestinal permeability

• Anxiety

• Decreased libido (sex drive)

• Gut dysbiosis

• Acne

• Nausea

• Headaches

• Irregular menstrual bleeding

• Spotting

• Breast tenderness

• Ovarian cysts

• Fluid retention

• Blood clots

• Abdominal cramps and bloating

• Melasma (darkening of the face)

• Altered carbohydrate metabolism

• Insulin resistance

• Increased risk of yeast infections

That’s a lot of potential side effects! Another downside of going on the pill is that it may not be easy to get your period back and start ovulating right away, which means if you’re trying to get pregnant soon that might prevent you from doing so. Unfortunately many women mistakenly believe they’ll be able to get pregnant right after stopping their birth control, but that is often not the case.

I would argue as well that even if you can get pregnant right after stopping birth control, you may not want to because your body may still be dealing with the side effects of the pill (especially nutrient deficiencies), and you want to make sure your body is in a nourished, balanced state before conceiving for the best chance for a healthy pregnancy. I typically recommend clients come off the pill at least 6 months before trying to conceive, but 12 months is even better.

In order to start ovulating again and having healthy cycles it’s important to replenish your body with the nutrients it needs and incorporate lifestyle practices to help rebalance your hormones. This is something I work on with clients who are transitioning off the pill - it can be scary to do especially if you’re one of the many women who went on the pill to help manage your hormone symptoms in the first place, and those symptoms may come back in full force (the pill can actually make them worse). It’s important to get to the root cause of why you’re experiencing these symptoms in the first place, so we can address it and bring your body back into balance.

I help women address their root cause of hormone imbalances so they can have easy periods, and get pregnant when they want (if they want!). Even if you’re not looking to get pregnant, balancing your hormones and making sure you’re ovulating every month is very important for overall health and longevity.

So there you have it: what your doctor probably didn’t tell you about birth control! I hope you are now empowered to do your research about the potential side effects of whatever contraception you choose, and know that you do not have to go on birth control to fix your hormones.

If you’re on birth control now and are wanting to come off, if you’ve been on birth control in the past and are looking to rebalance your body, or if you’ve never been on birth control but want to learn how to balance your hormones naturally and would like some guidance, you can schedule a FREE strategy call with me to discuss what’s holding you back from having healthy, balanced hormones, and get guidance on how best to transition off hormonal birth control.

You can schedule that free strategy call here. Please feel free to reach out with any questions!