Coming Off The Pill: How to Get Off Birth Control Safely

In the months/weeks leading up to coming off the pill, it is important to start replacing nutrients the pill is known to deplete.

By replenishing these key nutrients, the common side effects that some may experience when coming off the pill will be minimised.

Note: It Is Important To Talk To A Qualified Health Care Practitioner Before Taking Any Supplements.

• Zinc nourishes the ovarian follicles and is essential for healthy, regular ovulation to help naturally produce your sex hormones again.
  
  
• Commonly depleted by long term hormonal birth control use

• Supports healthy detoxification, stable moods, and regular ovulation.
  
  
• Improves stress resilience and relaxation
  
  
• Reduces period pain, muscle soreness, and headaches/migraines
  
  
• Supports energy production

• Several B vitamins are essential for regular healthy ovulation
  
  
• Essential for detoxification of hormones
  
  
• Reduces PMS symptoms
  
  
• Helps with energy production to help reduce fatigue

• Essential for healthy excretion of estrogen
  
  
• Read below for ways on improving and supporting your gut health post-pill
  
  
• Helps to support healthy skin

Supporting your detoxification and elimination processes is vital whilst on the pill and also when coming off the pill.

This will help to reduce the effect synthetic estrogen and progestin can have on your body.

Clearing these hormones once off the pill will give your body a kick start in producing estrogen and progesterone naturally once again.

Our liver and gut are the two major organs responsible for breaking down and clearing hormones once they have been used in the body.

It's so important that these systems are working properly to prevent the build-up of hormones that contributes to hormonal imbalances.

Here’s a brief overview of how to support these two systems of detoxification (I share my full protocols for hormonal detox support in my best selling PCOS book, the PCOS Repair Protocol).

• Reduce caffeine and alcohol intake
  
  
• Increase cruciferous vegetable intake
  
  
• Increase bitter foods- such as rocket and dandelion tea to support digestive processes.
  
  
• Reduce exposure to toxins such as household cleaners, perfumes, etc.
  
  
• Increase water intake to 2L per day (more if you are exercising a large amount)
  
  
• Increase cruciferous vegetable intake (see below) 

Your body may start to struggle to properly eliminate natural estrogen through the liver and bowel.

Exposure to exogenous (external sources) of estrogen-like substances can increase estrogen levels in the body.

These substances are often referred to as endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and act similarly to estrogen in our bodies.

• Broccoli
  
  
• Brussel sprouts
  
  
• Bok choy
  
  
• Cauliflower
  
  
• Cabbage 

To help remove toxins from the body as well as removing excess hormones

• Dandelion green
  
  
• Green tea
  
  
• Cacao
  
  
• Citrus peel (e.g. lemon rind)
  
  
• Radishes
  
  
• Bitter melon
  
  Note: it is common when you’re undertaking any detox protocol for your body to show an increase in symptoms for a week or two.
  
  When you come off the pill and start to support your body in naturally detoxifying the effects of the synthetics estrogen in the pill, you may notice an outbreak in certain symptoms such as acne, painful periods, etc.
  
  This can be a normal reaction to the detox so be patient with the process and know you are on the right track. 

The pill has been shown in various studies to affect the balance of our good and bad gut bacteria.

Our gut has what we call a ‘microbiome’ or gut ‘microflora’ composed of good bacteria that help to keep our bodies healthy and happy.

In our gut, we have bacteria ‘gut bugs’ which are responsible for many of the processes that happen in our body.

We have good and bad gut bugs.

When the good bugs are depleted, the bad ones overtake causing many problems not only with digestion but with our hormone health as well as our nervous system.

Imbalanced gut bacteria can also cause poor estrogen metabolism.

Higher levels of bad versus good gut bacteria which are responsible for breaking down estrogen (known as the estrobolome) can cause more estrogen to be reabsorbed, rather than eliminated via the stool. 

If you are suffering from constipation or infrequent bowel movements, there is more time for estrogen to be reabsorbed, contributing to estrogen excess.

When estrogen is not excreted effectively, a rise in estrogen in the body occurs causing many period issues including those pesky PMS symptoms as well as heavy bleeding and short overall cycle length.

• Most pills contain iron which may contribute to bloating, constipation and impair gut microflora balance.
  
  
• Can influence the intestinal lining of the gut causing inflammation.
  
  
• The pill influences the functioning of the thyroid which can further impact digestive processes as thyroid hormones are important to regulate digestion.
  

• Ensure you are having adequate fibre intake: such as fruits and vegetables with the skin on, ground flax seeds, chia seeds, psyllium husk. Fibre helps to improve the detoxification of estrogen out of the body.
  
  
• Increase probiotic-rich foods: try kimchi, sauerkraut, natural yoghurt, kombucha, and kefir. If you struggle to go to the toilet daily, try 1 teaspoon of psyllium husk in a large glass of water after dinner, or add 1-2 Tbsp of ground flax seeds or chia seeds to your breakfast or smoothies.
  
  
• Reduce stress levels: stress plays a major role in our gut function.
  
  
• Eat slow and chew your food: this will help your gut to properly absorb and digest the nutrients in the food.
  
  Try a gut support supplement like Nourished Detox + Digestion
  

• Progesterone
  
  
• Estrogen
  
  
• Cortisol
  
  
• FSH
  
  
• LH
  
  
• Prolactin
  
  
• DHEAs
  
  
• SHBG
  
  
• Testosterone

There are many factors in your life that may have the ability to be causing your periods to be out of whack.

We want to aim to reduce these factors and the effect these have on your cycle especially when coming off the pill in order to give your body the best chance possible in achieving a natural cycle once again.

Whilst on the pill your body has been told to shut down all its natural processes.

It takes some time for the communication to come back so supporting your body in every possible way is key.

• Support stress levels: journal, have time in nature, exercise, having calming herbal teas, practice daily breathing exercises, and participate in meditation.
  
  
• Participate in regular exercise: gentle exercise helps to produce feel-good neurotransmitters including endorphins which are linked with lowering stress and boosting your mood. Exercise also helps to support healthy blood sugar regulation and improve insulin sensitivity to help promote balanced production of female hormones
  
  
• Ensure adequate sleep and practice sleep hygiene: This involves turning off technology 30 to 60 minutes before bed. Try reading a book or doing some guided meditation with dimmed lighting to signal to your body it’s time for rest

Supporting ovulating is the only way to truly balance your hormones as you can only make progesterone through ovulation. 

Remember, the pill shuts down or ‘turns off’ ovulation so the main aim when coming off the pill is to support the body for ovulation to occur once again.

• Follow all of the steps given above to help improve your hormone balance to give your body the best chance for ovulation to occur.
  
  
• Support stress levels: heightened stress can cause the body to delay ovulation until a safer time arrives. Follow the above tips to support your stress levels.
  
  
• Increase zinc intake/supplement: zinc is essential to nourish the ovarian follicles to support healthy egg development and regular ovulation.
  
  
• Consider NAC supplementation: NAC has been shown in several clinical trials to boost egg quality, regulate ovulation and stabilise blood sugar. It is therefore a great tool for women dealing with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) as there are often issues with blood sugar regulation and difficult ovulation which can increase the time to pregnancy. I recommend Nutricology NAC.

Have you noticed your skin magically cleared up when you were on the pill? This is because the pill has the ability to block and suppress your skin oil production. When you stop taking the pill, you may notice a large amount of acne appear on your face. This is your skin trying to make more oil after being suppressed for a long time meaning your skin may appear more oily and cause you to break out a large amount.

How To Reduce Post-Pill Acne:

The good news is, there are many ways you can support your body to reduce breakouts experienced after coming off the pill. 

It is common when you come off the pill to be diagnosed with PCOS as your symptoms may match this diagnosis for some time due to the androgen surge you can experience after being on the pill.

During this, you may notice high LH (luteinizing hormone) compared to FSH (follicular stimulating hormone).

LH prevents your ovarian follicles from developing causing an increase in androgen production leading to increased breakouts and unwanted hair growth on the jawline. 

Try using Nourished Androgen Blocker to as a natural vitamin to block excess androgens during this time.

You may have noticed you gained a small or large amount of weight whilst on the pill.

This is usually due to a combination of factors such as hormonal changes, an increase in appetite, and fluid retention.

 Coming off the pill, you may notice you lose the excess weight you gained.

This is a common thing experienced by many females when coming off the pill.

Post-pill amenorrhoea can be a struggle for many as it can sometimes take years to establish regular ovulation once again for regular periods.

As hard as it is, it is important to not stress!

Stress will only make this worse and cause your body to delay ovulation until it considers it is a ‘safe’ time. 

It is important to note, you may struggle to instantly fall pregnant the minute you decide to come off the pill.

If pregnancy is your goal, I recommend at least 4-6 months of post-pill support in order to improve your fertility for your best chances of falling pregnant.

Sometimes when you first start to focus on supporting your liver to detox estrogen, it can cause a period to be late or early as it readjusts/rebalances.

Be patient with the process and know your period is trying its very best to be on your side and get you back to a natural regular cycle.

• Take time for yourself
• Participate in stress-relieving activities
• Be easy on yourself
• Be patient 

So you’ve decided it’s time to ditch the pill but now you are wondering what alternative contraceptive methods are available.

The good news is, there are various options available for you (always have a chat with your doctor about your options).

• Condoms
  
  
• Copper IUD
  
  
• FAM (Fertility Awareness Method): The Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) is a natural, hormone-free method of birth control.
  
  The method teaches users to read their body’s changes in cervical mucus and body temperature to determine the fertile and infertile phases of the cycle.
  
  A simple set of rules can then be applied to either avoid or achieve pregnancy.
  
  When used correctly, FAM is 99.4% effective at preventing pregnancy.
  
  In couples wanting to conceive, FAM can be an effective tool in greatly increasing the chances of pregnancy by timing sex for conception.
  
  For more information on this, read my blog ‘What Is The Fertility Awareness Method’. 

• Improve dietary choices
  
  
• Supplement depleted nutrients
  
  
• Support detoxification and elimination processes
  
  
• Support gut health
  
  
• Chat to your doctor about getting your hormones tested/alternative contraceptive methods
  
  
• Address lifestyle factors
  
  
• Support ovulation 

Are You Considering Coming Off The Pill? Have You Noticed Any Side Effects From The Pill? How Was Your Experience Coming Off The Pill?

Let Me Know In The Comments Below