Your Post-pill Starter Pack

We’ve all heard the horror stories. Your friend stopped taking hormonal birth control and a host of scary symptoms flared up: cystic acne, hair loss and mood swings aplenty. 

We won’t sugar coat it. Some people will really struggle coming off of the pill or other forms of hormonal birth control. 

Most people experience unwanted consequences when they stop cold-turkey. Their body freaks out without the steady dose of hormones and struggles to start producing them at the appropriate levels. It’s like starting your car in the dead of winter after it’s been sitting outside untouched for weeks. She’s trying, but she’s not getting anywhere fast. 

But don’t worry – there are concrete steps you can take to make this transition as smooth as possible. Hormonal birth control depletes your body in predictable ways so by providing support before and during your withdrawal from the pill, you can ensure a much more comfortable experience. 

Here are some simple and easy tips to integrate into your routine when you’re transitioning off of hormonal birth control. Consider this your post-pill starter pack, a helpful little boost to get those gears in motion. 

Replenish Depleted Nutrients

Birth control depletes essential nutrients that your body needs to balance hormones and stay healthy. These are: 

• B vitamins

• Vitamin C

• Vitamin E 

• Zinc

• Selenium

• Magnesium

Taking hormonal birth control for an extended period of time can cause nutrient deficiencies and make it even harder to recover post-birth control. About a month or two before you transition off, start supplementing with a multivitamin and magnesium. You should also increase your intake of foods like dark leafy greens, berries, fish/seafood, animal protein and healthy fats including butter, olive oil, and dairy to replenish these vital nutrients. If you’ve already come off birth control, don’t stress, you can start these right away.

Give Your Liver Some Love

The liver is one of the main detoxification organs and can get very taxed from things like medication (yes, the pill counts), stress, nutrient deficiencies, poor gut health, low calorie diets and much more. 

Your body is always detoxifying, but sometimes it needs a little boost. That doesn’t mean starting a juice cleanse or surviving exclusively on bone broth and lemon water. These tips might seem annoyingly intuitive, but trust us, they’ll help. 

1. Eat enough food! This means at least 100g of protein per day, three full meals including snacks if needed, loading up on veggies and not skipping breakfast.

2. Move your body daily. Go for a walk once a day and try to strength train between two to four times weekly. Getting a good sweat in is a great way to help the liver do its thing. Plus, a great way to stay healthy, active, and build strength. 

3. Sleep seven to nine hours a night. This sleep should be uninterrupted. Try shutting your phone and laptop off at least 30 minutes before bed to help you wind down. You can also take a bath, spend time with your partner or find other ways to carve out some time for relaxation.

4. Turn it up a notch with herbal medicine. Two of our favourite liver-support tonics are Liver Juice by Organic Olivia, and Hepato Dr by St Francis. Taking one of these tonics for about 3 cycles (or 3 months) can give your liver that extra boost. Note: if you aren't having consistent bowel movements, you do not want to take liver supportive supplements. Always check with your trusted practitioner before starting a new protocol. 

5. Get serious about your gut health. Combination birth control, especially the pill, has been shown to disrupt the gut microbiome and impact gut bacteria. Your digestion is absolutely essential for excretion of excess hormones and waste (hello, poop!). So no matter what hormonal birth control you're on, taking charge of your gut health is an important part of transitioning off properly.

Start Tracking Your Cycle

You can learn so much about your hormones, fertility and overall health by tracking your cycle consistently. Your temperature, cervical fluid, cycle length, and period flow can all be used as guideposts to understand how well your body is doing after birth control.

When Will I Feel Better?

So many of us were put on hormonal birth control at a young age and are now contemplating coming off of it. Whether you’ve been on it for one year or ten, it might take your body some time to adjust. 

Lots of people went on the pill to mitigate estrogen related issues like PMS, acne or mood swings. But remember, birth control doesn’t remedy these issues, it just suppresses them. So if you were having heavy, painful periods pre-birth control, they’re likely to come back. 

Give your body time. It might take between three to nine months after getting off of hormonal birth control for your hormones to function optimally. Your period might not even come back right away. If your cycles were regular pre-birth control they should return within three months, but if they were irregular before, it could take longer. 

Supporting your body through lifestyle changes and supplementation is the best way to minimize negative symptoms and feel good post-birth control. So replenish those depleted nutrients, show your gut some love, and track your cycle to experience the best post-pill you.