Why I Quit the Pill

I have rewrote this post so many times! But I have been dying to share why I quit the pill.  But I hate editing lol so when I come back to edit I decide it was too rambling and I want to just re do it all.  I try to be succinct and to the point but I also like to provide background info so you know where I’m coming from which gets hard because I like to share all. the. juicy. details.

 

 I was on a mission to cure my acne. Every drug my dermatologist prescribed would harm my body so I had to get off them all one by one. I got so frustrated that nothing would just work for me. I just wanted to feel beautiful and not worry about the discomfort and shame. Fast forward a few years to my freshman year in college, I quit everything because I knew antibiotics were killing my body. But I was miserable and I did not know what else I could do. I was starting to research obsessively at this point and this furthered my belief that antibiotics were a bad choice. So I went on accutane! Whoo lol even a worse choice…. and I had to get on the pill in order to be on accutane. It’s a rule. So I did that for about 1 month and then it was killing my white blood cells or something and I had to quit . (blessing in disguise though ) And by this time I believed my acne was caused by hormones imbalances so I decided the pill would be worth staying on along with spirolactone.(another hormone) And it helped a ton! Obviously it wasn’t perfect  but it helped me not to stress anymore.  Diet was still a big part, but it wasn’t a stress anymore.

 

BUT after graduating from college, I got further in my health journey and becoming a integrative nutrition couch. I decided that I wanted to be  holistic. I wanted to walk my talk and prove that diet was the answer not the pills. That I could balance my hormones without pills (not that the pills balances it AT all). But ultimately these are the main reasons why I chose to quit the pill (and spirolactone was just another bonus)

 

 

1. I wanted to Balance my Hormones Holistically.
I had no idea if my body was truly balanced.  Our period is a sign of health and without a real period I had no way of knowing if I was “healthy.” And I wanted to know!!

2. I never had Regular Periods in my life.
Although I never paid attention much to them before. I wanted to pay attention now. I wanted to cycle sync and move and eat for each phase of my cycle. I wanted to SEE if I could have a consistent period.

3. I wanted to Cycle-sync.
Mm A woman’s body is so beautiful and so connected to everything. I love being able to eat foods that fuel my body for my specific cycle phase. To know what I should be doing in my life for balance. To know what signs to look for in each week in my body. To be able to see and feel what it’s telling me. The best ever. 

4. I wanted to Heal my Gut.
Birth Control disrupts gut bacteria and my gut had already been destroyed by the daily dose of antibiotics. Ironically, clear skin is directly connected to a healthy gut….hmmm  After discovering my intolerance to eggs, I knew I had leaky gut. Leaky gut is caused by many things, but antibiotics and the pill both impact it significantly. Gut health is SO important for overall health and I knew that this was important for me to focus my attention on healing especially if I wanted to eat eggs again!!

5. I wanted to replenish my body’s B-vitamins and all nutritional deficiencies.
The pill also depletes our body of B-vitamins. In this past post, I share a bit about how I got my sparkle back. I went through a period of time where I had no energy. I was sneezing non stop and I got sick at least every other week. I ate an extremely clean and healthy diet.  I even ate a bag of carrots at least every other day! I didn’t know what I was doing wrong to feel like this.  With my gut clearly a mess, my body wasn’t able to absorb nutrients properly and at the same time the pill was depleting my body of vitamins! It was a double whammy.  B-vitamins are so crucial to our vitality and mood.  So once I started taking my favorite multi-vitamin, I noticed a world of a difference.  My cells were finally getting the nourishment they craved.  And my energy sky rocketed because I was finally receiving optimal levels of B-vitamins. It all made sense after understanding how much damage the pill was doing to my body. 

6. I wanted to ensure I was taking smart steps towards a Healthy Thyroid.
Both my parents have hypothyroidism.  Unfortunately thyroid issues are becoming more and more “normal”.  I knew that keeping tabs on my thyroid is very important.  Sadly, because of all the nutrient depletion from the pill this directly impacts our thyroid as all of these nutrients are required for thyroid function.

*Side note – Isn’t it so fascinating how one piece affects another and another? This is why I love the puzzle of human health. It is so utterly beautiful and complex.  The balance that is required so everything works perfectly together is truly mind blowing…

7.  I wanted Strong Intuition and Creative Power.
This might get woo but stay with me. The pill shuts down our body from creating hormones. It stops us from making progesterone.  Our power is held in our sacral chakra which is connected to the ovaries. I am all about stepping into my own power as a women and using everything that I have to connect more to my intuition and creativity! I believe that the pill decreases this power. And I don’t know about you but I want to capture that energy to pour into my own life and my own work.  

8. It did not align with my Holistic Lifestyle.
 I reevaluated my values which was to live a holistic lifestyle to the best of my ability. This is what I wanted for me and what I choose. The pill was not needed anymore especially with my ability to purchase all real food and create a diet that fits for me instead of being a cheap college student with a inconsistent schedule.

 

**I share this post to educate you on why I choose my path. This is not in anyway a post to shame someone for choosing the pill. It was very beneficial to me for a period of time and I am grateful for it. I just hope to share with you a new way of thinking and to be more informed about WHY you are really on pill in the first place. Most girls and women are not given a choice. Every period issues is prescribed the pill. ✔The pill is slapped on as a simple fix for all for basic issues like PMS, acne, migraines etc. And also serious hormonal issues like PCOS and endometriosis. But all of these problems are impacted by the food we eat and the environment we live in. The pill does not “fix” anything just nearly a band-aid for a deeper issue inside the body.  So I encourage you to be educated and decide what is best for you at this time in your life.  If right now, it makes the most sense to be on it, then stay on it! But if you want to do the work to truly balance your life and heal your body naturally so you can have babies someday…then maybe looking into getting off the pill is the route to go!  Heck for me, it was kind of fun for me to have something to solve, something to research. Plus I kind of like experimenting on myself haha even if its a bit scary.

 

 

 

Next post, I will share what happened AFTER I went off. Going off is probably the scariest part. You have no idea what your body is gonna do! Will I gain weight ? Will my skin go crazy!? Will my cramps be even worse? Gah!

 

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