Why I Stopped Taking Hormonal Birth Control

Let’s talk birth control.

In the wellness world, I feel like this has been a trending topic as of late. Articles, new research and podcasts are blowing up about the risks of birth control and what it’s actually doing to your body when you’re on the pill, IUD or other hormonal contraceptives. T-GOD because being ignorant to birth control risks is not bliss and I’ll tell you WHY.

I was on the pill for a year as a form of pregnancy prevention before I switched to the IUD. After having the IUD for a year, I then switched back to the pill to give it another try, which lasted only 6 months. I was constantly changing pills, trying to find the right one that didn’t make me feel like I was crazy. On the pill, I would cry for no reason, have mood swings up the yin-yang, and would gain a stubborn layer of fluff that was a struggle to get off.

I would plead to my Dr. to please give me a pill that had the absolute LOWEST amount of estrogen in it, thinking that would solve all my side effects. She would, I would be happy, and then I would get the side effects all over again. Each pill gave me different side effects.

With all of these side effects, I started to worry about being on the pill. My Dr. assured me that the pill was safe and it was just balancing my hormones. UGH.

Then, I had a scare.

I was misdiagnosed with epilepsy. Read all about it here. They said the epilepsy medication they prescribed made the birth control not work. It didn’t prevent me from having babies. This was the main reason I was on birth control – to prevent pregnancy. (Sooo fun)

I switched to the IUD- Skyla to be exact. The first 6 months were fabulous. I didn’t have a period, which was the best to not have to deal with.

After those 6 months, my period came. I had never felt more painful cramps in my entire life. I went in to get an ultrasound to make sure the IUD was in place and double check if it had caused cysts to grow. (One of the side effects) The Dr. said everything was good.

It couldn’t have been. I was bent over backwards- crying with pain. After doing research, my body was having contractions. The IUD is a foreign object in your body, and it alerts your body that it’s a predator. My body was trying to get rid of the object.

However, my Dr assured me that this pain was not caused by the IUD. She just said they were cramps and most girls have cramps on their period. (Damn, I thought I was just being a baby and had a low pain tolerance) Trusting my Dr, I dealt with that pain every time I got my period for the next 6 months.

On the IUD is when my anxiety got worse and fell into a deep depression. Read about it here.

I started to research the IUD a little more. Now I’m not saying the IUD was the cause of my depression, but a lot of people online said they had experienced the heightened anxiety and depression while having the IUD. I wanted it out of my body immediately- just in case if it was the cause to all my mental health issues.

After I took my IUD out, I no longer had that awful pain during my period, my anxiety got better, but my depression lingered. I wanted soooo badly to just not be on anything. But I listened to what others said, with fear that I would get pregnant, and I got back on the pill. This last time on the pill, I didn’t receive my period for the full 6 months. (Weird?)

My boyfriend and I started listening to a Joe Rogan podcast with Kelly Brogan. It opened both of our eyes to the synthetic hormone filled pill called birth control. We found out that there is only 6 days out of each month that a female can get pregnant. We learned the risks of birth control (see below), that people like myself carelessly ignore, and how the contraceptive literally stops ovulation (see below).

We both decided it would be best if I got off of it. I started listening to more and more podcasts, who interviewed extremely knowledgeable people on the subject. Their stories aligned with mine. Now, I’m not saying getting off the pill is the solution for everyone, but it was the solution for myself. If you’re on a hormonal contraception, first learn everything you can about it, and then decide.

I finally feel in tune with my body, I feel free and I’m absolutely loving feeling the full effect of a period. I feel aligned with my body. I’m learning so much about my cycle, my cravings and my body.