Many women take the birth control pill to prevent pregnancy and/or ease cyclical symptoms like painful or irregular periods, PMS, and acne. We’re told that when we want to get pregnant, all we have to do is stop taking the pill and have sex. If only it was that simple.
For many women it doesn’t work that way and it’s certainly not the best path for your future baby’s health. Best-case scenario: you get off the pill and your normal cycle comes back quickly so you’re able to get pregnant quickly. But what you don’t know is that the pill depletes you of important vitamins and minerals that your baby needs for proper development. This can lead to miscarriage, poor health for your baby, or, it can leave you depleted post-partum, making post-partum depression or other post-partum complications more likely.
Worst-case scenario: you can go off the pill and discover all this time you were taking it to “regulate your periods” didn’t actually do a thing. You may find that post-pill your periods are more irregular or more symptomatic than they have ever been, leading your doctor to diagnose you with infertility and send you off for IUI/IVF. This isn’t necessary though. With some preparation, you can get your body ready to go off the pill and set yourself up for a healthy mama and baby.
Preparing to go off the pill
If you’re thinking about going off the pill (or if you’ve already gone off it but feel like your cycles aren’t regular), there are some basic actions you can take to set yourself up for success. Start about 3-4 months prior to going off the pill or plan on doing them for 3-4 months after going off the pill before attempting to conceive.
1. Eat a well-balanced diet full of nutrient dense whole foods
Since the pill depletes important nutrients—like B vitamins—the best way to replenish these is to eat healthy foods. Nutrients are most available for absorption when they come from food. It’s important to make sure you’re consuming plenty of healthy fats and liver supporting foods. Reproductive hormones are made from fat and since you haven’t been producing reproductive hormones for a while, consuming plenty of fats in your diet supplies your body with the building blocks it needs to make these hormones again. Supporting the liver is just as important because it helps your body remove the synthetic hormones you’ve been taking. It also supplies the bile for your gall bladder that breaks down fats in the diet so you can absorb and use them.
2. Supplement with some of the key nutrients that have been depleted
While food is the best way to get our nutrients, poor farming practices leave our soil depleted of nutrients and, as a result, our food. Supplementing ensures you’re getting enough of these essential nutrients.
The most important nutrients to replenish after being on the pill are:
- Folate
- B6
- B12
- Selenium
- Zinc
A quality prenatal can contain all of these (Full Circle and Nourishment is Needed are my favorite brands). No matter which brand you choose, ensure B6 is in the format of p5p, and the b12 and folate both contain at least some methylated form (skip any brand that includes any FOLIC ACID which is a very poor source of folate and is detrimental to those with the MTHFR gene mutation ).
3. Check in on your Gut Health
The birth control pill has been associated with gut permeability. This is when the cells in your intestinal lining start to separate, allowing larger pieces of broken-down food as well as bacteria. Environmental toxins to escape into your blood stream causing inflammation and food sensitivities. To help heal your gut, it’s important to eat plenty of nourishing foods that contain gelatin like soups, stews, and roasts. You can also include things like collagen peptides in your smoothies, morning coffee, or tea. Another good practice while working to heal the gut is to eat mostly cooked veggies. Raw veggies are more difficult to digest so stick to roasted, steamed, or pan-fried veggies will be less irritating to damaged intestinal walls. If you find that you are showing symptoms of inflammation like an autoimmune disease, acne or other skin conditions, painful periods, digestive issues like diarrhea or constipation, joint pain, allergies, sinus congestion, anxiety, depression, migraines, or frequent headaches it’s a good idea to seek out a practitioner that can run a stool test and help you develop a more targeted healing protocol.
These steps can help you to heal from any damage the pill itself causes but if you had period problems before going on the pill, it’s time to get to the bottom of what’s going on so you can heal and get pregnant. One of the best ways to begin investigating what may be going on with your period is to track your cycles using cervical mucus and Basal Body Temperature. It’s also important to track any other symptoms like pain, spotting, PMS, headaches, etc. These can all give clues to what sort of hormonal imbalances may be going on. You can learn more about tracking your cycles and the clues your cycle is giving you by checking out these posts: Cycle Tracking 101, Cycles Gone Wrong Part 1, Cycles Gone Wrong Part 2, and Cycles Gone Wrong Part 3- Solutions. Even if you didn’t have any cycle problems before going on the pill, it’s still best practice to chart your cycles once you’re off. A lot can happen in your body when your suppress your hormones and you may have developed some hormonal issues since you started.
The last thing to remember if you’ve been on the pill for a while is that it can take time for your body to wake up again—especially if you have a sluggish liver. If you go more than 6 months without your cycles becoming more regular, then it is time to see a practitioner that can help you look into hormone testing.