You came off the pill or IUD months ago and your period is still unruly af.
What gives!? Why am I a 32-year-old woman living in the body of a 15-year-old girl?!
Your periods are so heavy that you can't even go on a 2 hour hike without stopping mid trail to change your protection.
Your boss is concerned about you because you have to skip work because of your period cramps, AND you've been dropping the ball on big client meetings from your forgetfulness.
Then you get teary and emotional when he brings up your performance issue. Its never a good feeling when your boss notices your hormonal rollercoasters!
And you know what the best part about this is, your face is as pimply as a teenage boy!
If this sounds like your experience, lemme say that I totally feel ya. I have personally been there. Twice! Once after stopping the pill, and then again after removing the IUD.
The treatment for this isn't to 'watch and wait'. Hormones don't just fix themselves. Especially not when they've been left unchecked for years while you were on hormonal contraceptives. What you need is a full body, root cause treatment approach to get your unique system back online and ready for your long term goals.
Here are my top 5 things to do to help bring my patient's cycles back into rhythm after coming off the pill:
1. Address nutrient deficiencies
Did you know the pill deprives our body of the essential nutrients needed to have a healthy period? B vitamins, magnesium, selenium and zinc are all deficient after years of using the pill.
2. Ease stress response
The pill can affect your stress response system, making you underreactive yet chronically stressed out. A stressed-out system doesn't want to bring babies into this world, so no periods for you!
3. Boost hormone building blocks
I'm talking healthy fats and proteins. All sex hormones (estrogen, progesterone and testosterone) are made from cholesterol, which is made of both fat and protein. Look at your plate each meal, are you eating a palm-sized amount of protein and 2 thumb sizes worth of fat?
4. Check in on your cycles with BBT tracking
Basal Body Temperature (BBT) is your temperature first thing in the morning, and if you're ovulating, you'll see a 0.3 degrees Celsius rise in temp after ovulation. And healthy ovulation = periods!
5. Check your hormone levels
I often wait at least 3 cycles after a woman has stopped taking the pill to assess her true hormone test with a comprehensive urine test (aka the DUTCH test). Sometimes too much estrogen can cause problems, but it could also be not enough progesterone.
Curious to know what your actual hormone levels are without the pricey testing?
Check out my Hormone Balance Quiz here!