9 Reasons for Hair Loss After Birth Control
Many women who choose to stop taking hormonal birth control can often go through a difficult transition phase because now their body has to relearn how to secrete and regulate hormones on its own.
Hair loss is a common symptom many women face when they go off hormonal birth control. This can occur after stopping birth control due to something called androgen rebound. This is when your androgen levels can rise and even become elevated after being suppressed by the pill. Your androgens are your testosterone, DHEA, and DHT. Increasing androgens causes hair loss because DHT is an opponent of hair follicles and the more it is produced the more it will create hair loss and decrease the size of the hair follicle. DHEA and testosterone are the two hormones that promote the conversion to DHT, further increasing hair loss.
Source: Birth Control Book
Here are 9 reasons for hair loss after birth control:
1. High Androgens
High androgens are one of the reasons for hair loss after birth control. As mentioned, hair loss is driven by the increasing levels of DHT, which is created by the conversion of testosterone and DHEA. These two androgens, at high levels, will create high levels of DHT. Blood sugar imbalances drive testosterone levels up, and high stress drives DHEA levels up. Test your androgen levels to see if you are high in testosterone, DHEA, or both. Look into anti-androgen supplements to help naturally decrease your levels. Reishi, licorice, white peony, green tea, zinc, NAC, and saw palmetto.
Source: Birth Control Book
2. Low Thyroid
Having a low functioning thyroid or is another reason for hair loss after birth control use. The thyroid is a gland in our throat that needs to release hormones to maintain a stable metabolism among other things. If these hormones are not released as frequently as they should, this is called low thyroid or hypothyroidism in more intense situations. To combat this, our body will try to stimulate more thyroid output, so additional hormones in the brain, specifically the hypothalamus, will be released to try to generate more thyroid hormones. Unfortunately, these hormones can also decrease estrogen and progesterone, which can cause androgens to be higher by default. Evidence shows that birth control use can downregulate the thyroid causing this to occur and as a result hair loss occurs.
Source: 32219692
3. Gut Issues
Gut issues are another one of the reasons for hair loss after birth control. Our gut health controls how we absorb and digest food. If we are not digesting our food well and absorbing nutrients properly, then we won’t have the building blocks we need to produce our hormones or mood chemicals.
Also, our gut is so interconnected with estrogen metabolism. If we’re struggling with constipation, we’re not clearing estrogen as we should and recirculate. Also, beta-glucuronidase is an enzyme that plays a role in digestion, but when elevated can unpackage estrogen where it can recirculate leading to elevated estrogen levels. This coupled with the internal stress response from going off birth control can lead to hair loss.
Healing the gut to support going off birth control utilizes the clearing of anything that shouldn’t be there (like bacterial overgrowth, candida, pathogens, viruses, etc.), supporting digestion with stomach acid support/digestive enzymes, healing the gut lining, repopulating the gut with good bacteria, and rebalancing the stress response. All of these outcomes will heal your body when going off birth control.
Source: 26658991
4. Low Zinc
Low zinc is another one of the reasons for hair loss after birth control. Zinc is a mineral we get from food. It helps to grow and repair tissues, supports the immune system, and is required for enzyme function.
Zinc has been shown to help improve PMS symptoms, thyroid function, help with avoiding hair loss, and is crucial for stable moods so it can be helpful if you experience anxiety.
Zinc helps to stop hair loss because it can block excess testosterone by functioning as a natural androgen blocker, decreasing DHT, promoting ovulation, and balancing the stress response.
Source: 26987302
FREE after birth control 5-day MEAL PLAN:
5. Inflammation
Another one of the reasons for hair loss after birth control is inflammation. Inflammation is triggered when going off birth control because the body is going through large hormonal imbalances, which causes an internal stress response leading to an increase in inflammatory markers in the blood. Hair loss can be caused by inflammation because hormone levels become imbalanced.
Source: 32523546
6. Low B Vitamins
Since B vitamins are so important for hormonal function. It’s vital to understand the impacts of low B vitamins as one of the reasons for hair loss after birth control. Vitamin B6 and B12 can help to balance estrogen and progesterone levels and adrenal function, which regulates cortisol, our stress hormone. Homocysteine is an amino acid produced when proteins are broken down, but at elevated levels, it is called hyperhomocysteinemia which is damaging. These high levels are not good for the body because it can degrade the arterial lining, and increase stress levels. Increasing stress levels can cause more hair loss.
7. Cortisol Imbalances
Cortisol imbalances are another one of the reasons for hair loss after birth control. As mentioned, high cortisol levels can increase DHEA production leading to more DHT and hair loss. Knowing if your cortisol levels are stable is important when learning how to stop hair loss from birth control.
Source: NIH
8. Blood Sugar Imbalances
Blood sugar imbalances are a precursor to high testosterone levels. When blood sugar is imbalanced, you will have increased insulin levels. This insulin can signal to the ovaries to produce more testosterone, resulting in increased DHT and hair loss. This is why blood sugar imbalances are one of the reasons for hair loss after birth control.
Source:16353672
9. Low Fatty Acids
Low fatty acids are another one of the reasons for hair loss after birth control. Fatty acids, specifically omega 3s are very helpful in improving hormone balance. Omega 3s have antioxidant properties to reduce inflammation and free radicals. They also can increase luteinizing hormone (LH), which can then boost progesterone production. In addition, omega 3s help increase hair growth, specifically the DHA form of the fatty acid.
