How Do I Know if I Have Post Birth Control Syndrome?
Post birth control syndrome is a collection of possible symptoms that can occur for about 4-6 months after cessation of birth control. The reason for the symptoms is because your body is attempting to restore its natural ability to produce hormones. The hormones affect so many different things around the body other than just your cycle. Birth control actually disengages the ovaries from doing their job in hormone production and regulation so this is why when you stop using it you can get post birth control syndrome. Many of the signs of post birth control syndrome can be due to imbalances involving androgens, estrogen/progesterone, and cortisol.
Here we will discuss 11 signs of post birth control syndrome and how they are affected by hormonal levels.
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1. Acne
Acne is one of the signs for post birth control syndrome. In each pore of our skin, we have sebaceous glands that produce sebum, an oil-like liquid, which helps to moisturize and protect our skin. When too many dead skin cells collect on the top of the skin in conjunction with high amounts of sebum, this can create a clog in our sebaceous glands and will result in inflammation. Our body will respond to this inflammation by sending white blood cells to the site of the clog which forms the white-headed pimples called acne. The hormone testosterone when elevated can combine with DHEA an enzyme and turn into DHT which will increase sebum production in the sebaceous glands causing more acne.
Source: European Journal, 20725580
2. Irregular Periods
Another one of the post birth control syndrome signs is irregular periods. A regular period falls anywhere between 21 to 35 days (28 is the average), anything outside of this time frame is irregular. Irregular periods occur due to a variety of reasons, but its main cause is the lack of normal ovulation. Lack of ovulation, where the egg is not released from the ovary is a product of low progesterone because the body is not preparing for pregnancy. Some other reasons for irregular periods can be stress, PCOS, not eating enough, or coming off of oral contraceptives.
Source: 25681845 , Book on the Menstrual Cycle
3. Hair Loss
You might be noticing unusually large handful amounts of hair coming from your head in the shower. Now, everyone has various hair textures and thickness, but if you are noticing that you are shedding more hair than you were while on birth control, this can be one of the symptoms of post birth control syndrome. Female hair loss is due to the miniaturization of the hair follicle, and increasing terminal follicles. Just like in acne production, DHT plays a role in hair loss from increased androgen levels of testosterone. DHT is an opponent of hair follicles, the more it is produced the more it will create hair loss and miniaturize the hair follicle. High levels of testosterone will catalyze this reaction to form DHT and therefore lose hair.
It’s important to make sure you’re eating enough, incorporating calming practices (like journaling or meditating), and may need to scale back on high-intensity workouts and opt for lower intensity ones like yoga, pilates, and strength training.
Source: 18044135 , American Hair Loss , 28492055
4. Gut Issues
The gut plays an important role in hormone detoxification. If we have low stomach acid (hypochlorhydria) or decreased functioning of the pancreas resulting in a low output of digestive enzymes we can experience bloating. Bloating is a sign of gut issues because of the low digestive enzymes this makes the gut work much harder to digest food. This is because adequate stomach acid and digestive enzymes are needed to break down and digest our food so it can be sent to the gut for absorption. Additionally, imbalances in gut bacteria can also contribute to bloating.
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5. Missing Periods
If you are missing your period this is a bad sign for your menstrual cycle symptoms. If your period has been consistently missing for more than 3 months it’s time to do a little digging. A missing period can be a sign of hypothalamic amenorrhea or PCOS, but as women we should have a normal menstruation within every 21 to 35 days. In general, missing periods are due to low levels of estrogen and progesterone.
Source: Book on the Menstrual Cycle
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6. Fatigue
Another one of the common menstrual cycle symptoms is fatigue. Fatigue is defined as having low energy, tiredness, and weak muscles. This can occur during menstruation because there is a high output of blood which eliminates iron, a vital mineral for transporting oxygen around the body. Also, the menstruation process in its self uses a lot of energy in general to excrete the uterine lining. There is also preconceived psychological stress from the bleeding process of menstruation which can cause fatigue to be one of the menstrual cycle symptoms.
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7. Pre-Birth Control Symptoms Return
As mentioned earlier, many women go on birth control to control acne, painful periods, or irregular cycles, and not necessarily for contraception. When you stop using birth control, these symptoms can reappear and possibly get worse during the beginning weeks or months of coming off the pill which can be a sign of post birth control syndrome.
8. Heavy or Painful Periods
Ever find yourself changing a super tampon twice in the hour when you never used to before the pill? You may have a heavy period as one of the menstrual cycle symptoms. Heavy menstrual bleeding is defined as secreting more than 80 mL of blood per menstrual cycle (16 tampons per cycle), though it is reported that about 50% of females who report heavy menstrual bleeding, do not meet the 80 mL standard. The normal bleeding amount is only 50-60 mL of blood. With heavy blood output, it’s important to maintain healthy blood iron levels, so they don’t drop too low. Heavy bleeding is caused by polyps which are when there is enlarged tissue growth in the endometrial cavity. Estrogen functions to build up the endometrial wall for menstruation, so when levels of estrogen increase the build-up of tissue on the wall will increases. This hormonal imbalance can cause a heavy period to be one of the signs of post birth control syndrome.
9. Migraines
Migraines can be one of the signs of post birth control syndrome. When progesterone is low, estrogen is usually high and it has been shown that estrogen can interfere with cellular responsiveness and cerebral vessels. Through passive diffusion, estrogen can cross the blood-brain barrier very easily, so this causes the brain levels of estrogen to reflect the levels within the rest of the body’s circulation. When levels of estrogen are high in circulation in the body, this causes an increase of estrogen in the brain and a low level of progesterone. The high levels of estrogen and low levels of progesterone are what can cause migraines in post birth control syndrome.
10. Inflammation
Inflammation occurs when your white blood cells sense an invader or an area of injury in the body, so they release chemicals to surge the area as well as increase blood flow there. It is another one of the signs of post birth control syndrome. Birth control has been found to induce inflammation in the body, and after stopping the use of it, the inflammation can be residual.
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11. Infertility
Lastly, infertility is another one of the signs of post birth control syndrome. This is because to be fertile our body needs to have a stable balance of hormones. Without optimal estrogen and progesterone, the body doesn’t think we are stable enough to carry a pregnancy, and therefore we become infertile. Specifically, progesterone needs to be balanced because this hormone means ‘pro’ to promote and ‘gesterone’ meaning pregnancy. Infertility can occur as part of post birth control syndrome because if the production of hormones is way too low then ovulation will be completely inhibited for a period of time which will decrease likelihood of pregnancy.
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TAKE AWAY MESSAGE:
There are several signs to tell if you may have post birth control syndrome. If you’re looking to understand the root causes of your hormones, check out my hormone testing packages HERE.
