There are few things better out there than spontaneous sex with the one that you love. Unfortunately there is often a price to pay for such spontaneity. Birth control pills, shots, patches and rings can often leave you with a lot of trouble on your hands. So I ask those of you currently using the pill, what price are you willing to pay for such convenience?
My goal for this blog entry is not to make anyone feel bad for their choices, but to help you better understand the choices that you have made. As a practitioner who deals quite a lot with hormone related problems, and fertility in particular I feel it is only right to tell you what I see come through my door.
To start I want to go over some basic physiology which describe how birth control pills work. Before a woman actually produces her sex hormones the ovaries must first be stimulated by the pituitary or “master gland.” The major stimulating hormones which are affected here are Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH) and Lutenizing Hormone (LH). Without these two hormones the ovaries would be dysfunctional and there would be no menses, among other problems. In essence, the pill works to shut down these stimulating hormones and replace the hormones which would have otherwise been produced by the ovaries. By controlling exactly what hormones are working on the body the pill can stop the eggs from maturing and a period from occurring.
The first thing that you should know about taking hormones like the pill is that it can work to make a woman’s natural hormone system “lazy” so to speak. Once off of the pill it can take up to 5 years sometimes for her natural cycle to return to normal. And in some women a normal cycle may not return at all, though this is rare. But it isn’t uncommon for true fertility to return a year or so after stopping the pill. This is actually a known syndrome called “Birth Control Syndrome.” It is due to the pituitary gland not being able to recover from being suppressed while on the hormones. Treatment needs to be aimed squarely at stimulating the pituitary to secrete FSH and LH again to stimulate the ovaries to do their job. Once proper pituitary/ovary communication is regained normal periods should start again and fertility is now possible.
Lastly there is a known drug/nutrient interaction with birth control pills and what are called methyl donors. These methyl donors are vital for proper detox pathways to occur in the liver. If there isn’t a clear detoxification pathway all kinds of problems can start such as acne, PMS, painful and erratic periods for example. And then let’s go a step further with increased cancer risk and neurological decline. Breast cancer risk goes up 2% per year while a woman is on birth control pills. So if you have been on the pill for 10 years you can enjoy a 20% increased risk of breast cancer.
If you must use birth control please consider supplementing with methyl donors like folic acid and B-12 for example. These compounds will help keep your detox pathways running smoother while on the hormone.
As much as I hate to be the bearer of bad news when it comes to people’s sex lives I feel obligated to do so here. Infertility, cancer, and general ill health are certainly on the rise and we need to be armed with everything that we can to keep healthy. If you are using birth control pills or exogenous hormones of any kind perhaps it is time to reconsider. I would be more than happy to help you detect and/or avoid any risk factors that you are not aware about. Believe me, hormones are powerful things and can make your life a living hell. And if that ends up being the case, you might end up asking yourself if the convenience was worth the cost?
Hi Jim,
ReplyDeleteGreat article and compelling title. You are absolutely right about paying a price for the convenience of "guaranteed" birth control. I actually tell all of my patients that it's important to realize the implications of any drug or hormone. If it's not life or death, the price may not be worth the convenience.
Also, when it comes to birth control, the pill/patch or shot is a trojan horse. We need to be getting into the schools and educating adolescents on the dangers of STDs and how hormonally based birth control does nothing to address the spread of disease.
I look forward to your future articles.
Best regards,
Amelia Hirota, L.Ac.
Thanks Amelia for your comment. I really appreciate the feedback from other professionals in the industry. I couldn't agree more with you about the false sense of security given to people taking hormonally based birth control. And now we have vaccines for HPV too boot! But that's another article. Thanks again, and I enjoyed listening to you lecture online.
ReplyDeleteSincerely,
Jim Chialtas, L.Ac.
Thank you for the article, great information. I've struggled with hormonal issues for a long time (off-balance) since birth of first child. I attribute having Melasma to the use of BC (recently learned of that cause) and even though I quit using BC years ago because I wanted to be "natural" as possible things struggle to return to normal. Do you think a full detox helps the female hormones level again?
ReplyDeleteMichelle,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment. I don't know the exact mechanisms behind women forming melasma, but I do know that there is a hormonal connection. Of course this is a common condition associated with pregnancy as it is known as the "mask of pregnancy." The birth control pill sort of tricks the body into thinking that it is pregnant in a way so I would not doubt that there is a contributing factor with this condition to the pill. Taking in exogenous hormones can have some really strange effects.
But to answer your question about "clensing" to throw off the extra hormones I would have to say yes, it would be a good idea. But you have to be a little picky about your clensing. Not all of them are the same. The ones that make you have a bunch of diarrhea aren't really the ones that you need.
Hormones are all cleared through the liver and need to go through what is called Phase I and Phase II detoxification. This involves chemical reactions to take place that turn the hormones from a fat soluble to a water soluble form. This way they can exit the body either through the urine or stool (via the bile). One very common female disorder is that of a sluggish bile system. If gall stones run in your family I would say definately that could be your underlying problem. Livers get bogged down very easily especially while on the pill.
But nevertheless, you will want to give yourself plenty of things like Vit B12 and folic acid which help in this process. Eating plenty of beets, apples and ginger also work to promote a healthy biliary system. (I like to juice all of them together. Yummy!)
Other than that I have a three week clense program that does wonders for this. If interested let me know. I can get these things to you wherever in the country you are. Feel free to contact me via email or phone.
Hope that helps!
-jim chialtas, l.ac.
Hey Jim! Nice article.. that's really interesting.
ReplyDelete-John