My Decision To Stop Taking The Pill...

After much debate, I have decided to stop taking birth control pills. There were several things that brought me to this conclusion and I am hoping that it was the best one for me. Nothing against my gynecologist, because he is very supportive in options to help regulate my period and other things, but I am just tired of pumping myself full of hormones that may be hindering more than helping me.



My first and foremost reason for wanting to go off of the pill is that sometime in the near future, I would love to conceive a child. My one friend once told me that being on the pill saves your eggs. I later learned that a woman is born with all of the eggs that she will have for a lifetime, so saving some or losing some really wouldn't make a difference for me. The quality of the eggs is what matters.

One thing that sticks out in my mind are some of the side effects of being on birth control for an extended period of time. I have been on birth control a total of 6 years since the age of 18yrs. Since then, I have noticed that I have had migraines! I mean, sitting in the dark, give me Excedrin, don't bother me, migraines. My mood swings are crazy. I will cry at the drop of a hat, sometimes worst than others. I've been on that roller coaster of weight gain and loss. My lowest weight in years was when I was not on birth control.

As if all of that wasn't enough, I just didn't feel like a woman. My sex drive is extremely low. I read somewhere that our hormones attract the opposite sex, and birth control blocks these hormones. The last thing that I need is to not attract my soul mate due to a tiny yellow pill! My body, as a whole, was off. Remember my posts about natural deodorant, well my body chemistry was going wacky. I am not going to stop using natural deodorant, but my birth control could have something to do with this.



Now, I know that without birth control, I have horrible periods that last for weeks at times. This is mainly due to my hormones being out of balance. To help assist with balancing my hormones naturally, and get myself back to a normal-naturally- I am going to be taking Vitex Chasteberry. Its a natural plan found in the wild that is shown to help balance hormones in woman. Its basically the equivalency of taking a vitamin. But it takes a while to show the effects of Vitex, so I will be updating in about 3 months and let you guys know if it made a difference in my periods, moods, headaches, ect. I have been tracking my periods using an IPhone app, so I have a good base of how my periods worked, or are supposed to work, while being on birth control. I will continue to use it and see if there is a pattern or if its all off.

I am working towards living a more natural lifestyle, so there will be more posts to come with my vitamin regimen, whole foods/trader Joe's food reviews, and the development of some homemade products that I have been working on.


Sources: The Daily Beast, Vitex, Facts about Vitex,