To be freaking honest I never really thought I’d be sitting down and writing a blog about my birth control journey, periods, or my endometriosis – but here we are!

These topics are always a bit taboo; they’re conversations to have with your mom, your girlfriends, and your doctor. They’re hardly ever conversations you start talking about online…out in the public. I think we still have a long ways to go until women’s health becomes a high priority to ALL people (yes men, I’m lookin’ at you – it’s important to know your partners health). However, I’ve been really loving the movement of opening up conversations and to start questioning what you are putting into your body, and for women to get a better understanding of their cycles, hormones, and overall bodies.

A few months ago I got hooked on a few different podcasts – one guest appearance in a podcast you trust and all of a sudden you’re like neck deep in 10 different podcasts about one specific topic. Lol. Well, for me it was all about women’s health, periods, how to optimize your menstrual phases as an entrepreneur, and all about endometriosis. That’s kind of how my journey really truly begin in uncovering more about my body and what the effects of birth control can have on individuals.

However, my story truly begins when I was 15 and put on birth control due to having “really bad periods”.

There would be days I wouldn’t be able to walk because my body ached so bad. I also experienced migraines, vomiting, passing out, high temperatures, sever cramps, mood swings…etc. Ya know, all the bad experiences…

And of course as a woman you should hide those things or lie and just tell others you’re “sick” or have “belly aches” all because it’s uncomfy to talk about…. but that’s a topic for another day.

So when i was 15 I was unofficially diagnosed with endometriosis, unfortunately you can’t confirm the diagnoses unless if you have a surgical procedure done – which at that point you’re potentially creating more scar tissue which can cause more issues. So unless if you have cysts, pelvis abnormalities, or a desire to just cut yourself open for the sake of the diagnosis there’s not really a huge need for the procedure.

So instead you get put on birth control that has synthetic hormones which will basically flood your body with said hormone to “disconnect” your uterus to your brain – so that way your uterus won’t cramp anymore, therefore you’ll have less pain. However you won’t have a natural cycle anymore and ALL your hormones will be out of balance (when one is off balance all of them are).

All this information, however, isn’t/wasn’t told to me when my doctor suggested the pill for my bad periods. Basically it was like, “the pill will help you cramp less, which will lead to less scar tissue and less pain”. Which all of that is true. But it’s basically a bandaid. And i know that there are some people who need that disconnect, so there is absolutely no shame to people who need that bandaid to get through life. Listen, I totally get it. There are somethings in life you have to fight for and others you have to accept.

However for me right now, I want to fight for this.

I was on birth control for about 10 years and just went off of it a little over a month ago. I want to give my body a chance to tell me what’s the matter. I want to kind of remember why i went on birth control to begin with, but this time I want to answer it with a healthy lifestyle change. And you know what? Maybe that won’t work and to be honest I’m kind of prepared for that. But I’m in a place where I want to at least try to see if I can heal my body with food and a healthy lifestyle.

So thus begins the true journey of coming off the birth control pill for me.

As I said I’ve been off of it for a little over a month now and nothing too crazy has happened yet. I honestly did ALOT of research prior to coming off of it to help prepare my body with vitamins and nutrients it needed coming off of the pill; as well as being more active, doing yoga, and eating a bit cleaner. So maybe that’s why I haven’t had any adverse effects or maybe I’m just lucky. But of course I’d like to say it’s the work I put into it lol

The only adverse effects I had was the first two weeks kind of getting stuck in this PMS (your luteal phase). My headspace was pretty negative and I was pretty exhausted as well. But I started talking some extra natural supplements to help me get out of that funk and it truly helped A TON!!

About 2 weeks ago I went on vacation to Mexico and of course your body knows that the perfect time to have a period…when you’re on vacation *rolls eyes*. I was actually REALLY nervous about getting my frist period after coming off the pill because I didn’t know if it was going to be awful since I technically haven’t had a real period in 10 years and those periods were absolutely AWFUL. But in all honesty, I had a great period! I got some bad cramps and sickness on the first day (which honestly could have been all the travel from the day before exhausting my body). And then after that I had NO CRAMPS, NO HEADACHES, nothing….I was basically just bleeding and a little more tired than usual. But I was seriously so freaking shocked about it all. I have NEVER had a period that easy. And honestly I think I owe it all to the work I put into it 2 months prior and sticking with it all.

I’d be extremely optimistic if I thought I will never have a bad period again…and I’ll be real with you guys I’m more of a realist with a dash of pessimism lol. So at this point I’m waiting for the pin to drop. And maybe it will or maybe it won’t, but at least I feel really prepared for it all and I am getting to understand the signals my body is giving me.

So that’s been my journey so far. I’m not sure if this is helpful to anyone out there, but I sure do hope that it reaches someone that needs to hear that they are not in this journey alone. I’m right there with you!! And if you ever need anyone to talk about through it all, I’m here for you!

Also stay tuned for one of my next blog posts all on my resources I’ve been using in this journey of fighting painful periods naturally (: