78. Beyond the Myths: Hormonal Birth Control & Your Cycle

In this episode of Cycle Wisdom, Dr. Monica Minjeur breaks down five common myths about hormonal birth control and menstrual cycle health. Learn why birth control isn't a one-size-fits-all solution, the hidden risks it carries, and how it can impact future fertility. Discover natural, effective alternatives that address the root causes of cycle irregularities. Empower yourself with knowledge and take control of your reproductive health!

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Transcript

Monica: 0:02

Welcome back to Cycle Wisdom, where we empower women to restore natural menstrual cycles to improve health and promote fertility. I'm your host, Dr. Monica Minjeur, and I'm so glad you're listening today. On today's episode, we're going to tackle five common myths about hormonal birth control and your menstrual cycle health. We're going to dive into the limitations. risks, and other concerns in regards to hormonal birth control. And as an alternative, we'll discuss why natural choices might be the better choice for your health. For decades, hormonal birth control has been seen as a one size fits all solution to many women's health issues. But is it really the magic fix it's made out to be? What if hormonal birth control is doing more harm than good? Let's jump in with myth number one. Hormonal birth control is the only solution for cycle irregularities. Oftentimes, women with PCOS, endometriosis, or heavy bleeding are told that hormonal birth control is the only option to manage their symptoms. The reality is that birth control doesn't fix issues like hormone imbalances, or inflammation, or not ovulating. Instead, birth control often will just mask those symptoms without addressing the underlying cause. So, for example, if you are somebody who we diagnose with PCOS or polycystic ovarian syndrome, rather than just treating with birth control and covering up the problem, our approach with restorative reproductive medicine is to address your insulin resistance. help to balance your hormones and treat the targeted ovulatory dysfunction in order to help get your cycles back to as normal as they can be. For a diagnosis of endometriosis, we will utilize different treatments, whether that's supplements or prescription strength medications, dietary modifications. All of these things aim to try and decrease inflammation. When necessary, we would send you for surgical removal of those endometriosis lesions rather than just suppressing ovulation with hormonal birth control. If you are somebody who deals with heavy bleeding or painful periods, we want to address the underlying conditions that are causing those concerns. Oftentimes, we find things like low progesterone, anatomic issues like fibroids or polyps, or even thyroid dysfunction as reasons for the heavy bleeding. When we address those situations and treat the underlying cause of the problem, we're helping to improve your overall health for the long term, rather than just covering it up. One of the most common things that we treat in our practice is women who come to us with PCOS. Now, oftentimes these women are put on hormonal birth control, and the idea is to try and help regulate their cycles in order to make a withdrawal period happen. However, birth control doesn't address the underlying causes that are creating that PCOS picture. And so instead, we want to get to a point of where we are improving your symptoms, getting to the root cause of treating those concerns, which can then allow for natural cycles. And if your hope is to become pregnant, we don't need to worry about what happens when you finally decide to come off of birth control. So birth control is never your only option. Addressing the root cause of irregular cycles can lead to real lasting solutions that not only help to address and get you back to natural cycles, but can also provide lifelong healing to lots of health conditions as well that may otherwise be being covered up. Myth number two, hormonal birth control is 100 percent safe. Birth control is often marketed as safe and side effect free, and we have seen this even more now that some birth control is available over the counter. The reality is that there are many studies discussing the links to hormonal contraceptives with increased risks and side effects. A big area that I like to talk about is the mental health impact. Hormonal contraceptives have been linked and shown to cause problems with depression, anxiety, and mood swings. It's also well documented that hormonal birth control is known to deplete key nutrients in your body. Things like vitamin B, magnesium, and zinc are critical for daily functioning as far as your energy, your mood, and your hormone imbalance. And being on birth control longer term can deplete your body of these vital nutrients. There are also other rare but serious risks, and in my own practice over the years, I have seen women that have developed things like blood clots, strokes, and other serious complications. These complications can last well beyond just being on birth control, and have potentially serious lifelong consequences. So remember that hormonal birth control is not 100 percent safe, and although many women can be on it without experiencing these major side effects, many women will develop at least some sort of side effect or impact or negative feature being on hormonal birth control. It is a medication. It is not a cure all. And like all medications, they come with risks and potential side effects that should not be overlooked, ignored. or taken lightly. Myth number three, hormonal birth control doesn't affect future fertility. Many women are reassured that once they stop the pill, that will allow them to get pregnant right away. And although we do see this in some cases, there are many women that suffer from what we call post pill amenorrhea. What this means is that women will experience a delayed return of ovulation or sometimes don't have cycles at all after discontinuing hormonal contraception. Birth control often is suppressing rather than resolving underlying issues like PCOS. or thyroid dysfunction, and if those issues were not addressed and treated prior to being on birth control, this can lead to difficulty conceiving when the pill is stopped. Again, not a good idea to just cover up the symptoms because those symptoms are still going to be there even after stopping birth control. There's actually research done showing that fertility can take months or even years to recover post pill, especially after long term use. I actually have recently treated a woman in my practice this past year who stopped birth control hoping to get pregnant within a couple of months, and seven months later, she still was having troubles with getting regular cycles to return. Through focused intervention and treating multiple different factors including her thyroid and insulin resistance, we finally were able to start seeing some normal ovulation occur, but that required targeted evaluation. working through all the different layers of complexity of what was going on, rather than just covering up those symptoms for years, which is what had been done by her previous physician by prescribing hormonal birth control in the first place. Hormonal birth control can delay your journey to pregnancy by masking issues that will eventually need to be addressed sooner or later. So even if you're not at a point where you're trying to get pregnant right now, this is why it's so important to address those concerns rather than just cover it up to address at a later time because it can take time to help resolve those issues. Myth number four. Natural methods are less effective than being on the pill. Natural methods like fertility awareness based methods that we discuss on this podcast are often dismissed as ineffective compared to hormonal contraceptives. And I hear this mentioned again and again when people come in and they've talked to other physicians. The reality, as we've talked about on this show, is that when used correctly, fertility awareness based methods like Creighton Model, Symptothermal, FEM, Neofertility, all have effectiveness rates that are about 98 to 99%, which is actually comparable, if not better, compared to the other Obviously, it's important to have the appropriate level of education and ongoing support to ensure that you achieve this high level of success with fertility awareness based methods. But, we also are trading off giving women this power to have the knowledge about their cycles while avoiding side effects and helping to identify underlying health issues. All the while, being able to be just as effective at preventing pregnancy if that's your intention to do so. On the flip side, if you're trying to conceive during this time, it empowers you to understand when your fertile window is, when exactly you have ovulated, in order to be able to target that time more appropriately. Especially if you are somebody that has irregular cycles, there are different methods that you can utilize in order to help understand exactly what's going on with your cycle from day to day in order to be able to keep this same level of efficacy. So natural methods are just as effective as the pill when used correctly, with the added benefit of empowering you to understand your body, understand and treat underlying medical concerns. And, avoiding the negative side effects that can come from birth control. Myth number five. You don't need to worry about cycle health if you're on birth control. Many people assume that being on birth control eliminates the need to monitor your cycle health. You just take a pill and forget it. Or you set an implant and you forget it. The reality is that a healthy menstrual cycle, as well as a normal ovulation, is a key vital sign that provides insight into your overall health. When you are on birth control, it suppresses this natural feedback loop, and so it makes it really challenging to understand what else is going on with your overall health. Much like being able to monitor your blood pressure, your heart rate, or your temperature to know what's going on with your body, when we look at things like your menstrual cycle and when your ovulation is happening, it helps us to understand so much about what's going on from a hormone standpoint, from a thyroid standpoint, and from your overall health. If you're on birth control that's masking symptoms, conditions like thyroid dysfunction, PCOS, or luteal phase defects can go unnoticed for years if that birth control is covering up the symptoms. There's also a potential for long term impact by suppressing your cycles long term, can delay diagnosis and treatment of more serious issues, which can make it more challenging later on to try and balance your hormones, restore fertility, or navigate the menopausal transition that would naturally occur. I recently worked with a woman who was in her mid 40s, who had been on birth control for about 15 years. She continued to have problems with significant fatigue, hair loss, and weight gain that she just was having a hard time with, knowing was this hormonal, was it not, and her physician had told her, well, you're on birth control, it can't be a hormone problem. Eventually, she came to see me at the urging of one of her friends, and we were able to diagnose an underlying thyroid condition. In the meantime, we worked to get her off of her birth control, worked on treating the thyroid condition appropriately, in order to be able to help her to understand what was going on with her cycles, to balance her hormones, and to address that underlying thyroid dysfunction that for so many years she had thought was just a hormone imbalance. Your menstrual cycle health, your hormones, your ovulation, these are all essential markers of your health. And ignoring these symptoms while on birth control can lead to delayed diagnoses and missed opportunities for healing that go well beyond just what you're seeing with your cycles and with your fertility. So let's recap again the five myths from today. Number one, hormonal birth control is the only solution for cycle irregularities. False. Root cause treatments offer better solutions than these band aids that many women are being provided today. Number 2. Hormonal birth control is 100 percent safe. This is also false. Hormonal birth control can come with significant risks and side effects. And it's important to understand those risks prior to considering starting on it and knowing you have other options. Number 3. Hormonal birth control does not affect future fertility. False, hormonal birth control can delay a return to ovulation and regular cycles while masking underlying issues that aren't effectively treated. Number four, natural methods are less effective than the pill. False, fertility awareness based methods that are standardized and verified can approach just as much efficacy when used correctly. And number five, you don't need to worry about cycle health if you're on birth control. False. Monitoring your cycle is vital for your overall health and can oftentimes lead us to finding underlying problems that have otherwise been ignored or blamed on hormonal imbalance incorrectly. If you've ever felt dismissed, frustrated, or unsure about your options for cycle health and are told that birth control is your only option, Please consider learning more about fertility awareness based methods and about restorative reproductive medical care. Your body was designed with an incredible system that when understood and supported can thrive. Let's work together to uncover the best path forward for your health. If you're ready to work with our elite team of healthcare professionals, go to our website, RadiantClinic. com, to schedule a free discovery call with me and learn more about our package based pricing for comprehensive care. We are currently able to see people for in person appointments in our Cedar Rapids, Iowa clinic, or can arrange for a telehealth visit if you live in the states of Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Connecticut. Florida, and now Texas. Thank you so much for listening to this episode. 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