Navigating the Cup and Birth Control
Hi! If you’re coming from Instagram, you know how I talked in depth about my experience with birth control and purchasing the cup recently from Target.
Here’s some background if you have no idea what I’m talking about.
I was on birth control (Lo Loestrin Fe pill) for about 5 years before getting off just 2 weeks ago. I started to feel major side effects like mood swings and depression these last several months. I also didn’t get my period for the last 5 years so I felt that it wasn’t healthy long term to be on birth control. I’ve asked my OBGYN about the long-term effects and every time she has denied that there are any effects with fertility.
However, I still question whether or not it was healthy to be putting all of these hormones into my body for such a long time. I definitely want to have kids in the future and don’t want BC to affect my chances.
So I made the plunge and stopped birth control at the end of my pack. I knew well enough to finish out the pack and not stop mid-pack. Little did I know the side effects I would get post-birth control.
I felt amazing the first couple days off the pill and started to feel more like myself. Third day in, I started receiving period-like cramps with no sign of a period. I also started to breakout with hormonal acne and felt bloated all of the time. In addition, I experienced fatigue and wanted to always take a nap.
After posting on my stories about my experience with getting off the pill, I received so many DM’s about women who experienced post-BC symptoms. I learned that it’s common for your body to take months to recover and your body will most likely be imbalanced due to the reliance on hormones for so long.
One of my friends recommended a book called Beyond the Pill by Dr. Jolene Brighten and it has seriously changed my life. I’ve learned from getting off the pill safely to the varieties of birth controls with its side effects. I love how Dr. Brighten doesn’t sugar coat what BC does. She’s non-biased and wants to strictly inform her readers to make a conscious decision about choosing BC.
What’s helped with me is to make sure I’m exercising daily, eating healthy, and taking my vitamins. Sounds easy right? It’s absolutely been a lot harder to do than said. Taking vitamins has made the biggest impact on me however. I take Ritual vitamins for women and it’s been helping to make sure I get enough magnesium, B12, and zinc.
Now let’s talk menstrual cups! I just got one from Target (mostly because the packaging looked super cute) but I have yet to use it! Here are some tips that I received from my audience:
It takes a little while (maybe a few cycles) to figure out but once you do you’ll never look back
Look up Youtube tutorials before you try it out
It goes in further than you think, so don’t panic the first few times
Try putting it in the shower your first time BEFORE you get your cycle
When you first put it in, wear a liner/pad while you get used to it
Leave it all day, empty when you get home
And here are some brands that were recommended to me:
I hope you find those tips helpful! I’m not completely done with my journey to re-balancing out my body yet. I have an OBGYN appointment tomorrow to inquire if I can get a hormone test done. I’ll continue to update you on the blog with more information about balancing out my hormones!
Xx,
Sam
