Post-Pill-Guide
Are you considering stopping birth control pills?
Are you uncertain about how to do it?
Are you worried about potential consequences?
Do you want professional guidance?
Don’t worry, with our unique Post-Pill Guide, a combination of osteopathy, nutrition, and natural medicine, we will support you every step of the way.
In the following article, we discuss how we can assist you in discontinuing your hormonal contraception (pill, ring, hormonal intrauterine device, implant).
Three important things you should know when discontinuing the pill:
Decide how you want to manage contraception afterward.
Your hormonal balance will initially be disrupted.
Choose a time when you can focus on self-care.
Why is our Post-Pill Guide necessary?
The birth control pill is a commonly used hormonal contraceptive. However, it is often used not only for contraception but also to alleviate menstrual discomfort or for cosmetic reasons (improving skin, hair, breast enlargement). This is merely a suppression of symptoms, and the root cause of the symptoms is not addressed.
Unfortunately, after discontinuing the pill, these “masked” symptoms often return. Desire for pregnancy or the side effects of “hormonal contraception” such as loss of libido, weight gain, mood swings, feeling “off,” or headaches are common reasons for discontinuing the pill.
Despite the discomfort caused by side effects, there is often fear of potential consequences of discontinuation, such as skin problems, hair loss, absence of menstruation, recurrence of menstrual pain, or what is known as the Post-Pill Syndrome.
These fears and concerns are not unfounded and should be taken seriously and addressed therapeutically.
When you suddenly stop taking “hormones,” there is initially a significant hormone deficiency. Your body’s hormone system needs time to become active again, produce hormones independently, and achieve balance after a period of synthetic hormones.
In addition, the body’s detoxification organs such as the liver and intestines are put under extreme stress. The synthetic hormones must be processed by the liver and eliminated through the intestines.
In the next step, the body must produce hormones independently. This involves the higher-level hormone systems in the brain and, at the organ level, the liver, adrenal glands, and ovaries, among others. The selection of foods is of great importance here as they are necessary building blocks for hormone production.
All these aspects are considered in our Post-Pill Guide.
As mentioned earlier, the fear that menstrual problems such as pain, skin issues, and PMS may recur is entirely valid. The primary treatment for period-related issues is our daily work in gynecological osteopathic practice. The goal of therapy is to achieve the best possible arterial, venous, lymphatic, and neural supply to the pelvis. Mobility of the individual organs in relation to each other is also a focus in order to counteract discomfort.
Our Post-Pill Concept
We are here to support you during your journey of discontinuing the pill. Our developed concept to ease the transition aims to provide you with security, support, and a contact person for questions.
We have designed our 4-6 week Post-Pill Concept, which includes both osteopathy and nutrition, as well as selected phytotherapeutic elements, and optionally hypnosis.
In general, discontinuing the pill should ideally occur during a stress-free phase of life. Stress should be avoided because, in addition to the production of stress hormones, the production of sexual hormones also occurs in the adrenal glands. If the adrenal gland is overloaded due to the formation of stress hormones, this can disrupt the synthesis of sexual hormones. Moreover, stress hormones and sexual hormones require the same nutrients. Possible consequences may include the absence of menstruation, skin problems, fatigue, emotional imbalance, and more.
Before discontinuing the pill, it should be clarified whether and, if so, with what measures you want to continue contraception. This can prevent pressure or hasty decisions regarding further contraception. Options for hormone-free contraception could include natural family planning (NFP), the use of a copper intrauterine device or copper intrauterine system, diaphragms, cervical caps, or condom use.
Once you’ve identified the right time to discontinue the pill, you should finish the current blister pack. After the subsequent withdrawal bleeding, do not start a new pack. Now, the goal is to support your body as best as possible in the coming phases.
We differentiate four phases within our Post-Pill Program.
After each therapy session, you will receive a handout with important information for each phase, dietary advice, and information on phytotherapeutic applications.
Red Phase: Week 1 During the withdrawal bleeding, your first program appointment should take place. The aim of this treatment is to prepare your body as best as possible for the upcoming period and to balance your nervous system for a stress-free adjustment. Subsequently, you will receive tips for at-home care.
Orange Phase: Week 2 In the second week of treatment, the focus is on detoxification by eliminating remaining synthetic hormones. This puts significant demands on the liver and gallbladder. Within the osteopathic therapy, we try to support these organs mentioned above so that they can work as efficiently as possible. Afterward, you will receive tips for at-home care.
Yellow Phase: Week 3 The third week of treatment is aimed at further supporting the elimination of toxins accumulating in the liver and gallbladder. Special attention is given to the intestines. You will also receive tips for at-home care.
Green Phase: Week 4 (and as long as we should accompany you) Since you have already eliminated a portion of synthetic hormones, we now focus on stimulating your body’s own hormone production. We attempt to stimulate the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, adrenal glands, and ovaries as they play crucial roles in our hormone production. Depending on your needs, this phase can also be extended, for example, if you experience pain during menstruation or during sexual intercourse.
After about 6-8 weeks, a hormone status test can be conducted using a saliva test. Learn more about bioidentical hormone therapy here.
Depending on your needs, it may also be beneficial to have hypnotherapy sessions alongside the phases. Learn more about hypnotherapy here.
Ideally, a session should be scheduled approximately every week for each phase. However, we can also tailor this individually to your needs.
Book an appointment in our practice today! Patricia Krall and Alexandra Mayer look forward to accompanying and advising you with our Post-Pill Concept.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me!
Important note: The treatment methods used in my practice come from empirical medicine. The majority of these established medical therapy procedures are not yet sufficiently scientifically proven according to the principles of evidence-based medicine (conventional medicine). In particular, there are still no randomized, controlled studies or comprehensive meta-analyses. The success of empirical medical therapy cannot be guaranteed in every treatment case.