Hormonal Birth Control Crash

I, like many of my friends, got on birth control in high school. I was recently sexually active and terrified of getting pregnant. School made it sound as though if I had sex I would most certainly get pregnant and it would completely ruin my life. My family made pregnancy out to be something that would bring intense shame and dishonor upon our family. I knew celibacy wasn’t going to be the right path for me and took precautions into my own hands and met with an OB/GYN. She initially put me on the pill, but after a few months of not taking it regularly, opted to have a hormonal IUD inserted. I had a little cramping that day but was otherwise fine. I proceeded on with my life. I graduated from high school and college. I started my first job and bought my first car. My fertility wasn’t something I ever thought about. For an entire decade. 

In my early 20s, I struggled with chronic stomach pain. I was in and out of the hospital and had what felt like every test known to man run. Through this process of testing, I was diagnosed with PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome). This was not the cause of my pain, but an important data point in my fertility journey. Prior to being on birth control, my periods had always been irregular. Keep in mind, I had only had my period for a year or two before I started hormonal birth control. I had chalked the irregularity up to being young and my body not yet being adjusted to my menstrual cycle yet. Along with my irregular cycle, I’ve also struggled to maintain a healthy body weight, and experience the classic PCOS ‘whiskers’. Through an ultrasound, my doctors found cysts on my ovaries which was the final nail in the PCOS coffin. I could write an entire blog just on PCOS, but for this post it’s just a part of the story.

A few years after my PCOS diagnosis, I decided to have my IUD removed. This was partially due to trying to live a healthier, more natural lifestyle. It was also right around the time my husband and I got engaged. We knew we wanted to have kids someday so it felt like the natural step towards achieving that. In all honesty, I had also seen a lot of women talk about how coming off of their hormonal birth control changed how they felt about their partner. I wanted to make sure my husband was really the right choice for me, and not someone I had chosen due to my hormones. Spoiler alert - he’s wonderful and I would have chosen him in every lifetime. 

Ultimately, I chose to have my IUD removed in January of 2023. Within months of removal, I developed deep cystic acne, severe bloating, and hair loss. My mood swings intensified and my anxiety had never been worse. I had done research prior to removal and knew some women experienced this but that generally it normalized after a few months. My doctor said any side effects from removal were extremely rare and the Mirena website claims there is no evidence to support the ‘Mirena Crash’ or any side effects from removal. 

After 6 months of worsening symptoms, I felt like I was going crazy. I had experienced general anxiety and had been prone to panic attacks in my teens but this was on another level. I had breakdowns daily and none of my coping mechanisms were even shining a light on this intense darkness. I experienced what can only be described as an identity crisis and had overwhelming suicidal thoughts. I ended up quitting my job and nearly lost all of my friends. This was, without a doubt, one of the lowest points of my life. Nothing could have prepared me for that journey and still to this day I have yet to have heard of another woman experiencing something like this. 

I only want to share this story to be honest about my experience and to provide some advice or hope for anyone that might be going through something similar. Even at the lowest point, I knew I had to find a way to overcome this. It became clear to me that this was not a problem that was going to solve itself. My body was not going to regulate on its own and, despite my best efforts, my body was incredibly dysregulated. 

The more I began to learn about PCOS the more evidence I found that this was more of a metabolic disorder than anything else. My body was not processing insulin efficiently and to the extent I could monitor my carbs, likely the better off I would be. Diet and exercise had helped me to cure my chronic stomach pain so why couldn’t it help me to cure my hormonal imbalances. I started going to the gym and lifting heavy weights. Previously, I had been lifting 10-20 lb dumbbells as part of a total body workout program. While the daily movement helped with my pain, I was not putting on enough muscle to help support my hormones. I began lifting 80-100 lbs with barbells and incorporated daily runs or walks. Over the course of the next year I was able to lose 6 percentage points of body fat and put on roughly 10 lbs of muscle. I think this was a huge part of what helped me with regulating my hormonal health. 

I also started eating more protein. I’ve been prone to disordered eating in the past and any time I start to set goals for my food can be challenging. I’ve found that by approaching food with an abundance mindset I’ve been able to achieve my food goals without triggering a binge / restrict cycle. Instead of ‘limiting carbs’ I started ‘increasing protein’. I didn’t keep track of any other macros. As long as I was eating a 1:1 grams of protein to body weight ratio, I could have whatever else my body was craving. This really helped with satiety and with building muscles. At first I really struggled to eat that much protein. If you’ve never tried to eat a high protein diet before, it can feel almost impossible. I also really try to prioritize whole foods so I didn't like to supplement with powders or bars. I found that eating ground beef in the morning not only regulated my blood sugar for the day, but helped me achieve my protein goals more naturally. My friends thought I was crazy, but honestly after a few days I really started to crave it. My advice would be to make sure to get a high quality grass fed and finished beef. I love the brand Force of Nature and can truly taste the difference in quality. 

I also started taking a supplement called DIM. This initially helped with my painful cystic acne which alone was worth its weight in gold. DIM helps your body absorb excess estrogen which I believe was the main cause for so many of my symptoms. It’s a naturally occurring substance found in dark green vegetables (ex. kale, broccoli, brussels). This is also when I noticed my period start to come back more regularly. However, after about a year of taking DIM, I noticed it started to keep my estrogen levels too low. I wasn’t experiencing symptoms of ovulation and many times my period would last weeks at a time. It’s also important to know that I had replaced the hormonal IUD with a copper IUD which I do attribute the prolonged bleeding to to some extent. I had that removed in August of 2024 and have not experienced long term bleeding since. 

If you are planning to stop hormonal birth control, I hope you are in the majority that do not experience any symptoms. However, if you do, I want you to know that you are not alone and there is hope. If you are still deciding on removing an IUD and wondering how you’ll know if you’re affected, I attribute my experience to a number of things. First and foremost, I had inserted a new IUD roughly a year before removal. These are meant to be effective for 5-10 years depending on the brand. I think because it was so ‘new’ the hormones were likely in full effect in my body. I also inserted a non-hormonal copper IUD at this time as well which I believe my body had a negative reaction to. I believe my PCOS was a contributing factor to my experience as well. My body was already struggling to regulate its own hormones, let alone the artificial ones from the IUD. I also believe my diet and muscle mass played a factor in my experience. The reduced carbs and increase in muscle helped my body to find homeostasis. 

I write this article not to scare you, but to educate and provide community to anyone that may be suffering. I wish someone had been honest about an experience such as my own and hope my story can provide some level of support to others who are struggling.