Ella's Transition off The Pill: the Ultimate Wedding Prep!
*Names changed to protect anonymity.
When Ella booked her Introduction with me, I was excited to see a referral from another student come through, but I was not prepared for how well our personalities would mesh together! Ella was ready to come off hormonal birth contol and "meet herself" as she described it. She'd been on the pill since she was young (early teens!) and had recently switched brands. The new brand of hormonal contraceptive she was now taking was not reacting well for her. She was having tons of mood swings, headaches, GI symptoms and more. She felt so crappy every day and was ready to take the plunge and become what we like to call a "wild woman;" someone who's allowing her body to do what it needs in its natural state.
So, let's dive right in.
She'd read my previous blog about coming off hormonal contraceptives, so she had a bit of an idea as to what she can expect, but living it was very different. Ella has an underlying condition and we discussed at length how this might cause more flares to happen during the transition period. This was helpful for her going into it, to know that hormonal changes can cause her symptoms to change and fluctuate as her cycle unfolds. We were also expecting to have plenty of irregularity as we waited for her body to return to a regularly ovulating state. In her introduction, we walked through all these possibilities and this helped her to feel more confident as we began this process.
The process itself is simple, simply stop taking her pill and watch as your body begins its path back to normal.
Living with the constant changes, confusion and symptoms was a bit different. I did mention in our first education session that she might be one of those women who comes off the pill and begins ovulatory, normal cycles right away. BUT she could also fall with the camp of women who experience cycle changes and withdrawals from the medication. We were hoping for the former, but got the latter. Her first cycle post-pill was honestly not as wonky as I was expecting. You can see it depicted below, it has a slight bleed at the beginning, then an extended ovulatory phase, shorter luteal phase and some spotting. All of this was expected and it reassured Ella to see that things were progressing as we thought they might.
Things devolved a bit from there. Her luteal phase lengthened a bit more, but we saw more spotting and even more mucus for the next four cycles! Not unexpected, but quite frustrating to deal with since that first cycle was not as bad as we prepared for. They followed mostly the same pattern and you can see that depicted below. Over time, though, those cycles did have an increasing luteal phase and more pre-ovulatory dry days! This is a great sign and leads us to believe that her ovulations were getting stronger, which is exactly what we wanted to see.
Things were very normal leading up to the wedding, and thankfully I had warned her that many brides experience ovulatory delays as the wedding approaches. In fact, I have taught many, many brides leading up to their weddings and not a single one had a normal cycle. Ella was in the vast majority. Though, that did not make it any easier!
She made it through the wedding and her cycles went right back to their new normal. A healthy mucus pattern, healthy luteal phase and easy charting.
It seems so simple when summarized in this manner, but this little blog represents over a year of hard work! Watching, waiting and supporting her body, Ella helped herself return to normal, ovulatory cycles. Ella is now happily married and waiting to begin her family until the time is right. She's charting as she will, taking care of her health, for herself, but also for any future pregnancies!
Ella, 29, Miami, FL:
"I decided to come off hormonal birth control after being on it for over 9 years because I wanted to better understand my body and feel more in tune with my natural cycle. I started to feel horrible symptoms of anxiety and depression after getting switched to a different brand of the same pill I had been taking for years. I’ll be honest, I felt a mix of curiosity and fear at first- especially not knowing what to expect physically or emotionally. Working with Rachel made such a difference because I didn’t feel like I was navigating it alone. Learning to chart with the FEMM method gave me a sense of structure and reassurance during a time that could have felt overwhelming. It helped me start recognizing patterns in my body, understanding what’s happening hormonally, and feeling more confident in tracking my cycle. I’m still learning each day, but I feel much more empowered and aware than I ever did while on birth control."
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