Understanding Hormonal Birth Control: A Complete Guide

What are the Different Types of Hormonal Birth Control?

All forms of hormonal contraception contain some type of synthetic hormones, impacting every organ, tissue, and cell in the body. Just like natural hormones, synthetic hormones attach to receptors in your cells and can elicit changes within your body.

Here are some of the most common forms of hormonal birth control.

Birth Control Pill (BCP)

Also known as “the pill”, this form of birth control contains synthetic estrogen, ethinyl estradiol, and a synthetic form of progesterone, called progestin. These synthetic hormones are in no way identical to those naturally made in your body, and these lab-made hormones do not have the same benefits as the hormones naturally produced by our female bodies. The pill works by turning off the signal from the brain to the ovaries, which prevents ovulation, therefore hinders the ability to conceive. The pill is about 91% effective at preventing pregnancy with typical use and with perfect use, it’s 99% effective. It works but at what long-term cost to reproductive health.

Progestin-Only Pill (Mini-pill)

The mini-pill only contains progestin. These pills are recommended to women with an underlying medical condition preventing them from taking synthetic estrogen. The mini pill works by thickening the cervical fluid and preventing sperm from reaching the egg, while also suppressing ovulation, but not consistently. This pill is about 91% to 99% effective at preventing pregnancy, depending on how consistently you take it.

Intrauterine Device (IUD)

The IUD is a small, plastic, T-shaped device that’s only inserted into and removed from the cervix by a medical physician. Hormonal IUDs like Mirena, Kyleena, Skyla, and Liletta all contain progestin, which prevents ovulation and sperm from reaching the egg. There is also a non-hormonal copper IUD, called Paragard, which comes with its own issues. All IUDs are 99% effective at preventing pregnancy.

Birth Control Implant (Nexplanon)

The implant is a rod that’s inserted into the inside of the upper arm. The rod must be inserted and removed by a medical physician. It works by continually releasing progestin, which prevents ovulation, and thickens the cervical mucus so sperm cannot freely swim to meet the egg. The implant is 99% effective.

Birth Control Shot (Depo-Provera)

The birth control shot is injected into the belly or upper thigh every three months. The shot can be performed by a physician or by yourself at home. It works by releasing progestin, which inhibits ovulation, and prevents sperm from reaching the egg. With typical use, the shot is about 94% effective.

Birth Control Vaginal Ring (NuvaRing)

The ring is inserted into the vagina for three weeks then removed for a week. The ring contains both synthetic estrogen and progestin and works by preventing ovulation. Vaginal rings are about 91% effective.

Birth Control Patch

The patch is a small bandage-like square that contains synthetic estrogen and progestin. It can be placed on the belly, butt, upper arm, or back and works by preventing ovulation. The patch is 91% effective at preventing pregnancy.

It’s crucial to note that none of these forms of birth control prevent transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

Should We Really Suppress Ovulation?

Most of these forms of birth control work by suppressing ovulation. However, most women don’t realize the power and benefits of ovulating. Ovulating is not just essential for fertility, but ovulation is the only way for our bodies to produce progesterone. Progesterone is a powerful hormone that helps us feel calm, relaxed, lowers stress, improves sleep, increases libido, regulates blood sugar, lowers PMS, and even protects us from some cancers.

Our hormones should be functioning throughout our cycle. This fluctuation of hormones is what makes us innately women. However, in our male-dominated linear society, we often try to fix and fit women into the linear paradigm instead of honoring a woman’s cyclical nature.

When we turn off our natural reproductive cycle with synthetic hormonal birth control, we often start to see unwanted symptoms pop up, and we become more disconnected from our feminine bodies.

​​Here’s a graphic of what your cycle looks like naturally versus using hormonal birth control.

Also, did you know that you can only get pregnant six days out of the month?

The day of ovulation is the most fertile day, but sperm can survive for up to five days in the womb. After ovulation, the egg is no longer viable, and you can no longer get pregnant until your next menstrual cycle.

If we can only get pregnant 6 days out of the month, why are we suppressing our entire cycle with synthetic hormonal birth control? There are alternatives to avoiding pregnancy that don’t involve suppressing our biological rhythms and natural hormonal cycle. We review and discuss non-hormonal birth control options in the next blog post.

Symptoms & Side Effects of Hormonal Birth Control

All types of hormonal birth control come with symptoms and side effects. If you’re currently taking hormonal birth control or thinking about it, I want you to fully understand the potential negative side effects and risks to your health.

Synthetic birth control prescriptions all come with warnings of possible side effects when using hormonal contraceptives:

• no true, natural menstrual bleeding, a withdrawal bleed (bleeding due to withdrawal from the medication)

• heavy, light, or missing withdrawal bleeds

• spotting between periods

• long or short cycles

• fatigue

• hair loss

• acne, dry skin, melasma (dark spots due to excess melanin)

• depression

• anxiety

• headaches or migraines

• digestive issues, like dysbiosis, leaky gut, bloating, constipation

• low libido

• chronic yeast infections

• painful intercourse

• vaginal dryness

• nausea

• vomiting

• increased or decreased appetite

• weight gain or weight loss

• poor thyroid function

• vitamin & mineral depletion

Plus, recent peer-reviewed studies conclude hormonal birth control methods may increase your risk for the following:

• blood clots, heart attack, & stroke

• diabetes

• autoimmune diseases

• breast, cervical, and liver cancer

Informed consent is essential in making the right choices in life.

Unfortunately, most women are not fully informed of all these potential side effects when prescribed hormonal birth control. If you still decide to use synthetic birth control methods after understanding all the potential risks, own your personal decision to turn off your naturally-endowed power to create your own estrogen and progesterone and rely on synthetic forms of estrogen and/or progesterone prescribed by a doctor and delivered by a pharmacist.

How Birth Control Leads to Hormonal Imbalances

Along with the numerous potential side effects of using hormonal birth control, another negative effect caused by synthetic contraceptives is hormone imbalances. The most common hormonal imbalances among women using birth control or who just got off birth control are suppressed thyroid hormones, high stress hormones, estrogen dominance, and low progesterone. Let’s look at each of these and understand how hormonal birth control affects these hormones.

1. Birth control increases thyroid-binding globulin (TBG). TBG binds to free thyroid hormone, making it unable to be used by your cells.

2. Using hormonal birth control can also increase resting cortisol levels, often leading to depressive and anxious feelings, while also directly suppressing thyroid function.

3. Some forms of hormonal birth control are filled with synthetic estrogen. We already live in an extremely estrogenic environment and don’t need to add more synthetic estrogen to our bodies. Excess estrogen in the body often leads to estrogen dominance symptoms. Learn more about estrogen dominance here.

4. Since hormonal birth control suppresses ovulation, and ovulation is the only way to produce progesterone, if we’re on birth control, we won’t reap the numerous benefits of natural progesterone discussed earlier.

In our modern era, many women struggle with hormonal imbalances, and birth control often exacerbates these imbalances.

Birth Control Often Leads to Vitamin and Mineral Deficiencies

The last major reason why I don’t advocate for hormonal birth control is it depletes the body of numerous essential vitamins and minerals. These include vitamin C, B vitamins, vitamin E, vitamin A, magnesium, zinc, selenium, and copper.

Obtaining enough of these vitamins and minerals through our food is hard enough due to our depleted soil and poor food system. When you add birth control to the mix, deficiencies become much more common. Birth control not only affects how well you absorb nutrients, but it also burdens your liver, which utilizes more nutrients in order to process the synthetic hormones. These imbalances and deficiencies are often a huge reason why so many women struggle with unwanted symptoms while using hormonal contraceptives.

In order to overcome these deficiencies, we must consciously replenish these vitamins and minerals, especially if we’re currently on birth control, looking to get off birth control, or have been on birth control for a long period of time in the past.

Here are some food sources of each of the minerals and vitamins that hormonal birth control depletes.

Vitamins

• vitamin C – citrus, peppers, tropical fruits, adrenal cocktails (juice, coconut water, salt)

• vitamin Bs – liver, organ meats, shellfish, dairy, bee products

• vitamin E – fruits, like mango & kiwi, avocados, bell peppers, soaked/sprouted nuts & seeds

• vitamin A – liver, organ meats, butter, cream, egg yolks, fatty fish

Minerals

• magnesium – bone broth, chocolate, dairy, cooked leafy greens, supplementation

• zinc – oysters, shrimp, crab, other shellfish, beef, eggs

• selenium – fish, shellfish, organ meats, eggs, pork

• copper – liver, oysters, shellfish, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, bee pollen, citrus, dried fruits

You can lower your risk of deficiency by conscientiously eating these foods throughout the week. However, the best way to ensure you absorb enough nutrients and limit additional burdens to your body is by using alternatives to hormonal birth control.

I hope this post helps you better understand how synthetic hormonal birth control affects your body, hormones, and nutrients. If you have any questions or would like to share your experience with hormonal contraceptives, feel free to email me or ask below.