My Post-Birth Control Journey
2015 was a whirlwind of life changes for me. I left my career in real estate to chase my entrepreneurial dreams, moved to California to start that new company, gave up veganism, ended a relationship, and even stopped taking birth control. It was a year of waking up and becoming more present in my life, which at 27, felt like my very own quarter-life crisis.
I began reevaluating my lifestyle, cutting back on drinking, and taking up meditation. These shifts led me to quit my five-year career in commercial real estate and move to California to start Model Meals (a Whole30-based meal delivery service) with a good friend and sorority sister from college.
At Model Meals, we were all about sourcing the highest quality proteins. As we built the company, I learned a lot about why quality meat matters and how it impacts our health. That first weekend cooking for clients, I ditched my five-year stint as a vegan. My business partner, Danika, swears she saw the color return to my face with my first bite of a bacon bison burger. As I continued eating meat, my energy soared, my brain fog lifted, and I felt amazing. It was a wake-up call to the importance of what we put into our bodies.
This realization also made me question why I was taking a hormone pill every day. If I was so careful about avoiding hormones in my food, why was I willingly taking them in pill form? So, I stopped taking birth control in September 2015, a month after we started the company.
Flash forward to now, May 2024, and I still haven't had a period. It's been nine years—a lonely and frustrating journey, especially with doctors often suggesting I go back on birth control to fix the problem. Crazy, considering that’s the very thing that got me into this mess. I want to share my story, not as medical advice, but to offer solidarity for anyone dealing with post-birth control syndrome. Hormones are complicated and what worked for me might not work for you, but maybe my experience will resonate.
Let's rewind to 2003. At age 16, I started taking birth control to “regulate my cycles” but mainly I just wanted an easy solution to prevent any potential pregancies. I tried taking breaks over the years, but always went back on because I felt off when I stopped taking it. I only took the pill—Yaz, Yazmin, and Ocella (the generic form of Yaz), which now faces class-action lawsuits for causing blood clots. I feel lucky to have avoided serious health issues, but here I am, still dealing with the aftermath.
My doctor never suggested alternatives like diet or lifestyle changes to regulate my cycle. The only advice was to avoid smoking tobacco to prevent blood clots. So, I continued taking this little hormone pill every day until 2015.
After learning about the importance of hormone-free meat, I decided to stop taking hormones myself. I honestly don't remember feeling bad when I stopped. In fact, I actually felt pretty great - I had cut back on drinking, was eating meat again (and mostly Whole30), and just loving life as we built our business. I did gain some weight, but likely because I wasn't working out much and was constantly taste-testing in the kitchen.
Year after year, my gynecologist suggested going back on birth control to get my cycle back. But I was determined to let my body cycle naturally. Consumed by work for the next three years, I brushed my health issues aside, running on fumes and stress.
In 2019, I moved back to Austin and decided it was time to address my hormone issues. My gynecologist's solution was to go back on birth control (surprise, surprise) so I just continued to see her for my annual hormone labs. We ruled out PCOS, endometriosis, Hashimoto’s, and more, but came to the conclusion that my body wasn't signaling my ovaries to release eggs. We tried a few rounds of progesterone but it didn't work. Eventually, she diagnosed me with hypothalamic amenorrhea and referred me to an endocrinologist, where I did tons of additional labs and MRI’s to rule out any serious conditions. I was also put on thyroid medication (which made me feel crazy) so I stopped taking that after about a year.
Meanwhile, I saw a functional doctor, who did all sorts of testing - food sensitivity, GI Map, Dutch Test, Heavy Metals, and probably more I can’t even remember. We also tried supplements like chaste tree berry / vitex (a plant that can help support progesterone production) pregnenolone, and hypothalmex, to name a few. I adjusted my diet, focused on sleep, did acupuncture, and actually felt like we were making progress.
But in January 2019, I got a stomach virus, parasite, and worm in Cape Town that TOTALLY wrecked my gut, shifting my focus to gut healing for the next few years.
Around this time I started seeing a new gyno who (thankfully) didn’t push birth control but was still stumped as to why I still didn’t have a period. It had been almost 4 years at this point. We continued to test my hormones every six months, and every time, they were practically non-existent.
Dating was off the table too. COVID hit, so I was cautious about seeing anyone outside my family. Interestingly, the woman who does my colonics shared that she didn’t have her period for almost five years while she was celibate but got it back once she met her husband. It made me wonder if not having that part of my life was contributing to my condition. Our bodies are smart—they won’t have a period if they don’t feel it’s safe to reproduce. Not only was I not dating, but my health was suffering from the stomach virus, and I was trying to keep my business afloat, constantly in fight or flight mode.
I thought the work-related stress would ease up after I sold my company in 2020. But nope—I ended up joining the company that bought us as CFO, and wow, that brought a whole new level of stress into my life. Being part of a publicly traded company meant my job was demanding on a completely different scale.
To top it off, my health issues were making everything harder. On top of the gut problems, my initial bout of COVID turned into a severe case of long COVID, triggered by EBV. I dealt with the worst brain fog, chronic fatigue, anxiety, and had trouble sleeping, constantly being woken up in the middle of the night with panic attacks. Then came the diagnosis of Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), an autoimmune condition where certain cells in your body overreact to triggers like allergens, infections, or stress, releasing histamines that cause symptoms like mine. It felt like the universe was screaming at me to make a change. So, in November 2022, I made the tough decision to leave the company and focus on my health.
Leaving the company was just the beginning. In addition to removing that outside stressor from my life, I decided to quit seeing my holistic doctor. Not only was it expensive, but it felt like I was being prescribed supplement after supplement to treat my symptoms rather than addressing the root cause. I felt strongly it was time to self diagnose and self treat my health issues.
My diet was already super “clean” at this point, so I turned my attention to other lifestyle changes that I felt would support my health. I focused on improving my sleep, managing stress, removing toxins from my environment, and regularly using infrared sauna for detox. Over the next year or so, my gut issues and autoimmune condition became a thing of the past. This experience made me realize just how much lifestyle factors play into our health. Diet is important, but it's just one piece of the puzzle. I'm really proud of myself for healing those things naturally, and I'll be sharing more about that part of my journey soon.
But even with this health "victory," my hormones were still a mess, and I didn't have a period. So, I declared 2024 my year to focus on getting my hormones back on track. In January, I started working with an incredible hormone specialist named Karen Martel. She's the first person I've worked with who truly understands the hormone system and has actually helped me make progress. It's now June 2024, and my hormone levels are steadily increasing, which is super exciting to see.
Here’s a full breakdown of everything I’ve been doing that I believe has contributed to my progress, along with my current protocol:
Stopped Intermittent Fasting: If you’re having hormone issues as a woman, you should probably not intermittent fast. This is a classic example of how "biohacking like a dude" can mess with your hormones. Men and women have different hormone patterns, and daily intermittent fasting is generally not recommended for women. I quit IF entirely and saw immediate benefits.
Hormone Support Habits: Thanks to my friends Mollie and Dani, I adopted new habits like a sunrise circadian walk and eating at least 30g of protein within waking up. These habits help support your body’s natural hormone patterns. I also always eat breakfast before I have coffee and wear red light glasses if I’m in artificial light after sunset. Eating dinner before sunset also supports your natural hormone patterns. These totally free “hacks” have been game-changers in how I feel.
Working with Karen: We did an extensive hormone panel, far more comprehensive than what my gyno ever did. She put me on bioidentical estrogen and progesterone creams and thyroid medication. I also took Oxandralone (a steroid) for a month to lower my sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) levels. She also had me take a round of peptide bioregulators to support my ovarian, thyroid, and pineal glands. Two months later, our tests showed that my estrogen and progesterone levels had increased. The initial dose of hormone creams made me gain a ton of water weight, but that settled down once we lowered the dose. I think my body just freaked out after not having hormones for so long. Now, I’m gradually increasing the dose without any issues. Instead of the steroid, I’m now taking boron to lower my SHBG levels, and I’m using pine pollen extract to boost my testosterone levels.
Cycle Syncing: Now that I know where I am in my cycle, I’m trying to support specific aspects with diet and lifestyle. For example, I sauna and cold plunge regularly but avoid overdoing the cold plunge during certain parts of my cycle. And this might sound woo woo, but I’ve been putting a red light therapy on my ovaries during ovulation to make them feel "safe."
Supporting My Thyroid: I take iodine, eat three Brazil nuts a day, and continue thyroid medication. I feel great on it now, likely because I’m eating breakfast rather than fueling my mornings with bulletproof coffee. I hope to eventually get off the medication.
Leptin Levels: My leptin levels were super low, so we’re addressing it by focusing on sleep, getting sunlight and breakfast upon waking, and eating before coffee. This is apparently a tough to fix but I’m confident I can do it.
Removing Toxins: I removed toxins from every aspect of my life I could think of—my home, air, cleaning products, cosmetics, clothing, water, environment, literally everything. The biggest shift in how I felt came when I upgraded my home water filter system. But it wasn’t just one thing that did the trick—it was the cumulative effect of everything that ultimately helped me heal. The process was overwhelming but totally worth it. If you’re constantly exposed to toxins, your body can’t heal itself. This journey even inspired my latest business venture, Welpr, a website that makes it easy to find non-toxic products.
Embracing Femininity: I’m working with an amazing life/business coach who’s helping me embrace my feminine side. I also tried a few sessions of craniosacral therapy after hearing success stories from others dealing with post-birth control syndrome. While it didn’t cure me, it was a positive experience that made me feel more connected to myself.
While I haven’t gotten my period back yet, I’m confident that what I’m doing is working. After years of stress and taking a pill that disrupted my body’s natural hormone production, I know it will take time to regulate things naturally. Addressing the root cause always takes longer, but it's worth it.
I know what I’m doing is working not only because my labs show rising hormone levels, but because I feel more like myself every day. Hormone issues can make you feel detached from yourself and your emotions. Trusting myself and knowing what’s best for me has been a huge part of this journey. I’m finally feeling like I’m getting somewhere, and it took not listening to doctors and instead listening to myself to get here.
So, I’ll keep doing what I’m doing, getting my hormones tested regularly, and updating you on this journey. And you can bet I’ll throw a big party once I get my period back.
xx Camille
