Brynna I went on hormonal birth control for a mere four months when I was 18 and we got married. One might think that’s not long enough to have lasting effects on the body, but any time we mess with the way God designed our bodies to work, we risk long-term damage.
I have been very in-tune with my body for as long as I can remember, even before I was better educated on health and wellness and how our environment and product choices can affect us. So while at the time I may not have fully understood what had changed, I knew the reason I needed to STOP the birth control (horrible headaches were the main reason), and then as time went on, I was able to recognize the changes in my body, via hormones, that have lasted nearly 18 years. In turn, I’ve miscarried 9 times. I struggle with my hair and my skin. My mental health is hit or miss. My adrenals are a disaster (and I’m likely dealing with adrenal PCOS) and I have struggled with thyroid autoimmunity. How much of this was triggered by that four months of literally shutting off my hormones (because hormonal birth control isn’t fixing hormones, it’s SHUTTING THEM OFF) I may never know, exactly, but when we pay close attention to what we put in, on, and around our bodies, it’s not that hard to narrow it down.
My situation is not uncommon, but rather, is just often misunderstood, misdiagnosed, and we fail to recognize consequences for interrupting systems that keep our bodies functioning the way they were designed to. We don’t give credit where credit is due (birth control, environmental exposures, diet, lifestyle, etc), and instead focus on symptoms and how we can make those less noticeable to simply “feel” better…or as is often the case, THINK we are feeling better.
Sadly, we’ve become a society so reliant on the “healthcare” (or rather, “sick care”) system, that we no longer believe we are qualified to think for ourselves and are convinced that only solutions created in labs will fix our problems. Not only that, but we label the people who think outside that box as “anti” this or that and consider their choices to be radical and harmful to the rest of us. When, in reality, most of those people chose to take an active role in their health and wellness because they were FAILED by the healthcare system and had no choice but to look outside of that box. And instead of harming anyone else, they’re encouraging others by reminding them that there IS hope in alternative options and that we ARE capable of learning, understanding, and making these decisions ourselves.
If you feel like your body isn’t functioning as well as it could be, or that things haven’t been the same since ______, you’re probably right, and it’s probably going to take some work to assist your body back into a healthy place. But make no mistake, God designed your body to WANT and TRY to return to homeostasis. When we stop working against it, and make healthier choices in what we do, eat, and use, we’re actually teaming up with systems already in place to begin healing.
I want you to know there’s hope for healing. That the pain you’re experiencing doesn’t have to last for the rest of your life, may not even require that surgery you’re considering. The struggle you’re having with infertility might be reversible. Those digestive issues that keep you from eating and have you feeling miserable may be an easier fix than you’ve been told. The depression you’re suffering isn’t your fault and might very well be traced right back to your gut, so healing just needs to be approached differently. SO many possibilities.
So be encouraged, because your health is not a lost cause. But it MAY require a mindset shift and a change in approach.
