How I Lost My Fertility After Using Contraceptive Pills Part 1

When I was a teenager, and that's— I always had painful period and heavy period, period that I used to put 2 night pads in the night together. And still I would sometimes get the mattress dirty or my clothes dirty if it was during the day. And I would have to call sick from school. My parents would come and take me because I didn't feel well. I was relying on painkillers. Um, even as a teenager, and that progressed, uh, through my 20s as well.

Hello and welcome to Beyond Diagnosis, a podcast to raise your awareness, decisions, and voice for alternative practices so you can take back control of your health. I'm Rita De Michele, your host, a mindset and empowerment coach And the founder of the Onus platform. Join me each week so you can create the health of your dreams. Welcome everyone to today's storyteller, Laura Pizzetti, who will be sharing how she lost her period by taking birth control pills and on a mission in helping women to make conscious choices for themselves. This led Laura to become a qualified nutritional therapist, naturopath specializing in women's health and a focus on menstrual health. Welcome, Laura. It's so good to have you here.

Hello. Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure.

Oh, it is. This is going to be a really interesting story because obviously Women, a girl's period, women's menstruation. Every, every woman has it. So, and so many women are put on birth control and have adverse effects. So let's start with your story on what were you experiencing to be recommended the birth control pill?

Uh, pill.

And what was your experience with it?

So I just wanted to start with, and so when I was, it was 2014, so I was 24. I still had period pain and I also had a boyfriend, so I went to the GP and because of that, it just made sense in that time to take birth control. So what I was experiencing at that time was period pain. My period was not as heavy as when I was a teenager, but they were still quite heavy the first 3 days. But still, when I was in my 20s, I was having this period pain and I would have to take painkillers all the time for like maybe 2 to 3 days. So yeah, the first 2 Or 3 days depending on the time. And if I had to, even if I could stay on the sofa or in my bed, maybe it was a weekend, I still had to take painkillers because I would struggle to rest and fall asleep.

Yeah.

And then I would just take so many of them if I had to actually get on with something. And I didn't have so much mood swings. It just happened sometimes. I had some uncontrollable crying. So maybe if I would cry for things that I wouldn't normally cry, but it wasn't so severe as the pain. And so I took the pill that was a combined pill. So that was a combination of estrogen and progesterone. well, progestin, which is a synthetic progesterone. And the first 2 months were a bit difficult because I had a lot of low mood. I wouldn't say depression, but it was a bit hard for me because I never experienced low mood like that. And I just knew that it was the pill. So I changed it. Still a combined by another brand. I can't recall at the moment. Like, I haven't took note of it at the time, and I don't know which one it was. But that's very personal to the person, what, which pill is, you know, giving some symptoms. So it's not like because it gives symptoms to me, it's giving symptoms to others. So I took another pill that was okay, but after 9 months, I had some tenderness and some varicose veins in my calves. And I went to the GP a little bit scared because of the thrombosis that the pill can give. And they told me that there was nothing wrong, like, but it was better to change it. Um, um, yeah, and I want to remind that I was just 25 and I end up with varicose vein. Um, and, and I still have them. Um, and then I'm— I— because you feel like, um, you feel you have no other option, and that's how they create the pill created dependency because you think that if you get off the pill, you're going to have pain again. So I changed it in spite of this. I changed it for the mini pill, which is a progesterone-only pill and has less risk of thrombosis. I also didn't smoke. So when you smoke, you have more increase of thrombosis. So that was good that I wasn't smoking. And that was after 9 months. And I've taken that for 3 years, so until 2017. And in 2017, I started feeling really bad. I struggled to get out from the bed in the morning. And it wasn't like— I remember one specific morning that I thought, okay, this is not normal. I actually cannot get out of bed. And I experienced insomnia, so I couldn't sleep in the night. I could sleep once I was asleep, but I was struggling to fall asleep. And in the morning, I wasn't refreshed at all. And I struggled with— I was having this constant anxiety. as well, daily. And I had a couple of panic attacks as well. And my menstrual blood became very black and sticky. I thought to myself, okay, I think this is the pill. And I think no matter what happens, even though I have pain, I think something is wrong. It's not normal to have black blood and to feel like this every day. And I was only 27 at the time. So yeah, I decided to stop the pill in 2017. And when I stopped, my period didn't come back. I still had my anxiety and I started having gut symptoms as well. I was severely constipated and I was having pain every time I was eating something, I would feel bloated. And especially, I made— I tried an experiment. I ate avocado because I knew that avocado was a little bit— I think it was giving me these symptoms. And I ate just avocado, and after a couple of hours, I was having cramps and I had to go to the hospital. And I tried to avoid avocado for like 2 years after that. But I still— there was that fear that I was going to have some symptoms, and that also sort of made the symptoms worse, even though— because there was that fear around it. I remember I was at the theater and I felt like I was bloated and so much wind as well, and I was embarrassed. And it was a really hard time. Um, but, um, I wanted to say as well that before becoming a nutritional therapist, I was a fashion designer and a tailor, and that was quite a stressful environment. Um, and, um, so that didn't help because I was overworking a lot, and it's just Stress is really important for health. So the situation I was in and the hour of work and the environment I was in that didn't fit my personality, that really didn't help as well. I stopped working for 3 months at the time because— oh yeah, I didn't mention when I stopped the pill, I did some blood tests and I turned out to have— Hashimoto's disease, which is an autoimmune thyroid disease where your antibodies are attacking your thyroid, basically, and low, very low vitamin D, like to the floor. And so I stopped working for 3 months. I took vitamin D, and after 3 months, the Hashimoto's was resolved. I know it's going to be there. I might be more prone to have it. If I have some stressful period or maybe later in life when I'm getting older, but it's resolved with just a little bit of self-care basically. And vitamin D, that's really important for the thyroid. Yeah, but yeah, my periods. So after that, I felt better. But still, I had that anxiety for many years after, and I'm still working on my fertility now. So I still don't have periods. But yeah, I'm working on it, basically.

How many years is that, Laura, that you actually don't Since you stopped the pill to now, how many years have you not had your period?

So from 2017, so until now, it's 6 years.

Wow.

Yeah. Yeah. And it might not come back, but, you know, it might. Some women have, like, they might have it, they might not have it for 6 months. But yeah. Um, I'm not saying that everyone would— that takes the pill will not have periods after, but that's, yeah, what happened to me.

So I understand now why that sort of propelled you into becoming, um, a nutritional therapist, a naturopath. Has anybody else been able to help you, uh, find that balance? Because by the sounds of it, from what you were saying, the pill unbalanced your body, it obviously unbalanced your digestive, your microbiome, etc., because you were having reactions to food. Would you contribute that to the pill, or was that more contributed by the stress that you were having?

So, um, absolutely the pill is what triggered everything. Um, obviously we are like at 360 degrees, everything impacts us from our life and the stress that we are under. It's very important to take under consideration. But my stress resolved because now I am doing what I'm meant to be doing and I am in peace with myself. But even then, the damage that the pill did to my body. So that was, you know, for myself, I really believe that. But definitely the stress didn't help. And that's why I stopped working for 3 months just to reset a little bit. And then I kept working, but as I didn't feel like— because I have this quiet demeanor and a bit calm and quite grounded. And, you know, the fashion was like the devil wears Prada, it's the same thing. And it's not, it's not my thing at all. Um, so I wasn't really fulfilling my life purpose. And so I felt a bit, you know, a bit empty. And I think this is very important, um, for our general well-being, for sure.

Absolutely. And how are you feeling emotionally around your fertility now as You know, as an older— well, not an older woman, but you've matured since this first started happening to you when you first lost your period. How are you emotionally coming to resolve that around your fertility that you still don't have a period? You know, how is that impacting you?

Well, for myself, it's just I feel sometimes like, okay, I really want this period because I am, you know, I'm a practitioner. and I specialize in these, and I feel, you know, I really, you know, want to have it. But emotionally speaking, so I'm now 33, and I would like to have kids. It's not something that I was looking for when I was younger, but I've grown and I changed. I have a husband, and, you know, we would like to have kids. So emotionally, it's It's hard, but I would be okay as well. I have this peace that it's okay. I accept it if that's how the way it is. I don't want to dwell on the past. It is what happens, and maybe it was meant to be like that so then I could help other women. Um, but I'm happy. I would, you know, I would also be happy to adopt if I want to have a baby. That would be okay.

I love your mindset. That's absolutely beautiful to have that resolve and that inner peace around, you know, what's happened and where you're going and moving forward. So now that You've moved forward and you are a nutritional therapist. From your perspective, what are some of the health conditions for why a doctor would recommend the birth control pill in the first place?

Yeah, um, so more than half of women are prescribed the pill for other reasons that it's not pregnancy prevention. That said, I want to say that the symptoms and the side effects that you might have, even though you didn't have anything before, you might have after. So because the pill acts on everyone in the same way. And so some of the things— well, the 30% of women on birth control is for period pain and cramps. So most of them is for pain, but also irregular period. a missing period or period problems like heavy period. Also acne and skin condition because the pills reduce that sebum production. Endometriosis and PCOS. PMDD as well, which is called premenstrual dysphoric disorder. This is when you have the 2 weeks before your period where you severe mood swings and changes, so anger and irritability, so very severe. Other things like depression and anxiety and headaches and migraines. So basically everything under the sun. Yeah. But I want to say that the pill is not going to fix your period or your hormones. It's just a Band-Aid. I really want to say that it's just basically what I like to— like the analogy, it's when you put dust under the carpet. So you're putting dust under the carpet, you don't see the dust, but it's still there. You didn't address the roots, the root causes of why you're having the pain, why you're having the acne, why you're having irregular periods. You're putting dust under the carpet. And what happens is when you lift say carpet, the dust is going to be everywhere. It's not just going to be localized in there. And the same with the pill. It's not going to be localized in your period pain. It's just going to be gut symptoms and then anxiety and acne. So the things that you experienced before, after, you're going to have it still. Like, they're going to come back. With vengeance. Plus you might have other symptoms that you didn't have before, right?

So can you tell us— that is great because it's the old Band-Aid effect, you know. A lot of— yeah, medication is great in the immediate, but it's not necessarily that great for the long term or for addressing what is actually happening internally. It gives you relief Like, you know, I always say it's kind of like symptom stroking. It strokes the symptom, but it doesn't get to the root cause of why you've got these symptoms. So yeah, what's specifically happening in the body when a woman's menstruation is— sounds artificially stopped. Is this—

Yeah.

Basically, it's artificially stopping the menstruation. So what's happening in the body When that ends.

Yeah.

Yeah. Can you, can you tell us about that?

Yes, sure. Um, so first, how hormones work, uh, just to have an idea. So hormones are messengers and they travel through the blood and they're very specific in their message. So they are targeting an organ and they target a certain receptor. They attach to the receptor and they send a message and they're specific in their message. Um, so everything starts from the brain, uh, in, in the hypothalamus. This is a gland that is like a manager of— for your hormone, and that triggers in the other gland in the brain, pituitary gland, to release follicle stimulating hormone, which is FSH. You might have heard of that. Um, and that communicates to the ovaries to choose a follicle to mature that that process increases estrogen production, testosterone, and then you're leading towards ovulation. That triggers the luteinizing hormone, LH, that spikes and that triggers the eggs to be released. That's ovulation. And, and that after that, after ovulation, we make progesterone. So only if we ovulated, we make progesterone. And that's when Um, at the end, our hormones are the lowest, and as they are going down, they drop, um, at their lowest level. That triggers the uterine lining to shed, and we have our period. So all of this, this is on non-pill taker. Um, when you take the pill, the communication stops between the brain and your ovaries. It stops. The communication, and that means that it's suppressing ovulation. Um, so you don't produce progesterone, and you are basically in a— it's shutting down hormones completely, and you are in a state of like estrogen dominance because you are taking estrogen, synthetic estrogen. So, but you don't make any of your own hormones. Um, and When you have a period on the pill, it's not a real period. It's a pill bleed or a withdrawn period. So it's because it's not preceded by ovulation, so it's not a real period. It's just a shedding. It's a withdrawn period from— it's a withdrawn bleed from the fact that you're not taking the pill. So you're taking the pill 21 days and then you have a break 7 days, and that's just a withdrawal basically from, from the drug.

And so when it's a withdrawal, so the bleed is actually a withdrawal from the, from the pill.

Yeah.

That's interesting.

Yeah. And all hormones are working together as a symphony. So like, think like a symphony when an instrument is out of balance, all the melody will be off-key, right? And the same with hormones. One is out of balance, the whole of other hormones follow out of balance. So that's not the only communication it stops. It also stops the communication from the brain to your adrenal glands, which are glands over your kidneys that secrete cortisol. So even the stress response is impaired, and that's how you also have an impairment of the, the mood and stress response, because these have an impact. And that's why some women struggle with depression on the pill.

Right. The list of what it can do to a woman's body is scary. And I'm sure there's many listeners, many of our listeners who are listening to you now thinking, oh my God, I was thinking of going on that. and I'm going to change my mind, or they're on it and they're running to their doctor to find out more, to say, you know, what is this? What am I on? What specifically is this doing to me? Because that—

Yeah.

Whole communication— if you're on the pill, you can imagine for years that the brain then will rely on that pill to do everything. It's not actually thinking of the processes that it would normally for the hormones And I guess what you were saying, that estrogen dominance, there's so much around on how estrogen dominance causes so many conditions. This is like really eye-opening.

Well, and I wanted to say about the doctor that I'm sure, like, there is no judgment for anyone that's taking the pill. I just want them to have an aware choice, like a conscious choice. Because if I am 100% sure, if I was told that this was possible for me to happen, I wouldn't have taken it. Um, but I didn't know. Nobody told me. Um, you know, I wasn't aware of all of the symptoms. And I feel like women are taking a blind choice, you know, and they're not told what, what's actually happening. And then if you still want to be on the pill, that's totally fine, but at least you know what can happen and you can support yourself accordingly, like better. Because I just came off the pill like suddenly, and if I knew that I need to take 3 months to support myself, maybe I would have reduced the risk of what would happen, the side effect that the— of the post-pill.

Exactly. And that's what I love about interviewing people like you, because you are educating and helping women make that informed decision. And so as a nutritional therapist, how do you support women suffering with period pain to be, or to become, pain-free? If it's possible to become pain-free?

It is. So no, it's— if you have period pain, so period pain is really common, um, like 80% of women suffer with period pain, but it's not normal You should not have pain. You shouldn't stop to do the things that you want to do. It shouldn't stop your life, or you shouldn't be stuck in bed. You shouldn't be calling sick. You shouldn't cancel personal events, nothing at all, because you shouldn't be sick for basically once every month, because that's how it is, basically once a month. you are sick. It shouldn't be like that. Your period should be smooth and regular and without symptoms, or like a little ache that shouldn't stop you. It should just be taking care of yourself, you know, maybe taking it a bit easier, not going for a workout, for example, maybe just have a walk instead. But it shouldn't it shouldn't— you shouldn't rely on pain medication. Um, so what I— so the, the main causes of period pain is inflammation. Um, so there is this, uh, this name is prostaglandin, is a hormone-like substances that have effects on the body and it's causing the uterus to contract. And there is 2 types, the anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory, and these are We need them because it's triggering that uterine lining to shed, is helping it, and also it's releasing the egg during ovulation. So we need it, but it's just we need them in the right amount. So that pro-inflammatory are really, really causing severe contraction of the uterus, and that leads to pain. And the other reason is estrogen dominance again. So when we have too much estrogen unopposed to progesterone. And, uh, basically my first thing to address that would be increasing the anti-inflammatory food. So things like, um, we have in this more Western diet, uh, too much, um, omega-6, and omega-6 are inflammatory, um, compared to omega-3. So omega-3 are the fats that are anti-inflammatory, and omega-6 are found in baked goods or things like vegetable oils. So anything that is prepared, like packaged. Um, so introducing things rich in omega-3 is extremely helpful. So things like oily fish like salmon, mackerel, herrings, um, sardines. Um, the quality of the food is very important, so always choose wild instead of farmed. That has more nutrients. Um, other things like anti-inflammatory foods that can, um, that I use, like herbs and spices like garlic is extremely powerful, and ginger and turmeric. I usually give to my clients a ginger and turmeric shot with some lemon, and it's really nice for period pain. Um, rosemary as well is a great herb for anti-inflammatory herbs. And I would switch more on, um, olive oil, so cold-pressed olive oil, coconut oil, or grass-fed butter, um, to have that fat support And they are not, and they, if you are, it's like grass-fed meat as well. It's richer in omega-3 rather than omega-6. So when we have like conventional meat raised, like grain-raised, those are, so what the animal eats is important for their nutritional value. And so when we have the grass-fed meat, that animal is richer in omega-3, and that could help with reducing that inflammation. Inflammation as well. And then supporting the estrogen dominance. So like trying to support balance with hormones. So supporting the liver as well because the liver is what detoxifying all hormones. So supporting liver with cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, broccoli sprouts that have a lot of compound that helps with estrogen detoxification and then supporting bowel movement as well, um, because estrogen is then removed by the stool. So supporting gut health is extremely important, and bacterial, um, bacterial balance, because also the pill is disrupting the microbiome, um, just for, um, microbiome and the stress response, um, and the brain and the gut, they are together connected, um. So supporting the gut as well with fermented food and fiber. Also, one last thing about period pain is that we see a lot of people with period pain, they are low in magnesium. Magnesium is a natural relaxant. And the pill also, one of the side effects of the pill is that it's reducing, basically depletes any nutrients that you have, including magnesium. So that's also why when you get off the pill, you might get back again with period pain because you don't have enough magnesium. And also depletes B12, B6, um, zinc, selenium, CoQ10, many other antioxidants. You might as well be on a multivitamin basically when you're on the pill. Um, and so food rich in magnesium are very important, um, like avocado, green leafy veg, and dark chocolate, which I think a lot of people will be happy about that. Um, lately And, but also like I would, if like the pain is severe, I would work with a professional for supplements because that would, you know, make it a bit, give you the therapeutic dosages basically.

Right. That's what I was going to ask was someone who's listening to this and they've got severe pain and it's intolerable and it's really affecting their life, how— what, what sort of time frame could they be looking at? I know everyone's individual, you can't say it for everybody, but— and what sort of time frame would they be looking at to start feeling a little bit better? And like you just said, would you recommend— would you bring in other practitioners to help? Because you've talked about the food, but as we know, food can take a while to start turning things around in people's bodies. So what other practitioners would you actually recommend that they see if they're severe? And what sort of time frame would it take just, just for them to start noticing some relief?

So, um, for period, we need to wait at least 3 cycles. That's the amount we take because we take 100 days to mature.

The follicle.

So in 3 months, what happens to you? Like, for example, if you have a period that is particularly painful after 3 months, you might need to think what happened 3 months before. Yeah, that can still affect your period. So at least 3 months. But I've worked usually with people for 6 months. So to have like— because also habit doesn't just change overnight. It takes time to embed some habits that they last last longer. So I work with people at least 3 months, but usually 6 months. Um, and with— I work with food and supplements, so that supplement really helps speeding up the process. But supplements are a bit complex, and I would be a little bit wary to self-prescribe. complex supplements just because there is a lot of things that can happen.

Yeah.

Um, so interaction and, and dosages, or sometimes you're taking too less and/or not a good quality supplement and it might not work at all. And then, you know, you might be a little bit hopeless because you say, you know, it didn't work out. So it's just better to be with a professional for supplement. Um, for other things, I would suggest herbal medicine as well. So some some herbs can help with hormone balance. And acupuncture as well is really great for pain in general, so also for period pain and hormone balance. And also acupuncture is quite intense and amazing for the emotional support. So for anyone that also feels like a little bit— if you are on the pill and like me, I did some acupuncture and that really sort of release some negative energy that I had around, and, and it was very helpful.

They're great suggestions. Now, being an advocate yourself for women around the pill and their period, so many women are adopting that body autonomy and self-advocacy for their health. What advice or questions would you recommend they So before they take it, so they're fully aware and understand what they're actually getting themselves into, what's some of the questions that you could recommend that they speak to their doctor about?

Okay, so depending on the person, like I would ask, because if they had in the family the higher risk of blood clot or pulmonary embolism, heart attack and stroke, The pill can be very dangerous for this kind of women. And so I would definitely ask questions around that. So depending on what they had in the family, even like the pill increased risk of diabetes as well. So if someone already has someone in the family with diabetes, I might ask this question to the doctor. I don't have anything against doctors. I think it's, you know, they are just trying to help. But they might look at you a little bit dismissive with these things because they might not be aware of certain things. The only things they are aware is about the blood clot and the risk of stroke. And they actually not suggesting the pill if you are over 35, smoking, and overweight.

Mm-hmm.

Because of this risk. So for other things, I would— so what I do with my clients is normally I give them the research in their hand when they go to the doctor. And so you put them a seed in their head and they might have a look at the research. And that's an advice that I could give to women. So if they can print out the research and go there with these kind of things, look, there is this research. Is that something that you know? What are your suggestions? Should I also be supported naturally in the same time as I take the pill? These kind of things. And also I would ask for some blood tests to make sure that— because the liver is taking a big, big toll on the pill. So doing some liver function testing, kidney function as well, full blood count, cholesterol, because the pill can affect cholesterol. If cholesterol is already high, it might be a little— it's not a good choice to take the pill. Um, a full thyroid panel as well. Homocysteine, which is a metabolic marker to see if you are in increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. Um, electrolytes, so like potassium, magnesium, sodium, and fibrinogen, which is a marker for a risk of blood clotting. So that's quite important to check. And also blood pressure and ultrasound to have a better picture. So intravaginal ultrasound to see if there is anything in there too. Yeah. And probably I would say to ask them for a multivitamin prescription as well, so then they could support themselves throughout That's fantastic.

That's really informed our listeners of, you know, and that's the thing, you have to go there informed. The more informed you are about whatever you're experiencing, the more questions you can ask, and then you can make the decision yourself whether taking the pill is right for you or if it's not. Whichever way you want to go is absolutely—

Exactly.

Is absolutely fine. At least you know now through your experience and what you've just shared what is, uh, ahead of you. So you've got that education. That is fantastic. I love it. And I would like you to leave a message. What message would you leave our listeners with today?

I really want them to know that nobody should ever dismiss your symptoms Women, pain is often dismissed and we are not taken seriously. So if you find a practitioner that is not listening to you and is dismissing your pain, go to somebody else. So take another check, just seek another opinion. Your pain should not be dismissed. You should investigate. what happens to you, get to the root causes and prevent, preventing everything basically. So they're never irrelevant. The pain is never irrelevant and you're not being difficult. It's just you need to pursue now basically.

Beautiful message, empowering message. And that's what this show is about, is sharing this information so people can empower themselves. To make those decisions, to speak up for themselves. That was a fantastic message, Laura. It's been such a pleasure having you on the show. And everybody, all of Laura's details are in the show notes. Everything's there so you can contact her— her website, her socials, her email. Please, if you are struggling with period pain, Laura is the person who can help, so do contact her.

Thank you.

Laura, thank you so much for coming on.

Thank you. It was a pleasure to be here.

Thanks. Thank you. I would love to know what was the biggest insight or aha moment you got from this interview so you can now speak up, take action, and make informed decisions for your health. And if you'd like this episode, get instant access to your free ebook, Alternative Wisdom: Taking Back Control of Your Health, at life-onus.com.