Uterine Fibroids: The Toxic Truth About Birth Control Pill Treatment

Too many women are affected by menstrual pain and estrogen dominant gynecological problems such as uterine fibroids, cysts and endometriosis.

As a matter of fact, hundreds of thousands of women seek treatment for uterine fibroids each year.  One study found that between 80-90% of African American women and 70% of White women will develop uterine fibroids by age 50.
 
That's almost all of us!

The Endometriosis Organization estimates that 1 in 10 women during their reproductive years may be affected by endometriosis, globally that's 176 million women!  

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Given that most American women will deal with menstrual pain, irregularities, the development of uterine fibroids or endometriosis, you'd think the advancements in research and 'women's health' movement would have led to great prevention, care and treatment.....

But, according to the American Association of Gynecologists, "Medication may reduce heavy bleeding and pain that fibroids may cause, but they may not prevent the growth and surgery is needed later".

That's it.... Stalled.....

Medication remains the standard "wait and see" approach for the treatment of many gynecological conditions.  


Problems With The Wait and See Approach

The most common forms of conventional treatment are from synthetic medications that manipulate your hormones just enough to get you by.  

This does nothing to balance underlying inflammation, liver congestion, immune or nutritional deficiencies that perpetuate underlying hormonal problems.  

Unfortunately, the majority of American women with menstrual irregularities, heavy bleeding, uterine fibroids and endometriosis will follow conventional treatment, increasing tumor and cysts growth over time, thereby increasing her chances of surgical intervention.   

Most conventional doctors start with a cocktail form of these medications:

1) Birth control pills to help reduce heavy bleeding and pain

2) Gonadotrophin releasing hormone agonists, such as Lupron, that stop the menstrual cycle completely

3) Progestin releasing intrauterine devices (IUD) to reduce heaving bleeding

4) NSAID's Non Steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs, prescription or over the counter, pain killers such as Advil (Ibuprofen) to Vicodin

But, the reality is women are dangerously over-medicated and these meds have side effects that pose significant threats to your body.  

Haven't you ever sat through an entire pharmaceutical tv commercial?

After the magic pill shows women happily running, picking flowers and playing with cute dogs, only to finish with, "this drug can cause a minimum or all of these side effects.....headaches, numbness, limp legs, blindness, heart attacks, etc"?  

So, if doctors are prescribing birth control and other hormone therapies, wouldn't it be safe and effective?  

I'm here to tell you NO.... and there's a lot to talk about.  

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Option 1: Birth Control Pills  

Birth control pills are a catch 22.  

Women bare most of the reproductive burden, so on the one hand this major advancement in medicine gave women control of their reproduction, sexual and relationship autonomy and the ability to pursue careers that most often ended abruptly the minute a pregnancy occurred.  

But, there are safety issues that are not addressed when taking birth control.  And, given all the changes you've made to clean up your diet, water and cosmetics to limit your estrogen burden, why would you intentionally take something that has so many risks?

Birth control pills are prescribed like candy to 'regulate' periods, reduce pain and heavy bleeding from fibroids, cysts or endometriosis.  It's the standard of care.  4 out of 5 women take birth control pills for 10 years or longer.  They are also given to girls for headaches, anxiety and acne, which often makes these conditions worse over time.  


What The Pill Really Does To Your Body


1) Inflammation

The function of the pill is to prevent pregnancy.  

It does this by stoping ovulation, egg fertilization and thins the lining of the uterus. The pill floods the body with an unnatural amount of estrogen and progestin hormone in an effort to trick the body into thinking it's already pregnant.  

Pregnancy naturally increases inflammation, but only for the short duration of 10 months.  Technically, after birth, the inflammation from the hormonal surge goes away. 
 
BUT, when you stay on the pill for years, your hormones always mimic pregnancy leaving you in a perpetual state of inflammation.  

This isn't good....

Because inflammation is the root cause of chronic disease, tumor growth, pain and just about everything that goes wrong with the body.  

So, it's no surprise those cramps never seem to go away on the pill!  


2) Weight Gain 

Although it's not a serious side effect in the medical community, weight gain is usually experienced within the first year of starting contraception.  

Since the pill mimics pregnancy, it can change your metabolism. Extremely high levels of estrogen can affect appetite and increase water retention.  Usually, these changes spike your blood sugar and depending on the hormone combination elevates "bad" cholesterol and triglycerides.  

Triglycerides are a marker of how well your liver functions.  From an Eastern medicine perspective, high triglycerides occur from an overburdened liver due to the extra hormonal burden birth control pills places on it.  


3) Nutritional Deficiencies

The liver needs a good daily dose of Vitamins B & C, magnesium and zinc to breakdown 'normal' estrogen levels.  Synthetic hormones deplete these essential vitamins and minerals that help reduce the inflammation that causes menstrual pain, cramping, clots and restricted blood flow to the uterus and ovaries.  

Also, when the liver cannot properly detoxify estrogen, the hormones recirculate back into the bloodstream in toxic aggressive forms, raising the risk of endometriosis, PMS, fibroid growth, ovarian cysts, cervical dysplasia, endometrial and breast cancer over time.  


4) Increased Risk of Breast Cancer

Studies done by Dr. Chris Kahlenborn, M.D. from Altoona Hospital in Altoona, Penn indicate "women who took oral birth control before having their first child have a 44% increased risk of developing breast cancer".  If this holds true, that would increase your risk to 1 in 5! 

That's high.  

And according to the Breast Cancer Organization's website:

“There are concerns that because birth control pills use hormones to block pregnancy they may overstimulate breast cells, which can increase the risk of breast cancer. The concern is greater if you’re at high risk for breast cancer because of: a strong family history of the disease, past breast biopsies showing abnormal cells, or you or someone in your family has an abnormal breast cancer gene.”


5)  Increased Risk of Blood Clots

As estrogen levels increase, blood clotting factors increase.  

A severe condition known as deep vein thrombosis occurs when a blood clot blocks circulation in a deep vein, usually in the leg.  These clots can travel through the bloodstream to vital vital organs resulting in sudden death.  

In general, women with fibrocystic conditions such as fibroids and endometriosis tend to have higher levels of estrogen due to poor estrogen breakdown and detoxification, so adding oral contraception into the mix seems to pose even further unnecessary risk of developing blood clots.  

To be fair, research indicates that both the patch and vaginal ring have a higher risk of blood clots than most pills.  One study found that people using the vaginal ring were 1.9 times more likely to experience a blood clot than people taking combination birth control pills. In this same study, people using the patch were 2.3 times more likely to experience a blood clot than people taking combination birth control pills. 

And according to a 2014 study by Sarita Sonalkar, MD, the risk for women taking birth control pills seems to be 6 out of 100,000 cases of thrombosis, as opposed to 20 out of 100,000 pregnant women.

However, the risks for pulmonary embolism are highest among women with family history of clots, smokers and obesity across the board.  


6) Increased Risk of Depression, Even If You've Never Had It Before

A 13 year old study found that being on the pill increased the the risk factor for needing anti-depressants.  23% of women (age 15-34) needed to start anti-depressants after taking the pill, even though they never experienced depression before.  

If you're on the pill and struggling with increased moodiness, anxiety, panic attacks, emotionally erratic behavior or depression, don't dismiss these symptoms.  They may be side effects of the pill.  


Birth Control Pills Are The Wrong Prescription for Heavy Periods and Uterine Fibroids

If you're experiencing heavy, painful periods, uterine fibroids, cysts or endometriosis chances are you've tried birth control pills.  

As painful and debilitating as these conditions can be, the pill is not healing you!  It is just settling the symptoms while worsening the root causes.  And, it certainly is not a long term solution.  

Even if your symptoms have temporarily been alleviated, the pill does NOT address the root causes of these conditions: nutritional insufficiencies, inflammation from foods are environmental chemicals, immune deficiency, estrogen dominance, gut imbalances, poor detoxification and digestive patterns, stress, etc.  


Start Healing The Root Causes

1) Inflammation - Pain is caused by inflammation.  

• Curb inflammation with healing herbs such as curcumin.  Mix curcumin with a healthy fat like coconut or avocado oil to aid in absorption.  
• Eliminate dairy and meat (even white meat)
• Eliminate anything that comes in a packaged box (processed foods)
• Weekly acupuncture - Acupuncture helps increase blood flow to the uterus, helping to decrease pelvic pain and aids in decreasing adhesions, inflammation, muscle tension and anxiety.  

2) Detoxification - You've gotta poop! 

• Increase ground flaxseeds to 2-4 tablespoons per day from the day of your period to when you ovulate.  
• Eat up to 1 pound of broccoli or green leafy vegetables per day.

3)  Limit Your Xenoestrogens - Eliminate BPA's

• Stop drinking out of plastic water bottles.  Switch to glass containers, even stainless steel containers can contain lead.

4)  Increase Vitamins B & C 

• Adding a B-complex vitamin supplement and buffered vitamin C with bioflavanoids at high doses 500-2000mg can help boost detoxification.  

5) Sleep

• Are you getting a restful 8 hours sleep?  As simple as sleeping may sound, most don't women don't get enough. Sleeping before 10:30pm helps prevent high cortisol (stress) hormones that eventually cause high blood sugar and estrogen levels with low progesterone.  

Birth control pills are used by over 100 million women worldwide.  However, there are serious risks associated with birth control pills.  Whatever treatment you decide (conventional, alternative or a combo of both) knowing the risks synthetic hormones pose on your health is essential.  

Just know that you can manage periods, treat fibroids and cysts successfully without waiting for them to interfere with your life any further.  It may not feel like it to you today, but once you have the right information on how your body works, you can start making the changes you need to heal.  

Share the love, support and comments.  I’d love to hear your story, your frustration, what you’ve tried and your successes with other remedies.  Feel free to comment and share this article on Facebook with your fellow sisters who may suffering needlessly.  

If you’d like help learning how to overcome really bad cramps, treat fibroids and cysts, schedule a FREE 30 minute Womb Analysis with me by phone.  ​