You're here because you want to know how to treat PCOS without birth control, am I right?

Maybe you're here because you've had the conversation with your doctor where they say, "you're infertile and the only way to treat your PCOS is to go back on birth control."

Or maybe you just figured that you'd take birth control to keep things regulated. Then you didn't even realize what a pain it would be when you stopped taking it. You gained so much weight almost immediately, had hair growing in places you weren't prepared for and infertility came in like a wrecking ball.

Either way, if you're looking for something other than birth control to treat your PCOS, you're in the right place.

Birth control is one of the top recommendations for women with PCOS who have irregular or long cycles.

While birth control can certainly be helpful when you're trying to avoid making a baby, it runs into some serious draw-backs when using it to "regulate" your cycle.

That's why I'm going to share three things to help treat PCOS without birth control so you have the foundation you need to take control of your PCOS health.

What is PCOS?

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is a condition defined through three different criteria. Those three include ovulation issues, elevated androgen hormones and cysts on the ovaries.

It's estimated that it affects between 5 and 6 million women in the US alone. It is also one of the most common causes of female infertility, and some sources cite it as the number one cause of infertility.

What is Birth Control?

Birth control is something that keeps you from getting pregnant. There are two types, non-hormonal and hormonal.

Non-hormonal birth control is a type that doesn't use any hormones. Surprise!

Types of non-hormonal birth control

• Condoms

• Copper IUD

• Temperature tracking or Natural Family Planning

• Surgical options like vasectomy, tying the tubes or hysterectomy (removing the uterus)

On the other hand, there is hormonal birth control.

This type is when hormones are used to help the body set up an environment that doesn't allow pregnancy to happen. Hormonal birth control does this by creating a fake set of hormones that stop ovulation and keep the body from becoming fertile.

Types of hormonal birth control

• The pill

• An IUD with hormones like the mirena

• Transdermal patch (aka hormones inserted under your skin)

The birth control that's recommended for regulating PCOS cycles is hormonal. So as we talk today, that's what I'm referring to when I say birth control.

What you Need to Know About How to Treat PCOS Without Birth Control

Treat PCOS Without Birth Control Step #1: Get clear on what your hormones are doing without birth control

The thing about hormonal birth control is that it provides synthetic or "fake" versions of estrogen and progesterone in the body. This shuts down your body's own natural production of estrogen and progesterone. Which means that while you're on birth control, you won't be able to tell your body's natural reproductive hormone patterns.

So the first thing you need to do is figure that out. You need to know what your natural hormone pattern is for estrogen and progesterone without birth control on board.

Do you have low progesterone that's causing you to have a short second half, or luteal phase, of your cycle?

Do you have high or low estrogen that is keeping you from ovulating and making your cycles go long?

And then you need to have a look at your testosterone levels. Do you have too much testosterone that is shutting down ovulation which is keeping your cycles long?

If you don't know that information yet, it's key to helping get your cycles back without birth control. Once you know what hormones are out of balance, then you can get a plan to get them back in balance and help your periods come back into regular rhythm.

Treat PCOS Without Birth Control Step #2: Replenish Lost Nutrients

Would it surprise you if I told you that the pill depletes more nutrients than any other medication? Well, unfortunately it's true. And some of the nutrients that it takes away are important to help with ovulation and regular cycles.

So your next step to helping treat PCOS without birth control is to replenish those key nutrients.

These are some of the top nutrients that the pill takes out of your body:

• B vitamins including the essential fertility B-vitamin, folate

• Vitamin C

• Vitamin E

• Magnesium

• Selenium

• Zinc

• DHEA

• CoQ10

These nutrients are important for hormone production. If you are deficient in any of these, then it's hard to have adequate hormone levels to ovulate and have a period. They are also key nutrients to help with egg quality and if your egg quality is poor then you can't ovulate.

Treat PCOS Without Birth Control Step #3: Support Your Body's Natural Cycle

Your body wants to cycle naturally every month and there are ways to remind it what it's supposed to be doing.

Unfortunately, the pill doesn't create a natural cycle of hormones. The synthetic hormones just shut down your body's own hormone production rather than enhance what you have. If you want to treat PCOS without birth control then the goal is to help estrogen and progesterone come back into natural rhythm.

My Cycle Balancing Protocol is what I use to help women have natural monthly hormone levels. This protocol was specifically created to help get hormones back into their normal rhythm.

In the first half of the cycle, there are specific nutrients, herbs and medications that help promote regular levels of estrogen.

For example, are someone with elevated estrogen (estrogen-dominance)? If you are, are you getting enough fiber that will help take that excess estrogen out of the body?

Then in the second half of the cycle? There are specific nutrients, herbs and medications that can be used to help promote progesterone levels.

For example, are you someone that has low progesterone? If you are, is anyone talking with you about vitex berry (chaste tree) or bio-identical progesterone to help improve your progesterone levels?

When you want to treat PCOS without birth control you need to first figure out what your natural hormone patterns are. Once you know that, then you can help get them back into normal rhythm.

Summary

These are the 3 powerful, foundational steps to treat your PCOS without birth control.

1. Figure out what's causing your body to have long or irregular cycles

2. Replenish nutrients that were lost from the birth control

3. Support your body's own natural cycle

Birth control is the top recommendation to regulate periods. But what it really does is shuts down your body's own natural hormone production and depletes important fertility nutrients. There are ways to treat your PCOS without birth control and these three steps are how to start.

If you continue to get dismissive information from your doctor and you just want to know how to step off the roller coaster of hormones, book a call with me here and let's get you on the path to pregnancy.