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(All things hormones, birth control, toxic-free living, and self advocacy)
Setbacks are going to happen. Here's how to handle them.

Setbacks happen... it's a fact of life and likely to happen on this hormone healing journey! 

One of the definitions of a setback is "an event that delays your progress or reverses some of the progress you have made". UGH. :( We don't want that!! We want to keep continuing to progress and heal. To get to that ultimate goal of hormone balance without birth control.

I'm one of those perfectionist people-pleasers that's never going to be good enough for everyone and take stuff super personal. Anyone else?! *the whole room raises their hands* I'm also SUPER critical of myself and when things don't go my way, I take it personally and know I must have done something wrong, which flips a switch in my mind and temporarily puts me in this "I can't do anything right, why even bother?" mentality. It sucks, quite frankly, and something I have to actively work on almost every day.

 Through this hormone-balancing journey off birth control, I have really taken a step back to not only figure out where those woe-is-me feelings have stemmed from (childhood), but also remember that I'm doing my best, my best looks different than someone else's best, and remembering just HOW far I've actually come in the short amount of time that I've been off birth control. I have to remember that my body was continually controlled by synthetic hormones for 7-8 years and give it grace.  

The big thing for me to do and remember when I'm in a funk and setback are to remember that this is only temporary. And I'm not a failure. Every storm runs out of rain, things will get better, yada yada. It's true, as cliché as it is! I know by now what works for my body and what doesn't. So when I slip up and have setbacks, I really take a step back to analyze what happened days or weeks prior to my setback, adjust, and learn for the next time. I journal and track about it. I talk to my boyfriend and friends about it. I am AWARE of it. And then I adjust. Because it's not like we have just one chance to do this healing right and if we mess up, all hope is lost. No way! It's all just temporary, right? Our bodies are magical and when we give it the tools to heal, it knows what to do.

Birth control is not the devil, although I may feel different now that I'm cursing it out after getting off it. You will likely experience setbacks in healing whatever post-birth control symptoms come up for you. That's OKAY. It's part of the process. Part of the journey. Part of the healing. Part of you.

Deal? Deal. :) Comment below on a recent setback and how you felt about it and then overcame it! You're not alone in this and maybe someone else is feeling the same way as you.
Just so you know, I may earn a commission off the links on my blog at no cost to you through various affiliate programs. I appreciate your support and love sharing my favorite products with you! :)

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Just so you know, I may earn a commission off the links on my blog at no cost to you through various affiliate programs. I appreciate your support and love sharing my favorite products with you! :)

I Felt Out of Balance

 

It all started with small rashes under my armpits. They grew bigger. They were fiery red. They burned. I couldn’t itch them since they burned so bad. They flaked. They were embarrassing. I didn’t know what they were. Then they showed up on the crook of my elbow and on the top of my right hand. I thought it might be due to a gluten or dairy intolerance, so I changed my diet. It helped temporarily and my rashes didn’t hurt as bad and weren’t as red. But diet changes weren’t enough. I was devastated. My rashes remained for MONTHS!

Then the "fluff" showed up around my belly and hips. Maybe the start of winter contributed as well; either way I swear my pants used to fit me way better…

My hair started falling out. In chunks! I’d always had some hairs come out when I washed my hair, so I was used to it. But not to this extent. I knew something was going on.

My acne became out of control, almost to the extent when I was in high school. Red, painful, cysts that I just couldn’t resist picking. And here I had spent all these years at the dermatologist “healing” my acne for it all to come back with a vengeance.

I was in tears at least once a week. I felt hopeless. I felt so alone. No one could relate besides one girl I followed on Instagram. My boyfriend was supportive, but how could he understand though? He had no idea what I was going through.

I took a deep breath, wiped my tears and trucked on. Then the next week would start all over again with a meltdown because I was fat, my hair was falling out, my acne was returning, and my rashes burned SO. FREAKING. BAD. I was angry, frustrated, confused & hopeless. 

I had heard that stopping birth control could come with some pretty gnarly symptoms. And I thought I was ready for whatever would happen. But I didn’t realize how mentally and emotionally challenging these symptoms would be.

Like many people, I started taking birth control in high school. I took it mostly for my acne, but pregnancy prevention was nice too. My hormones were manipulated for over 7 years. The birth control was prescribed by my doctor, so why would I ever question how it was affecting my body?

Turns out, I had NO idea just how much it affected me. All of me. It wasn’t until I read this book that I understood how much my body was impacted by these synthetic hormones that I didn't even realize were synthetic at the time. How hormonal birth control can be prescribed to “treat” certain conditions, yet it’s really only a bandaid fix. I didn’t want that bandaid fix anymore and I wanted to heal myself naturally. So I took the leap and ditched my birth control.

Aside from some of the challenges of getting off birth control, I noticed a whole new world of positives that came from it. For the first time in my life, I actually had energy! I no longer needed to sleep half the day away. The mental fog was gone! My mood increased, as well as my libido, which I swear was gone for good. I finally felt like I was in control of my health for the first time. Truly healthy and truly better.

My goal is to be that shining beacon of light for you if you are struggling with the decision to finally get off hormonal birth control. You are not alone in worrying how your body will react. You are not alone in this transition and your experiences. It might be challenging. But we are strong. We are healers. We are self-advocates. And only we know what’s best for our bodies.

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