The KInd Life Community Forum

Rebecca,
I use a product called EstroSense which is supposed to help with balancing hormones. When I stopped using birth control my body went bezerk and it's like I didn't know it anymore,weird longer than normal periods plus horrible acne. The EstroSense balanced things out, and cleared my skin up, but it took a month for my body to get adjusted. Look into that.
Also the February 2010 issue of Vegetarian Times has an article in it about grains and how they help with pain control and balancing hormones. I made it a point last month to eat a little extra grains every day the week before my period. I can report that I had 2 little cramps and an hour or so PMS emotional issues versus the fork in the uterus cramps and insane mood swings during the week that I usually get before my period. So I learned that the grains do help with hormone balance. Also make sure if you are eating all those grains to take a zinc with cal/mag supplement and a multi vitamin as grains can deplete them from your system.
Beets are great for iron and lentils are a wonderful source too. Try those out.
HTH and that you feel better soon!

Hi goils! I went off the pill after only 2 years as my body HATES synthetic hormones!! My sister and I both noticed our hair thinning as well and my girlfriend found out after going off Depo (the shot) that she has irreversible bone density loss of 30%!! It took a little while for my body to go back to normal and instead of tryign to :control it", I decided to just let it do what it needed to "reset" itself. After 5 years or so, I decided to get an IUD. The Doctors and Pharmacist constantly tried to convince me to get the Mirena (hormone one) vs. the Copper one saying "the hormones are localized and don't leave the uterus" - yah! Like something that is injected into your bloodstream doesn't cycle through your whole body!! The drug companies are able to claim this as the amount that gets into your bloodstream is "not a significant amount of hormones", etc. Anyway, I LOVE my IUD!! I can keep it for up to 10 years and many of my girlfriends have gone the same route with equally awesome results. The Doctors tried to terrfiy me with tales of how brutal my cramping would be, etc but it has actually made them even less of an issue than they used to be. Just hang in there and your body will sort itself out! Good for you! You are saving yuorself a lot of issues: cysts, fibroids, liver damage, etc along the way!!

@Cully
I, too, went the Paragard route (the copper one). The doctors kept tryng to force Mirena on me (hormones) and I kept my foot down.
I went off the pill a month ago, and have noticed a complete change in myself. My emotions are all out of whack, I'm getting mad and happy in alternating hours. My skin broke out a little but not drastic.

I'm going to give my body some time to reset and go back to normal function. However, for protection? I love it compared to the hormones!! I love my IUD!