The Food Medic - Ask Dr. Hazel Wallace: From Contraception to Cycle Tracking | Rethinking Menstrual Health

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Starting point is 00:01:07 when it comes to coming off hormonal contraception is how quickly will my periods come back? There's a lot of conversation that we should be using the menstrual cycle almost like a vital sign, like your heart rate and blood pressure. If I could change one misunderstood area when it comes to women's health,

Starting point is 00:01:23 it would be... Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the Food Medic Podcast. I'm Dr. Hazel Wallace, a women's health nutritionist and former NHS doctor, and I'm back for a special women's health series of the Food Medic Podcast. In this mini-series, we're diving into all things women's health, from expert insights and myth-busting chats to mini Ask Dr. Hazel episodes where I answer questions submitted by you. Expect accessible evidence-backed tips to help you feel empowered, not held back by your menstrual cycle and more. If you're enjoying these conversations and want to go beyond just understanding your hormones and

Starting point is 00:02:05 your menstrual cycle and actually learn how to work with them, my latest book, Not Just a Period, is available to pre-order now. It's a practical science-backed roadmap that helps you align your cycle in every area of your life, from nutrition and mood to body image, skin, hair, and more. If you're ready to feel more in tune with your body and supported by your hormones rather than confused by them, I'd love for you to check it out. You might notice a QR code floating around if you're watching the video for each scan or if you're listening to the audio version, you can find the link at the bottom of the episode show notes. Hi Hazel, I absolutely love your podcast so I'm so pleased that it's come back. My question is I'm planning to come off the pill and as I've been on it for a few years I just want to know what I need to know

Starting point is 00:02:51 or can expect after stopping it. Thanks. Thank you so much for your question and also for sharing some love for the podcast we're also really excited to be back. So what can you expect when coming off the pill? This is a question I get asked quite a lot. Firstly, it's helpful to know that the hormones leave your body pretty quickly when you come off the pill. So any potential side effects that you may have been experiencing should end pretty quickly. On the flip side, if you were experiencing any benefits of being on the pill, maybe fewer breakouts, that will also end too. One of the biggest questions I get when it comes to coming off hormonal contraception is how quickly will my periods come back? And it really does depend

Starting point is 00:03:35 on the type of contraception that you're on. In this case, I'm going to talk about the pill because that was our listeners' question specifically. And really, it should take one to two months for your natural cycles to return. I would say that it's reasonable to give it three months. If it's taking any longer than that you should go speak to your doctor because when we're on the pill it could potentially mask underlying conditions like PCOS for example that can cause more regular cycles. So that's one thing to bear in mind. However, your fertility should return pretty quickly. And even before you get your next period, after stopping your pill, you can get pregnant. And if that is something that you don't want at

Starting point is 00:04:16 this point in time, it is really important to think about other forms of contraception as well. Another thing that women worry about is how their mood might change when they're on contraception as well. Another thing that women worry about is how their mood might change when they're on contraception versus when they're not. And it's very variable. Some women find their mood is more stable on the pill and some women find their mood is more stable off the pill. So that's something to bear in mind. But I think a really good rule of thumb is to start tracking your cycle, start tracking any symptoms that you might be experiencing so that if anything comes up that maybe you didn't expect or that isn't normal for you, you can discuss that with your doctor as well. Also, if you are trying to get pregnant and that's the reason why you have

Starting point is 00:04:55 come off the pill, it's really important that you start taking folic acid ideally three months before you get pregnant and up to the 12th week of pregnancy. Coming off the pill is a transition and for some people it's super smooth and for some people it's not as smooth. I go into a lot more detail in my new book, Not Just a Period, so you can find that in the contraception chapter. Thank you so much for listening. Hi Hazel, I just wanted to start by saying I absolutely love your podcast and I found it so useful so I was wondering if you were able to help me. My sleep is always absolutely rubbish the week before my period. Is there anything I can do to help prevent this? Okay so sleeping issues across the menstrual cycle.

Starting point is 00:05:39 Across the cycle and you may have experienced this yourself there are points in the cycle, and you may have experienced this yourself, there are points in the cycle where women are more likely to experience sleeping problems. And it's typically premenstrually and also during the period. So just before and during. But also some women experience change in sleep around ovulation because we get an increase in body temperature. And when we're sleeping, our bodies like to be nice and cool. And so for having that, even that small increase in temperature, that can disrupt our sleep. So it's very common, especially in that luteal phase, the one to two weeks before our period, to find that our sleep is a little bit off. It's not just sleep quantity, so the amount of sleep that we're getting, but also the quality of sleep and even the sleep architecture. So how

Starting point is 00:06:25 much REM and non-REM sleep that we get can also change during that phase. So it's super interesting. But your question is, what can I do about it? So you have established a connection here where your sleep is a little bit disrupted. And I think the best place to start is, unless you're doing this already, is to start tracking your cycle so you know roughly in your cycle, in what phase you're experiencing this, so that you can really double down on your sleep hygiene habits. Now, the reason why sleep is disrupted around that time, as I mentioned, temperature changes, but also the changing hormones as well. But let's not forget that around that time, things like PMS might start to creep in. You might be experiencing menstrual cramps. And of course,

Starting point is 00:07:11 if you find this change during your period, then of course you are dealing with even the practical side of things like leaking or cramps or just having to wake up in the middle of the night to change a tampon, for example. So what can you do about it? First and foremost, I would say track your cycle and make sure that you're addressing where it's happening. The second thing is address any symptoms that you're experiencing as much as you can. Obviously, you might not be able to help with everything, but if you are experiencing things like cramps, think about having a hot water bottle or any heat patches, even things like anecdotally sleeping in a fetal position, so where your knees are drawn up, that can help relax your abdominal muscles and can help with cramping. So that's something you might want to try. If you are someone who's

Starting point is 00:08:02 getting very hot in the night, having a warm shower before bed can help drop your body temperature and maybe sleeping with the window a little bit ajar or having a fan in the room. Making sure that you're wearing period products that you're really comfortable with and feel confident with and that might look a little bit different to what you're wearing during the day. I know this sounds very obvious but I feel like it's something I've only really like figured out in my 30s. So it might be a bit of trial and error of figuring out what works for you. It might be a menstrual cup or period pants or something that is just a lot more absorbent than what you normally wear during the day. So you have that confidence and you're not waking

Starting point is 00:08:40 up in the night because you're tossing and turning, thinking about like things like leaking. It's pretty obvious and it's not rocket science, but really doubling down on your sleep behaviors is so important. So trying to have a consistent sleep schedule, which is getting into bed around the same time and getting up at the same time is really important. And if you know that, for example, in the last week before your period, your sleep is always disrupted, maybe during that week you are going to bed 30 minutes before just to give yourself a little bit of a buffer. As I've already mentioned, making sure your room is nice and cool, but also quiet and dark. So maybe it's blackout blinds or wearing an eye mask when you're going to bed or even ear plugs

Starting point is 00:09:27 so that you're giving yourself the best possible chance of getting a good night's sleep. Little things like making sure that you're not having your last meal too close to bedtime so essentially we want to be having our last big meal two to three hours before bedtime latest. It's okay if you have a small snack closer to bedtime but when we think about it if you are having a big meal two to three hours before bedtime latest. It's okay if you have a small snack closer to bedtime, but when we think about it, if you are having a big meal, you're also going to be digesting when you're trying to sleep. And things like making sure that you're not having any stimulants like caffeine after 2 p.m., if not like after midday, just to make sure that you are really optimizing everything. So I guess to pull it all together, when it comes to sleep and the menstrual cycle, for some women, they do really experience sleep problems, especially in that luteal phase. There is no magic solution, but it just requires really making,

Starting point is 00:10:16 giving yourself the best possible chance at a good night's sleep by doubling down on those sleep behaviors. If it is closer to your period or during your period, making sure that you have period products that you're comfortable with, addressing any symptoms that you might be experiencing or making yourself as comfortable as possible. And again, just giving yourself a little bit of leeway by maybe getting into bed a little bit earlier. And if you can sneak in a nap because it's on the weekend or maybe your day off, then try do that also. I hope that answers the question and thank you for sending it in. Oh, this is it. The day you finally ask for that big promotion. You're in front of your mirror with your Starbucks coffee. Be confident, assertive. Remember eye

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Starting point is 00:11:17 Hi, Hazel. First off, thank you so much for creating this amazing space to have these really crucial conversations about women's health. My question is, what big misunderstandings or misplaced societal norms do you see really starting to shift or be challenged? Perhaps something that was once like blindly accepted. And additionally, while I know there are many, but which big misunderstood aspect of women's health would you really like to see starting to shift if you could pick one? Thank you. Thank you so much for your question. And honestly, there is a lot that I could say to answer this question. Well, two questions. So I'll take your first question first, which is what are some of

Starting point is 00:12:03 the things that we used to blindly accept when it comes to women's health? And I think one of the areas that I'm seeing a shift in narrative, and I really hope that we are achieving that on this podcast, but also through my books and also on social media, and I'm seeing it with other health professionals and podcasters as well, is changing the narrative that women's health conditions or women's health problems or menstrual cycle issues is something that we just have to put up with because we are women. Time and time again, when it comes to menstrual cycle issues like painful periods or regular cycles or missing periods, women are often told that it's just

Starting point is 00:12:42 normal or it's just part and parcel of being a woman or having a menstrual cycle. And this is something that I'm really trying to challenge with my work and really shift the narrative to because I think it's not that we've been gaslit, but almost brainwashed into thinking that that's something that we need to accept. And I really hope that with the younger generation coming up behind us, the girls who are now getting their first periods, that we will be able to pave the way with them so they don't have to endure some of the things that maybe we have through our teens and also 20s, 30s and beyond that. could change one misunderstood area when it comes to women's health. It would be viewing the menstrual cycle as a nuisance. And I know that for some people listening, they will think, of course, it's a nuisance because you maybe have symptoms that are distressing. And even the practical sides

Starting point is 00:13:41 of having a period can be just a bit difficult to deal with sometimes. But I think when we really start to learn about the other parts of our menstrual cycle outside of the period. So we only ever talk about menstruation, which is day one to day five, typically in a menstrual cycle. But so much more happens in the 23 or so days across your menstrual cycle. And all of that is orchestrated by your hormones, mainly estrogen and progesterone. And that's not just changing, you know, our fertility or when

Starting point is 00:14:12 we ovulate or when we have our period. It also dictates our gut health, our mood, our energy levels, our strength, our skin and hair health. And I think, I don't know about you, but when I learned about periods and I went through puberty, no one told me anything about how my menstrual cycle could dictate or change those things. And now there's a lot of conversation, even within the medical space, that we should be using the menstrual cycle almost like a vital sign, like your heart rate and blood pressure because it tells us so much about a person's health and so I would love for us to really start changing our view of the menstrual cycle as something that can be quite empowering as something that can tell us a lot about someone's health and maybe in a couple of years time when you go to your doctor's office about any health

Starting point is 00:15:02 issues that you're experiencing maybe skin break breakouts, maybe changes in mood, that they start asking you about your menstrual cycle as one of the first things that they ask you about. Because I think it just tells us so much. So that would be my big thing. And it's the reason why I titled the book, my new book, Not Just a Period, because it's not just a period, it's so much more. Before we leave each other, I would love if you could just take a moment to rate the podcast, leave a review or share it with a friend or a loved one that you think would learn a lot from this episode. If today's conversation resonated, my book, Not Just a Period, is available to pre-order now and it's packed with practical

Starting point is 00:15:40 advice to help you understand your hormones, manage tricky periods and work with your cycle for better energy, mood and overall health. You can grab a copy now through the link in the show notes or via the QR code on your screen. I hope you all have a great week and thank you so much for listening.

The Food Medic - Ask Dr. Hazel Wallace: From Contraception to Cycle Tracking | Rethinking Menstrual Health

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