Charting to avoid long-term

Flamingo86

I have an appt. to see my gyno next week to discuss BC options. I don't want hormones and it looks like my only alternatives are condoms and a diaphragm (both destroy the spontaneity which bothers us) and the paragard IUD. I am still considering paragard but am not sure if I am comfortable with the risks and potential heavy periods. I may still talk to my Dr. about this option but am considering taking up charting again to avoid getting KU.

I thought it would be exhausting when I first though of it but now that I am getting out of the mindset of constantly hoping I am pg it seems less frustrating. It only takes me a few minutes to chart my signs each day and my cycles are pretty consistent. We would use condoms if there was any doubt. I also think that seeing that my body seems to be working alright might help me feel less "broken."

Has anyone here charted to avoid in the long-term (1-2 years or more)? How was your experience? We only did it for a few months to get ready for TTC.

lilliesandvino

Yep. Two and a half years now. It's very simple and effective if you follow ALL the rules.

Flamingo86

lilliesandvino said:

Yep. Two and a half years now. It's very simple and effective if you follow ALL the rules.

Yup. I'm pretty sure we would be super strict about it. I can't stand it when people half-ass fertility awareness and "accidentally" get pregnant. Gives it a bad name.

lilliesandvino

One of my pet peeves is people insisting that FAM doesn't work because they got pregnant using it (or know someone who has). But, when pressed, admit that they didn't temp, chart, etc. and were essentially just following the rhythm method.

FAM is extremely effective if you're committed to it. I plan on using it when we are done having children, too.

Apollo11235

I've only used it for about 6 months so far (and am just recently comfortable with all the rules), but I'm planning on using it for at least another 6 months to 2 years.

It barely takes any time, so I don't mind, especially since it means I avoid all the crappy side effects of BCP. So far the only problem we've had, aside from the time it took to get used to charting, was related to (potential, user-error related) condom failure rather than FAM failure or confusion.

spongebobsquarepanties

I haven't but one of my fertile friends did for like 10 years and had no problems. Also, I think it would be great in a way to focus on them to see thst your body is working, as you've mentioned.  It turns it around and gives the power back to you. *hugs*

mrsskiz

I did it for 4 years. We also did PnP all the time as well and avoided during my fertile window, which was not fun, but much funner (not a word) than an unexpected pregnancy.

I also didnt want to worry about hormones, but I got the Mirena IUD when we decided that we were not going ot TTC for several more years. The small amount of localized hormones we much easier for me to deal with than the heavy periods. My periods totally stopped after about 8 months on Mirena and I had no side effects from hormones.

BruinsBabe33

I think that if you are really doing it and not half assing it, it is very doable for someone like you with pretty consistent cycles. I couldn't really do it because of how crazy long and just generally crazy my cycles are. (I get frustrated easily) Obviously, I don't have experience doing it, but I hope that it works out! I am a huge fan of non hormonal anything so I am all for this! Good luck!