Sex & Romance
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Natural Birth Control?
I've been thinking more about taking myself off of my birth control, Loestrin Fe 24. It at first made my extremely sick, then it turned me into a raging lunatic. Now my sex drive is kaput. I feel like a (un-horndog) moody fifteen-year-old again. My husband can just look at me funny and I'll burst into tears. I hate how I used to want to do it all the time and now it takes a lot for me to.
So, what about natural birth control? FAMs. Anyone out there do that? Do you like it? I have an OBGYN appointment coming up in four weeks, so I'm going to talk about it with my doctor. But, I want to know now.
Mrs.Stanfield
Re: Natural Birth Control?
Hi,
I totally know how you feel with the extreme hormone changes and lack of sex drive due to your birth control. I was going though the same thing about 5 months ago so I just completely stopped taking my birth control and I have never felt better. With that said I also started researching natural birth control methods. The first thing you need to do is stop taking your birth control and learn your cycle. Pay close attention to when it starts, how heavy or light your flow is, when it ends and how many days between each cycle. In the meantime just use other forms of birth control and have fun!
I have been using "lady-comp" (www.raxmedical.com) for 2.5 years and I love it!!!... I just take the temperature every morning (it takes less than a minute) and "lady-comp" does everything for you, you don't need to keep records or anything.... it gives you the green or red light. It is a little expensive, but totally worth it. You can acuatlly buy it cheaper from ebay.
I hope it helps... you can read more about it on their website
I tried the Nuva Ring and I couldn't handle it more than one cycle. I was so dizzy all the time to the point where sometimes I couldn't even walk on my own! A friend of mine is doing FAM and gave me the book and I decided to give it a go. It is awesome! It takes minimal time, but you get the freedom of being hormone-free! It's also taught me a lot about my own body and cycle and that has been awesome to learn about myself, too! The only downside is that it is an active birth control. You can't just take a pill and not think about it again. You will have to know and keep track of where you are in your cycle and learn how that affects your sex life. I think it's totally worth it!
Read Taking Charge of You Fertility, browse the online forums at the tcoyf site, and good luck!
I had the exact same thing happen with Nuva Ring, H was more concerned about it than I was, but we researched other methods and got a copy of Taking Charge of Your Fertility. It was probably the best thing we could have done. I am happy, feel great, and it is FREE. Plus, I think it is really important to know your body, and this is a fantastic way to do so. I definitely recommend it.
Just be careful with natural birth control if you mean just monitoring your cycle, it has a much lower effectiveness rate, and if your being spontaneous, you may or may not remember if that is a day you should or shouldn't be having sex. You have to monitor things like your cervical fluid and body temperature to be the most accurate.
Or you coud use Fertility Friend for free. It does the same thing. Temping will only confirm once you have ovulated, though. Which is all this device is doing. Read TCOYF or read the FF tutorials to learn how your CM plays a role and you should be ok.
Also, this is just simply not true. Like any birth control if not practiced correctly it has the possibility of failure, but if you follow the rules religiously (I recommend getting used to the system for a few months using condoms all the time until you're fully comfortable) then you will be fine.
You might want to check if there is an organization running in your location to provide a "training session" on natural planning. I did a session with a couple who had 3 kids - every single one of them planned - using natural planning. They provided a lot more insight and answered a lot of questions in a very easygoing manner - and yes - it was intended for BOTH parties to attend - not just the woman!
That said - I never got pregnant in 9 years of following the program, and learned more about my body during that time than I thought possible. It really does put you in tune with your cycle and how your body reacts to various types of stress.
My husband and I took a natural family planning class through our church before we got married. I also wrote a research paper on it for my Human Sexuality class in college. By no means am I an expert as I do not practice it. I've been on the pill since high school and have tried between 5-10 different pills before I found one that didn't make me nauseous, cry at the drop of a hat or turn me into a crazy b!tch. In retrospect I don't know how I had friends or why my husband (boyfriend at the time) stayed with me while I was on Ortho Tri Cycline (sp?). I have been on Yaz for 4 years now and I have heard horror stories on TV and from a few people in person but it works for me.
As far as FAM goes, if it is something you are interested in I would absolutely talk to your doctor or any friends/family you know that do it. Growing up Catholic, I will tell you I know a lot of families who had a lot of children while practicing natural family planning. At this point in my life, I feel more comfortable taking the pill. My husband and I want 3-4 kids, but not right now. It may mean you need to try a different prescription before you find the right one for you. But if you do not want to take medication any longer I wish you luck with whatever option you choose :-)
In my searches, I found several articles regarding Lady-Comp not being FDA approved and letters from the FDA asking for websites to recall the product. Any info about that? Fertility Friend is a great free method...it doesn't give you the "gut feeling" of being safe for certain days, but it's not looking like the computer method is FDA legit either.
The FDA is asking that specific companies stop marketing the product because they don't have approval. Lady Comp is not sold in America so it is technically unlawful for American companies to market it without the appropriate approval - the company that was marketing it was stating that the device is "FDA approved" which is not true. It is German-engineered and sold through RAX medical which is located in Canada. You can purchase it internationally but you cannot purchase it in America. The device itself is safe according to international research evaluations through RAX med but I don't believe it is evaluated by the FDA of the US.
I chart using TCOYF. I bought the book, read it, bought a BD Thermometer at Walmart and bought a $30 license for the TCOYF software for my computer. It's awesome, and really easy. FYI - the book recommends if you are avoiding pregnancy to use barriers the first 3 cycles (at least) before you get the hang of charting and understand your cycle. Good luck!
I'm just stating statistics I learned in a study of forms of birth control.... it is lower statisticly than hormonal birth control or condoms, I'm not condemning it, simply stating what science has found, which includes subjects that may have attempted but not executed properly