Hormonal Contraception vs Fertility Awareness Methods: What’s right for you?
There are lots of different ways you can avoid pregnancy today but I’m always disappointed to find that Fertility Awareness Methods (FAM) are not regularly discussed as 100% natural way to avoid pregnancy.
As a Registered Nurse and Advanced Natural Fertility Practitioner, I’ve worked in the world of Natural Fertility since 2013 and throughout the years I’ve come across countless women who suffered through years of side effects from hormonal contraception because they simply didn’t know that viable, successful and natural alternatives exist.
Contraceptive medication has a place in health care today. They work really well for some women and can even help address severe health issues like endometriosis.
And, if you are one of the women that likes hormonal contraception - I’m not here to tell you you’re wrong.
I am here to help women that don’t like hormonal contraception.
If the side effects like irregular spotting, breast tenderness, depression, mood swings, headaches and/ or weight gain are having a detrimental effect on your quality of life, I can help you.
Keep reading to discover how I helped one patient, let’s call her Cathy*, successfully move from hormonal contraception to natural fertility awareness methods.
*Please note that names have been changed to protect patient identities.
What can you do when hormonal contraception doesn't agree with you?
Cathy* was in her early twenties when she chose the pill as her method for preventing pregnancy.
She was in a steady relationship and it suited her for ease and reliability and it seemed to be working well for her.
But gradually, over the course of six months, she began to experience worsening headaches that wouldn't go with normal medication. She would have to take time off work to stay in bed in a darkened room. She was eventually diagnosed with having migraines which came as a shock to her.
As time continued on she found her energy levels dropping and her weight crept up. She was also breaking out with spots more and more.
She had a job which required a lot of dedication. Hours were long in the office and there were expectations for out of office social and bonding events. Soon she was finding that everything was a struggle. She went from home to work and back to bed.
She went from an active sporty energetic young woman to someone struggling to get through each day in a matter of months. And on top of everything, her relationship ended.
One day she was chatting to a colleague who mentioned that Cathy didn't seem herself. She broke down and poured everything out.
She explained how she hated how she lacked energy constantly and she had low self-esteem. She was embarrassed at her weight gain and yet felt too exhausted to deal with it. Her headaches were worsening and she felt totally lost as doctors said all tests were normal.
The colleague asked her how long all of this had been going on. Cathy tried to look back and remembered how she when she first started seeing her now ex-boyfriend it was a wonderful relationship. They loved sports and shared hobbies and when their relationship got serious she started on the pill.
Gradually she realised that the first six months had been great with her ex but then all of her symptoms kicked in.
Her colleague smiled and said “you sound just like my sister. She couldn't tolerate the pill.”
Cathy was shocked and asked what happened to her and her colleague explained that her sister started using Natural Fertility Awareness.
Cathy wasn’t convinced at first. She kept thinking of tales about the unreliable ‘rhythm method’ or the new apps that basically just count the days between your period - she didn’t understand how different Fertility Awareness Methods are to just tracking your period so she dismissed the idea initially.
But over a few weeks the conversation kept coming back to her so she started researching and she found me.
She knew she needed help to switch from hormonal contraception to a natural method and she wanted someone to teach her how to chart and track everything.
Working with me as an instructor, Cathy made that transition and over a six month period not only did she learn to track and interpret her cycles but she found she was having fewer headaches and felt her energy coming back.
How did FAM help?
I am pleased to say she found a new relationship and after three years of dating, Cathy got married. She kept using FAM to avoid pregnancy over this time and in her early marriage.
After just over a year of marriage, Cathy and her husband decided to try for a baby and conceived within 3 months using her chart to help.
Ultimately, Learning FAM empowered Cathy to make better choices for her health. It also allowed her to manage her fertility to both avoid pregnancy and to encourage it when the time was right.
She was a great success story for me and she continues to use FAM to this day.
Could FAM help you?
If you can relate to Cathy’s story in some way, you might want to think about exploring Fertility Awareness Methods.
Of course, some people use the hormonal contraceptive pill without any issues and I don’t want to be part of the fearmongering and misinformation campaigns online that shame women for their choice of birth control.
I’d simply like to tell you that there is an alternative.
If you’re fed up with:
irregular spotting
breast tenderness
changes in mood/ depression/ mood swings
headaches
weight gain
… and you’d like to explore Fertility Awareness Methods (FAM) as a natural alternative to hormonal and/or invasive birth control - I’d love to talk with you.
When used correctly, the sympto-thermal method that I teach is up to 99% effective at preventing pregnancy so if you’re ready to learn a new way to naturally avoid pregnancy please check out my services page to discover how I can help you.
As a Registered Nurse and Advanced Natural Fertility Practitioner, I’d love to help you discover FAM and teach you how to manage your fertility in a natural way.
If you’d like to find out more about how I can help you, use the button below:
