Has anyone here used natural family planning with any success?

[elastigirl]

I am sick and tired of being on BCPs. Every single formulation of the Pill that I've been on messes with my mental health and causes mood swings, low libido, etc. Have any of you used NFP (sympto-thermal, Standard Days, Creighton method, etc.) as your primary method of birth control without having an "oops"? Is it hard? Does it work? I'm willing to use barrier methods while I get the hang of it, but not willing to use barrier methods in the long term, and DH is a "take-no-for-an-answer" kind of guy.

And I am NOT ready to have children yet.

[karenb]

What is wrong with barrier methods? DH and I used them for years with no oopps. The condom didn't bother him and the foam didn't effect me like bc did. Some people say it's not as 'spontanious' as when you're on the pill but we never had a problem.

[elastigirl]

I dislike barrier methods. They are expensive, and I've never liked having sex using condoms (we've had to before, like when I've been on antibiotics). It's not an issue of spontaneity, it's just that it doesn't feel right and it doesn't feel intimate to me at all. It's all very clinical-feeling, and it interferes with sex play because he's on antidepressants and, um, waxes and wanes a lot.

Oddly enough, he doesn't care one iota. He's fine either way. But I brought up the NFP thing to him, and it was essentially a "hmm...NO" thing.

[AllyKat]

I've been off the pill since February, temping and only using condoms during my fertile period. The first few months we used condoms every time until I figured it all out. I highly recommend you get "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" by Toni Weschler, and read it. We've been successfully using NFP for seven months, without a hitch. I couldn't be happier to be off hormonal birth control, and I only bother temping from the time my cervical fluid begins to change until fertility friends confirms ovulation (3 days after temp rise) which usually is about 7 to 10 days of my cycle. This is also the time to use barriers or abstain, if you aren't into condoms. Buy the book, and sign up at fertilityfriends dot com, and you'll be set. It'll take a few months to get the hang of things, but if you have a fairly regular cycle, it won't be too hard.

Just wanted you to know, it can be done.

[Laprettygurl]

If you're really not ready for children, you shouldn't use it.

Can you get a copper IUD?

[vixendrop]

I agree with Pauline... if you're not ready for kids I don't recommend it... I know many women who've successfully used it for birth control, but it is not easy, IMO. (Well, sure, it's easy to DO, but not easy to interpret, IMO.) NFP takes a serious commitment.

The book that was suggested is great and I highly recommend it too.

However, if you do decide to give it a try make sure your DH realizes that NFP is NOT the rhythm method... a lot of people don't understand that. Maybe if you both read the book together he'll be more on board.

[bebamom]

Hi - I'm getting really good at lurking around here - and I will say it again - I use the
Nuvaring and I love it - It does have hormones but since you insert it, those hormones stay in the "area" and don't circulate through your body. I don't feel it at all and I only have to think about it twice a month - once to put it in and once to take it out -
( although this is my last cycle using it - we are going to try for baby #3)

maybe this is an option for you and there really is no work involved, at least not like the natural method
good luck to you.

[Stackeyha]

Actually yes...I've been using FAM...basically NFP using barrier only when you are fertile...for 7 years. My last baby was an "oops" on my part...but it wasn't the method that failed it was me not paying attention. I'd had a lot of company and was charting perfectly but not really looking at it...I went to the dr with gall bladder problems and he asked..."Could you be pregnant?"...I couldn't think of what was on my chart...so he did a blood test and I went home and checked my charts...sure enough I could see the day of ovulation and the day of implantation...Ba Da Bing...I knew I was pregnant in about 2 minutes...it took him 2 days to confirm it with blood. We weren't REALLY trying not to get pregnant and so it didn't REALLY matter to us that we did...but when I've been REALLY trying not to or REALLY trying to...it works great.

I second or third Taking Charge of Your Fertility, great book.

If you need help figuring something out...I've written a couple of tombs on another board that I could copy here...on troubleshooting the charts etc.

[Naturegirl]

I'm in my 9th month now off birth control and I love it! Been practicing Natural fertility awareness for 8.

I hated the pill with a passion. And I tell anyone I can about it (when the topic of the pill comes up, lol). What I mean by that is that you should always trust yourself and your gut and dont let people, including your doctor, convince you to just deal with it. It's not that I think the pill is the devil, but you just need to be informed. My doctor kept telling me to use lube for my dryness, for example, but it was partly my fault because I was naive and didnt fully explain everything to her. Then one day after 3 yrs she noticed that I was torn and extremely inflamed (my skin literally refused to stretch anymore). I had Atrophic Vaginitis. The irritation was due to my forcing myself to have sex with my boyfriend of 3.5 years (uh duh, I had to hold a rag of ice to myself many times)--- there was practically no sex drive in me at all. Honestly, it felt like the sexual part of my brain and body had shut down. Muted. Anyhow, I made an appointment after doing alot of research, and told her that I was through with that crap. I wanted to feel my body again.
*rant over*

I tried the copper IUD and really really liked it. Except that it expelled after 5 weeks and the insertion was excruciating. Still, I went back for another try, but my uterus spit it out immediately. Heck I might even give it a 3rd go.
Do you think that might be an option for you? I would have given anything for the copper to work out. 10 yrs of hormone free birth control!! I the copper IUD.

I know, barriers are lame. Once you've had the real thing, it's hard to go back Diaphrams and caps arent any fun either. Neither worked out for me. It was so embarrassing when the thing shot out of my fingers while I tried to insert it. My doctor and I had a good laugh

You have to be very dedicated to natural fertility awareness for it to be effective. I am a bit of a hypocrite though as I dont follow it by the book.
(I did read Toni's "Taking Charge of Your fertility" though. I would suggest it as a great resource.) It is definitely harder if your cycles are not "perfect", which I'm sure is the case with alot of women. You need to pay extra special attention and interperate things carefully.

My cycles have been totally whacked out since getting off the pill. The longest day was 39, the shortest 27. Before the pill I always had a clockwork 28 day cycle. This has made it a bit scary while trying to avoid a pregnancy. My fertile fluid is slowly coming back, but it's pretty pathetic compared to what it was pre-pill. My cervix however has been totally animated!! It's been my only reliable sign so far. I track everything (not temp however) every day on a chart I printed out from a website. We abstain as soon as my cervix begins to get soft and open and wetter. Then resume when it returns to a dry environment and firm cervix (it always amazes me to go from mushy soft to rock hard in one day--which is a big signal of ovulation for me).

I considered the Ring, and considered getting a pill with more estrogen to combat the extreme suppressive progestin effects of my last pill--but, partially on principal and partially on a gut feeling, I refuse to try any kind of hormones again. I talked to my aunt, who is a doctor, and she wanted me to try to Ring. But I told her, if it's strong enough to suppress ovulation, then that in itself is a testament to how powerful an effect it has on your body. Besides that, even though it is locally deposited, your brain and your reproductive organs are not cut off from eachother. Your brain is the conductor and the body the orchestra. The contraceptive hormones are not restricted to your uterus/ovaries.

Now let me say, I know I am bashing hormones (are still useful in medicine however), but it's only because they had such a negative effect on me. My aunt seems to like her Nuvaring and my friend the patch. So, individuality does have some bearing.

I am a big fan of spontaneity, something that, unfortunately fertility awareness affords you little of.

I'll be glad when I get sterilized in a few months though. I think I'll send my doctor a Thank You gift for believing in me ---not married, no kids, and 21yrs old--but never been more sure of anything in my life.

Consider all your options carefully.
Good luck to you!! I know what you're going through.

[Naturegirl]

By the way, my boyfriend was pretty nervous about the whole thing too. But when I made him listen to me and showed him the book and my charts, he felt alittle better. You gotta be persistant!