The Fertility Awareness Method

Nutrient depletions, destroyed gut health, personality changes, chronic inflammation, bloated 24/7… I never thought to blame my birth control.

Doing research for one of my harder clients, I began reading more about the side effects of hormonal birth control. It was the last thing on my list. She ate clean, worked out, and had low stress, but there was some underlying condition I couldn’t figure out causing her hormonal imbalances along with some acne and chronic bloating. My usual tricks didn’t work, so I thought it had to be her hormonal IUD.

Fast forward a year later, I was experiencing the same issues, and it looked all too familiar.

If you are gaining weight without reason, bloated beyond belief, having adult acne, and anxious no matter what you do… it could be the GIANT piece of plastic in your uterus pumping out synthetic hormones and chemicals. But I don’t know, I thought, “was it just in my head?” 

It’s been over a week now and I have NEVER felt better.

My bloating has diminished.

I’m sleeping better + waking up happier.

My skin is clearer.

I have my mental sharpness back.

Sex feels better – no pain anymore.

I could go on forever, I feel like I should’ve done this sooner.

I ditched my Mirena hormonal insert for the only natural pregnancy prevention that is inflammatory free and FDA-approved, its called the Fertility Awareness Method.

(If you are on the copper IUD, read about the dangers of it here).

The Fertility Awareness Method is just what it sounds like, you track your ovulation and abstain from sex during fertile days. It happens in a bunch of ways! Your body is smart and there are ways to hack this incredibly regular process.

I use the Natural Cycles app to track everything from my temperature every morning to my sex drive. Here’s how it goes:

I wake up, before pressing snooze, I reach over to find my thermometer and take my temperature. I enter it into the app and fall back asleep for 20 minutes. Once I get up and pee, I check my cervical mucus and enter the amount and consistency. This is an indicatory of ovulation because the thinner your discharge is, the easier it is for sperm to reach your egg.

Later in the day, I enter all my symptoms: bleeding (if any), pain, sex drive, and choose how I’m feeling on a chart of suggestions. These all feed into your personal ovulation algorithm, so it could take a couple months of data to get it right. But after that, you have total control.

Lastly, there is an extra step I am personally taking to make sure I know when I’m ovulating, and its called the LH or luteinizing hormone test.

You can buy about 60 of these test strips on Amazon for $10 or less, but basically you pee on them at certain times of the month (the app will tell you when), and they signal whether or not an egg is being released yet. Large amounts of luteinizing hormone indicates that your estrogen rose high enough to trigger the release of an egg from the ovary.

Now, while all of this may seem like a perfect science, everyone is different! Just like the birth control pill (which is only 91% effective according to the CDC), you have to be diligent about these steps, especially in the manner you do them. Same time, every day.

According to a study surveyed across 15,000 women who use the Natural Cycles app, this method is about 98% effective at stopping unplanned pregnancies. For me, that number is worth my mental clarity and renewed health, since my hormonal IUD was known to be 99% effective.

When it comes to after-shock, hormonal IUDs and most birth control pills contain synthetic progesterone hormones, so upon getting off of them, your body no longer remembers how to make it.

Progesterone keeps your estrogen in check, so you could end up with skyrocketing estrogen, known as the “Mirena crash”.

After getting off hormonal birth control, I am personally taking these supplements every day to begin making my own progesterone again:

-       Vitex berry

-       Magnesium bisglycinate

-       Zinc

-       Vitamin B complex

-       Progesterone cream 2x daily on abdomen

-       Milk thistle + dandelion tea for liver support

For food choices, I am eating more healthy fats – since hormones are made from fats, like walnuts, avocado, wild-caught fish, and grass-fed red meat.

*High-quality animal products are very crucial in healing hormones because of their EPA and DHA content, while plant-based fats contain only ALA fatty acids. The conversion rate of ALA to EPA or DHA is very low, and high intake of ALA fats has been directly linked to increased risk of cancer.

All in all, make your own choices. I’m not a doctor, this is not medical advice, this is purely my perspective. Listen to your body and honor it, and just know, you don’t have to live with these symptoms every day. You have the power to change your own life, for the better.