# Switching To Natural Birth Control



## seattle_stranger (Nov 4, 2014)

Hello all!

My lady has been been on various birth control methods for several years now. She started with the ring, and that was no good because it kept causing her infections. We switched her to the 3 weeks on/1 week off pill method, and now she's on the all-month-long pill (I don't know the differences). We're very careful with it, we both have alarms on our phones to remind her to take it at the same time each day. If she is ever late or forgets we don't do any PIV for a while after. Needless to say, the side effects are getting the best of us. She has gained considerable weight, her sex-drive is more like sex-parked, she says her sensitivity is diminished which I can attest to as it takes longer for her to orgasm than it used to, and I'm certain it's attributing to many other undesirable effects on her body. Having said that, we're considering taking her off and using natural remedies.

She has a friend who does nothing but keep track of her ovulation cycles, and they haven't even had so much as a scare in the many years they've been together. We would like to take it a couple steps further and employ additional natural methods. She showed me this list: The 7 Natural Birth Control Methods Your Doctor Would Probably Never Tell You About (.. Because Money Rules The World) | MyTinySecrets I'm interested in nearly all of these things and have even thought about the dip-the-boys-in-hot-water thing as it simply makes sense. I'm surprised it lasts that long!!

I'm curious who else has done this with success? What methods do you use? How long has it been working for you? Did you used to use synthetic birth control? Has anyone here gotten pregnant anyway while strictly following natural methods properly? One factor to be considered, our favorite sexual thing to do is....well.....that thing you do when you're _actually_ trying to get pregnant, so whatever we do, it needs to work WELL if you catch my drift. 

I'm slightly nervous about it, neither of us wants/needs children right now. I'm 28, she's 25, we're freshly engaged, and while a bun in the oven wouldn't end our lives, it would be very undesirable at this point in time. We're just both sick of her having to take these stupid pills that are ruining her poor body.

Thank you in advance for the input!


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## Cletus (Apr 27, 2012)

Congratulations on your new family!


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## Married but Happy (Aug 13, 2013)

Natural methods usually lead to parenthood. If hormonal methods cause problems, how about a copper IUD?


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## michzz (Jun 6, 2008)

Get an IUD


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## richardsharpe (Jul 8, 2014)

Good evening Seattle_stranger
If she accidentally becomes pregnant does she plan on having an abortion? 

If not, then you are taking a very big gamble.


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## Cletus (Apr 27, 2012)

michzz said:


> Get an IUD


And if you can't get one of those, get an IOU.


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## SlowlyGoingCrazy (Jun 2, 2011)

seattle_stranger said:


> She has gained considerable weight, her sex-drive is more like sex-parked, she says her sensitivity is diminished which I can attest to as it takes longer for her to orgasm than it used to, and I'm certain it's attributing to many other undesirable effects on her body.


Are you sure it's her birth control? 
In another post you had written about bad eating habits and her not thinking attractiveness is important, hygiene issues, etc. Also talking about how she's missing the "spark"

If there _are _other issues going on, I wouldn't want you to put too much hope in birth control being the only cause and going off it the solution KWIM?

That said I do know women who have done natural family planning. They track temperature and body changes daily. It sounds like quite the chore IMO.


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## jld (Dec 1, 2013)

I have known some devout Catholics who do this. They seem fine with it. Some have mentioned how much closer it has brought them.

We always just used condoms. Is that not an option?


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## meson (May 19, 2011)

I'm with jld, what's wrong with using a condom with spermicide? We used a mix of that with the rhythm method. My wife was extremely regular so we had unprotected sex for two or three days in her cycle with no accidents. After our kids (which were planned) I got a vasectomy which I highly recommend.


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## ThePheonix (Jan 3, 2013)

seattle_stranger said:


> I'm curious who else has done this with success?


This couple:


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## GusPolinski (Jan 21, 2014)

Taken from CNN's front page just now...

For birth control, what's old is new again - CNN.com


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## jld (Dec 1, 2013)

Phoenix, that mom probably was not breastfeeding. Those kids look awfully closely spaced.

Nice article, Gus.


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## Tharco (Jan 16, 2013)

Seattle, I wish you well but I HAVE to share an old joke I heard a long time ago....

Question:What do you call people who use natural birth control methods?
Answer: PARENTS.

Best of luck 
-THARCO


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## michzz (Jun 6, 2008)

jld said:


> I have known some devout Catholics who do this. They seem fine with it. Some have mentioned how much closer it has brought them.
> 
> We always just used condoms. Is that not an option?


My parents were devout Catholics who swore by the rhythm method. I'm one of 11 kids.


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## jld (Dec 1, 2013)

michzz said:


> My parents were devout Catholics who swore by the rhythm method. I'm one of 11 kids.


Hey, me too. I am number 11. Where are you in the family?


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## Cletus (Apr 27, 2012)

michzz said:


> My parents were devout Catholics who swore by the rhythm method. I'm one of 11 kids.


You sure they didn't swear at the rhythm method?


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## meson (May 19, 2011)

Lila said:


> :iagree:
> 
> I've been sexually active for 22 years and have never been able to take hormonal birth control - makes me crazi....er.


LOL!! My wife didn't sit well with the hormones either. 



Lila said:


> I used condoms and the cervical diaphragm before marriage.
> 
> Since getting married (16 years), we've used the rhythm method. On the fertile days, H either pulls out or uses condoms....his choice. P.S., our 1 child was planned and welcomed.


The rhythm method varies. A lot like you have unprotected sex for about three weeks and abstain for the rest. This does not cover the variability of all women but it does work for many. If you're married and a pregnancy is not completely desired this is a pleasant method. Personally we did the reverse and only had unprotected sex for a few days. There are many different ways the rhythm method can be implemented so one needs to choose carefully. 

For us we had unprotected sex for over eleven years at about 200+ sessions. So for her period stability the rhythm method is comparable to condoms plus spermicide which is better the 98%. 



Lila said:


> OP, have you and your girlfriend considered using the diaphragm? The only drawback is that it kills spontaneity. However, if you think there might be a chance for sex, the diaphragm can be worn for up to 12 hours.


We used a diaphragm for awhile. They are sensitive to weight changes and need to be resized periodically especially after pregnancy. I felt the difference and didn't like feel compared to lamb skin condoms. If you are worried about STDs then don't use lamb skin condoms.


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## Aspydad (Oct 17, 2013)

My wife and I tried the natural method as she was having a bad reaction to the pill. First month - I was out of the country for two weeks - came back in town - we calcualted that the timing was good - made love one time - then I left for anoher week of travel and was sick when I got back. Next thing I know my wife is telling me that she thinks she's pregnant (as you might imagine I was like - who is the Father?) and the result of this natural birth control method is my 19 year old daughter who happens to be sitting here in the family room with me right now.


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## seattle_stranger (Nov 4, 2014)

Haha, you guys are too funny. Ok, ok, I get it. So, you don't think using all available known aids, like the papaya and carrot seed thing, and the body temp thing, all atop careful attention to her bodily cycles, coupled with simple vigilance, you don't think this could work out? I could also apply withdrawal MOST times too, and maybe don't for just a couple strategically timed special occasions a month, as opposed to simply never withdrawing as I currently do? CNN seems to think I'm not too crazy. 

Also, in reply to SlowlyGoingCrazy: Good observations, but no we definitely do not think that's any kind of silver bullet. It's one of many changes in our lives that we feel may improve our state of being, along side an exercise schedule, stricter diet, even more communication (even though my fiancee and I definitely are better than most at that) as well as even agreeing to have more sex!!

We definitely do not want to use condoms, I'd rather abstain to be perfectly honest. A diaphragm is in a very close bucket. We have considered the IUD, but the painful initiation scares both of us, and also, we've heard horror stories of infections and pregnancies anyway. With how sensitive her body is, it's an almost guaranteed infection, that's why we stopped using the rings. Infection, every single time. She would even have problems from condoms, so I don't think sticking metal up there is an option for us.

I appreciate all the input. This gives me a very new perspective. I was very hopeful and excited before, now I'm grounded.


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## jld (Dec 1, 2013)

I don't think you should feel discouraged. If we could not have used condoms, NFP would have likely been the next choice.


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## convert (Oct 4, 2013)

For birth control The Male American Indians used to heat their testicles over a fire to get them very hot this was supposed to reduce the sperm or make them inactive????


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## Mr. Nail (Apr 26, 2011)

Don't buy that breast feeding myth, 
- father of 2 daughters born 10 months apart


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## Cletus (Apr 27, 2012)

Just because natural family planning can work doesn't mean that it does work. You have to be astronomically dedicated to reducing your chance of pregnancy below 20% in a given year to use it. 

Let's say you're better than average and get your effectiveness rate up to 90%. That's a 10% chance of pregnancy in a given year. A little math tells us that your 50-50 break even duration for having an unwanted pregnancy is around 6.5 years of using family planning - and that's if you're really good at it. So plan accordingly.


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## Amplexor (Feb 13, 2008)

My wife went to natural birth control years ago. It's called menopause. The end result was great, but the ramp up was a b1tch. Literally!


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## Anonymous07 (Aug 4, 2012)

I can't take hormonal birth control for medical reasons, so my husband and I thought we would do NFP(Creighton Model - track cervical mucus and temperature). We tried it and it was a huge pain in the butt for me(obviously my husband didn't have to do anything) and even after all of that I ended up pregnant shortly after we got married. Whoops. Keep in mind that sperm can survive in the right conditions inside a woman for up to 7 days. I ovulated early that month for some reason and we now have my son(love that kid to death). 

We use condoms now to prevent pregnancy, which has worked well for us.



jld said:


> Phoenix, that mom probably was not breastfeeding. Those kids look awfully closely spaced.


That's an old myth JLD. My period(cycle) came back at 10 weeks post-partum and my son has been exclusively breastfed around the clock. He never went more than 4 hours between nursing sessions. I was always so jealous of the women who didn't get their period back until much later on. My body just wants to be fertile. lol.


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## jld (Dec 1, 2013)

It does not work for everyone. Have you heard of the LAMM method? I thought the chance of getting pregnant with that was shown to be pretty low.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## WandaJ (Aug 5, 2014)

I have very beautiful and smart nephew thanks to natural birth control. start thinking about the names for a kid


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## Cletus (Apr 27, 2012)

jld said:


> It does not work for everyone. Have you heard of the LAMM method? I thought the chance of getting pregnant with that was shown to be pretty low.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


It's only good for at most 6 months postpartum. That could leave you with a lot of 15 month separated babies.


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## WandaJ (Aug 5, 2014)

Lila said:


> Maybe they got the sequence of the cycle wrong?
> 
> Low possibility of babies for the first 10 days in the cycle,
> Baby potential for the next 7-8 days,
> Low possibility for babies for the last 10.


The problem is that you are most horny on the most fertile days. kind of sucks all the fun out of it


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## WandaJ (Aug 5, 2014)

try IUD Mirena. it didn't work for me (killed libido) but works for many of my friends without any issues.


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## Runs like Dog (Feb 25, 2011)

It's called the Rhythm and Blues method.


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## seattle_stranger (Nov 4, 2014)

Lots of good responses, thank you all.


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## arbitrator (Feb 13, 2012)

*And What's Worse Is That Could Be One of Your Pilfered Cigarettes!*


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## lovesmanis (Oct 9, 2014)

My first was conceived the night before I was to start my period.

My second was conceived when I had missed 3 cycles.

My third was conceived on the evening of the one day that I forgot to take a pill.

If you do not want to get pregnant and she cannot take the hormones, go to Costco and get yourself a bulk pack of condoms.


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## Melvynman (Mar 19, 2014)

When she ovulating is going to feel the most sexual. She is going have to resist and repress these desires. If successful it could lead to sexual dysfunction on her part. Find a birth control that works!


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## Anonymous07 (Aug 4, 2012)

Cletus said:


> It's only good for at most 6 months postpartum. That could leave you with a lot of 15 month separated babies.


Yup. Only works for 6 months, but the woman also has to not have her period back yet and be breastfeeding around the clock. It's risky no matter what because the woman never knows when her cycle will return. Mine came back at 10 weeks! I know a few women who used this as birth control and they got pregnant. Their cycles returned before 6 months postpartum. 

I still track my cycles, but we don't rely on it for birth control.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## SunnyT (Jun 22, 2011)

jld said:


> Hey, me too. I am number 11. Where are you in the family?


I am #6 of 11....in my Catholic neighborhood growing up, a family of 6 was considered small. And a family with only 3 kids meant the couple probably had problems conceiving.


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## Starstarfish (Apr 19, 2012)

> She would even have problems from condoms, so I don't think sticking metal up there is an option for us.


Latex allergy? Reaction to spermicide? 

If she has recurring yeast infections, just addressing the sexual side of this equation might not help. If as someone noted from another post, she has poor diet habits, that's going to need to be addressed hand-in-hand to stop the infections. 

She might need to be on a long-term course of anti-fungals to finally wipe it out, speaking from experience.


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## mrsc2012 (Dec 26, 2014)

I've done NFP for the last 5 years with no mishaps. I'm also the crazy cycle lady though(as in charts on my bathroom door crazy) taking my temp daily, checking mucus, and checking my cervix(creep alert!) She will have to be even more dedicated to this than she was to taking the pill. If she wants simple I'd go with the IUD or implanon(spellcheck?) good luck!!


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