Weddingbee boards

Whenever you decide to go off the pill, know that the first few months of charting can be a little confusing because of the residual hormones making the temperature and mucus signs misbehave. I use STM and the first two months off of hormonal birth control my temperature stayed high for the entire cycle and it also made the mucus sign a little strange. By Month 3 my temperatures were cycling as they were supposed to and the mucus sign was quite clear. There are special rules and advice about how to do STM when you first get off the pill. Do check out Taking Charge of Your Fertility.

If you have decided to abstain from intercourse for 6 months leading up to the wedding, that's probably the ideal time to quit taking your hormonal birth control. Trust me, it will be an extra incentive to keep your commitment, and it will allow you to get a handle on STM without worrying about possible pregnancy. Or if you wait until after the wedding, use a barrier method as backup while you're learning. You'll be comfortable with it sooner than you think! I felt good about it after about 3 or 4 months of charting. Now, more than a year later, I can do it with my eyes closed.

You might also want to check out the book Fertility, Cycles, and Nutrition, by Marilyn Shannon (4th edition). The book addresses how your diet and vitamins affect your menstrual cycle, with targeted suggestions for dealing with PMS, PCOS, infertility, cycle irregularities.... I have this book and have implemented some of her suggestions. They improved my energy levels a lot and made my PMS much more manageable. Going off birth control can make your skin misbehave and your emotions feel weird, but after a few months of adjustment you'll probably feel back to your old self. Just like there's a period of adjustment to get on birth control, there's one to get off too. Stress can affect your cycle, so the proximity of the wedding could have an impact, so I would say start earlier rather than later. Good luck! Feel free to pm me if you have more specific questions.

Regarding taking your temperature on the weekends - I own a digital basal thermometer called the Petite Sophia, and it has a built-in alarm that is loud enough to wake me if I leave it on my bedside table, but not loud enough to wake DH. It goes off, I stick the thermometer in my mouth, I fall back asleep, it beeps again 5 minutes later, I take it out, and I go right back to sleep. I thought it would be a big deal but honestly it is so second nature that I barely even wake up.

The Petite Sophia is pricey but it is great because it has software that uses the same charting method to record where you are in your cycle. I use it as confirmation of what I see on my paper chart because sometimes I have a bit of trouble figuring it out entirely on my own.

You mentioned your doctor's reaction to NFP: My doc looked at me like I was a crazy-lady when I told him. Most doctors don't know anything about NFP, or if they do, they think it is the rhythm method (which it is not, because the rhythm method is a failure).

For temperature taking, it's not hard to wake up and do it. My husband is in charge of it. Half the time I barely hear the alarm and just feel him stick a thermometer in my mouth and take it out again when it's done. The biggest difficulty is remembering to keep my mouth closed because usually I am half asleep! Our thermometer also remembers the last recorded temp so that you can look at it later to record.

However, you do not actually have to take it every day, although it's recommended you do to get in the habit. Once you have recorded your temperature rise (around day 19 or so on a 28-day cycle) you do not need to take your temperature for the rest of that cycle. Once the temp goes up (3+ days of 0.4 degrees rise), it stays up and you're infertile for the rest of the cycle. Also, assuming cycles of 26 days or longer for the last 6+ cycles, the first 6 days (mensturation is day 1) are considered infertile and thus you do not need to temp. So in realistic practice I take my temp on days 6-20 or so, which is about half the time. As you get to know your body you can learn what rules are right for you to apply and when.

As for taking it at the same time, I have actually found that my temp pattern is clear as long as I take it immediately on waking up. A few hours variation doesn't make a difference to the temp pattern for me, like if I wake up late on weekends. (What does really impact it is if you have a fever if you are sick though!) I don't recommend that method, for a beginner especially, but my point is that with practice you find a way to make STM fit your needs and your ability to tolerate risk. I am willing to be that my temp is still okay even if I take it 3 hours later than usual on a weekend, for example.

As for skin issues and PMS cramps/tenderness, I have had great success with taking 1-2 Aleve per day in the end of the cycle. This method is discussed here on acne.org (and there's even been a real live scientific study done about it): http://www.acne.org/messageboard/Aleve-premenstrual-mid-t114587.html Modifying your diet also really helps.

@MrsK2be: :-( Just did a search for greasy hair/birth control on Weddingbee because I have this. I was wondering if anyone else had greasy hair after coming off BCP. Mind if I threadjack a two year old thread? Anyone? Does anyone else have this symptom? I feel like I'm going through puberty again with this hair! Haha gross.

Boo. My face is greasier than normal too, but I've never had skin issues, so I'm not worried about breakng out. My hair on the other hand, is my pride and joy lol, and it has looked nasty the past few days!

Ummm and now that I actually have my first period post-pill, my fingers are so swollen that I can't wear my e-ring. I suppose the pill kept the boating down.