# Non-hormonal birth control



## Missy9579 (Jun 12, 2009)

So, I am stopping the pill this month, and we are getting married in 3 months. We know that we don't want to get pregnant before the wedding, and prefer to wait 3 months after due some medical conditions of mine that I am working on my doctor with.

I want to track my cycle and see if I do ovulate (I have PCOS) and there are even a few tests that I need to be off of the pill to have done (blood tests).

Do any of you use non hormonal birth control? I have researched some options. I know condoms are an option, but I just feel like they are so impersonal, and not something I want to use with my fiancee. I know there is a diaphram, but the thought of shoving something up there and it staying up there and then having to fish it out, makes me feel yucky. I had some interest in spermicide..but not sure.

So, any feedback?


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## Sandie_Zitkus (Jun 16, 2009)

Female condom: http://www.avert.org/female-condom.htm


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## Miss Vickie (Jun 16, 2009)

The book Missaf links to is excellent. We used NFP (not for religious reasons but because I didn't want to mess with my hormones) for years, to both avoid pregnancy and to conceive. It worked very well for us and my only "oops" was when I used a cervical cap during a fertile phase and it slipped. 

I'm not sure how well it would work if you have PCOS, though. It tends to work best for people with regular cycles; I'm not sure if your body would give the same signals as someone who is ovulating regularly. OTOH, it may well help you figure out if you are ovulating, particularly if your ovulation signals are more subtle. In addition to the book, there are some really good freeware programs out there to help you chart where you're at. I haven't looked at them in years, but I'm sure there are even more now than when I was using them.

Good luck!


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## BeautifulPoeticDisaster (Jun 16, 2009)

Good luck!!!

I just wanted to add that you shouldn't rely on having PCOS and not ovulating regularly to not get pregnant. That's what Mike and I did and boy were we wrong!!!!

You can be super fat, periodless and have had bareback sex for a year and then poof. Preggers.

And congrats on being engaged


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## Missy9579 (Jun 16, 2009)

Thanks guys. I am very curious to see if I do get a regular cycle without the pill. My endo seems to think that the Metformin will regulate me and make me ovulate. We are both curious to see.

I bought a basal thermometer...I will look into that book. I know I do not want to be pregnant before my wedding, which is only 3 months away, and as I said I would like to wait a few months after that as well. I have been on some sort of hormonal birth control for the last 5 years, so I am a little nervous to see what my body will do. I did not have regular cycles before I was on birth control. I bled for the whole 9 months before I started the Depo shot 5 years ago. I got off the shot a year ago, because they say it takes a year or so to get out of your system. And I knew that when I wanted to have a baby, I wouldn't want to wait the year. So I have been on the pill the last year or year and a half.

I did a bit of research on the basal temp and it seems like it should be easy, but I am affraid I will screw it up.

I will look into that book, and keep you all posted! Thanks for the input, I was thinking no one even read it!


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## olwen (Jun 16, 2009)

Are you all talking about the Rhythm Method? Does that actually work? 

BCV, you might find something on non-hormonal birth control on the museum of menstruation's site.

ETA: I think maybe all the other non-rhythm options involve becoming intimate with your girlie parts so to speak. 

You might also want to buy a 3 pack of condoms with spermicide on them to see if you are allergic or not, before you spend a ton of money on something else.


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## Miss Vickie (Jun 16, 2009)

Olwen, the rhythm method as practiced decades ago involved just using the calendar to figure out when someone is fertile or not. Fortunately, it's evolved into NFP (natural family planning) which involves charting temperature, mucus and other signs to determine when a woman is fertile. So while using a calendar in and of itself probably isn't too effective, my understanding is that NFP is moreso, and that the pregnancies that occur from people using barrier methods during fertile times.

And yes, it does involve becoming intimate with your girlie bits, looking at cervical mucus and the like. The temperature thing is great, but even that can be a red herring; women (hell, PEOPLE!) will just spike a temperature for all kinds of reasons so if you use temperature alone, you could really mis-read your symptoms.

Condoms and spermicide are great, if you're not allergic. They're a low cost, very effective means of avoiding pregnancy.


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## olwen (Jun 16, 2009)

Miss Vickie said:


> Olwen, the rhythm method as practiced decades ago involved just using the calendar to figure out when someone is fertile or not. Fortunately, it's evolved into NFP (natural family planning) which involves charting temperature, mucus and other signs to determine when a woman is fertile. So while using a calendar in and of itself probably isn't too effective, my understanding is that NFP is moreso, and that the pregnancies that occur from people using barrier methods during fertile times.
> 
> And yes, it does involve becoming intimate with your girlie bits, looking at cervical mucus and the like. The temperature thing is great, but even that can be a red herring; women (hell, PEOPLE!) will just spike a temperature for all kinds of reasons so if you use temperature alone, you could really mis-read your symptoms.
> 
> Condoms and spermicide are great, if you're not allergic. They're a low cost, very effective means of avoiding pregnancy.



HA! It amuses me that the rhythm method got a makeover. How girlie. LOL I was aware of taking temperatures and checking mucus and whatnot, I just didn't know it had a name. 

You know, for years I thought my period was irregular and I remembered I had saved a good seven years worth of old calendars where I had marked when my period started and ended, so I went thru them and saw that my period was 33-35 days long. Since then I started paying more attention to my cycle and I realized that sharp pain I get in the nether regions was me ovulating when I started counting the days between that sharp pain and when my period starts and it's always right in the middle of my cycle, so now I know about when my period is going to start. All this time I thought that pain was gas! It seemed strange to me that I had missed that cue most of my life. I wonder how many women don't realize what's going on down there too.


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## Miss Vickie (Jun 17, 2009)

olwen said:


> HA! It amuses me that the rhythm method got a makeover. How girlie. LOL I was aware of taking temperatures and checking mucus and whatnot, I just didn't know it had a name.



Not only did it get a new name, but a whole slew of new products to enhance it, like ovulation predictor kits with pee sticks, mini microscopes to look at cervical mucus, and computer programs. This is not your Catholic mother's rhythm method. 



> You know, for years I thought my period was irregular and I remembered I had saved a good seven years worth of old calendars where I had marked when my period started and ended, so I went thru them and saw that my period was 33-35 days long. Since then I started paying more attention to my cycle and I realized that sharp pain I get in the nether regions was me ovulating when I started counting the days between that sharp pain and when my period starts and it's always right in the middle of my cycle, so now I know about when my period is going to start. All this time I thought that pain was gas! It seemed strange to me that I had missed that cue most of my life. I wonder how many women don't realize what's going on down there too.



Yeah that pain? It's called mittelschmerz (loosely translated "middle pain" for the middle of the cycle), and it's when the follicle bursts, releasing your egg. Pretty cool, huh? I think a lot of women miss that cue, and it's only when those cysts grow so that they REALLY HURT when they rupture that it gets attention.

Crazy stuff, isn't it?


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