Non-Hormonal Birth Control Options (Use Them In Reverse for Fertility Awareness)

Welcome, Gorgeous! There are SO many Facebook Ads right now about non hormonal birth control options, and I’m FREAKING LOVING them ALL!

I wrote this post on National Women’s Day in 2013, and I was *so* surprised to catch so much flack for it then. I want to support your body by leaving synthetic hormones out of it, so that you find balance through your cycle. Among other things when I published this post, I was called anti-feminist.

So, haters? Here we go again.

Maybe you’re more open now. And maybe you’re not.

But I ain’t stopping.

Skipping away from synthetic hormones can make such a big difference to your health.

Weight loss can be easier when you’re not on the pill, head fogginess can go away, cravings for sugar can decrease and you won’t be draining out really critical stress-balancing nutrients each time you take your dose.

Beyond that, you actually learn what your cycle is doing, which can be critically important for improving your health as a woman.

For example, if your cycle is really irregular, an awesome nutrition and herbal plan can balance your hormones and restore your cycle to what is natural and helpful for you.

If you were synthetically dosed into a period (withdrawal bleed) each month, you’d never have the knowledge that your cycle was off. Sometimes this leads to immense frustration, hurt and pain when you jump off the pill in the future, should you be looking to try to conceive at that point.

Plus, taking into account that the pill drains out critical nutrients for supporting pregnancy means that unless you’re in the know and adding those nutrients back in after pill use, it can take a LONG time for your body to balance back to the point of healthy, sustained conception and pregnancy.

The deepest heartbreak from that can be reason enough to make a change now: if you see yourself conceiving at some point in the future, if there is a chance that you want kids in the future, take a good, strong, thorough look at the birth control you’re using now.

So, now that you know some of the base reasons that I love non hormonal birth control options, let’s take a look at what’s out there for you.

 

Non Hormonal Birth Control Option One: Intrauterine Devices (IUDs)

Non-hormonal IUDs are made out of copper and nylon, and are basically a metal T that gets inserted into your uterus. The horizontal part of the T shape holds it in your uterus, and the vertical part of the T blocks the passageway that sperm would use to get to and fertilize your egg – they think this is the way in which it’s effective.

Studies suggest that this method of contraception is between 96% and 98% effective. The T stays in you and can work effectively for around 5 years, and can be removed if you want to get pregnant in that time frame.

I personally don’t like this option for my body and I’ll tell you why.

As with any medical intervention, there are risks involved. Some women report severe pain and cramping, which can subside after the first couple of months of use.

There’s a low rate of infection within the first month, but it is still a risk.

And lastly, there’s a risk that it could puncture your uterus, or that complications could affect your reproductive system so much that you could become infertile for the rest of your life. That’s a risk that – however small – is still too risky for me.

So what’s Next?

 

Non Hormonal Birth Control Option Two: The FAM (Fertility Awareness Method) or The Justisse Method

These are two methods I know of that have clinical data supporting their reliability as a method of birth control. The link between them is:

Basal Body Temperature
Cervical Fluid
Cervical Position

Basically, you have to take your temperature upon waking each morning (before you get up).

Then you notice your cervical fluid changes – ever notice sometimes you have discharge, and sometimes you don’t? The consistency of that discharge can be a sign that you’re fertile during that time. If you have unrecognized food allergies or yeast in your body, this can be tricky to use alone. Which is why these systems look at three signs of fertility all together to get a holistic picture of what your body is doing in the moment.

Lastly, you can check your cervical position (though this is not considered mandatory by both methods). Your cervix raises and lowers throughout your cycle.

By charting all 3 of these signs together, you’ll be able to recognize when you ovulate. By avoiding sex on the days before and after ovulation (which you’ll be able to predict effectively based on those 3 signals), you’ll be able to avoid getting pregnant.

Studies show these two methods are between 98% and 99.6% effective.

Learning More About This Non Hormonal Birth Control Option:

The Justisse User Guide and the amazing bible of fertility called Taking Charge of Your Fertility are both awesome resources to help you learn how you can recognize your ovulatory signs, and how you can be in control of what that means for you.

The downfalls of these methods that I found, was that I was scared to trust this method alone. I was the one tracking everything, and I felt super-responsible for my body (which is great!), but also really stressed about not having anything externally say, “your tracking is right!”.

Even when I had a contraceptive coach trained in this method tell me that everything was right, I never trusted it COMPLETELY.

I should mention, I do NOT want kids until I’m ready. So for me, a non hormonal birth control option has to, in my mind, be an exact science that I can 100% rely on in my body.

I trusted the method and I loved the science behind it, and I got consistent results in my cycle. What I didn’t trust was myself, so I wanted something that worked with this cycle, so I could combine my results with something else that would give me more confidence.

Another downfall can be abstinence on the fertile days.

And lastly, you have to take your temperature in the mornings at around the same time. And to be reliable, you have to have slept for at least 3 hours. Alcohol consumption the night before, getting less than 3 hours of sleep regularly and changing time zones often can be challenges with this method.

The Next Option:

 

Non Hormonal Birth Control Option Three: The Lady-Comp

The Lady-Comp was something I felt awesome about using alongside noting my other symptoms (from option two).

It gives you a green light to have unprotected sex (note: if you want, and also, it won’t protect you from STI’s or STD’s) on non-fertile days, and it gives you a red light on fertile or upcoming fertile days which it predicts based on your past cycles. It has a built in alarm to wake you up in the morning, and a thermometer built onto it to record your temperature.

While it’s learning your unique cycle, it’ll also give you orange days. Those are days the device isn’t sure of, so if you’re looking to be extra safe, avoid having sex on these days.

I found this was empowering to me, because in addition to me noticing my ovulatory signs (option two, above), I could rely on a machine verifying what I knew to be correct. I got more confident in my own abilities to read my body properly.

Studies testing this device showed that the rate of successful contraception out of 16,464 female cycles was 99.3%.

The Downfalls of The Lady-Comp:

You have to take your temperature before you get up each morning, and you have 3 hour variance to do it. So if you take your temperature at 6 am on weekdays, you should aim to take it before 9 am on weekends.

I was able to take it and go back to sleep on weekends easily, sometimes while still asleep (thank you muscle memory).

You have to avoid intercourse on fertile (red light) days to have full protection from pregnancy using this method. When your hormones are balanced, these tend to be your most turned on days, as an FYI (hello, biology).

You get more red light days while the Lady-Comp is learning your cycle (the first few months).

And lastly, the Lady-Comp costs about $485+tax (they have another computer with the same reliability, the same built-in thermometer, and the same computer system called the Pearly for $330+tax).

From my experience, it lasted about 6 years. I think you can get the battery replaced (that’s the only part that went on it). But after 6 years, 2 years of tracking on paper before that, and knowing my other symptoms, I feel pretty comfy now with my body.

 

Notes on other Non Hormonal Birth Control Options I’ve seen:

Diaphragms – are another option brought up in the comments section of this post. There are two things I would pay attention to/don’t love with this method.

1. Are you using spermicide with the diaphragm? There can be a lot of nasty chemicals that I wouldn’t put near my reproductive system in spermicide. And,

2. With spermicide use, the diaphragm method has a 6%* failure rate. Is that too risky for you?

*Those numbers are from “Taking Charge of Your Fertility” by Tony Weschler, MPH

Condoms – I don’t like that some condoms come with lubricant on them. The companies didn’t (at last check) write the ingredients of the lubricant on the package. Considering there can be a lot of hormone altering chemicals in conventional lubricants, that doesn’t feel like a great option. HOWEVER, there are some awesome condom companies out there doing incredible things in the world, too. So it really depends on the brand. Condoms without spermicide have a two percent failure rate, and user error falls at 15% (so know what you’re doing). Those effectiveness rates are from Taking Charge of Your Fertility.

Apps/New Technology for Non Hormonal Birth Control:

My Top Choice:

Kindara + Wink – is an app with a synced thermometer that I learned about through another reader. It allows you to chart your cervical mucous and position if you want to, too. After playing around with the app, I think it’s awesome. Wink is the thermometer part that is $129 to purchase (it’ll sync with the app). Otherwise it looks like you can use the app for free and input information from any basal body thermometer manually.

After a 45 day trial, it looks like you *may* have to upgrade to their premium plan for $4.99/month or $49.99/year, but I’m not sure currently what you’re able to track on the free version (if you can still track cervical fluid, position and basal body temperature, you’ll still be following FAM effectively). It’s based on the Fertility Awareness Method, which has been shown to be 99.6% effective at preventing pregnancy when fertility data is collected and interpreted properly.

Other Options I’ve seen:

Persona – is something I learned about from a reader. It measures hormones throughout your cycle when you first pee in a day (and measure on a strip). It had a few downfalls for me. First, it’s only 94% effective which leaves too much of a risk for me. You have to have a cycle between 23-32 days to use it, and not all women do. You’re using throw away test strips to measure hormones that fluctuate throughout your cycle, which will add to pollution. Lastly, you’ll have to buy new test strips consistently.

Natural Cycles – is an app that makes a big deal about it being certified for contraception in Europe. It currently says that it’s 93% effective, and it’s $89 a year to use (they send you a thermometer as part of it).

The Leaf Health Tracker – Is not reliable as a form of contraception. They mention a built-in fertility tracker, which I orginally interpreted as it taking your basal body temperature each day (and was incredibly excited for its launch). I was hugely disappointed when I found out there’s just a period tracker in the app.

 

Sources:
http://www.justisse.ca/MediaGallery/Documents/Effectiveness.pdf
https://www.lady-comp.co.uk/medical-basics/clinical-tests/
Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Tony Weschler, MPH