Hello friends! Since it’s the 21st century and I’m kind of an open book, I wanted to spend a few minutes chatting about all things birth control—the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. Everyone has their own thoughts, opinions, successes or horror stories & I’m no different. In this post, I’ll share my experience with hormonal birth control and the method I turned to over the last year.

I made the decision to start hormonal birth control with “the pill” at the beginning of 2016. At the time I was struggling with anxiety and had a history of depression that I had a good handle on—until I started hormonal birth control.

If you’re not familiar with how hormonal birth control works, here’s the Cliff Notes version: Synthetic versions of the hormones estrogen and progestin work together to prevent your body from ovulating. It also makes it difficult for little sperm to find an egg. Some forms even change the lining of a woman’s womb so in the event that an egg is fertilized, it’s unlikely to be implanted and develop into a pregnancy. There’s a little anatomy lesson for ya, kids!

Now back to my experience. Almost immediately, feelings of depression came flooding back & were completely overwhelming. I had no motivation for school, planning my wedding, going out & at times, I felt like I was tired of being alive. While I had struggled with depression in the past, it was nothing like this; I knew it was the hormones from the pill.

So, I went back to my doctor, explained my symptoms & asked to be switched to a different brand. But LOL, they were less than understanding. In fact, I was told: “Well, it sounds like you need to go on an anti-depressant”. Uhh, WHAT? This was a huge turning point in my life because I realized that sometimes I need to be my own advocate based on what my body, not to mention common sense, is telling me.

I ended up starting a new pill in May of 2016 & while the feelings of depression subsided almost immediately, this new pill made me SO moody. Like, I was a newlywed who was supposed to be so in love, but instead I turned into a total b**** (if we’re being honest), who was happy one minute, mean the next & would start weeping for no reason. But seriously, I was a wreck & I knew it. After a few more months, it was back to the drawing board. I looked into the hormonal arm implant & IUD, but ultimately, I didn’t want to put hormones in my body in a way that would be a hassle to remove if my body didn’t respond well.

Then I discovered Natural Cycles…

Natural Cycles is an FDA approved birth control app. Yep, an app on your phone can help you avoid getting pregnant. Natural Cycles monitors your basal body temperature and uses an algorithm to determine the 6 days in your cycle that your body is fertile (the one day of ovulation and the 5 days leading up to ovulation). On those 6 days, the app will show red—meaning abstain or use an alternate method of protection. On the other days of the month, the app shows a green reading—meaning there’s a low risk of getting pregnant. Without hormones or physical barriers, Natural Cycles provides a 93% success rate (based on a study of 15,000 women), *when used correctly. What the whattttt!

Here’s how it works: Every morning, before getting out of bed, you take your temperature with a basal thermometer. A basal thermometer measures to the nearest one-hundredth rather than the tenth decimal. For example: 98.6 versus 98.68. Even minimal changes in your body’s basal temperature can be an indication of where your body’s natural hormone levels are at in your cycle. At first, you’ll have a lot of “red days”, but as you consistently measure & the app’s algorithm learns your cycle, you’ll be granted more “green days”.

In addition to logging your temperature, you also document the days of your period in the app for another confirmation of your cycle. The app also allows you to label your temperature as irregular, based off of a lack of sleep or even consuming alcohol the night before. Our bodies are amazing in that they are so sensitive to even the slightest changes!

Because Natural Cycles is a science-based approach to the idea of Natural Family Planning, it’s also a great tool for those who are tracking their fertility with a goal of becoming pregnant; you can change the mode on the app to make that your goal. Because there are no hormones, Natural Cycles is also great for those who just want to have a better understanding of their body and the incredible cycles it goes through.  The subscription to Natural Cycles is $89.99 for the year paid annually (about $7.50 a month) and automatically renews, or $9.99 a month of you opt to pay monthly.

But if you sign up using my link or use the code “Lauren” at checkout, you’ll receive 20% off an annual subscription, plus a free thermometer! Woot woot!

*I want to include this for full disclosure: There have been claims that the app was not as effective as advertised. But there is also evidence that the women who ended up getting pregnant were those who did not follow the recommendations of the app.... When doing research on natural and holistic alternatives, take everything “with a grain of salt”. Understand that pharmaceutical companies cannot profit off of an app that prevents pregnancy & in addition, this technology means people who might have been paying for birth control at the pharmacy will no longer do so. With the potential threat of losing money, they’ll do everything in their power to put holistic alternatives down. Just keep that in the back of your head.

I hope this was helpful in your quest for understanding all things natural & holistic. Or if you just wanted to know about intimate details of my life, I hope it was entertaining. Lol. Anywho, if you find yourself with more questions or just want to gab with someone about your experience with hormonal birth control, I’m all ears!