Hormonal coil (IUS) vs Fertility awareness methods (FAM)

I got the coil fitted to control heavy periods with contraception as a bonus. I’m aware I might be still in the settling down phase, this is my experience so far. Fitting was uncomfortable but I’ve had 3 vaginal birth so nothing touches that! Cramps for a few days but settled down. So far I have been bleeding most of the time since having it fitted, not heavy, light, but constant and irregular patterns. Very annoying. Low self esteem and low mood. Weight gain, despite being more physically active and eating healthily. Increase in headaches and migraines. Generally unimpressed at the lack of connection with healthcare professionals and Mirena coil users. So many women reporting poor experience yet doctors aren’t relaying this information. Will be having it removed. I choose control over my body over convenience.

First 6 months is an adjustment period so I had plenty of headache and feeling sick but after a while my body used to it and I am fine. 100% contraception effectiveness and no heavy period.

Insertion was definitely a little more than just "uncomfortable', it was incredibly painful and emotionally felt very invasive. Took about a day or two to get over the cramps. Felt very faint the first night after having it inserted. Have had experience with SA before though and after telling the nurses they were incredibly supportive throughout the procedure. Side effects wise I got on pretty well for the first year. My periods did stop after a few months, which I found to be a bit strange as I like to track my cycle and I found this a bit strange at first, as I could feel my other symptoms of my cycle but felt a bit off kilter when I didn't have my usual period. Not having to worry about condoms or taking a pill everyday is great though. But after about a year of having the hormonal coil I've noticed my mood and mental health take a bit of a dip. I feel a bit like my emotions are just sitting a bit flatter, I'm a bit more irritable, I don't experience quite the same amount of joy as I used to. I do have a lot going on in life at the moment, but I can't help but notice day to day, even on good days, that I'm not as cheerful or reacting to things in the same way I used to. Emotionally not feeling like myself I don't feel is worth this,no I'm going to seek advice on whether to have this removed or not I think.

Before using FAM, I was using the copper IUD religiously for about 11 years. I had a mixed experience even if overall positive with it, but back in 2021 after a year of chronic yeast infections and finally discovering it had slipped, I decided to not replace it. In that time, my periods were always like clockwork and I was tracking my cycles in a few years leading up to this. Not just tracking the days, but my symptoms and body sensations as I entered into each phase. I was using a period tracking app called Eve, but I knew not to rely on it religiously, it was just for a rough idea of when my fertile times and period would be. I decided to just continue with this, because I had built such a deep relationship with my body and have no problem checking my cervical fluids. I used it until 2022 when we decided to try to conceive, and we conceived within a few months, even though sadly, it was ectopic. I wouldn't recommend this method to anybody without months of really knowing your body and listening to it-- learning your cues for when you know you're about to ovulate, roughly timing how long your follicular phase is, and it helps if your periods are regular. While apps can be really helpful, you have to do the hard work of building that relationship with your body. I wouldn't recommend it for somebody just starting out, or if your periods are irregular.

I had been on PoP contraceptive pill for nearly 10yrs, I have also tried CoC's and injection prior. I wanted to learn more about my body and be natural. This method takes a lot of research and understanding in order for it to work and be effective. I read books and watched YouTube videos to educate myself and joined FB/Reddit group. I use an app called read your body to input my temperature and other symptoms to track where I am in my cycle. It is all done manually by me and not relying on a system like natural cycles to do it for me as this is less reliable....Since stopping the pill my libido came back which is great and I feel emotions depending on where I am in my cycle. My Cycle regulated within 2 months after stopping the pill and for the past 3 years I have learned what is normal for me. My cycle is very text book 28 days long on the dot every month, I ovulate on day 15. This method works for me, I haven't gotten pregnant but on the days during my cycle I could get pregnant, we use condoms rather than abstaining. I would say it took me about 6 months to learn and feel confident in this approach.

I’ve been using NC since 2021, I use to love this app and tell everybody about it until I had sex on a green day and got pregnant. I used to think it would never happen to me as I’ll use the app right. Measured every day and was very religious with the app. However, I ovulated earlier and fell pregnant! The app only goes off previous ovulation compared to current meaning it doesn’t prevent pregnancy as yes you have red days but it’s just a prediction! For example green day on day 6 (had sex) and ovulated on day 10 (red days) and fell pregnant. Ovulated 5 days early! Sperm can live inside you for 5 days hence why I’m pregnant and will be getting an abortion.

I've had an entirely positive experience using Natural Cycles. While using the impant I was struggling with acne, mood swings, irregular periods. And since swapping to use Natural Cycles I've felt much better in myself, my periods are very regular, I feel I understand my body and cycle so much more, and my skin has cleared up. In 5 years of using it it's been 100% effective at preventing pregnancy, I'm very careful to measure consistently, and I use the Oura Ring to help get accurate readings. But this small effort seems like a small price to pay in exchange for getting rid of all the nasty side effects of my previous contraception

I started using Natural Cycles a few years back. I was never on any birth control as a teenager as my mum didn't want my young body being put on hormones. However, once I settled down with my current long-term partner, I wanted to have the peace of mind that I wasn't going to fall pregnant. The first few years of using Natural Cycles were great and empowering, understanding the changes in my body and knowing when I had ovulated was great. What I had failed to understand was it predicted with its algorithm your date of next month's ovulation based on your previous month. Well. I managed to fall pregnant not once, but twice in the space of 8 months. The first time around, I thought it was my fault and I had not taken my temps properly (even though I never had an issue in the past). I had a surgical abortion as I was 3 months pregnant before I actually found out. I was willing to try again and really get to grips with it even though the clinic was very strongly advising me to go on some form of HBC. In the past 6 months, my body has recovered from the abortion and got back into its usual swing of periods and I saw I was ovulating again. This time around I invested in an Oura ring to pair with my NC app to be certain of my temps being taken. All was well, I stuck to my green and red days religiously. I use the pull-out method on red days (if we do have sex). And I trust our pull-out method completely because we definitely know he does not ejaculate inside of me or we tend to stick to oral sex rather than penetrative. I noticed my temperatures lately had been higher than usual and my ovulation was confirmed a bit earlier than usual. I didn't think much of it as I had stuck to our red days and green days as shown. When I went on calendar view, I saw that my fertile window just gone was a lot shorter than 6 days and I had unprotected sex (on a green day) that was 2 days before I ovulated. I did a test and indeed am pregnant yet again. I contacted NC straight away and got them to go through my data, which they did and have taken full responsibility for the muck up with their algorithm. I advise you to check your fertile windows and note any other observations (cervical mucus), because the algorithm cannot be trusted. And from what I now know, ovulation may change throughout different cycles (stress, sleep etc). I will no longer be using them ever again which is sad as I did so enjoy using it.

Amazing

First few months lots of ‘red’ days (no unprotected sex days). Coming off the pill was a personal choice and brought back lots of issues i.e needing prescription pain medication. However, my sex drive and mental health have significantly improved and impacted on my relationship. I’ve used natural cycles for 2 years religiously and no problems or pregnancy.

I’ve been using the Natural Cycles app with the Oura Ring for about 6 months now, and it has been the best thing I’ve ever done! No side effects and I’ve never felt so informed about my body. I love that the app also informs my partner of when green/red days begin, so the contraceptive burden is on him too (in that he doesn’t have to ask me what type of day it is - we both know, which is nice). For peace of mind, I used the Oura ring for an initial period of three months to let the Natural Cycles app gather data on my basal temperature, whilst using condoms as a contraceptive. Then, when I felt confident that the app had a few months of data (and I was familiar with my own patterns/regular cycles), my partner and I reduced condom use to red days only. We have had zero pregnancy scares in 6 months, and using this as contraception has vastly improved our sex life. I’d honestly recommend it to anyone who is looking to escape hormonal contraceptives. The Oura Ring is expensive, but there’s no way I could remember to take my temperature every morning otherwise (and no way am I setting my alarm every morning… Sundays are for sleeping in!), so I’d recommend buying one if you do plan to use this as a long-term contraceptive and don’t want to be chained to the digital thermometer/same wake-up time every day.

I have used Natural Cycles for years now (alongside condoms when ovulating) and love using a non-hormonal method. I used to get side effects from the combined pill and mini pill so I have seen an improvement since coming off those. The data aspect of recording your temperature and seeing the patterns of my cycle is something I find really interesting. Plus the reminders of ovulation/upcoming period/breast checks are always helpful. I know myself and my body better since tracking my cycles.

The Natural Cycles algorithm does not work to accurately track ovulation and therefore prevent pregnancy. Evidence based FAM/symptothermal methods use a '2 check method' including temperature and cervical fluid patterns. Natural Cycles only tracks your body temperature. After using for a few months I noticed my safe/green days changed after the date. So I had (what I thought was) safe unprotected sex in the non-fertile window, but then by the end of that cycle those days had changed to red/not safe. Surprise surprise, I got pregnant and had to arrange a termination. Since stopping this I have started using fertility awareness methods successfully for 4+yrs. Natural Cycles is just too risky without a 2 check method, and basing it on an algorithm.