NFP Questions

mica178 · November 2010

In fairness to doctors, i doesn't behoove us to prescribe medications. Unless a doctor owns pharmaceutical company stock, he/she doesn't profit from prescribing (at least in the US. I know that in France, doctors can own small pharmacies in their office). However, it is a lot less time consuming to prescribe a pill than to argue with a patient about why he/she doesn't need the latest drug advertised on TV and to teach the lifestyle modification required to reverse/slow the condition.

It's easy to become jaded when the 50th person says he will not quit smoking to save his heart, so could I please just write a prescription for the incredibly expensive medication he saw in Time Magazine? I work hard to keep on offering alternatives to medications, but many people feel that they need to leave the doctor's office with a prescription in hand or they wasted their time coming to the appointment.

Riss91 · November 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_nfp-questions?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:830cc455-e9bd-4d05-a748-879feb16c4c2Post:87fa67a8-ae20-4f83-84b8-dca3b15262e8">Re: NFP Questions</a>:
[QUOTE]I many people feel that they need to leave the doctor's office with a prescription in hand or they wasted their time coming to the appointment.
Posted by mica178[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE]In Response to Re: NFP Questions : I think they way things are now, we have the responsibility to teach the women around us about their other options because the medical community doesn't seem set on doing it. Yes there are doctors out there, but it's not advertised.
Posted by mcdol3[/QUOTE]

I agree - society wants the "quick fix" and so doctors are in a hard place, so without spreading the word that NFP is easy, benefical AND cheap, the general mindset will always be pills are the answer.

Calypso1977 · November 2010

"a pill for every ill".

this definteily goes way beyond just the BC pill.

kaitlyn142 · November 2010

Agape, that is absolutely rediculous that just a change in diet will cure all ills. For my part, 5 seperate doctors couldn't figure out why my period gives me cramps so hard I hallucinate. I have tried to knock myself unconscious to escape the pain. And this is WITH an incredibly strict lactose-free diet.

Calling someone immoral because they take an available cure is insane.

agapecarrie · November 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_nfp-questions?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:830cc455-e9bd-4d05-a748-879feb16c4c2Post:60d94c91-03e1-444f-9a94-a02e5bf536f8">Re: NFP Questions</a>:
[QUOTE]Agape, that is absolutely rediculous that just a change in diet will cure all ills. For my part, 5 seperate doctors couldn't figure out why my period gives me cramps so hard I hallucinate. I have tried to knock myself unconscious to escape the pain. And this is WITH an incredibly strict lactose-free diet. Calling someone immoral because they take an available cure is insane.
Posted by kaitlyn142[/QUOTE]

It would be....and I didn't do that.

READ my posts...Seriously, a few more times...because it is clear you haven't.

First, in the beginning, I said it WAS moral to take a medicine that's secondary effect causes sterility. See? you missed that part

2nd. I said, because we care, we are talking about other ways to fix the problem because there are many many docs (that have been linked to here) that disagree that the pill is helpful at all, and they find the real reason there is a problem and fix it.

YOU ARE NOT CURING IT. ..just to be clear. It is not a cure what you are doing. You are covering it up...just like taking advil for a headache every day. You are covering up the pain and the symptoms, but you are not curing the proble.

IT IS NOT insane to say a change of diet can do it. It did for me. Blood sugar is very closely related to PCOS. I did NOT say it cures all ills.

kaitlyn142 · November 2010

Just because it did for you, though, doesn't mean it works for everyone. Not every reproductive problem is PCOS. Your post very much sounded like you were saying that women should just work harder instead of taking an easy route (which seriously? If there were a permanent fix, I'd do it. Being on the pill is such a bother).

How is being on the pill not a cure if the problem is a hormonal imbalance? Instead of asprin to cover up a headache, it's more like anti-depressants for the clinically depressed to stabilize a chemical imbalance in the brain.

agapecarrie · November 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_nfp-questions?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:830cc455-e9bd-4d05-a748-879feb16c4c2Post:88961d6b-d07d-41cb-baac-b91223667d06">Re: NFP Questions</a>:
[QUOTE]Just because it did for you, though, doesn't mean it works for everyone. Not every reproductive problem is PCOS. Your post very much sounded like you were saying that women should just work harder instead of taking an easy route (which seriously? If there were a permanent fix, I'd do it. Being on the pill is such a bother). How is being on the pill not a cure if the problem is a hormonal imbalance? Instead of asprin to cover up a headache, it's more like anti-depressants for the clinically depressed to stabilize a chemical imbalance in the brain.
Posted by kaitlyn142[/QUOTE]

I didn't say every reproductive problem was PCOS. You said I was being ridiculous for saying that a change in diet can fix something like cysts, and I am responding to that.
The pill is not curing the problem. It is covering it up. The pill is not fixing a hormonal balance problem. A cure for a problem would actually fix the problem. The pill is simply covering up the issue.

There are links to NFP-only docs here --they can help you without putting artificial chemicals in your body.

mcdol3 · November 2010

Can we just shut this thread down and not argue anymore? Everyone has an opinion. Everyone's opinion differs.
I think we have lost what this thread was really about in the beginning.

Riss91 · November 2010

I think that everyone would agree that the best thing to do is to seek out whatever treatment available BESIDES the BCP initially. If those treatments do not work, BCP should be used as a last resort.

agapecarrie · November 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_nfp-questions?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:830cc455-e9bd-4d05-a748-879feb16c4c2Post:c6124734-f94f-458c-a44e-97c4b8d8c57f">Re: NFP Questions</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: NFP Questions : In Response to Re: NFP Questions : Actually, you're both right. Many doctors do suggest a change in diet and exercise to help with PCOS because doctors have found that weight loss has helped. Many doctors also prescribe birth control pills, as they do correct the hormonal imbalance. Metformin can also help in patients with high levels of insulin or who have pre-diabetes/ diabetes.
Posted by bree4305[/QUOTE]

Bcp do not correct hormonal imbalances. They shut the system down.

A correction of a hormonal imbalance is prometrium...a natural progesterone that helps boost the body to make more of its own...still cycling on its own.

agapecarrie · November 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_nfp-questions?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:830cc455-e9bd-4d05-a748-879feb16c4c2Post:5961bbc3-e70c-490c-b37f-fc2b24c17dde">Re: NFP Questions</a>:
[QUOTE]<a href="http://www.youngwomenshealth.org/pcosinfo.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.youngwomenshealth.org/pcosinfo.html</a> Here it says that birth control pills do in fact correct hormone imbalances. Yes, prometrium (progesterone) can work as part of a hormone replacement therapy by decreasing the amount of estrogen in the uterus and balancing an imbalance caused by too much estrogen, but to say that bcp does not balance hormones is untrue- because they do. Yes, bcp also prevent ovulation but someone on bcp still has a functioning system, it is just cycling in a different way. Also- How does prometrium boost the body to make more progesterone on its own? I tried finding information on this myself but couldn't so can you direct me to where you learned it from? The only information I found was saying that prometrium increases progesterone levels (much like taking vitamin C will increase your vitamin C levels, but won't necessarily make your body produce more vitamin C).
Posted by bree4305[/QUOTE]

No, it doesn't "cycle in a different way". It doesn't cycle at all!

It shuts the system down, then allows buildup bleeding once a month (or not even depending on the kind you are taking).

Please I beg you, see one of the doctors on this site, read up on the harms of the pill. Its devastating.
<a href="http://www.omsoul.com" rel="nofollow">www.omsoul.com</a>

A body does not "produce" its own vitamins, which is why a body needs nourishment with vitaminds. A body produces its own hormones.

agapecarrie · November 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_nfp-questions?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:615Discussion:830cc455-e9bd-4d05-a748-879feb16c4c2Post:05c4057e-0033-42f5-8f72-657fa71c4402">Re: NFP Questions</a>:
[QUOTE]A body produces its own hormones, but a supplemental hormone won't make the body produce more of it- the supplemental hormone is just that, supplementing what the body already produces. The pill is working wonders for me, but thank you.
Posted by bree4305[/QUOTE]

Again, it makes it look like everything is fine, but its destructive. You already said earlier that if there was a way to fix it without the pill, you would do it. Several people have linked and offered help in different ways to find that out, and now you are not going to even look into it? wow.

Also, the book fatherless as I mentioned before is also quite revealing.

mica178 · November 2010

Our bodies' endocrine system works by a lot of feedback loops. So our bodies regulate hormone production based on the current levels of hormones in our body. There are feedback loops so when there's sufficient levels, we stop making more until the level is low again and we need to make more.

When a woman takes OCP or other hormone supplements, her body's feedback loop recognizes the synthetic hormone and either decreases or shuts down its natural production.

So while OCPs might correct your hormone levels, they also shut down the body's natural production of sex hormones. And, as agapecarrie said, OCPs do not cure PCOS. They treat PCOS. There's a difference.

For some, the symptoms may be unbearable and relief might not come by other means. As Catholics, hopefully we would have tried alternative methods of symptom control (and even cure) before resorting to the Pill, especially if we are sexually active.

Eta: it should also be mentioned that normally the levels of estrogen and progesterone vary throughout the month. OCPs do not mimic these levels (thus do not truly correct hormonal imbalances), because if they did, women would still ovulate, defeating the original purpose of the Pill.

agapecarrie · November 2010

and NFP meeting is not looking at options regarding this.

I'm not telling you what to do with your body. I'm telling you the truth about the harms you are doing to it.

Try this one on: The world health organization ranks it as a class I carcinogen

http://www.jillstanek.com/contraception/did-you-know-th.html

Calypso1977 · November 2010

bree, i was on the Pill for 10 years. i regret it to this day. i was misinformed about how it works, and i genuinely had no idea of what i was really doing to my body. at the time, like you, I thought at that point in my life bcp was the best choice for me personally.

having now been off of it for year and a half, i have serious concerns that it may have caused irrepairable damage based on what i'm seeing with my cycles.

while i'm not sure yet if i even want a child, knowing that the choice may have already been made for me is tough to swallow. i dont know your age, but id hate to see you in the same position as me when you are in your 30's. if you really want kids, think about some of the suggestions here. you may thank yourself later.

bibliophileemily · November 2010

Wow...this thread went in a completely different direction than I thought it would...

To kind of get back on topic, thanks so much for the advice! I can't remember who linked to the NFP-only doctor website, but I found three people in my state, one in my hometown! Thank you SO much!

I think I'll order the NFP Home Study Course from the Couple-to-Couple League since there are no classes available at my parish and get started right away!

Hopefully it won't be too difficult to learn on my own; I think the website said that the teachers will check the charts for the first few months.

agapecarrie · November 2010

most parishes don't have classes. I highly recommend getting a teacher right away.

If you will be using an NFP only doc, I would recommend using Creighton method, as that is the method docs use for diagnosis and treatment.

GulfCoaster · November 2010

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/cultural-wedding-boards_catholic-weddings_nfp-questions?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Cultural Wedding BoardsForum:615Discussion:830cc455-e9bd-4d05-a748-879feb16c4c2Post:ff017617-9ecc-4875-a668-214ca95afba4">Re: NFP Questions</a>:
[QUOTE]most parishes don't have classes. I highly recommend getting a teacher right away. If you will be using an NFP only doc, I would recommend using Creighton method, as that is the method docs use for diagnosis and treatment.
Posted by agapecarrie[/QUOTE]

Agreed that there are plenty of docs who use Creighton, but there are doctors out there capable of reading symptothermal charts -- onemoresoul.com lists some of them. When I lived in another state, I went to a large NFP-only practice that promoted all forms of NFP. IIRC, three of the doctors at the practice were experienced with looking at CCLI-method charts, and only one had been formally trained in Creighton model (though I think several of the other docs knew the basics of Creighton charts).

Potential infertility issues are only one part of the reason to choose an NFP only doctor. I think a major part of the reason to use an NFP-only doctor is so they won't look at you like you have a third eye when you tell them you're using NFP (any method), or when you tell them you don't want BCP to avoid pregnancy or treat your acne or whatever! I felt so much more respected when I started going to an NFP-only doctor. Even though I was only going there for my annual exams at first and the doctor didn't look at my NFP charts for anything, it was so worth it just to have my beliefs treated with respect.

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