My Journey with PCOS, Part 2: What IS NFP?

Woah! First, let me say that I’ve been overwhelmed by the support of friends, family, and random strangers, and so touched by the women who have reached out to me since part 1 of this blog post to say thank you for sharing, or ask questions because they are in the same boat. That’s really been my whole purpose for sharing all of this, to reach people who might be helped by all the things I’ve learned through this process, and start the conversation about PCOS and Creighton/NFP.

That being said, DISCLAIMER: I am NOT a doctor, or medical professional of any kind. I am a business major who works for the Catholic Church. I one day hope to teach Creighton/NFP myself, but that’s a long way off from now, so all I can tell you here is what I’ve learned and experienced myself. If you’re looking for medical journals, scientific research, etc. then I’d recommend you start looking at some of the helpful links at the end of this post and do a little more research yourself.

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(Continued from part 1: http://alwaysletyourlightshine.blogspot.com/2016/04/national-infertility-awareness-week-my.html)

Now that I had my PCOS Diagnosis in hand, and had found some hope and answers to questions I had had for a long time, I dove headfirst into learning about Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, what to do about it, and how I could take my Creighton charting more seriously. Although it was scary to see on paper the truth about how crazy my cycles and body were, I knew that I needed every bit of information I could get to help my new doctors help me.

I’m just starting to realize how important charting my cycles has been for me in dealing with my PCOS. I am a “do-er,” a work-horse, someone who organizes her office when she’s had a stressful day in order to relax and feel accomplished. When I started charting, I took at least part of my health into my own hands. I wasn’t just waiting on blood tests to come back, wondering what we would talk about at my next doctor’s appointment, hoping things wouldn’t get better, and praying they wouldn’t get worse. Something as simple as writing the code and putting a sticker on my chart at the end of the day was empowering. I could see when I was having a good week, and was prepared for the bad ones. And for that one minute at the end of the day, I was in control. Charting mattered – being proactive mattered – because my doctors needed that information to help me get better. And I began to feel a little bit less like a helpless victim of PCOS, and more like a fighter.

I know that many of you reading this have no idea what Creighton, charting, or NFP are, so let me back up for a second and explain (reminder – I am not a medical professional, see the links at the bottom of this post for more medical-professional-related links).

Natural Family Planning (NFP) is just like what it sounds – methods of naturally tracking a woman’s fertility, and using that information to achieve or avoid pregnancy. It is not considered birth control – because women are naturally fertile and infertile at different times of the month, and a couple is able to use that information to space out their children, know when they are most likely to achieve pregnancy, or avoid pregnancy altogether if needed for tough financial times, medical issues, or many other reasons.

There are many different methods of NFP that use different information to chart a women’s fertility; each method has its pros and cons depending on your lifestyle. Do your research and find what could be best for you! For example, the Marquette Model would be good for a woman or normal fertility who is always on the go and has a different schedule every day, because the method focuses mainly on urine testing for certain hormone levels every day. One of the variations of the Sympto-Thermal method would be better for a woman of normal fertility who gets up around the same time every day, and can remember to take her body temperature before getting out of bed. Many methods use a combination of different body trackers (hormone levels, body temperature, cervical position, cervical mucus, etc.)  to determine where a woman is at in her cycle, when she will ovulate, and when she should have sex to achieve or avoid pregnancy. Most methods are best learned by taking a class or finding a teacher – and the Internet is a great place to find one. I’ve also found a lot of help through this Facebook group, if you’re looking for a specific area/teacher/method: https://www.facebook.com/groups/NFPCatholicStyle/ .

Any woman who is struggling with things ranging from infertility to PCOS to endometriosis to long or short cycles to bad PMS would probably be best using the Creighton method of NFP. Creighton has a uniform coding system that tracks changes in cervical mucus, and because each Creighton user codes the same way, doctors who know the system can diagnose issues like hormone imbalances, anovulatory cycles, infections, and (drumroll…) PCOS. This medical/diagnostic branch of the Creighton method is called NaPro Technology (Natural Procreative Technology), and focuses on healing the root cause of women’s health issues to allow women the highest chance of eventually achieving pregnancy.

For Creighton, when following textbook rules for trying to conceive (TTC) or trying to avoid (TTA), NFP methods have just as high, if not higher rates, of TTA (96.8% use-effectiveness, check that out here: http://www.fertilitycare.org/system-effectiveness/) than the pill, condoms, etc., and higher TTC rates than IVF (check that info out here: http://www.naprotechnology.com/infertility.htm).  

I LOVE this description on the Creighton website:

This is the first women's health science to network family planning with reproductive health monitoring and maintenance. It is a fertility-care based medical approach rather than a fertility-control approach to family planning and gynecological health. NaProTECHNOLOGY uses the Creighton Model FertilityCare™ System biomarkers to monitor easily and objectively the occurrence of various hormonal events during the menstrual cycle. NaProtracking provides valid information that can be interpreted by a woman and by physicians who are specifically trained in this system. Unlike common suppressive or destructive approaches, NaProTECHNOLOGY works cooperatively with the procreative and gynecologic systems. When these systems function abnormally, NaProTECHNOLOGY identifies the problems and cooperates with the menstrual and fertility cycles that correct the condition, maintain the human ecology, and sustain the procreative potential. Women now have an opportunity to know and understand the causes of the symptoms from which they suffer. (http://www.naprotechnology.com/)

When you first start learning the Creighton Method, a Creighton FertilityCare Practitioner (FCP), or Creighton teacher, will have an intro session with you about the basics of women’s health and cycles, and teach you how to start tracking your cervical mucus and chart it with the Creighton coding system. You’ll see the coding picture dictionary to give you some examples, and learn way more about cervical mucus (CM)than you want to, and eventually find it so fascinating you’ll want to start your own blog about it (just kidding… kind of). You will learn how to chart your CM, get corresponding color-coded stickers, and if you’re the average woman without any complications, it will probably look something like this:

Multiple that one line (month) by six, and you’ll have your first chart. Red is for period/bleeding days, green are for dry days, baby stickers are for the presence of CM, and if you’re super special, you get to use yellow ones (but that’s for Creighton professionals to decide, and is more complicated to get into than we have time for right here).

If your chart doesn’t look something like that, then your FCP might refer you do a doctor that can help, depending on how “off” your chart looks. For reference, here is a picture of my first ever Creighton chart (complete with some notes from Dr. Anne to correct my coding) – if you remember from part 1, this is the chart that made that nurse go “Wow, I’ve never seen anything like this before!”

If you don’t have a “normal” chart, don’t panic – it might just mean you need some extra vitamins, or your stressful month at work has impacted your cycle. PLEASE ask an FCP or NaPro doctor before panicking.

That being said, what do you do if you are interested in learning to chart your cycles with Creighton? 

1. Find an FCP/Creighton teacher near you. http://www.fertilitycare.org/ is an AWESOME website that can get you connected with doctors and teachers all over the country. If you can’t find one near you, then try calling one of the doctor’s offices close by and ask them if they know anyone in your area who can be your teacher. You can also join and post here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/crmsnapro.usergroup/, I’ve seen some women post that they are able to teach long distance via Skype, etc.

*NOTE: many FCP’s are regular women who have a passion for women’s health and NFP. Some are nurses, doctors, etc. but generally speaking, you will need to pay them a small fee (maybe a little bit more than your average co-pay amount) for your classes/meetings and charts/supplies. This money goes towards off-setting the cost for their training, and time. After learning the method and feeling comfortable with it (you’ll need to buy the handbook and have a few extra meetings when you first start), I pay about $125 per YEAR for 2-3 FCP meetings, charts, and stickers. Some FCP’s charge on a sliding scale depending on your income, or offer scholarships if needed, just ask them what their rate is. 

2. Learn the Creighton charting method. It will take a few weeks or months to feel comfortable with it, and your FCP will be a great resource for questions, and you’ll probably meet with her every few weeks at the beginning, and every few months as you move forward. When you meet, you’ll talk about lifestyle changes that could be effecting your cycle, if you are TTC/TTA/just charting to observe your health, etc. and what you can do to improve anything, if needed. 

3. Feel empowered! Even if you encounter an issue with your health, you now have the ability to bring that information to a Creighton-friendly doctor, and do something about it. If needed, they can do bloodwork, ultrasounds, and some other tests to help you, and talk about your options moving forward.

*NOTE: If you do have a fertility issue and need to see a Creighton/NaPro doctor, they will ask you to chart for at least 3 months with an FCP so that you have some information to help them diagnose you at your first visit. I guarantee you, it is worth the time to invest for the answers and help they can give you!

I don’t know what I would have done, or what my body would be doing, if I hadn’t found NFP, Creighton, and the women and doctors that I’ve been able to work with over the past few years. These medical professionals have offered genuine healing, and a solution beyond just putting me on the birth control pill, and words can’t describe how thankful I am for that.

There is so much more to the story... Up next? What my chart looks like now (sneak peak: much better than the first one!), where Creighton has taken me since the first few months, and things that worked/haven’t worked for me along the way (so far). And so much more…

(to be continued...)  

Helpful links:

http://www.naprotechnology.com/ (The official website for NaPro Technology)

http://www.amazon.com/NaPro-Technology-Revolution-Unleashing-Womans/dp/0825306264 (The “definitive textbook on NaPro Technology, by Dr. Hilgers, who developed the Creighton Model FertilityCare System with his coworkers).

https://www.facebook.com/josephstanfordmd/?fref=ts&ref=br_tf&hc_location=ufi (Dr. Stanford, I’ve been told, is from Utah and one of the best doctors in the field. His Facebook page has lots of helpful links and interesting articles)