Women’s health solutions
Supplements for PMS Symptoms that Really Work
Did you know there are healthy supplements for PMS symptoms? For decades, hormonal birth control has been prescribed for reasons such as the reduction of PMS symptoms. A 2011 study by the Guttmacher Institute confirmed that 14 percent of women using oral contraceptive pills used them “exclusively for noncontraceptive purposes,” with alleviating the pain of […]
Why I Choose to Use a Fertility Awareness Method, Even Though I Have a Serious Reason to Avoid Pregnancy
As a physician assistant specializing in OB/GYN, I have prescribed birth control to everyone for everything . . . irregular cycles, painful periods, unusual bleeding, PMS, acne, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis, perimenopause and, of course, to avoid pregnancy. It wasn’t until my own struggles with infertility that I began to research more about the […]
Let’s Talk Menstrual Cups
As more women look for sustainable and environmentally friendly options for healthcare and wellness, menstrual cups are coming to the fore as an alternative to disposable tampons and sanitary napkins. Though they’ve been around since the 1930s, the first manufactured menstrual cups for the United States appeared in 1987. Menstrual cups are typically made of […]
What Kind of Exercise Works Best to Mitigate PMS?
One of the first things my mom told me when she gave me the scoop on feminine cycles is that taking a walk can help ease menstrual cramps. She didn’t explain why, but I quickly learned she was right. A few years later, I was traveling to a family vacation and sat in a car […]
When it Comes to Irregular Periods, Fertility Charting Works Better Than Birth Control
“Fertility Awareness-Based Methods only work if you have regular periods.” I hear it all the time. This perception about irregular periods is one among the many myths purported by doctors, the media, and random strangers when it comes to natural methods for family planning. This commonly held perception is all wrong. Not only do Fertility […]
Gallbladder Disease in Women: The Hormonal Birth Control Connection
An estimated 25 million Americans are affected by gallstones, and the vast majority of them are women. Gallstones, which form when too much cholesterol or bilirubin builds up within the gallbladder, and then crystallizes, are the most common cause of gallbladder disease—a group of medical conditions affecting the gallbladder. Cholesterol gallstones are more common than […]
How My Fertility Charts Help Me Customize My Type 1 Diabetes Treatment
All women experience metabolic changes during their menstrual cycle that a healthy body manages unnoticed. These changes include shifts in insulin sensitivity. As a Type 1 Diabetic, I operate my glucose metabolism exogenously and must respond to these changes consciously. Insulin needs are often misunderstood as being simply relative to carbohydrate consumption. In reality, insulin […]
Medical Benefits of Fertility Awareness: Why Doctors Need to Embrace the Science of Charting
Even if the idea of using Fertility Awareness-Based Methods (FABM) for family planning and overall health is starting to gain traction with more women, there is still a conspicuous lag when it comes to the medical community. The overwhelming majority of medical professionals are not fully (if at all) informed about modern FABMs, or Natural […]
Fertility Awareness Can Remove Perimenopause Dread
We usually hear how the time of perimenopause (that is, the stage before full-on menopause) is confusing and unpredictable for women, but it doesn’t have to be that way. We also often think of fertility awareness and charting as a way to avoid pregnancy, but it’s much more than that. This is an article about […]
Three New Technologies to Revolutionize the Postpartum Period
When I was pregnant with my daughter, I was forewarned that the postpartum period is a challenging time for a woman to chart her cycle and to understand the changes her body is going through. Inevitably, experience confirmed this for me. Because my husband and I practice the Sympto-Thermal Fertility Awareness-Based Method (FABM), we tracked […]