Women’s health solutions
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 […]
How to Solve Period Issues without the Pill
It’s no secret that hormonal contraceptives like the Pill, patch, ring, IUD, or implant are prescribed for myriad reasons beyond birth control. They’re also highly prescribed by doctors who hear their patients have acne, migraines, cramps, regulating mood, regulating periods, and even cold sores. According to Dr. John T. Littell, “Physicians in training during the […]
Charting Your Cycle After Miscarriage
Life changes after a miscarriage. I speak from experience: nearly seven years ago, I lost my second child to miscarriage, and every part of me changed. In the time since, with care for myself and love from my family and friends, I am in many ways stronger for having been so broken. At the time […]
When Libido Issues Are Not All In Your Head
A few years ago, when I worked for the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at the FDA, we hosted a Patient Focused Drug Development meeting on female sexual dysfunction (FSD). During the meeting, FDA staff listened to the stories of women who dealt with all manner of sexual dysfunctions, many of which involved low libido. […]
Tips to Improve Hormone Health Right Now
Last week we shared Kathleen Taylor’s piece sharing insights on hormone health from nutrition and women’s health coach, Laurie Christine King. Hormone imbalances can make themselves apparent through symptoms ranging from painful periods and cramps, to cystic acne and low sex drive. It’s important to learn about the root causes of hormonal imbalances so you […]
Achieving Thyroid and Hormone Health: An Interview with Laurie Christine King
Like many young girls, Laurie Christine King was treated for severe acne and crippling periods with the birth-control Pill at age 16. Two years later she was diagnosed with an underachieving thyroid, and eventually Hashimoto’s disease. Thyroid medication had no effect, and it led to an eating disorder, a way for her to cope with […]
How Fertility Awareness Can Help Doctors Treating Premature Ovarian Failure
I’ll never forget the look on the doctor’s face as he pulled my test results off the fax machine. He made me and my husband sit down in his office. Time slowed to a crawl as the doctor drew a diagram of my body and gently explained that the reproductive part of it was dying. […]