Amberen and NFP?

[quilisma]

Hoping an NFP teacher, or an NFP-friendly doctor, can help with this…

I’m 48 and well into perimenopause, and thanks to my NFP charts, I have a pretty good idea of the endocrine chaos going on as my cycles sputter toward their swan song. Many of the dreaded “symptoms” have manifested themselves, especially the “middle-age spread” weight gain.

My husband, bless him, loves me no matter how much weight I’ve put on, but I have asthma and these extra pounds sometimes make it even harder to breathe, especially when bending over or climbing stairs.

I have been hearing a lot of commercials (yes, I know, caveat emptor) that tout “supplements” such as Amberen to women my age. They claim that their products “balance your hormones” and ease the symptoms of perimenopause, including, supposedly, “melting away the fat that won’t come off no matter how much you diet or exercise”.

But if these products really do affect the hormonal changes that occur around menopause, would they mess with the fertility signs and the physical indications of hormonal activity that power the sympto-thermal NFP method? Would the charts become similar to those of someone on, or coming off, the pill? I would love to be able to get rid of the weight that is interfering with my breathing and activity, but don’t want to obscure the clues my body is giving me as it approaches menopause.

I can’t ask my doctor, as my health insurance is an HMO and none of the doctors appear even to have ever heard of NFP, let alone know anything about its finer points.

Thanks in advance for any light anyone might be able to shed!

 

[littlenothing]

Amberen is just a supplement. If it changed your fertility signs I would be hard put to explain it. It contains no hormones nor ingredients that act on hormones.

 

[Kensho]

Please join the Couple to Couple League tomorrow. Their yearly fee is small, and when you are a member, you have the right to call and talk to one of their counselors for problems such as this whenever you need to. You will get help about your cycle, nutrition, and probably other stuff that concerns you as a woman from a kind, knowledgeable woman with professional credentials. I will never forget the lovely registered nurse I spoke to who could talk about both “Theology of the Body” and vitamin supplements for better women’s health.

 

[quilisma]

Please join the Couple to Couple League tomorrow. Their yearly fee is small, and when you are a member, you have the right to call and talk to one of their counselors for problems such as this whenever you need to. You will get help about your cycle, nutrition, and probably other stuff that concerns you as a woman from a kind, knowledgeable woman with professional credentials. I will never forget the lovely registered nurse I spoke to who could talk about both “Theology of the Body” and vitamin supplements for better women’s health.

How funny, I’m already a CCL member (and have the Premenopause book), but didn’t know they had an advice line. (I looked on their website and couldn’t find anything.) Maybe I wasn’t looking in the right places on the website?

 

[Kensho]

Well, I called them a few times as a newlywed, and that’s been eight years, so I don’t remember specifically where I got the phone number. However, their contact page gives you the option to email them and also has an 800 number. As I recall, I called a main number and left a message saying I needed to speak to one of their counselors, and she called me back later.

 

[casey_zia]

What helps the symptoms of menopause without distorting the practice of NFP?
–exercise (cardio, weights)
–good nutrition (whole grains, lots of fruit and veggies)
–vitamins
–adequate rest
Of all of these, the exercise did the most to decrease the menopause symptoms and stabilize my mood and outlook!