NFP Question

[Elisabeth51]

I asked a couple of months ago about NFP and got the book that was recommended and have started charting—I really have learned quite a bit as I am near to figuring out certain feelings and moods belong to certain cycle times. Here’s my problem, I’ve only charted for two cycles so far, so I may need to do more, but:
First cycle my temperatures were like a yo-yo! Every morning at the same time, I promise, but they were up and down like crazy.
Second cycle looks like a nearly flat line, there is a slight rise this morning.,…

I was trying to save money and not take the class, but feel like I need some experienced help looking at this!

I’m a little too shy to give specifics on other things in public, but would be happy to share by pm or email if someone with experience wants to help out…

Thanks! Oh, and by the way, I’m single and a virgin so there’s no … well, no warm body in bed with me and no anything…

 

[SonCatcher]

I asked a couple of months ago about NFP and got the book that was recommended and have started charting—I really have learned quite a bit as I am near to figuring out certain feelings and moods belong to certain cycle times. Here’s my problem, I’ve only charted for two cycles so far, so I may need to do more, but:
First cycle my temperatures were like a yo-yo! Every morning at the same time, I promise, but they were up and down like crazy.
Second cycle looks like a nearly flat line, there is a slight rise this morning.,…

I was trying to save money and not take the class, but feel like I need some experienced help looking at this!

I’m a little too shy to give specifics on other things in public, but would be happy to share by pm or email if someone with experience wants to help out…

It’s generally a good idea to record anything happening in your life that could contribute to the erratic readings. Taking the temp at a different time of the morning (e.g. woke too late, early meeting or adjusting to daylight saving), sickness or anything else that is “not normal” to your routine. It won’t make your chart any flatter, but at least it helps you understand the anomalies (this is also a good reason why the mucous cross-check of sympto-thermal NFP is so important).

Also, would be good to have the exact same basal thermometer every day.

Thanks! Oh, and by the way, I’m single and a virgin so there’s no … well, no warm body in bed with me and no anything…

Always a great idea to start early.

 

[Rita77]

Are you using a bbt thermometer? Sometimes it’s a medical condition causing the yo yo temps. There should be two ranges one pre peak one post peak. The rage can very a lot. After months of charging you’ll see what I mean. My pre peak range is 97.3 to 97.8 and my post peak range is 97.8 to 98.6. I still see a shift although it may take a few extra days for my shift to happen. Give it a few more month you may start to see a pattern. There are a lot of variables but its an extra sign of fertility sometimes you get adequate info from charting temps sometimes not. Its invaluable information anyway. Rent Fertility Cycles and Nutrition from Marilyn Shannon from the library it will explain most issues with bbt temps and much more.

Tips to limit the variables

Keep the house temp at the same temp each night

Wear the same type cloths to bed and same blanket each night (including soxs no soxs) for the whole season.

Set an alarm

 

[healonzo]

I agree with what the other posters said. The other thing I would recommend is to go to

www.onemoresoul.com

and find an NFP doctor to go see and talk about health & diet issues that might effect your temperatures. It would be beneficial to talk to your diocese (Office of Family Life or something like that) about financing a class for you. My diocese helps out by paying for couples who are about to get married to take the class. If you do get them to finance a class, I recommend the CCL classes as they talk about Theology of the Body of JPII.

www.ccli.org

Don’t worry; I just read an article saying over 50% of cycles are irregular.

 

[Elisabeth51]

It’s generally a good idea to record anything happening in your life that could contribute to the erratic readings. Taking the temp at a different time of the morning (e.g. woke too late, early meeting or adjusting to daylight saving), sickness or anything else that is “not normal” to your routine. It won’t make your chart any flatter, but at least it helps you understand the anomalies (this is also a good reason why the mucous cross-check of sympto-thermal NFP is so important).

Also, would be good to have the exact same basal thermometer every day.

Always a great idea to start early.

Ok, I will take better care to note anything out of the ordinary that is going on, thanks. I’m still trying to get the hang of the mucous sign, sometimes I’m just not too sure how to describe—I am sure this will all become clearer with more cycles! Thank you!

Are you using a bbt thermometer?

Yes

Sometimes it’s a medical condition causing the yo yo temps.

Hmmm…I hadn’t thought of that, I have diabetes and my sugar has been unusally low lately—very unusually I’m in my last semester of graduate school and not getting nearly the exercise I normally get!

There should be two ranges one pre peak one post peak. The rage can very a lot. After months of charging you’ll see what I mean. My pre peak range is 97.3 to 97.8 and my post peak range is 97.8 to 98.6. I still see a shift although it may take a few extra days for my shift to happen. Give it a few more month you may start to see a pattern. There are a lot of variables but its an extra sign of fertility sometimes you get adequate info from charting temps sometimes not. Its invaluable information anyway.

Ok, that helps me feel better—and I can see now it may take me a couple more cycles to get a pattern, and that may not be the super neat one in the book! I’ll definitely become more careful of noting external occurances and other things.

Rent Fertility Cycles and Nutrition from Marilyn Shannon from the library it will explain most issues with bbt temps and much more.

Tips to limit the variables

Keep the house temp at the same temp each night

Wear the same type cloths to bed and same blanket each night (including soxs no soxs) for the whole season.

Set an alarm

Thank you! I know the house temp is set the same, as for the others, I’ll try for consistency.

I agree with what the other posters said. The other thing I would recommend is to go to

www.onemoresoul.com

and find an NFP doctor to go see and talk about health & diet issues that might effect your temperatures. It would be beneficial to talk to your diocese (Office of Family Life or something like that) about financing a class for you. My diocese helps out by paying for couples who are about to get married to take the class. If you do get them to finance a class, I recommend the CCL classes as they talk about Theology of the Body of JPII.

www.ccli.org

Don’t worry; I just read an article saying over 50% of cycles are irregular.

Thanks! I’ll do that, I hadn’t thought of asking for financing help. I will look at those, thank you.

 

[twoangels]

I tried to learn sympto thermo while in college. I could completely understand the mucus. I was never able to observe any shift in temperature. Sometimes it told me I was so cold that I would have had to have been dead to be that cold.

My sister also struggled in the beginning, but eventually was able to observe the change. One thing that frustrated her is that her pre peak temperature is lower than the lowest temp on the chart. Eventually though she complained to me that it became inconsistant again, but she’s also been having irregular bleeding and has gone through abnormal stretches of time without a period even though pregnancy tests indicate that she is not pregnant.

 

[nodito]

There can be quite a range of temperatures at any given point in your cycle, so I would encourage you to stick with it and see if, after another cycle or so, you still aren’t noticing a pattern. If you’re really having trouble seeing a pattern, another option would be to take your temp vaginally. I know some people are kind of squeamish about that, but it will give more reliable temperatures.

 

[nodito]

One thing that frustrated her is that her pre peak temperature is lower than the lowest temp on the chart.

I don’t know how low her temps were, but you can print “low temp” charts if you’re often below the range of a typical chart. You can find one example here: gardenoffertility.com/fertilitycharts.shtml

I was using a low temp chart for years until I switched BBT thermometers and starting getting higher temp readings.

 

[Iheartcoffee]

Since you are still fairly new at it things are going to be confusing and weird. It takes practice but once you get the hang of it you could do it in your sleep. (Literally, I set an alarm for my temp and go back to bed, but I think most of the time I am still mostly asleep when I take my temp! Horray for digital thermometers with memory!)

I suggest taking a class, and I applaud you for starting early with NFP charting. By the time you get married and actually use it to plan or avoid a pregnancy you will have everything figured out! It’s also a good way to catch possible hormonal problems if you see something is seriously off with your chart.

No two charts are the same, but I have noticed that my temp drops the day I will get my period! Because of NFP I can always be prepared. No surprises!

 

[CajunsforChrist]

One thing I might also add when charting as someone else stated is to chart anything that may make your temperature different. For instance, if you had alcohol the night before or if you’re sick and taking certain medications. I always found when I had a glass of wine at night, my temperature would be a little higher than normal the next morning. I also remember when I took my class that it stated you should get at least 5 hours of sleep at night. I saw you mentioned you’re a grad student so I’m not sure if that means you have a big work load for school. Also as others stated, use a digital bbt thermometer. My temps were low for a while and my teacher suggested waiting 1 minute after the thermometer beeped before removing it. It actually made a difference with my temperature. Oh and if you’re taking your temp orally, put the thermometer under the tongue all the way towards the back. That helped too. If none of these things work, you might have to consider taking your temperature a different way (unfortunately) or my teacher told me that it could be a thyroid problem. Luckily I waited the minute after the beeping and put the thermometer to the back of my tongue and this worked. Good Luck! I commend you on learning it early!

 

[Em_in_FL]

One thing I might also add when charting as someone else stated is to chart anything that may make your temperature different. For instance, if you had alcohol the night before or if you’re sick and taking certain medications. I always found when I had a glass of wine at night, my temperature would be a little higher than normal the next morning. I also remember when I took my class that it stated you should get at least 5 hours of sleep at night. I saw you mentioned you’re a grad student so I’m not sure if that means you have a big work load for school. Also as others stated, use a digital bbt thermometer. My temps were low for a while and my teacher suggested waiting 1 minute after the thermometer beeped before removing it. It actually made a difference with my temperature. Oh and if you’re taking your temp orally, put the thermometer under the tongue all the way towards the back. That helped too. If none of these things work, you might have to consider taking your temperature a different way (unfortunately) or my teacher told me that it could be a thyroid problem. Luckily I waited the minute after the beeping and put the thermometer to the back of my tongue and this worked. Good Luck! I commend you on learning it early!

Fabulous advice all around.
Yes, I make notes about drinking alcohol (red wine does that to me too), using heavy blankets at night during the winter… and I also take my temperature vaginally (gross at first, but it does help with the consistency of my temperatures)…
All of those things make a difference for me!!

 

[LittleRose]

I was trying to save money and not take the class, but feel like I need some experienced help looking at this!

*Take the class. * It is essential to learning to chart properly, and the teachers can help you read them. Then give yourself a year to get used to your charting method. There are multiple methods out there too, so try others if you find the one you are using isn’t helping you much. I have tried Symptothermal and Creighton myself, and I find each has its benefits.

If you can, find an OB/GYN who is supportive of NFP. S/he can also help you read your charts and identifying health issues that may be presenting themselves in the data you collect.

 

[PaulGH]

My wife had the same problem with erratic temperature readings that went up and down each day, with the change from one day to the next often being a much larger amount than the small temperature surge we were supposed to be looking for. So we gave up on the temperature sign, and went to a mucus-only method. (First we did a modified version of the sympto-thermal method using only the mucus sign, and then we got a book on the Billings Method, and have used that ever since.)

Mucus-only has worked great for us. So if your mucus sign is relatively easy to interpret, including plenty of dry days at the beginning and end of your cycle, then you could considering going with a mucus-only method. (And it has the advantage that you don’t have to wake up at the same time every day.)

 

[Elisabeth51]

Since you are still fairly new at it things are going to be confusing and weird. It takes practice but once you get the hang of it you could do it in your sleep. (Literally, I set an alarm for my temp and go back to bed, but I think most of the time I am still mostly asleep when I take my temp! Horray for digital thermometers with memory!)

I suggest taking a class, and I applaud you for starting early with NFP charting. By the time you get married and actually use it to plan or avoid a pregnancy you will have everything figured out! It’s also a good way to catch possible hormonal problems if you see something is seriously off with your chart.

No two charts are the same, but I have noticed that my temp drops the day I will get my period! Because of NFP I can always be prepared. No surprises!

Thanks! I am looking into a little help with the class, I looked one up through the CCL website that was recommended and found that the local teacher is someone I already know through a study group we had last year at my parish that included our neighbouring ones as well I’ll keep practicing the charting and I’m sure the class would help a lot. It is nice to know though that variations are not uncommon.

It would be great to have one less thing to worry about adjusting to when I get married…and hopefully Mr. Right will speak up sooner rather than later

 

[Elisabeth51]

One thing I might also add when charting as someone else stated is to chart anything that may make your temperature different. For instance, if you had alcohol the night before or if you’re sick and taking certain medications. I always found when I had a glass of wine at night, my temperature would be a little higher than normal the next morning. I also remember when I took my class that it stated you should get at least 5 hours of sleep at night. I saw you mentioned you’re a grad student so I’m not sure if that means you have a big work load for school. Also as others stated, use a digital bbt thermometer. My temps were low for a while and my teacher suggested waiting 1 minute after the thermometer beeped before removing it. It actually made a difference with my temperature. Oh and if you’re taking your temp orally, put the thermometer under the tongue all the way towards the back. That helped too. If none of these things work, you might have to consider taking your temperature a different way (unfortunately) or my teacher told me that it could be a thyroid problem. Luckily I waited the minute after the beeping and put the thermometer to the back of my tongue and this worked. Good Luck! I commend you on learning it early!

Thanks! I’ll try that with the temperature. Yes, huge workload, but it’s almost over!

 

[Elisabeth51]

My wife had the same problem with erratic temperature readings that went up and down each day, with the change from one day to the next often being a much larger amount than the small temperature surge we were supposed to be looking for. So we gave up on the temperature sign, and went to a mucus-only method. (First we did a modified version of the sympto-thermal method using only the mucus sign, and then we got a book on the Billings Method, and have used that ever since.)

Mucus-only has worked great for us. So if your mucus sign is relatively easy to interpret, including plenty of dry days at the beginning and end of your cycle, then you could considering going with a mucus-only method. (And it has the advantage that you don’t have to wake up at the same time every day.)

All this wonderful advice Thank you! I do need to keep charting to get a better picture–and take the class–but looking at what I have so far, relying more on mucus than temperature might be a way to go for me. That is one thing that does seem quite consistent so far.