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BCPs=Birth Control Pills
I just stopped taking BCP and have been maybe 80% or 90% raw this past month. I did not get my monthly cycle. I saw some spotting one time when I went to the restroom and some tinged mucus a few times. Has anyone else experienced this? I took a pregnancy test but it was negative (sigh and wipe off brow!). Is that considered a period on raw???
Hi wannaBraw.
Are you tracking your basal temperature? If so, then… if your temperature hasn’t dropped by day 40-45 (can’t remember, but 40-something), then you may be pregnant. If spotting occurred about one week from ovulation, then that could be implantation bleeding. Otherwise, if spotting is two weeks from ovulation… you may not be pregnant.
You just got of BCPs makes… hmmm. I have to check my records, but, I am sure I had a pretty normal cycle the month after BCPs. (but, I wasn’t raw then) How soon after the spotting did you have the pregnancy test?
My cycle wasn’t short after the first month of 90% raw. It was actually, quite normal (5-day). It’s been about 6 months of mostly raw foods, and my cycle was the lightest this month than ever before. Mostly spotting for 5 days. I know I’m not pregnant, because I track my basal temperature and it has dropped. Overall, my ovulation day has been on about the same day… and my cycle length has increased from 28-days to averaging 32-days. Which is nice… but takes getting used to. Those months I keep waiting to start after day 28… and when it doesn’t come… I’m just waiting and waiting. Four days more is a long time to wait. smile
Hey kids!I think its really NB to be as clensed as possible. Ive done a lot of research into hormonal contraception and the damage it can do to your cycle… www.sisterzeus.com for more hints about knowing when youre ovulating and natural birth control.. On raw my cycle has lengthened but I can still set my watch to it.
How do I take a basal temperature and with what? I took the pregnancy test before the spotting.
Is ovulation in the middle of the cycle? The spotting occurred around the time my cycle would have been ending, had it come at it’s normal time.
I have been on BCP for probably 8 years. I don’t know anything about basal temperatures or anything else! I know I was regular when I was a teenager, before BCP and my cycles lasted only about 3 days and were pretty light.
Wanna B Raw – you’ll need a very accurate thermometer and you take your temp first thing am lying down, and record all the way through your cycle. If youre on BCP there’s no point as you dont ovulate…
I am no longer on BCP, but this is the first month I stopped taking it. Maybe that is why I have no bleeding?
That could well be it. When detoxing from BCP I experienced some fluctuations in my cycle. What I did to regulate it might seem a little weird – buy a lunar calender and chart your cycle. Meditate on the moon on nights when she’s visible. Always be aware of where the moon is in her cycle. Just a gentle awareness of this is enough to speak to your body – and make it gently sync up with natures 28 day cycles. Good luck!
Also, check out the sister zeus website, they have excellent resources for info on cycles, contraception without chemicals etc.
You CAN ovulate on a BCP. When you do, the BCP can prevent a fertilized egg from implanting on the uteran wall.
Yes, take your basal temperature every morning before you get up to do anything! Get a basal thermometer with a memory… because sometimes you just don’t want to turn on the lights and get out of bed to read your temperature. So, with a memory, you can read your temperature later. You can get the thermometer from a drug store; it should be able to read to the tenth degree.
I track my temperature starting from day one of my cycle… until my temperature rises by 0.2 or more degrees and stays that way for 3 days in a row… at which time I would be infertile. Then, I don’t take my temperature until my cycle starts again. You can also track your mucus… you have more slippery mucus during ovulation (fertile) time. You can also pay attention to the location and openning of your cervix – which change during menstration, ovulation, and past ovulation. You should read up on all these methods and you can use a combination of some or all. You can eventually calculate your infertile/fertile days; but, you will need six months of data before you can get good idea of what they are.
The book I really liked is titled “Natural Birth Control Made Simple” by R.N., C.N.P., Barbara Kass-Annese and Hal C. Danzer. It answered many questions I could come up with… except what happens after BCP.
If you were light before… you may be even lighter now. Great!
Yes, ovulation is in the middle of the cycle. For someone regular it could be sometime between day 14 and 19 (roughly). Pregnancy test before spotting would be too early. At least I thought you had to wait 2 weeks after they day you thought you’d start your cycle. Should probably check again.
If you are pregnant, it’s hard to rely on your basal temperature without knowing what it was before. But, typically… before ovulation it is under 98… after ovulation it is over 98. And on day 1,2, or 3 of your cycle it is back down to below 98… UNLESS you are pregnant. (Do not rely on these numbers… as every body is different.)
So when should I take another test? The next time it should have come???
And thanks germin8 for all the great info! I really appreciate it!
Oh wait! I checked my book… it does cover what happens after BCP. The one question it didn’t answer is what happens after a miscarriage. Now, about coming off the BCP… you would ovulate within 2-3 weeks… or ovulation may not begin for months!!!
I am sure the at-home-pregnancy-test explains “when” to take the test. If I remember correctly, it is approximately 2 weeks after ovulation. Two weeks after usually means the start of your next cycle… so really, you have to wait 2 weeks whether you take an at-home pregnancy test or wait for your cycle to start. If there is bleeding before that… it could be implantation bleeding or bleeding at ovulation depending on what day it is! Go figure. I, however, would probably wait until about day 45… at least that is what a friend told me (she’s used this method for years).
It does take time to adjust to this new method.
A home pregnancy test can detect human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) homrmone (the pregnancy hormone) in the urine about 14 days after ovulation which is when you should get your period, (periods come 14 days after ovulation for just about every woman…interesting fact). Your body is probably adjusting from being off BCPs. Eight years is a very long time to be on BCPs. The spotting and mucus you noticed could have been ovulation taking place. You will actually get sticky discharge (like egg-whites) when you are ovulating and there can be some spotting during this time too. I doubt being raw for one month would change your cycle so drastically that you don’t even get a period. All the women who stopped getting their periods seems have been 100% raw for quite some time. If you are that concerned about pregnancy go to a clinic and request a blood test instead of a urine test. A blood test is more expensive but can detect hCG sooner and more accurately.
Using your basal body temp as a form of natural birth control requires a lot of tracking. I think it’s best to track temp, mucus, and cervical opening to be the most accurate. You can’t just start taking your temp and figure out when you ovulate, you really need to track your cycle for several months and compare your charts to figure out when you are most likely to ovulate so you are then able to predict it, this prediction only works for women who have very regular cycles. If you are looking to do natural birth control aka Family Planning/Fertility Awareness please, please read up on it or attend a local class on Natural Family Planning to learn more about it. Many people fail on fertility awareness because they have to track their ovulation signs every day and it can be difficult to do sometimes and again you need to have a regular cycle for it to be accurate. You would also need to use a form of back up (like condoms) for several months as you were on BCPs for 8 years and your cycle probably won’t be regular for a few months.
Even if you aren’t planning to use Fertility Awareness/Natural Family Planning as a form of birth control I recommend all women chart or track their monthly cycles. I feel it helps us to understand our bodies better and be more connected with ourselves. Once you have a deep understanding of your fertility and the power of your own body it is a very liberating feeling. Knowing what I know now about my body and fertility I’ll never, ever pop another birth control pill in my life and oddly enough I teach sex ed to teenagers and teach them all about all the forms of birth control that exist today. But it’s nice we have options because lets face it natural birth control doesn’t work for everyone. The Sister Zeus website that queera recommended is awesome! Definitely check it out! Here is another helpful link that explains what Fertility Awareness is, http://www.fwhc.org/birth-control/fam.htm :)
I did have the sticky discharge in the middle of my cycle. But I had the blood tinged one at the end, when my period would normally be ending. So I think I ovulated, but no period. I guess I will wait a while longer and see if it comes. Maybe I should take the test again around day 45? Would that be 45 days from the beginning of my last cycle?
Yes, that would be 45 days from the beginning of your last cycle.
Wow, I read that article on the link put up by Rawdancer_london about how maybe its not normal to menstruate… very intriguing.
As a vegan i started at 15, with about 3-4 periods a year. No bcp’s. I’ve only been raw for a few months so its hard to tell, esp since i dont know when i’d get one anyway lol, but the last one i had after being raw was light and short, with cramping but not the kind that hurts so much, and since then (about 2-3 months) i’ve only seen a little dark brown substance secreted very once in a while, i guess tainted mucous…it reminds me more of a detox symptom than anything else.
about that only period i had after going raw; just before it started my sex drive increased to the level of what it must be like for a guy for like a week… checkin out anything that moved lol. that was a crazy week. anyone else notice a super-libido on raw food?
very good topic , i was 70-100%and i missed in three months,but i had one after three months fewer day than usual , painless,cool
Yes, great topic! I have been on BCP for 13 years! I know! and last month (the month I went 100% raw) I had breakthrough bleeding almost the entire month! (I had also gone off the pill the month prior and forgot to take one in the first week when I started them again… so that is probably why…but I wonder if my body wasn’t also just spring cleaning from the raw…) But, I have been wanting to get off of the pill and now I am finally doing it! I just ordered a “pearly” and will track my temperature and clean out these terrible artificial hormones once and for all! I can’t believe I was on that stupid pill for so many years and hope that it doesn’t take 13 years to rid myself of it! We also want to get pregnant in a year or so… so hopefully my body will be ready when we are. I will at least know when I am ovulating with the pearly… so that is good! Thanks everyone for sharing. It is really interesting to see what you guys are experiencing. I wish I had known about natural prevention methods and raw food years ago… oh well… on the road to optimal health now!
I have barely been spotting after going raw. I used to have very long, painfull and heavy periods. Now, nothing but a few spots.
I went off the pill a few years ago. I had been on since I was sixteen (I am 39 now) I just wanted to listen to my body and hear what it had to say cycle wise. Man I get cramps again! But you know, it’s worth not taking that garbage!
I have never mentioned my state of rawness before, so I will now. I am about 90 percent raw if you look at the big picture, But there are many days in a row that I am 100 %!!
The very first time I went raw last year (100%) for 3 months my period lasted a week. I almost quit for that reason alone (I’ve always been a 3 day girl even in my long ago teenage years). Now I am 90 – 95% raw and only for a month. I’m ending my cycle now and I did notice that I bled for four days this time.
As far as ovulation – you really don’t have to use your fingers. When you wipe yourself take a look at the tissue. You should see the white film that was mentioned before. I always thought (this is my own reasoning) that one’s cycle may longer because you have cleansed your system, therefore allowing your body to produce more eggs.
I do not take BCP (got the man snipped), but if last year was any indication. I’m expecting longer cycles as I continue my raw journey. I barely cramp now – so that’s a good thing.
I don’t think it’s a good thing NOT to have a cycle.
I’m a little worried reading some of the responses to this thread. There are a lot of women who seem to have fewer cycles on the raw diet. I’m only about 80-85% raw right now, but I’m planning on going to 95-100% when my baby weans and perhaps doing a juice feast. I’m also getting off my birth control at the end of March(it’s an implant, so I have to wait until my Dr’s appt to remove it.)
Does anyone have any advice for ensuring that my body doesn’t stop or skip cycles?
Since I’ve been raw (80-85%) I’ve had incredibly regular periods and its like I’m a girl again. I started when I was nine and I had awful cramps and heavy flow. It’s like that now, except the cramps aren’t as strong and it doesn’t last for more than 3 or 4 days. Much better than the 9 day periods I use to have! I agree with EnjoyRaw and Justine, not having a regular cycle is something I would have checked unless you are nearing menopause. We’re all so different and being raw affects us all differently. I’m glad to be raw and I’m glad my cycle has become easier to live with.