PMS and PMDD symptoms

Natural Treatment of PMS and PMDD

Raise your hand if you struggle with menstrual cramps, painful periods, irritability, mood swings, depression, and more the days and weeks leading up to your period. 

If you raised your hand, you are not alone! 

Nearly 90% of all menstruating women in the United States experience premenstrual syndrome (PMS) in their lifetime. And approximately 3% of those women experience such severe symptoms that they can be categorized as having premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD).

Contrary to what some people may think, PMS and PMDD are real conditions. They can cause significant physical discomfort, impact your mental and emotional health, and disrupt your daily life.

Below, we’ll review the symptoms, causes of PMS and PMDD and how to naturally treat them. 

 

What are PMS and PMDD?

PMS is a group of symptoms that many women experience during the luteal phase of their menstrual cycle. Typically starting around ovulation and ending the first day of their period. 

PMDD, on the other hand, is a type of PMS but the symptoms are much more severe. Women who suffer from PMDD experience a decreased response to the body’s inhibitory molecule, GABA, which helps to limit activity associated with stress and anxiety. Causing women to experience five or more common PMS symptoms for seven or more days.

 

PMS and PMDD Symptoms

PMS can begin a few days or up to two weeks before the start of a woman’s period with mild to moderate symptoms. These symptoms only occur within those two weeks and are not present during the rest of the month. 

PMS can present with a variety of physical, emotional, and cognitive symptoms including:

  • Bloating
  • Headache
  • Fatigue
  • Acne flare-ups
  • Breast tenderness
  • Mood swings
  • Depression or anxiety
  • Changes in appetite
  • Insomnia
  • Constipation or diarrhea

PMDD shares many of the same symptoms as PMS, but these symptoms are much more severe. These symptoms can be so severe that they disrupt tasks of daily living. And, many women experience very little relief from common over-the-counter medications.

 

What Causes PMS and PMDD?

Scientific research hasn’t conclusively identified the cause of PMS or PMDD. Nor has it determined why some women experience it more severely than others. But, research has suggested several different theories as to what causes PMS and PMDD.

 

Hormonal changes that occur during the menstrual cycle:

Many believe that PMS occurs in response to the changing levels of the hormones estrogen and progesterone. Also referred to as the sex hormones. 

These hormonal fluctuations are thought to increase anxiety, irritability, and other mood changes experienced before your period.

 

Interaction between sex hormones and neurotransmitters:

The fluctuating levels of the sex hormones can impact the brain chemicals serotonin, dopamine, and GABA. Estrogen is required to synthesize serotonin and increases the number of serotonin receptors in the brain. Whereas progesterone helps stimulate dopamine release and increase GABA function.

Because both estrogen and progesterone levels drop before your period, the production and the effect of these “feel-good” chemicals are impacted. Leading to increased anxiety, changes in mood, and insomnia.

In women who struggle with PMDD, progesterone alters the shape of their GABA receptors making it harder for GABA to bind to them and improve mood, depression, or anxiety.

 

Other contributing factors:

There are other contributing factors that could lead to both PMS and PMDD including:

  • Genetics – There are hundreds of genes that help eliminate toxins from our bodies. One example is the COMT gene which helps to eliminate estrogen from your body. Those with the slow COMT gene mutation struggle to eliminate excess estrogen and can experience endometriosis, strong PMS, and fibroids to name a few.
  • Weight – No matter the cause for being overweight, an increase in fatty tissue equals an increase in hormones. Increased production of estrogen can cause inflammatory responses in the body and promote many PMS symptoms.
  • Estrogen Dominance – If the gut is not processing estrogen or the liver is unable to detox estrogen, the body will have an increased level of estrogen relative to progesterone. 
  • Detox Issues – If the liver is unable to detox excess estrogen it may be too stressed and require you to decrease your toxin load in other ways.
  • Gut Health – Our intestines are filled with trillions of bacterial cells (known as the microbiome) that work together to regulate the production, metabolism, and detoxification of hormones. When the microbiome is disturbed and the bacteria is damaged, dysbiosis can occur. Learn more about the importance of gut health and hormones here.
  • Histamine Intolerance – How your body reacts to the foods you eat can be driven by hormone fluctuations. Estrogen dominance can increase histamine and adequate progesterone can help balance it out.

Diagnosing PMS and PMDD

There is no definitive test to diagnose PMS or PMDD. However, there are several screening tools I used when diagnosing PMS and PMDD. 

  • Estrogen and Progesterone – DUTCH test or a serum blood test done seven days post ovulation to evaluate your estrogen and progesterone levels. 
  • Adrenal Testing – DUTCH test to evaluate your adrenal health and confirm you are not experiencing an HPA axis dysregulation
  • Thyroid – You need adequate amounts of thyroid hormones for your ovaries to make progesterone. Progesterone also helps the thyroid function well. Research has reported that a high percentage of women with PMS also have hypothyroidism.
  • Blood Glucose and Insulin Sensitivity – High blood sugar levels lead to high insulin levels which decreases the sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG). If your insulin is always high there won’t be much SHBG causing estrogen and testosterone to rise relative to progesterone. 

Natural Treatment of PMS and PMDD

If you have PMS or PMDD, there are several natural treatments that I use to relieve symptoms. These can include strategies such as diet modifications, exercise, and supplements. All focused on improving your overall well-being, stress relief, and symptom management.

Here are some of my more commonly used natural treatments for PMS and PMDD.

Diet

Eating healthy is critical to managing PMS and PMDD. Some foods can increase the likelihood of some symptoms like bloating, blood sugar fluctuations, fatigue, and mood swings. I recommend:

  • Omit refined sugar, carbs, caffeine, and alcohol.
  • Choose grass-fed, wild, and organic foods when possible. 
  • Boost your veggie intake! Load up on cruciferous veggies and fruits high in antioxidants like broccoli, cauliflower, brussels, kale, and arugula.
  • Increase your fiber during the luteal phase of your cycle. 
  • Add 2 TBSP of ground flaxseed to your diet daily

Exercise

Move your body daily! Several research studies have shown that moderate cardio exercise everyday can help improve PMS and PMDD symptoms in four to eight weeks! 

Aim for 30 to 40 minutes per day of cardio exercise or yoga. 

Supplements

Getting the required dietary supplements each day has been shown to improve PMS and PMDD symptoms. Depending upon your symptoms and dietary requirements I recommend the following supplements:

  • Magnesium: Migraine headaches, anxiety, adrenal concerns, blood pressure issues…your magnesium is likely lacking. Think of it as a calming agent that you can use just about anytime. 
  • Vitamin B6: Helps to produce progesterone and promote GABA synthesis which can ease fatigue, irritability, and insomnia. I recommend beginning with 50 mg. 
  • Vitamin E and good fats. Vitamin E supplements and essential fatty acids help combat the effects of PMS by reducing the effects of the hormone prolactin. I suggest starting with 800 iu Vitamin E Tocotrienols, 2 caps of omegaMonoPure 1300 [email office for more information on this product], or 2 caps of EPO (bonus: EPO is great for glowing skin!).  
  • Calcium: Adding additional calcium support has shown to be a simple and effective treatment for the luteal phase symptoms of PMS. I recommend adding 1200 mg of calcium per day.
  • Saffron: In women with mild to moderate depression, saffron has shown to have an antidepressant-like effect. And, it can be used throughout the luteal phase of your cycle. I used the product MoodStasis beginning with 15 mg twice a day.
  • Progesterone Drops. Augmenting your progesterone with natural progesterone drops based on your labs can help mimic your body’s progesterone production. This cyclic taper allows us to taper up or down based on your personal need. (email our office for help with this product)
  • Hormone-balancing herbal blends. A hormone-balancing herbal blend can help promote progesterone production and estrogen clearance. I often use Vitex, DIM, or CDG to promote progesterone production. I use Calcium d-Glutarate to help prevent estrogen metabolites from recirculating back into the bloodstream from the gut and to help eliminate excessive estrogen. And there are many classical Chinese herbal formulas specific to women’s health and hormones that I will often incorporate based on your constitution and symptom presentation. 

Liver Detox

If the liver has to work hard to filter out harmful toxins from the body, its capacity to cleanse the blood from estrogen can be compromised. In addition to decreasing your overall toxic load, eliminating alcohol can help improve your liver’s ability to detox excess estrogen. Alcohol increases allopregnanolone (a neurosteroid made from progesterone) which can reduce the effectiveness of GABA. Ultimately increasing symptoms of PMS and PMDD.

Say Goodbye to PMS and PMDD Naturally 

The bottom line is…if your PMS symptoms occur month after month and affect your quality of life, it’s time to get some help! You don’t need to live with physical discomfort, mood swings, anxiety, or depression. 

Based on your symptoms and lab results, we will develop a personalized treatment plan to help you say goodbye to PMS and PMDD! 

Are you ready to say goodbye to PMS? Begin by scheduling a free 15-minute troubleshooting call


where's my period

Dude, Where’s My Period?

Where's my period? To some women, it sounds like a dream…

And when it happens to you, at first you might think… “Hey, that's really not so bad.”

But as a functional medicine practitioner, I can assure you:

Your period going missing IS a problem.

(Or rather, it indicates a problem!)

Today, let’s dig into why your period is so important, and why it might have gone missing (AKA amenorrhea). Plus, how worried should you really be?

 

Why Your Period Is Really, Really Important

For women of reproductive age, there’s really no other health marker as important as your menstrual cycle. 

A normal menstrual cycle is anywhere from 24-35 days long and includes 4 parts:

  1. Menstrual Phase - this is what we think of as your period, the part of your cycle when you bleed. Hormones are lower at this point. 
  2. The Follicular Phase - this occurs after your period, and is really the start of a new cycle, when the body prepares for potential pregnancy. Hormone levels rise during this part of the cycle as the body prepares an egg to be released during ovulation. 
  3. Ovulation - this is the day somewhere in the middle of your cycle when your body releases an egg in response to peaking LH (luteinizing hormone) levels. Ovulation causes progesterone levels to rise.
  4. The Luteal Phase - this is the phase after ovulation, when you either get pregnant (which must happen within a few days of ovulation), or don’t. If you don’t get pregnant, you move back to phase 1 and have your period again. 

And while talk of the menstrual cycle is very procreation-focused, your menstrual cycle actually isn’t just about getting pregnant or not.

The hormones that are driven to rise and fall by your menstrual cycle play other important roles in your health - most importantly, progesterone, which keeps bones strong and healthy and lowers the risk of certain cancers. 

Not only that, but your hormones are meant to exist in balance: each hormone is counterbalanced by another, and if you’re not moving through each phase of the cycle, you can become dominant in one hormone - most commonly estrogen, which should be balanced by adequate progesterone. Estrogen dominance can lead to symptoms like weight gain, mood swings, tender/swollen breasts, and loss of libido. 

That’s why moving through each phase of your menstrual cycle is so important, even if you’re not looking to have a baby now (or ever). 

 

If Your Period Is MIA, You Probably Aren’t Ovulating

When you ovulate, an egg is released from the follicle. That follicle becomes the corpus luteum. The corpus luteum produces progesterone, which tells the body to build up a thick lining in the uterus. 

If you don’t become pregnant, the corpus luteum withers, and the uterine lining is shed as your period. 

What this means is that having a period - where you shed blood - is entirely dependent on ovulating. If you don’t ovulate, there won’t be a follicle to turn into the corpus luteum, so your body won’t be told to build up the uterine lining, and there won’t be anything to shed. 

What I’m getting at is that a missing period tells us you’re not ovulating. And that’s what really matters, because it is ovulation that produces estrogen-balancing, bone-protecting, cancer-risk-reducing progesterone.

Now there are a couple exceptions: some women who ovulate irregularly may have bleeding, even without ovulation. It is more likely that you won’t - but it can happen. 

Secondly, women who are on hormonal contraceptives (the birth control pill), may bleed every month, but are not ovulating (because hormonal contraceptives suppress ovulation). The “period” that you have on a hormonal contraceptive shouldn’t be thought of as a true period. Instead, it is actually a “withdrawal bleed” because the bleeding is triggered by the withdrawal from the artificial hormones during the placebo week of your birth control pill. 

 

Is Your Period Up and Gone, Or Just Flaky?

When I’m working with a patient who has missing periods, here are some of the questions I ask to help point me in the right direction toward the cause, and ultimately, the solution. 

Did you ever have normal cycles? 

If you used to have normal, predictable cycles - and then suddenly they stopped or became unpredictable, that suggests to me something has disrupted your otherwise healthy hormones. If you’ve never had a normal cycle, all’s not lost-  it just points me in a different direction. 

Has your period been gone for months (or years) straight, or is it just unpredictable?

A period that comes and goes can suggest oligoovulation - which means ovulation is unpredictable. Anovulation is the complete absence of ovulation. Again, neither one means all hope is lost: this can just help suggest what might be going on. 

Did you have any major life changes around the time your period disappeared?

This is another important detective question. The menstrual cycle is delicate - and is designed to prevent pregnancy during times of extreme stress or upheaval (since having a baby in a famine or war wasn’t really ideal for our ancestors!). It’s a good idea to try and create a timeline of when your period went missing and what was going on in your life at that time. 

 

Reasons Your Period Could Be Missing

Now that you know why it matters that your period is missing, let’s get into the good stuff: figuring out why your period is gone!

Here is a list of the most common causes of a missing period I see with my patients:

Pregnancy

Ok, this one is pretty obvious: if you’re pregnant, you won't have your period. Luckily, it’s also really easy to rule out: if there’s any chance you could be pregnant, take a pregnancy test and know for sure.

Perimenopause

On the opposite end of the spectrum from pregnancy is the possibility of perimenopause. Perimenopause is the years-long period before the onset of menopause, when your hormone levels start fluctuating and your periods can become suddenly abnormal. In perimenopause, you might have longer cycles (34+days), skip a few cycles, or have lighter or heavier periods. Other perimenopause symptoms include mood changes, hot flashes, and night sweats. Perimenopause begins for most women sometime in their 40s - if you think you’re experiencing perimenopause early,  that is something we can address. Even if you’re the “right age” for perimenopause to have begun, it is a myth that perimenopause has to be a horrible time. There is so much we can to help stabilize hormones and provide symptom relief as your body goes through this big (normal) change.

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)

PCOS is a hormonal disorder that affects millions of women (myself included). It is distinguished by elevated levels of androgens (male hormones) and the absence of regular ovulation. (Remember, no ovulation = no period.) PCOS is complex to both diagnose and treat - but it can be done. Click here to read my ultra in-depth blog post on all aspects of PCOS and learn more about treatments. 

It should be noted that PCOS can occur alongside another cause of a missing period, commonly hypothalamic amenorrhea (HA). 

Hypothalamic Amenorrhea (HA)

Hypothalamic amenorrhea (amenorrhea is the technical term for a MIA period) is a hormone imbalance that prevents ovulation caused by 1) over-exercise, 2) stress, 3) undereating, or 4) some combination of all 3. If you used to have normal cycles, and suddenly lost them, HA is one to consider. Your physiology is designed to prevent ovulation (and therefore, reproduction) when stress is high or nutrition levels are low, and HA is a result of this. Some women experience HA even when at a normal weight, or doing an amount of exercise that is deemed normal by society. Developing HA is all about crossing your body’s threshold, and that level is different for all women.

There is no definitive test for HA, and it is usually diagnosed by eliminating other causes of a missing period first. If you have HA, learning to manage stress, eating more, and exercising less can all lead to the restoration of normal cycles, though the process can take time. 

HA can occur alongside PCOS, but doesn’t always. 

Premature Ovarian Failure

This condition occurs when the ovaries stop functioning normally at an early age. This can cause irregular, come-and-go periods, rather than a complete stop.The exact cause of premature ovarian failure is unknown, though its thought genetics and autoimmunity may play a role. Unfortunately, premature ovarian failure usually causes infertility, but treatment with bioidentical hormones can help manage other symptoms. 

High Prolactin

Prolactin is the hormone that causes the breasts to produce milk, and it also suppresses ovulation. If you’re breastfeeding exclusively, high levels of prolactin can keep your period at bay. But if you’re not breastfeeding, high prolactin indicates a serious issue. It can be a result of a tumor on the pituitary gland or thyroid issues. Besides a missing period, tell-tale signs to look for are a milky discharge from the breasts, vaginal dryness, and acne. 

Hormonal Contraceptives

Hormonal contraceptives (AKA the birth control pill, patch, ring or hormonal IUD) work by suppressing your body’s natural production of hormones and replacing them with artificial counterparts. Most hormonal contraceptives suppress ovulation, and the only “period” you get is a withdrawal bleed during the placebo week of the pill. Some pills allow you to skip the placebo week - sometimes called continuous pills - and skip the withdrawal bleed altogether. One exception is the hormonal IUD (Mirena), which doesn’t always stop ovulation, but often still causes lighter or absent periods.

So, does this mean hormonal contraceptives are bad? It’s a little more complicated than that. Hormonal contraceptives have a time and place. However, there are other non-hormonal birth control options I prefer - check those out here. And I don’t like seeing hormonal contraceptives used as a “treatment” for hormone issues like PCOS or heavy periods, because all they can do is cover up these issues, not fix the root cause. 

Post-Pill Amenorrhea or Post-Pill PCOS

Recently stopped using hormonal contraceptives? That could be a cause of a missing period. Post-pill amenorrhea is a condition where periods remain absent after going off the pill. When you’re using hormonal contraceptives, your body’s normal hormone production is shut off. When you quit the pill, it can take time for hormone production to normalize, and a missing period can be the result. This should resolve in a couple months - if it takes longer, seek help. With my clients, focusing on diet, lifestyle, and key supplements can help speed up this process.  Post-pill PCOS is similar - when hormones come back online after using the pill, androgens (male hormones) may surge, causing a temporary state of PCOS. Jumping in right away to help normalize hormone levels can help prevent this imbalance from becoming permanent. See this post for more on PCOS.

Stress, Illness, or Travel

One of the simple explanations of a missed cycle? Periods of intense stress - whether psychological or physical, which can result in missing or delayed periods. The “stress hormone” cortisol is to blame. When you experience stress, your body produces more cortisol to help you respond to the stress. However, cortisol also interferes with communication between your brain and ovaries, where hormones are produced, preventing ovulation and therefore, your period. One missed or late cycle after a period of stress is likely NBD - as long as things normalize again quickly. But if you are chronically stressed, there are steps we can take to support your body in managing cortisol to hopefully take the burden off your menstrual cycle. 

Chronic Disease

This is one of the less common reasons I see for missing periods, but it does happen. Again, your body will shut down reproduction first thing if it senses you’re not well enough to successfully reproduce, as a protection mechanism. If you have a chronic disease that is constantly taxing your body, it makes sense that your cycle could be disrupted. Most commonly, I see this with women with undiagnosed or poorly managed Celiac disease, since Celiac prevents proper nutrient absorption and causes chronic inflammation. Treating the chronic condition (and getting it under control) can help restore normal cycles again. 

Thyroid Issues

An overactive or underactive thyroid (Hypo or hyper hypothyroidism) can also be a cause of missing or skipped periods, among other symptoms like feeling hot/cold, weight gain or loss, and hair loss. If you’re missing your period, and don’t know why, a full thyroid panel is a great place to start to rule out the possibility of thyroid issues. 

 

How Do I Know Why MY Period Is Missing?

Now that you know the most common reasons your period could be missing, the next step is to narrow it down to what the issue is for you. 

Some of these potential issues are easy enough to rule out, but for the rest, testing is the next best step. With my own clients who are struggling with amenorrhea, I use a combination of blood, saliva, and urine tests to help narrow down the root cause. (And if you are working with me, I’ll help you figure out which tests you can ask your regular doc to order and bill through insurance, too!)

Once we know the root cause, we can create a customized treatment plan to help restore ovulation and normal, healthy cycles. 

If you’re missing your period and need support finding the root cause and getting it back, book a free 15-minute consult to get started working with me. This no-obligation first call is like a coffee date where we can test the waters and see if working together might be a good fit. 

>>> Book a no-obligation free consultation <<<

Whether you’re trying to get pregnant or just worried about what a missing period means for your ehealth, I’d be honored to help get your cycles back on schedule.

Brie

PS - If there's ONE thing you take from this article, let it be this: missing your period is NOT normal, and needs to be addressed! In fact, a missing period is a major red flag that something is not quite right with your health. Don’t ignore it!


Woman using fertility app on smartphone

The Truth About Fertility Apps (And the Exact Ones I Use and Recommend)

In college, I tracked my periods on my wall calendar. A red dot (so subtle!) marked day 1 of my period. It wasn’t very advanced, but it was when I first started paying attention to my not-so-monthly cycle. Back then I also read paperbacks and kept a grocery list on a magnetic notepad on my fridge. 

I don’t do any of those things anymore though because - hey, there’s an app for that! 

If you’re like me, you keep everything on your phone now, and there are even some amazing fertility tracking apps you can get, too. These apps don’t just help you remember when you last got your period - the best ones can accurately predict when you'll ovulate each month. You can use that information to help you get (or not get) pregnant. 

But not every fertility tracking app you can download is actually useful. Some really can help you predict when you’re ovulating, but others are no more sophisticated than my old red-dot method. 

Let me explain how and what fertility trackers can and can’t do - and I’ll tell you which ones I use and recommend (even if you have PCOS or irregular periods!). 

 

Why Should I Track My Cycle?

I recommend cycle tracking for all women. Your period is one of the biggest indicators of your overall health - but it’s also really sensitive to changes. Little changes in your cycle can be a clue of a bigger problem, even before any other symptoms show up. 

Plus, being aware of your cycle gives you powerful information about your body. As you get more in tune with your cycle, you may even start basing some other patterns around it (like how you eat or your exercise throughout the month). 

And of course, the obvious reason to track your cycle is to track your fertility (by knowing when you ovulate). This is not just for women who are trying to get pregnant - you can use this information to help you get pregnant more easily OR to avoid pregnancy without having to use hormonal birth control methods. 

Yes - the right fertility tracking app can replace hormonal birth control if it is used correctly! 

But if you’re going to rely on cycle tracking to predict your fertility, it’s critical that you use a reliable app - and they aren’t all created equal.

 

Calendar-Only Apps Can’t Tell You Enough

Unless you are simply trying to get a better sense of cycle length and variations, regular calendar based apps are useless for fertility detection. These are apps like “Period Tracker” that just ask you to track when your period begins and ends. 

These apps base their estimation of your fertility on data from your prior cycles, assuming you have a 28-day cycle and Cycle-Day 14 ovulation. But the truth is that fewer than 10% of women actually do. Your cycle length can also vary from month to month. Because most women don’t have this cycle pattern, these apps cannot accurately tell you when you can and can’t conceive.

 

Which App Should I Use?

If you really want accurate results (and when it comes to getting pregnant or not, accuracy is key) you need a fertility tracker that does more than just count days. 

After testing and trying them all, both myself and with my patients, there are three  I recommend - one for people whose goal is avoiding pregnancy, and another two for  those who are looking to conceive OR who have very irregular cycles (my PCOS sisters, this one is for you!)

Let me break them all down for you.

 

If You’re Trying To Avoid Pregnancy (And Or Get Pregnant & Have Regular Cycles)

If you want to track your cycle, get a better understanding of your fertile window and monthly rhythms, and/or avoid pregnancy, I think the Kindara Fertility Tracker is the simplest to use and has a great track record. 

Kindara  is an app that you use along with a basal thermometer (which gives temperature to the second decimal).All you need to do is remember to take your temperature using the thermometer every morning, right when you wake up, and enter that data into the app. You’ll also track changes in your cervical mucus. 

Research by  the CDC has shown that, when used perfectly, this method of birth control is 99.6% effective! 

Kindara reports days to you as either fertile or not fertile, based on your temperature, past cycles, and cervical mucus. If you’re avoiding pregnancy, abstain or use a non-hormonal birth control method when you’re fertile.

At only $4.99/month (and with a free basic version, as well), the Kindara app is a great alternative to hormonal birth control and is a useful tool for tracking your fertility. 

 

If You’re Trying to Get Pregnant  - Or You Have Long or Irregular Cycles

If your goal is to get pregnant, or if you have PCOS or irregular cycles (whether you want to get pregnant or avoid pregnancy) I recommend both Oova and the new Priya

Priya  is a vaginal sensor that monitors temperature all day long. It’s a silicone ring that you can wear continuously for up to 29 days - or remove for up to three hours daily - that takes regular temperature readings. 

Because it measures core temperature, and because it takes readings all day long, every 6 minutes, the resulting temperature data is much more accurate than taking a single, oral reading. 

Priya is able to predict ovulation up to 2.5 days in advance of a LH surge on an ovulation urine test and data in trials suggests it is just as accurate as an ultrasound, which is the gold standard for ovulation testing! 

If you have PCOS, or unexplained fertility, using Priya can unlock a huge piece of the puzzle. The same holds true if you have irregular cycles or irregular ovulation from any cause, and are either trying to conceive, or trying to avoid it. It also works if a woman is taking fertility treatments in the form of herbs or medications to promote ovulation. 

And if you’re wondering if it’s safe to wear, I have you covered! My first question was about the potential for EMF exposure. What makes Priya cool is that it only connects to the device once an hour for a few minutes, and it’s at a very low power. You can also change the setting and have it connect even less often, 1-2x daily is all that’s needed, and you can remove it before connecting. It will still read and store your temperature, even when disconnected. 

I also asked about the potential for biofilm buildup and vaginal microbiome disruption (which is a major issue with other vaginal rings, like Nuvaring). Priya is different because it's made from washable silicone. You can take it out every day and wash it, and it can be removed up to 3 hours per day and still be effective. 

Priya is not yet available to the public, but I am testing it with my clients and loving the results. Sign up for pre-orders here. 

 

Another Amazing Option - Especially for PCOS! 

Along with Priya, I recommend Oova, which uses urine tests (think pee-on-a-stick pregnancy tests) to track fertility throughout the month instead of temperature. You order a kit with 15 tests, and enter test results into the app for lab-quality results. 

Honestly, I love Oova. The technology was developed by a doctor who struggled with fertility herself, and it’s unlike anything else you can buy. 

You’ve probably heard of LH tests (AKA Ovulation Predictor Kits) before: you can buy them at the drugstore, and until now they were the best option for at-home ovulation prediction. But the big problem is that LH - luteinizing hormone - is present in your urine all month, and it surges just before ovulation. All an LH test can tell you is that ovulation is coming in the 24 hours or so  - and that depends on you taking it at the right time (too early or too late and you’ll miss the tell-tale surge). Plus, interpretation can be confusing: is today the strongest pink line? Was it yesterday? Will it be tomorrow?

If you’re trying to get pregnant, LH tests alone aren’t very helpful because your fertile window is actually 5 days up until you ovulate, and an LH test misses most of that. And, an LH surge doesn’t always mean that an egg has actually been released, as some women don’t release an egg every cycle.

Oova uses super-sensitive, nanotechnology LH tests along with progesterone tests to solve this problem. Progesterone levels rise when an egg is released from the follicle in the ovary where it has been growing. High progesterone levels are also necessary for the vascular development of endometrial lining, and to prevent shedding of the endometrial lining if you are pregnant. By tracking progesterone levels with LH, Oova gets a complete look at your cycle. 

You’ll use the Oova tests - which are read by the app, so you don’t have to do any interpretation - to establish your hormonal baseline and then see the changes that indicate your fertile window. It can uncover your exact, unique cycle length, and confirm that ovulation has in fact occurred - so it’s ideal for women with irregular cycles or PCOS!

I love to pair Oova with Priya or Kindara data, too - especially for tricky, irregular cycles who are trying to conceive!

Learn more and get Oova here. Use code BWIH1 for 15% off your Oova order!

 

Can A Fertility Tracker Really Replace Other Forms of Birth Control?

Like I said before, I recommend tracking your cycle to all women - even if it’s just a simple calendar app for right now.

But the right fertility tracking app CAN replace other forms of birth control as long as you’re doing it the right way. Just like with the pill or condoms, user error is the biggest problem with using fertility tracking as a birth control method.

Before you get started, read all the instructions included with your fertility tracking app  - and when in doubt, use a backup method like a condom. My favorite condoms are Sustain Natural Latex Condoms, which are nitrosomine-free (nitrosomine is is a carcinogen that is formed when latex is heated and formed). The rubber they use for manufacturing their latex is also non-GMO and fair trade, which is really significant with condoms, as child labor and harsh working conditions are a big issue in many rubber plantations world-wide.

 

Do You Track Your Fertility?

If you have experience with the Kindara, Priya, or Oova, I’d love to hear how it worked for you! Got another fertility tracking app you love? Leave a comment and let me know. 

And if you’re not yet tracking your fertility but want to give it a try using one of the apps I recommend, save 15% on the Oova kit with code BWIH1