preventing pregnancy

Submitted by alemama on October 1, 2011 - 11:34am
Body: 

Hey! I've been thinking of preventing pregnancy. Has anyone heard of either wild carrot or the ladycomp? I'm curious about the wild carrot for sure. Christine I thought it might interest you especially.

Wild carrot (Daucus carota), better known as Queen Anne's lace, is such a common roadside plant that most people are amazed to learn that it is a proven anti-fertility herb. In addition to being the wild cousin of carrot, it is related to parsley, dill, caraway, anise, celery, cumin, and a (now extinct) plant whose seeds were the birth-control of choice for many a classical Greek or Roman woman.
The aromatic seeds of wild carrot are collected in the fall and eaten (a heaping teaspoonful a day) to prevent the implantation of a fertilized egg. In one small study the effectiveness rate after thirteen months of use was 99%. As modern scientific medicine reports that one-third of all fertilized eggs are passed out of the body without implanting in the uterus, this method of birth control seems in complete agreement with nature.
Of the hundreds of women currently using this anti-fertility agent, I have heard virtually no reports of any side-effects. Note that many books caution you to beware the danger of confusing poison hemlock and wild carrot. Poison hemlock is rather scarce in our area, and, at any rate, does not smell or taste of carrot (as does Queen Anne's lace), so I believe this warning to be a red herring. In addition, wild carrot leaves have small hairs on them, while the leaves of poison hemlock are smooth. Another anti-fertility herb that has been tested by small groups of modern women is wild yam (Dioscorea villosa). Since birth-control pills were originally made from this plant, it is not at all surprising that it has the effect of blocking conception when taken daily in rather large doses: either a cup of tea or two capsules taken three times a day.
Does it have detrimental effects? Current studies are too small to show any, but there is a possibility that there could be. Interestingly enough, if wild yam is taken in small doses (a cup of tea or 10-20 drops of the tincture daily from onset of menses until mid-period) it increases fertility! In either case, the effect seems to be triggered by the large amount of hormone-like substances found in this root. When taken daily, these substances may be converted into progesterone, thus decreasing the possibility of conception. When taken for the two weeks preceding ovulation, these substances may be converted into LH and FSH, hormones that are needed to make the egg ready to be fertilized. Other common weeds and garden plants of our area that have been used to increase or decrease fertility include stinging nettle, oatstraw, pennyroyal, Jack-in-the-pulpit, rue, and parsley.

found here:

http://www.motherandchildhealth.com/Prenatal/susun/fertility.html

and then there is this:

http://ovulationtestreviews.com/author/Predictor/
Lady Comp Fertility Monitor Review
published Friday, March 4th, 2011 at 1:48 PM by Meredith
Lady Comp Fertility Monitor is a comprehensive natural family planning system that allows you to identify your fertile periods easily. It works on a three-step process:
Takes your temperature
Evaluate data
Estimates fertility levels
Lady Comp is a tiny computer with a temperature sensor that a woman uses immediately upon awakening to take her temperature and an alarm to tell her when to wake up since a woman must have at least five hours of sleep before taking a reading.
The sensor is placed under her tongue for thirty seconds. If she is menstruating, she also presses a button. The whole process is over in less than a minute and the device will inform you whether or not you are fertile, so you can decide if you will have sex. It can also provide you with a fertility prognosis for six days in advance. Reading the results is easy, with red or green lights indicating the day’s fertility status. And the device can successfully narrow down the number of fertile days even in women with irregular menstrual cycles, although results may vary. In any case, a yellow light indicates an ambiguous reading signaling you to proceed with caution.Lady Comp also maintains a databank of past readings for as long as 120 days (for menstruation data) and 31 days for fertility data.
The Lady Comp device works using the basal body temperature method. This technique works by measuring slight increases in body temperature that indicate when a woman is ovulating. Normal body temperature ranges from 97.2-degrees F to 97.4-degrees F, but during ovulation, body temperature can increase by half a degree to one degree and will remain elevated for at least three days. Many women who wanted to practice this natural family planning method were turned off because of the difficulty of learning and practicing them, as well as the possibility of errors. This is where Lady Comp comes in, since it makes reading body temperature data and analyzing the results easy and convenient. And studies have indicated that the device is very reliable in predicting fertility and helping prevent conception. It also helps prevent mistakes in applying the basal body temperature method due to mistaken readings and analysis of the data.

bad_mirror

October 1, 2011 - 2:33pm

Well ... The heroine of the Outlander novels (a WWII combat nurse who goes back in time after visiting Stonehenge and learns ancient Celtic herb secrets to heal while falling in love with a very sexy Scottsman :-) uses wild carrot seeds for herself and all the village woman who do not wish to be pregnant, with fabulous results! Sorry for the useless fictional anecdote, but it's exciting to hear about wild carrot irl! :-)

alemama

October 1, 2011 - 2:37pm

There is even a fan group called the LOL or ladies of lollybroch

bad_mirror

October 1, 2011 - 2:44pm

Love! It *is* wild carrot she uses, right? Or if not, it is some other teaspoon of little seeds I want to know about.

Christine

October 1, 2011 - 4:27pm

Trying to keep my eyes open after a very long week (and settling down with a little dinner and glass of wine with my honey-bunny).

There is so very much to learn about being a Whole Woman!! I love it all, but will only have time for so much in my lifetime. If you cover the herbs, I'll cover spinning and playing the recorder.

♥

louiseds

October 2, 2011 - 3:08am

... with a word of caution.

Going back to my pasture studies and red clover, one of the problems of red clover as a pasture was that when ewes grazed oestrogenic clover dominant pstures the ewe lambs that they gave birth to had physically deformed reproductive organs and were themselves infertile as a result of in utero exposure to phytoestrogens.

As a post menopause woman I am not the least bit worried about birthing a deformed baby any time soon, but it makes me very wary of endorsing the ingesting of plants with reproductive hormone-like activity, if you are still in your reproductive years.

Sure, it is about contraception, and intending not to have a baby, but I would be concerned about contraception failure and the potential for giving birth to a girl (or boy) baby with a gender/sex abnormality as a result of using 'hormones' that are not at least measured. They are still artificial, exogenous hormones, regardless of whether they are manufactured by nature or in a factory. You are still messing your body's metabolism around. How is that different or less risky than being on the Pill?

And what about the unknown effect on a potential embryo/foetus/baby/unborn person?

As romantic as it may seem, the women of yore did not have the luxury of the contraceptive options we have, or years of formal scientific research into their contraceptive chemicals, that we have today. My guess is that they would have chosen the Pill over unmeasured herbs, but I could be wrong.

Louise

veronicaJ

October 3, 2011 - 12:43am

great post you got there huh..:) Anyway while some are busy looking for treatments or any remedies to prevent pregnancies some couple then are doomed for not having a baby of their own, so many of them rely on what we called as in vitro fertilization which has been proven to be effective in developing embryos. Just recently a certain contest became very controversial in canada since it offers a baby as the grand prize and this is in the form of in vitro fertilization. It is further stated in the news that Canadian radio station Hot 89.9 has caused uproar with its most recent station competition. Free In vitro fertilization treatments are being presented as the prize for this radio sweepstakes. Article source: Canadian Radio Win a baby contest offers $35,000 prize

louiseds

October 3, 2011 - 7:50am

This paragraph is at the end.

"Fertility treatments in Canada have been heavily debated. The Canadian health service covers all treatments considered “medically necessary.” Taxpayer dollars in Canada fund the Canadian health service. IVF treatments have been ruled not medically necessary by the Canadian health service, which means couples who wish to conceive via IVF must pay for it themselves. Some advocates argue that IVF should be considered medically necessary, while others argue that taxpayer dollars should not be used to pay for elective fertility treatments."

I wonder if hysterectomy and pelvic repair surgery for POP would be deemed medically necessary in Canada?

I don't think any woman would undergo either if they didn't 'have to', (which they don't have to). Neither category is really medically necessary.

bad_mirror

November 4, 2011 - 8:11pm

Well, I bought one! Good price on eBay. Works like "manual" FAM, without all the "math" stuff :-). Have to wait until my period returns though, which could be a year or so away .... Will report in the distant future :-)

louiseds

November 5, 2011 - 3:17am

Bought what, BadMirror? a Sweepstakes ticket????

bad_mirror

November 5, 2011 - 7:55am

To win another baby? Gulp, actually hoping to prevent one (for a little while anyway!). It's a fertility monitor (called lady comp). Supposedly it has a Pearl Index (success rate of pregnancy prevention) similar to the pill. It's just a higher tech way of using temperatures to track fertity. We'll see ... If another baby does result from this contraceptive method, it wouldn't be the worst thing :-)

louiseds

November 5, 2011 - 9:51pm

I had a blonde moment there. Best to try it when time between babies is not critical, eh?. I guess it all depends on the data and how this machine interprets it. It has to be an option for women who cannot get their heads around checking the cervix, and the recording on a day to day basis.

Bebe

March 13, 2013 - 10:25am

I searched 'birth control' and found this personality-filled thread. My thought was to find a discussion on birth control pills and bring it forward to add some anecdotal information of my own. I didn't expect to find much discussion on the subject with forum participants being menopausal or post-so or being the sort of young women who look for natural alternatives. I think this may be important, though, because of the younger newbies who might be considering birth control pills.

My daughter was taking a generic birth control pill. She was having leg cramps, migraines, and mood swings with panic and agitation and depression. These things are given as common side effects. No surprise. But she said, "I thought I was going crazy." She suffered these symptoms for months, thinking she was going crazy and could reason her way out of it, until the leg cramps started. When she researched the reason for leg cramps, she discovered the connection with her generic birth control. She immediately stopped taking them and began a regimen of blood thinners because of a possible clot. Within days she began to feel better and eventually the cramping stopped. She explained to me that the uterine lining changes as part of the effect to prevent pregnancy so that after each menstrual cycle, when the lining sloughed off, she was detoxifying and could feel a noticeable improvement. It has been about eight months since she quit the generic pill and is finally feeling "normal" again. I checked online and found a recall of that generic type, but there were disclaimers that indicated it was a production problem rather than a composition problem. I doubt it.

Young women being subject to postpartum depression and suffering the trauma of prolapse may have this problem to add to the mix, and I just wanted to bring it to your attention.

Surviving60

March 13, 2013 - 3:35pm

I took birth control from about age 20 to 35. Planned Parenthood at that time wouldn't prescribe after 35. I stopped, but could have continued if I'd gone to a private gyn. This was 1985. In the intervening years I've had two kids and one miscarriage, gone through menopause, discovered prolapse, discovered WW and become about 1000% more knowledgeable about many things.

A few years back a young woman of my acquaintenance experienced a scary symptom. She was seeing flashing lights in the corner of one eye. Several eye doctors were stumped and she was sent for an MRI (negative). Then a savvy doc asked about her medications. Birth control had been started a few months earlier. He suggested it be stopped. The flashing lights went away. Another brand was tried, the flashing lights returned. So the pills were stopped for good. I feel this was a sign that she was at risk for blood clots and circulatory problems caused by the hormones in the pill.

I've ever taken any kind of hormones since going off the pill in 1985, and I never will. They scare me. - Surviving

Bebe

March 13, 2013 - 6:18pm

Those flashing lights (I called them glimmers) are symptoms of TIA (transient ischemic attack). Anyone should be concerned if they have that symptom and try to discover the cause. Aspirin does that to me. My husband had them intermittently for years before he finally had a stroke. Of course, we figured this out after the fact. Now when he has them, he takes aspirin and they go away! I thought I had that as an allergic-type reaction to aspirin but have never proven why - I just quit taking aspirin. My husband uses aspirin regularly as a blood thinner and takes an extra one when he has TIA symptoms.

Most prescription meds scare me. I always laugh at the advertisements with their long lists of possible side effects; but it's not funny at all, is it? I've been more cautious lately about taking herbal supplements since I've begun to realize how powerful the effect can be. I would hate to see these become regulated by the pharmaceutical/medical industry because they are so useful, but we should be alert to the effect when we use them. The first post in this thread is evidence of that.

I took birth control pills from about age 19 to 26 without noticeable ill effect. During the last period of my life that I was trying to avoid pregnancy I used cycle and temperature charts which really wasn't that much trouble.