Fertility awareness methods: Side Effects & Benefits
Side Effects
The Positive
There are actually lots of things about FAMs that may be good for you as well as your sex life.
- Some fertility awareness methods are free.
- There’s no prescription necessary—you can start and stop using a FAM without seeing a provider.
- FAMs can help you learn more about your body and how it works.
The Negative
There are no side effects of fertility awareness methods, but there can be disadvantages, including:
- Using a FAM requires planning and careful record-keeping.
- Using a FAM requires abstaining from penis-in-vagina sex or using an alternate method of birth control when you have penis-in-vagina sex for at least a week per cycle.
- FAMs are more effective if both partners participate, and not all partners will.
- You can't switch directly from a hormonal method to a FAM, because the hormones might still be in your system and could affect your cycle. So you'll need to use a non-hormonal method for a few months until your cycle is regular and you can predict when your fertile days are.
