March 30, 2023

The Symphony of Hormones and Female Health

By: Angel Marquez, DO

Director’s Note: In this patient interview, Angel Marquez, DO, a former FACTS elective participant, highlighted how fertility awareness-based methods (FABMs) can empower women and men with knowledge about their fertile window, as well as explore the dietary and lifestyle factors that can contribute to infertility. He also illustrates why it is so important for physicians and medical professionals to learn more about these methods in order to help their patients address infertility with empathy and professionalism. As always, FACTS recommends learning the best evidence supporting these methods and their role in women’s health and fertility! To do so, check out our online CME Course approved for more than 125 CME credits through the American Academy of Family Physicians. To help us educate even more students, please give to FACTS today!

“The FACTS elective taught me that peer-reviewed scientific data demonstrates the benefits of properly tracking a woman’s cycles, as not only an effective family-planning method but also a valuable tool to evaluate fertility and aid in clinical diagnoses.”

Introduction

While in the FACTS elective, I interviewed Natalie,* a 33-year-old nurse who ventured into learning about FABMs several years ago. Hoping to build a family, she became frustrated when she was still not pregnant after several months of trying to conceive. She then turned to the Internet and came across the concept of evaluating a woman’s cervical mucus and basal body temperature to track ovulation and more easily identify the fertile window. Intrigued, she ordered several books and kept reading and learning about how this symphony of hormones contributed to her experiences, attitudes, and overall health.

Finding Answers through Charting

As Natalie continued her research, she began to feel empowered by the biomarkers she observed but noticed she seldom had days with fertile cervical mucus. Furthermore, tracking her basal body temperature revealed consistently low temperatures. From those two signs alone, she understood she needed to make a change. She came across a natural fertility specialist about a year into this journey, and they worked together to fine-tune her use of the Sympto-Thermal Method (STM). She also began to exercise and adjust her dietary habits and, lo and behold, her temperatures began to rise appropriately. Fertile mucus appeared as well.

Prior to receiving education and guidance from an FABM-trained physician, Natalie felt as though something wasn’t right with her body. However, she didn’t understand exactly what that was. She was brushed off, laughed at, and even ridiculed when she attempted to share her charts with various medical professionals. A common response was that “charting itself was probably causing her stress and negatively impacting her ability to conceive.” She felt unheard and was distressed by the fact that no one sought to understand the underlying reasons for her “unexplained infertility.”

Freedom through Education

After relocating, she found a medical professional trained in the Creighton Model and NaproTechnology. Several months into working with this physician, she was diagnosed with endometriosis and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis despite never having the classic signs. Four years after starting her fertility journey, she finally started to get answers to her questions.

After implementing a new treatment regimen from her physician, she began to see peak-type cervical mucus for the first time. Through this whole experience, Natalie has developed a deeper sense of freedom thanks to the education she gained about her body and the role of natural hormonal fluctuations in everyday life.

“As a registered nurse, I was never taught how these hormones influence behavior; understanding my cycle has empowered me in so many ways.”

Although she now uses the Creighton Model, Natalie continues to track her basal body temperature because she enjoys the additional data this provides. To those who find themselves in her previous position, she offers this advice: “If you’re trying to get pregnant and are labeled as suffering from ‘unexplained infertility,’ don’t accept that there isn’t a reason. A lot of doctors may try to help get you pregnant, but very few try to find the reasons why. There are answers out there and it’s up to you to find them.

“If you’re trying to get pregnant and are labeled as suffering from ‘unexplained infertility,’ don’t accept that there isn’t a reason. There are answers out there.”

To medical practitioners, she says: “Trust the women who tell you that something is wrong. It’s okay to admit that you don’t know.”

Why is it that many women go through this same experience? Why do many clinicians dismiss the unfamiliar as unfounded? As scientists, physicians must consider the possibility that what we understand is both incomplete or wrong altogether. The FACTS elective taught me that peer-reviewed scientific data demonstrates the benefits of properly tracking a woman’s cycles, as not only an effective family-planning method but also a valuable tool to evaluate fertility and aid in clinical diagnoses. Natalie’s story was invaluable, and I will remember our conversation for the rest of my life. As a future OB-GYN, I plan to utilize these methods myself, educate my patients, and always remember that, while we as individuals may not have all the answers, as a community, we can work together to find them.

*Name has been changed to respect the privacy of the interviewee, and all information is shared with permission.

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