[Kati]

Hey everybody, I'm new here but I've spent all my waking hours the last couple of days looking through this forum, I wish I'd found this before I wasted my money on stuff like breastactives etc... such a great resource and so many inspirational people!

Anyway, I have a question about birth control safety (and I've searched and searched through this forum and never found anything conclusive, so I thought I'd ask directly)
My current program is:

Red Clover Blossom capsules 430mg each - 2x per day
Fenugreek Seed capsules 610mg each - 2x per day
Saw Palmetto capsules 540 mg each - 2x per day
Fennel seed tea - 1x per day

+breast massage with Fenugreek extract (I try doing the chi massage but it mostly ends in general kneading )
+hypnosis.

I've been on birth control for about 3 years (Microgynon 30, which is a combined estrogen and progestogen contraceptive pill) but when I started my program on the day of my last period, I didn't continue taking my pills (because I don't have that many left before I can get new ones and I wouldn't see my boyfriend during that month anyway), so currently I'm on herbs but no pill, but I would be resuming it on my next period.

Now the question is as usual, is it safe to take a hormonal-based contraceptive together with these specific herbs? I've found so much contradicting evidence for both arguments and I just wish I could know for sure, because obviously this is something you want to be rather safe than sorry but I'm sure you all also understand that I don't want to have to worry about condoms for the next couple of months when it's not absolutely necessary. And I feel like so many girls on this forum are sexually active and I've not read anything yet about unwanted pregnancies or people getting annoyed with condoms, so are there any of you who have had sex on the pill and on herbs and not had any problems with it? It would really help me out to hear from some real people what is and isn't safe with this issue.

(and I know I should really just ask a real doctor about this but I'm abroad at my parents' at the moment and won't see my doctor until I'm back in the UK in september)

Thanks everyone, and sorry for the long post

[Kati]

Okeeeeeee... anyone have an answer that isn't absolutely nonsensical spam? I can't be the only one who has this question......

[JustintoMe]

I'm not experienced in this area because I'm not BC. But commonsense tells me that it probably isn't a good idea to depend wholly on your BC while doing NBE. Being that you don't know if NBE herbs decrease the effectiveness of your BC you should probably not depend on it too much to prevent you from getting pregnant.

[Kati]

Brilaw you're probably right, common sense does seem to indicate that taking supplements that change your hormones will definitely alter the hormones I'm taking in BC and therefore make it less effective. I got my Greenbush package today though (re-stocking up ) and there it says explicitly in the leaflets that their herbs don't affect any form of birth control, so wouldn't that hold true for all brands of those specific herbs? Does anyone know?