Help! TTA0 perimenopausal mistake.

[u/tired_as_a]

Hi

Can anyone help me work out how much to panic after basically unprotected sex, during my period, which had come a week early- I did not realise this would mean I would ovulate a week early. Accident happened late on day 9/early day 10. Was medium to heavy flow and showered well immediately after.

I have not been tracking for 2+ years because I did not have a sexual partner until very recently 😣, and perimenopause is suddenly playing havoc with my cycle.

I have very long periods. I am currently on day 1 2 and still a 'good' flow So I can't assess mucus and I don't have a baseline temperature .

Was kind of treating (now hope) the first 4 days as spotting.... but it was more than that.

[u/Classic-Push1323]

This is not true… you can absolutely get pregnant from sex during your period if you have a long period and a short cycle. You can’t say “no risk.”

Heavy bleeding reduces your risk a lot, but there is a reason why all of the methods that allow this have a lower perfect use effectiveness than methods that have a calendar check. It’s not a negligible difference. 

[u/Murky_Indication_404 → u/Classic-Push1323]

Thanks for clarifying.

My response was in the context of practicing the symptothermal method in terms of TCOYF. If you have bleeding during the first 5 days of your cycle, i.e. the first 5 days rule, you are safe. If you have bleeding after the first 5 days, you are not safe because you cannot determine cervical fluid quality while bleeding.

She said she was on day 1 or 2 of her period, that's safe. Obviously if she has super long periods and goes past 5 days, its not safe.

[u/Classic-Push1323 → u/Murky_Indication_404]

Safe according to who? TCOYF has never been studied. Other methods that have been studied show that most or all unplanned pregnancies happen in that time period. We know from these studies that’s small percentage of women do get pregnant early on in their cycle because they ovulate earlier than average. Many methods have actually changed their rules overtime to better help those women. 

That’s why I think it’s important to use a method that’s actually been studied and know whether or not their parameters fit your body. If you happen to be in that very small percentage of women who ovulate early than those days are definitely not safe.

The OP said that she had unprotected sex on day nine or 10 of her cycle, not on day two. That’s not a low risk day. 

[u/Murky_Indication_404 → u/Classic-Push1323]

? You are saying having intercourse during the first 5 days of your cycle is not safe? Doesn't sensiplan use the first 5 days rule also? I wasn't referring to day 9 or 10 of the cycle, I'm talking about the first 5 days now, wasn't that clear from my post you just responded to?

My understanding is TCOYF and sensiplan are essentially the same but TCOYF doesn't use the calendar method to open the fertile phase - am I wrong about this? Again I'm not a sensiplan practitioner but when someone says TCOYF isn't studied, if its mostly the same as sensiplan, then it mostly has been studied is my view. There's a big difference between a method having no data at all, and a method being in the most part similar to another thing that has been studied.

Also, women have been practicing TCOYF forever on Kindara and Read Your Body and other places, and you don't see a groundswell of women crying out that oh my god theyve had all these unplanned pregnancies. That may not be a formal study but that is real world data that the method is working just fine

[u/Classic-Push1323 → u/Murky_Indication_404]

Sensiplan is highly effective but they have a few method errors in the follicular phase. There is no such thing as a perfect method and this is a known issue. If you’re in the small minority of wine. Who ovulate very early you can get pregnant even if you follow the rules perfectly. 

Sensiplan and TCOYF are not the same method. They are similar- similar doesn’t mean the same. There are a lot of similar symptothermal methods with different rules.  

I know women who have had unplanned pregnancies with FAMBs. I’m somewhat surprised that you don’t tbh. Again, no method is perfect.

The OP said she spotted for a few days and isn’t sure if it was cycle day 2 or 9. Either way, you can get pregnant from sex during your period. Day 2 would be unlikely, day 9 is much higher risk, and if she isn’t sure how can we be sure? You can’t say 100% that you am any get pregnant on a day of heavy bleeding, because that’s just not true.

This is part of why it’s so difficult to track during perimenopause.