#cerelle

I’m about a week into taking two agnus castus capsules daily and I’m not sure if there’s been a difference as of yet, but hey, 7 days ain’t gonna change much.

Just for a bit of background, I’ve got them to try and battle my hormonal acne first and foremost as its become unbearable after months of trying everything to resolve it. Secondly, it’s to ease my transition back into having periods and the whole pms thing - it’s been three years can you believe it?!?! I’m convinced my contraceptive pills were to blame for my skin issues and read so many things on the negative effects they can have on so many parts of the body and mind, along with my friend who’s a chemist’s jaw dropping when I told her what type of pill I was taking because she absolutely advises against it for some pretty scary reasons. After three years of continual doses (I was on cerelle due to my family background with blood clots so I had to take one per day without any rests) I took a step back and realised that actually, I wanted to let my body do it’s thing for a while.

Agnus castus is kind of a natural relief for PMS. It calms the mood swings, regulates the flow and basically makes everything a bit more manageable when it’s that tough time for women so I thought great. Sign me up. As I mentioned above, I’ve not actually had a period in three years, so I need all the help I can get when I eventually get one back. A nice little side effect is also that it balances hormones, thus resolving hormonal acne.

Now, cleansing myself of the pill of course means I need a new contraceptive (abstinence isn’t for me) so I did a bit of research and to be honest… I don’t really want to have an implant pumping my body full of more hormones or someone poking around inside me filling me with copper (isn’t it great being a woman??). When I thought it would be a lesser of all the evils scenario, I came across natural cycles. It’s an app that tells you when you can have sex without getting pregnant by just measuring your temperature. I know, it sounds too good to be true and that you will definitely get pregnant after a week of use. I’ve read about it though and it sounds legit. I’ve been measuring my temperature for about a week now and inputting them onto the app but I’ve not been brave enough to actually do the deed completely unprotected yet.