Evidence seems to show that illness or medication (or both) can delay ovulation for a few days or for several cycles. Women learning the Ovulation Method should be made aware of that possibility, even though medication may not always delay ovulation, since the reaction to medication is individual.
Women who become ill or who take medicine at the beginning of the ovulatory phase of the cycle must follow the rules for intercourse during times of mucus secretion or bleeding. Ovulation that has been delayed may occur late in the cycle. Each cycle must be treated separately and without reference to the previous one.
A most important point to be mentioned about the advantages of the Ovulation Method is the ability of the woman to detect some gynecological disturbances. Abnormalities that are recorded in the charting indicate quite obviously that something is wrong. This can be vaginal or uterine infections, tumors, endometriosis, cervical erosions, or uterine cancer, to name a few. Abnormalities in her normal pattern will alert her to seek medical help.
Women with chronic discharges or even with infectious discharges have found that they can identify the fertile type mucus from the infertile type. The fertile type is stretchy, whereas, the infertile discharge is not. Infectious discharges have a different color, they can have an offensive odor, or they can cause an itching or burning sensation.
Drug Side Affects
Drugs may alter the mucus pattern, with variable effects in different women: Some tranquilizers, hormones such as progesterone and estrogen, anti-histamines which may affect some women, and/or cytoxic drugs used in cancer treatment, may prevent mucus production by acting directly on the ovaries.
Antibiotics may affect the bacterial balance of the vagina and lead to vaginal infections, which can change the consistency of mucus.
Antibiotics for severe illness sometimes can affect the normal mucus pattern. Yet some women who must take antibiotics all the time for chronic illness can interpret their normal mucus pattern with success.
Some antibiotics increase the fertile type mucus, others decrease fertile type mucus.
Valium, Diuretics, Antihistamines, and some High Blood Pressure medicine greatly reduce the quantities of cervical mucus.
While on medication, pay attention to sensation. A moist, lubricated sensation always means fertility.
