How Much Does Drinking Affect Your Temping?

themosthappy91

Hi ladies-

So, as some of you may remember from the few times I've posted before, I am currently in the beginning stages of temping as a form of birth control. And this point, I've really only been doing it for a week or so, and last night was the first time in the time since I've started that I had anything to drink- two glasses of red wine. I saw a significant spike in my temperature, going from 96.64 the night before to 96.94 last night (that's a significant jump, right?), and now I'm concerned temping isn't going to be a viable method of BC for me as someone who likes to drink wine on a regular basis. BUT, as I said, I'm still very new to temping so I'm not sure how to interpret it. 

What do y'all think and how much does drinking affect your temps?

SwtAnana

It's very possible that you're one of those people who will be sensitive to drinking. Are you sure you haven't ovulated and it was just a coincidence?

Drinking a glass or two of wine does not affect my temps. The days of drinking a ton are behind me and my body just can't handle it like it used to so 1 drink is enough to have me passed out in bed...and it's not enough to affect my BBT.

cattlebride

Drinking personally doesn't effect me but chart stalk and you can see temps go up a anywhere from .25- a full degree higher for a bunch of women.

themosthappy91

SwtAnana said:

It's very possible that you're one of those people who will be sensitive to drinking. Are you sure you haven't ovulated and it was just a coincidence? Drinking a glass or two of wine does not affect my temps. The days of drinking a ton are behind me and my body just can't handle it like it used to so 1 drink is enough to have me passed out in bed...and it's not enough to affect my BBT.

Pretty sure, but again I just started this so I could be wrong. I JUST finished my period so it would be unusual to ovulate that early in the cycle, right?

Any advice from other women who are sensitive to drinking about how to make temping still make sense without going cold turkey? 

SwtAnana

I would think it'd be a bit unusual to ovulate so soon but I've read random accounts on various sites with women who have.  It might be a good idea to test it out a few nights this week.  See what your BBT does the next morning when you don't have any alcohol the night before and compare it to what happens when you do.  

Hopefully some women who've been doing this long enough to establish a pattern and know that they're sensitive can chime in!

KyCat

Personally, I drink several nights a week, but usually only one or two drinks. My temps do fluctuate some, but I think that is more because I have a tendency to wake up in the night/can't always temp at the exact same time. I have been temping for three months and I am still able to see a clear temp shift.

The only time I have seen a major temp spike after drinking is when I go to bed actually drunk, which has only happened like, once or twice. Remember that one outlying temperature should not affect your chart overall, and if you're worried about it, you can discard that one.

Of course, everyone is different and YMMV.

blackgirlmagic

I have had a glass or two of wine before bed and it did not affect my temps. Also I believe TCOYF says that you should only use FAM as BC if you fully understand the process and use back up BC until you feel like you are an expert on the matter, unless your ready for a LO.

CaliGal37

It depends on how much you drink. One or two classes WILL affect your temps, but only slightly. Now, if you down 5 glasses like I did the other night (a very rare occasion...this TTC thing is quite stressful) ;-), then you'll most likely awake to quite a spike like I did...a whole degree!

themosthappy91

raesmith9 said:

I have had a glass or two of wine before bed and it did not affect my temps. Also I believe TCOYF says that you should only use FAM as BC if you fully understand the process and use back up BC until you feel like you are an expert on the matter, unless your ready for a LO.

Yep, no worries there- we are fully planning on using condoms until I am 100% comfortable with temping. So probably not for several months at the least!

ShallowSeas

It depends on the person.  Drinking affects my temps quite a bit. I always see a significant spike, but I put a note in FF reminding myself that the spike was due to drinking. 

kitkat2731

Has anyone here noticed a temp DROP after drinking? This is my first cycle temping, and I'm only on cd 11 (so only 6 days of temps after AF left), and out of those 6 nights, I've drank (only 1-2 drinks) twice, and the next morning both those times my temp dropped. This morning, it was almost a full degree (.9). Just wondering if the drops are just part of my normal cycle, or alcohol related. If they're alcohol related, it may be the deciding factor to not drink while TTC, but I haven't heard of anyone's temp dropping, only rising. Just curious

izzyp25

@CaliGal37 I had a whole degree spike this cycle from drinking too. Drinking drastically changes my temps!

lalala2004

I stopped drinking, but when I did last cycle, I didn't notice any difference. My temps have been just as jumpy. I really don't think it makes that much different in the long run with your chart (but that could just be me), although I have heard red wine tends to have that affect more than other drinks, so maybe switch to white?

That said, if you're using FAM for birth control, you probably want to use another method when you're first starting out. Unless it's not a big deal to you if it doesn't work!

lalalorelai

I haven't noticed any systematic changes with drinking. But my temps are pretty erratic-- a .3 degree difference isn't *that* weird for me. So I would just keep an eye out for it and try to notice a pattern. FF lets you indicate when you drink in the "specifics" section and I usually enter notes for how much I drank and when I drank, at least until I notice some sort of pattern.