Natural vs Medicine: Pregnancy Prevention

I started taking Birth Control Pills (BCP) nine years ago, to regulate my cycle, and help clear up my skin. When I began my narcolepsy medicine (Provigil) last year, I started looking into the Fertility Awareness Method (FAM), which involves checking your basal body temeprature, and signs of ovulation, since my medicine made BCP less effective. Husband had some reservations, and we've always used extra prevention, so I just kept poppin' my pills and left it at that.

Baby plans have brought FAM vs BCP back to the forefront in our efforts to be as ready as possible when we start TTC. While I understand your cycle CAN return to normal right off the pills, for many women, it takes a few months- and patience is not one of my virtues. I've also had some underlying concerns about the long term effects of hormonal birth control, mostly just a bad gut feeling, but I've learned to trust my instincts and I'm doing more research on FAM in an effort to chuck my pills.

Now, in general, I embrace the medical community and medications as a whole. Husband is a pharmacist to be, and I have every faith in his level of knowledge and his intentions when he tells me what medications to take. I also know that everyone is human, including doctors, and no one has all the answers except God. Husband will be the first person to tell you that every medication has side effects. The question is: do the benefits outweigh the risks? When it comes to Provigil in my everyday life- yes, absolutely. Provigil while preggo- no. Birth control pills for a few years when we were 100% not ready for a child- yes. BCP long term or leading up to TTC- not so sure.

Lately, I've noticed what seems to be a trend in viewing the medical community as the enemy, with more and more people acting like doctors are out to get them, or are only interested in money. While there are always exceptions to the rule, I have never experienced this and do not believe to be true. Something I have witnessed is people taking medications with unrealistic expectations- they want a full cure with zero side effects at little to no cost. Without this result, they look for someone to blame.

I know there are cases where doctors or medications don't do what they should be reasonably expected to do and you should never just take what any one person says as gosple. Ask for a second opinion, do your own research, and make the decision that you feel is best for you. In terms of pregnancy prevention, what was the decision you made, and why?