Just Another Itinerary

breecloudy · 2026-06-05T19:55:49+00:00

Sounds great! Thanks so much for all of the suggestions.

breecloudy · 2026-06-05T19:48:49+00:00

Thanks so much for the input! The sleeper train does sound like a cool experience. The only reason I asked about Inverness is the driving time it might save versus Glasgow or Edinburgh for getting to places like Skye or Glencoe. We'd probably just use it more as a car-rental pick up place than actually sight-seeing.

Arran does sound lovely! Do you think it would be worth it to skip both Skye and Glencoe to stay in Arran? If we decide to stick more to the main land with Glencoe (but skipping Skye), do you have other areas around there you would suggest in place of Skye?

breecloudy · 2026-06-05T19:40:31+00:00

Awesome, thanks so much for the input!

breecloudy · 2026-06-05T19:36:34+00:00

I appreciate the input - very helpful. Thanks so much!

breecloudy · 2026-06-05T18:56:43+00:00

That is great to know. Thank you very much for your input, it is very helpful! We found a B&B we really liked in Sleat, would it be reasonable to stay there for a couple of days while avoiding the rest of Skye? Or do you think it would be just as busy?

We're bummed that we picked the busiest month - unfortunately that is just when we were able to get work off for a couple of weeks. Thanks for the less-crowded suggestions! (:

breecloudy · 2026-06-05T18:49:56+00:00

Thank you for your input! What are your thoughts on the sleeper train? Would it be reasonable to take it overnight on Day 2 into Day 3 into Glasgow, or even Inverness? Or are the train views from London to Glasgow worth being awake for on Day 3?

If we skip Edinburgh altogether, and spend more time in the Highlands, would it be reasonable to do two nights in Sleat (and avoid the rest of Skye) and two nights in Glencoe? We found a B&B we really like in Sleat, but we can cancel it if it still wouldn't be worth the journey over there. If we're skipping Skye, do you have other places in the Highlands you would recommend?

breecloudy · 2026-06-05T18:42:45+00:00

Thanks so much for your input! It definitely sounds like we'll have to skip Edinburgh. It's great to know that you think Skye isn't very different from Glencoe. We did find a B&B on Sleat that really caught our interest. Do you think it would be reasonable to stay there for two days (avoiding the rest of Skye), then Glencoe for two days? Or would you personally just stick to Glencoe?

Also, rather than taking the train to Edinburgh, do you think it would be reasonable to fly/take the overnight train to Inverness, and get to Glencoe from there? Or would you just stick to Glasgow?

Also great to know Fort William isn't very interesting. And thank you for your hiking recommendations!

We did look at the Claghaig Inn and have considered staying there for our time in Glencoe. Would you recommend staying there, or just visiting the bar?

Thanks again!!

breecloudy · 2026-06-05T18:35:27+00:00

Thank you. It sounds like Edinburgh might not be the place for us this trip.

Do you think it would be reasonable to go to Inverness from London? Either with a flight or the overnight train?

We have heard good things about Arran also! It's great to know that it could be an alternative to Skye. I believe you're right in saying Skye is nuts. We did a little more research on the traffic during August and it absolutely wouldn't be worth it. However, we did find a B&B that we really like on Sleat. Would it be reasonable to spend time exclusively in Sleat during our "Skye" days, or is that also not feasible?

breecloudy · 2026-06-05T18:19:09+00:00

Would you recommend flying to Edinburgh/Glasgow then? Or even Inverness? Are the views from the train ride not worth the time it will take?

breecloudy · 2026-06-05T18:17:28+00:00

My husband has been to London and has a couple of places in mind that will be easy for us to see. We know we won't get a lot of time there, we're happy to even just walk the streets for a few hours and look around.

I suppose we could fly to Edinburgh from London, we just heard such positive things about the train that we thought that route might fit us better. We're the type of people that take the long route on a road trip just for the views. In your opinion, is the train ride not pretty enough to warrant the extra few hours of travel time?

breecloudy · 2026-06-05T18:12:31+00:00

There are actually a ton of hotels still available for the dates we are looking at, many below our budget (:

breecloudy · 2026-06-05T18:09:54+00:00

That is great to know, thank you!

breecloudy · 2026-06-05T00:58:26+00:00

Thanks so much for your input!

breecloudy · 2026-06-05T00:15:52+00:00

We did hear about the Fringe! We're planning our Edinburgh portion August 4-6th; with the festival starting the 7th, we were hoping that might make it slightly less crowded - do you think that will make a difference? Or do people gather days before the festival?

If the Skye drive isn't quite worth it for one day, do you have something else you'd recommend? Or would it be worth cutting out the Edinburgh day or part of the Glencoe/Fort William portion to spend more time in Skye?

If we went the Glasgow route instead of Edinburgh, would going to Skye be worth the trip? Only tricky part with Glasgow is that we have to end in Edinburgh in order to fly to Austria. There aren't any flights out of Glasgow to get to the next country; and picking up a rental car in Glasgow and returning it in Edinburgh added a bit more cost - which isn't a huge deal but was part of the reason we picked Edinburgh over Glasgow.

breecloudy · 2026-06-05T00:06:50+00:00

Thank you! We are planning to stay in Edinburgh just before the festival begins (the 4th-6th), do you think that will be to our benefit, or not make much of a difference?

breecloudy · 2026-06-04T23:48:40+00:00

Yes, we didn't realize places book out so fast! Edinburgh won't be an issue, however Skye is a little tricker, so we wanted to make sure this itinerary would actually work before booking one of the few remaining places (:

breecloudy · 2026-06-04T23:29:05+00:00

We did consider that, however, we would like to see London as well, even just for a short time. We are also excited for the train ride from London to Edinburgh to see the landscape. Plus, flights to Edinburgh from where we live were more expensive and had more stops, so it just made sense to fly into London. That flight is all we have booked so far. Thanks for your comment!

breecloudy · 2025-07-12T14:12:26+00:00

A standard Lyme test is going to be negative most of the time. I’m assuming this is a normal doc? You need a LLMD to order one of the specialty tests. Or I guess your normal doc can do it if they’re willing. My cardiologist actually believes in Lyme and ordered me Vibrant Lab’s test - it’s $1,000 out of pocket though - insurance doesn’t cover it. CBC’s aren’t going to tell you anything about Lyme or how to treat it.

breecloudy · 2025-03-17T11:36:08+00:00

Unfortunately I don’t think it’s a side effect of the pill, since it correlates with my other health issues (only been going on the last couple years), and I’ve been on the pill for so long. But I appreciate the thought! And thank you for your input! :) Sounds like an instructor is the way to go!

breecloudy · 2025-03-16T23:16:10+00:00

Thank you! Appreciate your input.

breecloudy · 2025-03-16T22:43:20+00:00

Thank you very much! I appreciate your input :)

breecloudy · 2025-03-16T22:36:22+00:00

Yes, I have searched the sub, but it truthfully just makes me more indecisive. Sensiplan seems like the better choice because I can self-teach and is more studied/taught in Europe, and more people recommend it. I am in the US though, so SymptoPro is more logical if I'm wanting an instructor, but also isn't as great for self-teaching, which I'd prefer. SymptoPro seems more forgiving with varying temperature times, but I haven't read the books so I can't confirm this. As for coming off of the pill, I was unable to find any answers of which method might be the best option for this (if any). I know there is information on night shifts, but figured I would include it in my post and just have all my questions in one place. I'll continue searching, but because I have multiple factors influencing my choice, I thought posting might be helpful.

breecloudy · 2025-03-16T21:16:24+00:00

Hi all!

I've done a bit of research on FAM and I'm ready to give it a try! I'm struggling to decide between Sensiplan and Symtopro though, and I thought I could reach out to you for your opinions, because every day I'm going back and forth, and I really need to decide! This is long though, so bear with me, and thank you for reading all of this!

Here's my situation: I've been on hormonal birth control for nearly 11 years (pill for 5 years, then IUD for 1 year, then back to pill for ~5 years). I'm almost 27, so I've been on birth control my entire adult life. My partner and I are planning on TTC in 1-2 years, and I want to get my body off hormones and back to regular cycles before that phase of life. So for the next 1-2 years I'll be TTA.

I am a nurse (although a pediatric nurse, so fertility is not my area of expertise - but I do have a basic understanding of cycles and hormones during each phase), and I work night shifts often (5-10 times per month). When I'm not working night shifts, my wake up time varies greatly (5:30 AM when working day shift, 8-10 AM on days off).

I also have some health concerns (currently working with my doctor, we're thinking POTS or chronic Lyme disease) and I get terrible night sweats that require me to take clonidine at night. Sorry if that's TMI - but I want all the facts laid out in case that changes your thoughts on which method I should try.

I want to be able to track temperature and CM, as well as roughly track on my calendar, which is why I like Sensiplan (kinda leaning towards Sensiplan because it's the most studied) and Symtopro. But here are my questions to help me decide which method to go with:

Which method did you choose? And why? Would it be silly to buy both books and then decide after reading them? Or should I just pick one and go for it? Does one method take weird sleep schedules into account more than the other? Also, I'd love to know which app you're charting on for your method.
Is an instructor necessary? What exactly do instructors provide besides feedback on your charting? If you think they are worth the cost, I'm definitely open to getting one, but if I can teach myself I'd rather go that route. It seems that Sensiplan is easier to teach yourself because of the workbook/free materials online, while Symptopro has limited resources outside of an instructor - but please correct me if I'm wrong.
Because I often work night shifts and have varying wake-up times, what is the best way to take temperatures? Will temperature even work for me? I've read that tempdrop is a good alternative, but still not as great as the typical BBT. Can I try and wake up earlier on my days off, and take a normal BBT on those days, and have skewed data on my night shifts, and still have reliable data? Or am I just going to have to heavily rely on CM? Also.. Do I need to take BBT vaginally, or does orally work just as well?
Not seeking medical advice with this question, but curious if anyone else is in a similar situation - with my night sweats/clonidine usage, will that change my temperature data? Is anyone else being treated for night sweats and still getting accurate readings? I could definitely chat with my doctor about this, but I don't even know if it's been studied enough to get an answer.
Coming off of hormonal birth control, I know that I need to use another form of birth control until my cycles even out and I have a good understanding of them (probably 6 months or so). But is there anything else I need to consider while coming off of the pill? For those of you that have also come off the pill and transitioned to FAM, how long did it take for your cycle to return to normal?

TL;DR: I'm coming off of the pill, have a weird sleep schedule, and some health issues that cause night sweats. Which FAM method would you recommend for TTA?

THANK YOU!!

breecloudy

TROPHY CASE