Why was my temperature excluded by the algorithm?
If the NC° algorithm detects that the temperature data collected from the Apple Watch is too high or low to be biologically correct for where you are in your cycle, your temperature will be excluded automatically by the NC° algorithm.
In the app, your temperature will have a strikethrough on the Add Data page, and you will see the text ‘Excluded by the algorithm’ written below.
How to exclude temperatures when using the Apple Watch
Certain circumstances may affect your temperature. This can lead to varying temperatures and make it harder for the algorithm to track your cycle.
To help our algorithm learn about your cycle and find your ovulation, use the “Exclude temperature” function in the app if you:
- Feel sick (by clicking on Sick in the Add Data page)
- Feel hungover (by clicking on Hungover in the Add Data page)
Medication can also affect your temperature. If you take regular medication or antipyretics (fever-reducing substances), it’s worth consulting with your doctor to discover its impact on your basal body temperature.
- Natural Cycles should not be used with any hormonal medication that may impact your temperature.
- If your doctor confirms any medication you’re taking impacts your body temperature, we recommend marking your temperature as 'Sick’, in your Add Data page until you finish using the medication.
How excluding a temperature affects my data
An excluded temperature is not used by the algorithm when calculating your fertility status.
Excluding temperatures does not affect Natural Cycles' effectiveness as birth control. Logging less temperature data means that you will experience more Red Days, where protection is needed, which may reduce your satisfaction with Natural Cycles. Learn more here.
Remember that the more non-excluded temperatures you enter, the better your green day ratio is likely to be. Therefore, we recommend adding at least five valid temperatures per week.
Why does it say ‘No data ℹ️’?
If there’s no temperature in your Add Data page after you’ve synced the Natural Cycles app with your Apple Watch, it may be that the temperature was not recorded overnight (you can check this by going to your Apple Health app to see if there is a temperature there).
This may happen if:
- You didn’t wear the watch during the night
- The watch was not positioned correctly on your wrist
- The watch ran out of battery
- Sleep Focus was off
- Sleep Focus was enabled for less than 4 hours
In these instances, you will see the text ‘No data ℹ️’ below the temperature section in the NC° app.