ovulation pain and spotting - in depth

[atomic sagebrush]

Update 12-22-17

Ladies, seven years after I first wrote this and I've gone through many cycles with hundreds if not thousands of you by now and I PROMISE YOU that you cannot cannot cannot tell reliably anything about your cycle based on ovulation pains. I know you think that you can, but a bajillion other people also swore to me (and sometimes swore AT me LOL since people get a little testy over this sometimes) that they could and they were wrong. Please, please, please to infinity and beyond do not rely on ovulation pain to tell you anything reliable about when you ovulated or when to have your attempt(s) for swaying and trying to conceive.

Mid-cycle ovulation pain is surprisingly common, affecting about twenty percent of women regularly and up to half of all women have experienced it at least once. When it becomes severe enough to interfere with life (to the point where at times it is mistaken for appendicitis) it's referred to as mittelschmerz, from the German word for “middle pain.” However, this term has kinda become the basic term for any ovulation pain, even milder cases.

The pain may be caused by many factors. First, the ovary swells as ovulation approaches and 15-20 eggs in each ovary are racing to develop. Then, when the largest egg is released, a twinge or popping sensation may be felt, accompanied by pain as blood and follicular fluid from the ovary is released. This fluid can cause painful irritation of the abdominal wall.

Your individual biology - the amount of space in your abdominal cavity and the amount of fluid you release along with your egg - can determine whether or not you have O pain or not. If you're on blood thinners like aspirin, cranberry, garlic, and fish oil, you may have more severe O pains than you ever have before. If you've taken fertility medication like Clomid and Femara you may also have much worse O pains than normal. Also, many doctors and researchers believe that some women may have tubal and uterine cramping as their muscles spasm to circulate the cervical mucus, bringing sperm to the egg and moving the egg down the Fallopian tubes to the uterus.

If you've experienced a one-sided pain at mid-cycle, that begins as a sharp twinge (egg has broken free of the ovary) and diminishes into a dull ache (Fallopian tube is cramping and blood/follicular fluid is leaking into the abdominal cavity) for the next day or so, that was possibly O pain (but I doubt it LOL because I have not seen any reliable trend where people were able to tell when they ovulated based on O pains and many, many people telling me that they could only to have them be proven wrong). However, some women have mild to severe aching prior to the egg being released (ovaries are tender and swollen from the eggs it is developing) that is actually relieved when the egg breaks free.

The pain doesn't have to be one sided, either. 15-20 eggs form in both ovaries every month and only the best one or two is released, so if you tend to experience achiness prior to ovulation, you very well could feel it on both sides. Post-ovulation, your entire uterus may cramp in order to circulate cervical mucus and bring sperm nearer to the egg. Backache is another symptom that may indicate ovulation.

Occasionally, some women may experience nausea, diarrhea, and/or light spotting (usually a little pink EWCM) at the same time as O pain. The pantheon of ovulatory symptoms last for 6 to 8 hours but can last as long as twenty-four to forty-eight hours, particularly if you have released more than one egg. And for some of us lucky, lucky gals like me personally O pain lasts for up to a week to 10 days. We get it coming and we get it going. O pain seems to be felt more often on the right side regardless of which ovary released an egg, probably because the right side of your body has more blood flowing to it and may have more nerve endings. The pain also may be aggravated OR relieved by intercourse.

Because it's possible to feel ovulation pain before, during, and after ovulation, it cannot be relied upon to help pinpoint ovulation. It's not even reliable to tell whether or not you ovulated. Even women who are very experienced with their cycles (ME!) have been fooled by fake O pains. However, if you experience spotting with ovulation, that may be a better indicator that ovulation has actually occurred than just pain. Unfortunately, some people experience not ovulation spotting but bleeding from the cervix at ovulation since your cervix becomes very soft and easily injured at that point of your cycle. Habitually checking your cervical position and/or pH may exacerbate this.

Painful ovulation, even when severe, does NOT cause or indicate infertility or cancer. However, some medical conditions can cause painful ovulation, such as PCOS or fibroids on the ovaries and these things CAN be signs of a larger issue with your body. Also, if you have pain that lasts for more than two days and ANY abdominal pain that is accompanied by a fever, you should seek medical care. Pain should never be ignored, if you are in any way concerned about anything happening with your body, SEE A DOCTOR!!

To relieve O pains, you can use a heating pad, take a warm bath or shower, or take some Tylenol (taking blood thinning pain relievers like aspirin or ibuprofin will only cause more bleeding from the ovary and may aggravate the pain). Intercourse with female orgasm can help some people, but others find that the actual act of penetrative intercourse is too painful. Please note that taking more than 1-2 aspirins or ibuprofens just prior to ovulation may also cause or contribute LUFS, where your body has a harder time setting the egg free from the ovary and so may make it more difficult to ovulate if you're taking those medications. Stick to Tylenol for O pain if you need medication.

One interesting link I stumbled across tells how to use acupressure to relieve ovulation pains - hey, it can't hurt! How to Relieve Ovulation Pain With Acupressure | LEAFtv (http://www.ehow.com/how_5641993_relieve-ovulation-pain-acupressure.html)

[Jojogirl]

I love this. I suffer from bad O pains and have the spotting with it. Over the years, I've gotten used to it...but it's still a big time PITA!

[TTC5]

Thankyou so this explains why I have pain/cramps 3 days after O!!!! :agree:
I have stronger pain now than at the time of O!

[Bella21]

My o pain is always one sided, lasts for about 6 hours, and I think actual o is a sharp pain that happens just at the end of this time period.

[Zivic-Bubac]

You always give complete and detailed info!
May I share my dilemma with you?:)

We BDed Tuesday, March 22nd, around 23:30

Wednesday (March 23) I felt mittelschmerz during late afternoon, 5pm and again around 6pm and maybe even later.

Thursday (March 24 - today) in the morning 7am when I wiped (sorry TMI!) I noticed my CM pH was discretely pink and tingled with brown.

I was supposed to O tommorow and I didn't use OPKs (my bad!) CP SHOW ( I love this term!) from Monday. Would you say I Oed and if yes, when?
I suppose it was probably during the night between Wednesday and Thursday? ( March 23 and March 24)
Do you agree? I'm so confused, timing is the most difficult part IMHO....Thank God it's not crucial! ( for example, my brother and SIL are expecting boy # 2 with 3-4 days cut-off :sigh:)
My plan was to BD tonight, but is this a bad idea if I already Oed, I might be ending with O+something?
Or shall I BD tonight to increase my odds for getting pg?
I'm doing BSF 3 times a day since Sunday ( March 20) and BSD and the whole thing.

TIA!!!! :Flower:

[atomic sagebrush]

Yes, probably on Wed. night but sometimes you just can't tell. You may have more than one egg this month too. It does happen.

Is there any way that the blood could be from irritation from the BSF?? Your cervix is very soft around ovulation and can be easy to scratch! Even just checking your cervical position might make it bleed a little.

If you're still having lots of EWCM and your cervix is still indicating ovulation, I would absolutely go ahead and BD tonight (but I don't believe in timing much really). If not much CM, then I would hold off.

To be on the safe side, please read this - it is how to do an O+12 and you may be able to tell if you are getting into O+12 territory by your CM and CP, so you'll know what NOT to do - http://genderdreaming.com/forum/showthread.php?1292-O-12-Part-2-How-to-do-O-12

[Zivic-Bubac]

Thank you so much!!!!
Yes, blood could be from BSF, but I think since it showed only after mittelschmerz and around O. maybe it is a sign of O? But then again who knows....Not much CM right now. Hmmm, IDK...
If you think my questions are not appropriate for Sticky ( which in my understanding is general info, right?) feel free to delete them.:happy:

[Zivic-Bubac]

Would you mind if I posted the same q in TTC:bigboy: subforum?
I would like to get as much opinions as possible to make it easier to make my mind ( I'm Libra, so decisions aren't the easiest part lLOL!)
You know what occured to me: if I Oed Wed night and I BD tonight, that would be O+20 or even O+24, so it means conception cannot happen? Since it takes for swimmers 4 hours to capacitate?
So maybe I can try tonight in case I O tomorrow?

[atomic sagebrush]

No, I like questions wherever they show up! You did phrase the Q a bit differently so I gave percentages in your other post.

I'm sorry I didn't see this sooner, but to answer your question (and for anyone else who happens to read this) by O+20/24 there is next to no chance of conception. Sperm take 4 hours just to capacitate and only the very longest lived eggs even last that long.

[Bella21]

I wanted to add that sometimes mid cycle bleeding isn't the result of direct ovulation bleeding, but can start for a couple days leading up to o, which is supposed to be the result of changing hormone levels.

[Zivic-Bubac]

Thank you Bella for sharing that info! Maybe that happened with me as well, I had tons of EWCM on Saturday ( BDed, don't worry! LOL)
And Atomic, I am wondering whether that was irritation from BSF ( 3 times a day abundantly) Maybe 3 times a day was too much for me? I'm almost sure I'm not pg, so for the next attempt I'm thinking BSF only 1 hour before BD.
Thank you!

[iluvmyman]

I just posted to the forum about this as well.

This is currently my CD16. We DTD on CD12 for O-2. No + opk at all and have been testing since CD11, although, only once a day thru CD13. Still no + opk this evening of CD16. CP is high and soft. CM I can find stretchy but have to find it in the cervix but I haven't been happy w/ cm at all since starting my plan. Anyway, this is the 1st time I've ever bled during mid-cycle and it's been bright red CD15 & CD16 about 1-2 panty liners worth.
I'm so confused if this is pre-O or post O and I missed my sweet spot. I'm DTD tonight but am so confused. I will update if I get a +opk.

[TTC5]

I take fish oil and just have recently increased the tablets do you think this could contribute to feeling funny twinges on and off during the day today CD 8 when O is at least 5-10 days away approx? No EWCM.

[iluvmyman]

This is CD17 and the 3rd day of bleeding.I'm calling this AF which decieded to start on CD15. I think the supps are a problem (maybe my fertilecm) and I need to stop them. I'm so angry I wasted these months and didn't stop some supps before, I just thought it was my body after DS2 but I think it's these supps. What a waste of cycles.

Atomic, how bad can supps and diet effect your cycle? This is similar to my cycle in March but not as close together. Last month was picture perfect.

[atomic sagebrush]

I wanted to add that sometimes mid cycle bleeding isn't the result of direct ovulation bleeding, but can start for a couple days leading up to o, which is supposed to be the result of changing hormone levels.

Thank you!!

[atomic sagebrush]

Thank you Bella for sharing that info! Maybe that happened with me as well, I had tons of EWCM on Saturday ( BDed, don't worry! LOL)
And Atomic, I am wondering whether that was irritation from BSF ( 3 times a day abundantly) Maybe 3 times a day was too much for me? I'm almost sure I'm not pg, so for the next attempt I'm thinking BSF only 1 hour before BD.
Thank you!

I'm sorry, somehow I missed this when you posted it.

I do totally think that BSF 3 times a day can cause irritation. I don't know what you ended up doing in the following months, but I promise that no one NEEDS to do BSF to TTC a boy. People around the world have been conceiving boys without benefit of baking soda (even after several girls) since time began. You can do BSF if you like it and it works for you, but it's not a necessity.

[atomic sagebrush]

I just posted to the forum about this as well.

This is currently my CD16. We DTD on CD12 for O-2. No + opk at all and have been testing since CD11, although, only once a day thru CD13. Still no + opk this evening of CD16. CP is high and soft. CM I can find stretchy but have to find it in the cervix but I haven't been happy w/ cm at all since starting my plan. Anyway, this is the 1st time I've ever bled during mid-cycle and it's been bright red CD15 & CD16 about 1-2 panty liners worth.
I'm so confused if this is pre-O or post O and I missed my sweet spot. I'm DTD tonight but am so confused. I will update if I get a +opk.

The reason why you're bleeding probably has much more to do with messing around with your cervix than any midcycle spotting. There is no need to go up inside your cervix to check pH. I know this is the advice they give on another website but I believe it causes swelling and injury to the cervix and increases risk of infection. You may be more prone to bleeding due to supps, but I really suspect the blood is coming from your cervix being injured and not from O.

I think you were smart to go ahead and DTD on the night of the 26th and if you still haven't gotten an OPK yet, just keep DTD every two days until you do!!

If anything, blood can actually raise pH so if you are swaying blue, no one needs skip their attempt because of bleeding.

Good luck!!

ETA - I just read your update (should have read the entire thread before responding DOH!) but I am still going to leave this answer for anyone who may be having a similar situation.

[atomic sagebrush]

This is CD17 and the 3rd day of bleeding.I'm calling this AF which decieded to start on CD15. I think the supps are a problem (maybe my fertilecm) and I need to stop them. I'm so angry I wasted these months and didn't stop some supps before, I just thought it was my body after DS2 but I think it's these supps. What a waste of cycles.

Atomic, how bad can supps and diet effect your cycle? This is similar to my cycle in March but not as close together. Last month was picture perfect.

I"m sorry! I wish I knew whether it was the supps or just your body still recovering, or both. Are you positively sure that it's AF? Just to be on the safe side, you might want to continue doing OPK.

Supps can affect your cycle BAD. They really really can. I promise that everyone can conceive a baby of their DG without hormonal supps, just by diet and exercise you can make your body much more likely to conceive a baby of a particular gender.

If you think the Fertile CM is affecting you, obviously the best thing to do is stop them. I do think fish oil can contribute to bleeding though, so you might want to start taking it every other day. Same with garlic, even garlic via diet can cause bleeding.

[atomic sagebrush]

I take fish oil and just have recently increased the tablets do you think this could contribute to feeling funny twinges on and off during the day today CD 8 when O is at least 5-10 days away approx? No EWCM.

Yes, I absolutely do. Fish oil does all kinds of weird things.

[iluvmyman]

The reason why you're bleeding probably has much more to do with messing around with your cervix than any midcycle spotting. There is no need to go up inside your cervix to check pH. I know this is the advice they give on another website but I believe it causes swelling and injury to the cervix and increases risk of infection. You may be more prone to bleeding due to supps, but I really suspect the blood is coming from your cervix being injured and not from O.

I think you were smart to go ahead and DTD on the night of the 26th and if you still haven't gotten an OPK yet, just keep DTD every two days until you do!!

If anything, blood can actually raise pH so if you are swaying blue, no one needs skip their attempt because of bleeding.

Good luck!!

ETA - I just read your update (should have read the entire thread before responding DOH!) but I am still going to leave this answer for anyone who may be having a similar situation.

Just a note, I don't go inside the cervix at all for PH and my PH tester is broken anyway. :)

[iluvmyman]

I"m sorry! I wish I knew whether it was the supps or just your body still recovering, or both. Are you positively sure that it's AF? Just to be on the safe side, you might want to continue doing OPK.

Supps can affect your cycle BAD. They really really can. I promise that everyone can conceive a baby of their DG without hormonal supps, just by diet and exercise you can make your body much more likely to conceive a baby of a particular gender.

If you think the Fertile CM is affecting you, obviously the best thing to do is stop them. I do think fish oil can contribute to bleeding though, so you might want to start taking it every other day. Same with garlic, even garlic via diet can cause bleeding.

I did an OPK yesterday too and negative (CD17) I also did a pregnancy test and it was negative. This is for sure AF and heavy too. My Dr. said to come to the lab and do some tests to see if there's any reason for the irregular cycles. I wish I knew too what it was but some of the other girls who had losses and m/c have had similar issues so who know. I'm stopping most supps, but not Folic Acid, of course. This is just so totally not what I expected this to be like and now I'm totally off on timing when I was hoping to give birth. Oh well, I'm not in control. :)

[TTC5]

Big Big hugs wish I could give you a simple answer x

[atomic sagebrush]

:( :pray: for quick answers and that this soon will all be a distant memory.

[zanacal]

Ever since I've had children I've always had very strong O pains, which made it fairly easy to know when to DTD when we were ttc, so this is the first time I've ever used OPKs.

I've discovered that I get my first gush of EWCM around 3 or 4 days before I O and also at around that time I start to feel tender in my abdomen. They will come and go for a couple of days or so and are just a general tenderness, then the day before I O I'm more likely to get a one sided and stronger pain. (I've mentioned this before but in the past I would have considered this to be O day - however it's O-1 so it's likely my boys were conceived with cut-offs). On the day I O (which is usually in the evening) I get alot of tenderness very low down - it's like I feel it in my cervix rather than my abdomen. It feels as though my insides are very low down (even though my cervix is high when I check!). I guess maybe it's enlarged?

This month, I got the usual gush of EWCM on cd9 and then it pretty much disappeared. I've had very few O pains and little EWCM - so much so that I almost forgot to even take my OPK (it's the pains which usually prompt me to begin testing) so I was very surprised on the day I got my first +OPK (yesterday, cd14). I know I'm ovulating right now because I have the tenderness I described above (that's right, real time ovulation here!) but this is a very 'mild' bout of ovulation for me!

Here's the thing, and I know Atomic that you say there's no way of knowing which side you ovulated from, but every time I've had a one sided pain this cycle it's been on the left hand side and this, coupled with the notion that O pains are stronger when you O from the right hand side, has me thinking that this cycle is a left sided cycle. Of course I'm thinking that this was my left handed less fertile girl cycle - and we're not ttc until next month!

I don't really have a question, I'm just reporting my experiences as I think them through :D

[atomic sagebrush]

1) Me too and I was just mentioning this on another thread. I did not have O pains or even menstrual cramps at all until I really physically matured and my cycles became very regular. The more kids I've had, the more noticeable the O pains have become.

2)Your cervix softening and opening up could absolutely cause physical sensation. They are O pains in the sense that you experience them at ovulation, but they aren't emanating from your ovary necessarily. Also, there is cramping that occurs at ovulation that helps move sperm to egg and egg to uterus and you may experience that down low.

I find it very interesting that your O pain seems milder than normal.

3)I too have had months where I for sure felt pain more strongly on one side as opposed to another. Does it mean that we Oed on that side or the other? We can't know for sure...I'm sure you read this already but to me it seems possible that you could feel more pain in the side that didn't release an egg than the one you did. i certainly wouldn't bet in either direction!!!

It would be interesting to take note of your normal cycles to see if you usually had more right sided than left sided O pain!!

Does anyone know if people commonly keep track of this on FF? As in, we could go back and look at charts and see if there was any correlation between right sided and left sided O pain and gender??

[zanacal]

That would be very interesting - but no doubt a source of great frustration too :D I'll see if I can find anything out.

Last month I had more pains on the right and the month before on the left (and when I say 'pain' I mean a very intermittent stabbing in my side, not just the general abdominal tenderness which tends to be the whole way across my abdomen).

[atomic sagebrush]

Don't try too hard (testosterone!!!) PS love your new avatar!!!

[zanacal]

I asked the other ladies on the ttc pink thread - that was the extent of my investigations :D Thank you, I love to see them all playing together!

[XXdreaming]

Could it be higher estrogen levels too, if you have painful O pains?, I read some woman having strong O pains from taking clomid and soy isoflavones and they raise estrogen levels

[zanacal]

That's interesting melinda, thank you.

[atomic sagebrush]

Could it be higher estrogen levels too, if you have painful O pains?, I read some woman having strong O pains from taking clomid and soy isoflavones and they raise estrogen levels

Well, Clomid actually blocks estrogen (it is similar and so it replaces your body's natural estrogen), and then when you stop taking it, your body rebounds and releases a big rush of estrogen. In fact, Clomid has such a negative effect on estrogen that many people actually have to TAKE estrogen when they're on Clomid.

IMO the reason why Clomid/soy causes such bad O pains is because more eggs are coming closer to maturity.

[zanacal]

I keep meaning to update this thread!

So, my last post here was written the cycle before we conceived and I was convinced that I had ovulated from the left hand side. I seemed to be getting a pattern of ovulating later, then earlier, then later - and I felt the cycles where I ovulated later were my left handed, less fertile cycles and vice versa.

The cycle we conceived I ovulated earlier than I had before so of course I was thinking right-sided, fertile cycle (I don't think I kept a note of which side I got ovulation pains on). Well, when I had my scan last week the corpus luteum was on my left ovary.

Shows how little we can actually tell!!

[atomic sagebrush]

Thanks for updating!

(trying not to get excited over left sided O...failing...:cheer::cheer::cheer:)

[zanacal]

Thanks for updating!

(trying not to get excited over left sided O...failing...:cheer::cheer::cheer:)

Oh don't AS - that's exactly what I said after my scan!!

[carmella_marie]

this is great. I was having terrible O pains and then cramping from 4-7 DPO after starting cranberry and I couldn't figure out why, thanks AS! I went to the doc and she said it was just sewlling from ovulating but it sucks...