I think I've stuffed up....big time!

[Sassy]

Ok here's the low down....

After going back on the pill at the beginning of the year and bleeding for 9 weeks straight, I returned to a perfect 28 day cycle (usually around 33 days). I have endo and get extreme O pain so could pin point it precisely (temping confirmed). I also get severe PMS and mood swings due to my endo.

So when starting my swaying plan I included all the regular girl supps but also added Wild Yam/Vitex and Saw Palmetto to help me 'contain' my 'symptoms' and T levels which has seemed to have worked a treat! I've been a lot calmer and more relaxed, less easily stressed and more patient. BUT....

Now my beautiful, perfect, dream of a cycle is STUFFED:mad:!!!!! These supps have worked so well that I don't know if I've O yet or not!!! No pain, no symptoms etc. And only a little bit of CM and at one point a little bit of EWCM. Luckily I'm temping so I can work it out in retrospect but that is not going to help me when I'm planning on an abstain with a 2-3 day cut off!!!

So I stopped EVERYTHING in the hopes that it would bring on O and I think it may have only interrupted it by 4-5 days.

AND NOW TO MY QUESTION.....

What will this mean for my future cycles? I have one more cycle (after this one) before we ttc and I'm feeling very deflated. If I stop the vitex/wild yam does anyone know if my cycles will return to 'normal'? Swaying without regular cycles sounds like a whole lotta 'NO FUN' to me! How do you all do it??

Thanks for getting this far...

Sass.

[Out of the Blue]

Wonky cycles are sooooo annoying, aren't they??? They're especially frustrating if you want to attempt a cut-off! As unpredictable as they are, however, it's great for swaying for a girl.

Quick question...Have you been taking Vitex continuously or just AF-O? You'll only want to take it AF-O to give your body a rest. I would think the same goes for SP & possibly some of the others (but I'm not sure....Undoubtably, someone else can shed some light on this and the other supps). I'm unable to give you any other advice as I'm still BF and not taking anything else except for Folic Acid, non-fish DHA and Pep and Raspberry Leaf Tea.

Hoping others will chime in and give you some better answers and a bit of comfort regarding the cut-off.

BTW- so sorry you have to deal w/endo on top of everything else. Best of luck to you! :HH:

[Indira]

Yes, this happened to me too.
I had short cycles before with O on CD 11 or 12, then when I started saw palmetto I had a very weird cycle where my body tried to O over and over again and I O-ed in the end on CD 20.
I was very frustrated since this happened last month, last cycle before finally TTC-ing! And I was very worried that I had loosen so much weight that I didn´t O anymore.
Then, this cycle things were better, (I think) I´ve O on CD 17, I did get one big cloth of ECWM two days before to get me to pay attention. I´m not loosing any more weight now and I´m confident I will O next month too (well I hope I won´t of course lol).
For a girl sway it actually can be a good thing that your hormones change, and your cycle consequently.
It just gets harder to do a cut-off, so you might do frequent BD instead if you want to lower sperm count.
So try not to worry and good luck!

[Indira]

It just gets harder to do a cut-off, so you might do frequent BD instead if you want to lower sperm count.
Sorry, that isn´t making a lot of sense. I meant it´s harder to do a cut-off with abstain, you could do frequent BD up untill you get a pos OPK.
And also, are you drinking peppermint tea? I took SP the first 10 days and also drank weak peppermint tea, then after 10 days no more SP and stronger peppermint tea, I think this really got everything wonked up for me.

[Sassy]

Thanks so much for your replies - although it appears I was wrong! FF has just called O at CD15 instead of CD14 so it looks like O was only delayed by 1 day which I am super excited about! I was working myself into a tizz but it seems that the vitex and wild yam supps have worked incredibly well to mask my O pains and helped (with the other supps) to decrease my CM to virtually zero! I am over the moon and have decided now to continue taking it from AF for 2 weeks rather than til O just in case - hopefully the two coincide anyway! I'll keep temping and start using OPKs and testing my Ph next cycle....one more cycle before the big event!

[atomic sagebrush]

I think taking it just the 2 weeks is a good idea.

I really really hope and urge that people not get discouraged after one kooky cycle. For pink, you WANT your cycle to change and maybe even for O to be a little delayed because that means that your body may not be making as much estrogen and has to work at increasing it enough to ovulate.

I suspect that most people's cycles will adapt and normalize after a few months on the supps.

Thank you for updating with yoru O date! I agree, that is encouraging.

[zanacal]

I think taking it just the 2 weeks is a good idea.

I suspect that most people's cycles will adapt and normalize after a few months on the supps.



Do you think it's best to conceive while cycles are wonky or are the supps still doing their thing once our bodies are used to them and our cycles have normalised?

[Sassy]

Thanks Atomic! And that's a great question zanacal - I hope someone comes back to answer it for my interest too! I suppose my only fear with wonky cycles was that we are planning an abstain and 2-3 cut off. Both boys were conceived by frequent BD through O so we are determined to do the opposite! So wonky cycles would hinder that and DH has said no to daily release which I agree is a lot of pressure on him.
Having said that, I'm prepared for the next cycle to be a bit wonky too, but arming myself with an arsenal of Ph strips and OPKs....I'll be spending A LOT of time in the bathroom lol!

[atomic sagebrush]

Do you think it's best to conceive while cycles are wonky or are the supps still doing their thing once our bodies are used to them and our cycles have normalised?

Wonky cycles, unfortunately. I wish I didn't, but I do.

[zanacal]

It's such a balancing act! I don't suppose I can predict whether I'll have a wonky cycle this month or next but I can predict (and make sure!) I lose a lot more weight. Do you think weight loss trumps wonky cycles?!!

The only supps I'm taking are saw palmetto and Vitex. I'm taking Vitex AF-O and Saw Palmetto all the time as we're not ttc yet. By the time we make our first attempt I'll be on my 4th cycle of Vitex and will have been taking Saw Palmetto for 10 weeks. Should I do anything differently, mix anything up from month to month to keep my body from getting to grips with it?!

[zanacal]

I'm wondering about taking Vitex the whole way through this month and switching back to AF-O when we start ttc the following cycle. Good idea or bad?!

[atomic sagebrush]

It's such a balancing act! I don't suppose I can predict whether I'll have a wonky cycle this month or next but I can predict (and make sure!) I lose a lot more weight. Do you think weight loss trumps wonky cycles?!!

The only supps I'm taking are saw palmetto and Vitex. I'm taking Vitex AF-O and Saw Palmetto all the time as we're not ttc yet. By the time we make our first attempt I'll be on my 4th cycle of Vitex and will have been taking Saw Palmetto for 10 weeks. Should I do anything differently, mix anything up from month to month to keep my body from getting to grips with it?!

I think weight loss def. trumps wonky cycles! After all, weight loss CAUSES wonky cycles!!!

Don't worry about changing things up for your sway. It's too unpredictable and if you get your bod in a girl-friendly place, it may be better to stop tinkering with the hormones and just hang out there!!!

[atomic sagebrush]

I'm wondering about taking Vitex the whole way through this month and switching back to AF-O when we start ttc the following cycle. Good idea or bad?!

I do know some people who took it for several weeks nonstop and then stopped and did indeed conceive a girl after stopping it...

[zanacal]

Do you think it could do any harm, given that it would only be for around 6 weeks and then I'd be changing to AF-O if we don't get pregnant that cycle? Would I then stop taking it when I ovulate in the month of our attempt or after, say, the first 2 weeks of that cycle?

[atomic sagebrush]

I don't think it would do harm and in fact a lot of naturopaths tell people to take vitex non-stop for fertility even when TTC (I think that's a terrible idea BTW and will keep many people from getting pg)

After taking it for X number of weeks during the time when you DON'T attempt (I don't want anyone to take it WHEN they are trying to conceive!) then I would jsut take it for 2 weeks in your attempt month and then stop it even if you don't O, just in case it delays O for you.

[zanacal]

Great, I'll try it, thank you!

I just informed DH that we'd be making our attempt next cycle. I have to drip feed him things and nothing too far in advance - just like the children :D

[Sassy]

LOL Zanacal! Good luck with the attempt - I'm thinking about doing the same as you suggested, taking the vitex from AF through O through AF then stop at next O which will be our attempt. Fingers Crossed for both of us!