what is going on?

[mandyp85]

Hi ladies. I am currently in the process of ttc and made my attempt last Tuesday (19th may) which was cd12 (I had a +opk) but last night, cd19, when I went to the loo I had some blood when I wiped which has picked up the pace this morning so, although I know spotting can happen for any reason during a cycle, I am going to assume it's AF. The same thing happened to me last month except my cycle was 21 days instead of 19, which if this is AF that's what this cycle length has been. My question is, if I'm correct and it is the witch how can I correct my cycle length? As I'm thinking it's pretty near impossible to get pregnant with such a short cycle. Thanks in advance.

[mandyp85]

I don't know if this would be the right way to go but is it worth me popping to see my doctor and explaining my problem to them? I was thinking of maybe stretching the truth a little and say it's been going on for a few month longer than it has in the hope they may mention clomid?

[Dana-Alicia]

If I understand correctly you have a short LP? Don't know if clomid can help that. I know there are supplements to lengthen LP, but I think AS will chime in and give some sound advice.

[mandyp85]

I think I do yes, I don't chart but have used opks and it seems like this month I have only had a 6/7 day lp and it's something I would rather try and rectify sooner rather than late. From my understanding clomid can help with a short lp so I'm hoping it can help me with my cycle and with my sway :-) thank you for taking the time to respond.

[Dana-Alicia]

If clomid helps, yes I would def go and use that. Great for a pink sway :D

[luvmyfam]

That's a very short LP. I would definitely talk to your doctor. I think they may give progesterone for that. Not sure though.

[LacePrincess]

If this is happening repeatedly, there's probably a problem with your ovulation going on. I get it, I'm there too. I've been ovulating super late after a looooong run up of EWCM, and then an LP of like 4-5 days. Urghhhh.

I'm still waiting for my new round of fertility tests to come back, but for now my RE has me on Femara 2.5mg.

Just so you know, these days most RE's seem to not like prog supplementation, at least not right off the bat. The current thinking is that any LPD is a symptom, not a cause. The cause is poor corpus luteum due to poor ovulation. So the theory is they want to fix your ovulation and a strong ovulation will then fix your LP. Whereas propping up your LP with prog might extend your LP, but it won't give you a good quality egg, and you still won't conceive without a good egg.

Clomid isn't a great idea if you have lining issues - Clomid tends to thin lining anyways.

Have you had a fertility workup done to see what might be going on? Sorry you're having issues, it really does suck!

[mandyp85]

If this is happening repeatedly, there's probably a problem with your ovulation going on. I get it, I'm there too. I've been ovulating super late after a looooong run up of EWCM, and then an LP of like 4-5 days. Urghhhh.

I'm still waiting for my new round of fertility tests to come back, but for now my RE has me on Femara 2.5mg.

Just so you know, these days most RE's seem to not like prog supplementation, at least not right off the bat. The current thinking is that any LPD is a symptom, not a cause. The cause is poor corpus luteum due to poor ovulation. So the theory is they want to fix your ovulation and a strong ovulation will then fix your LP. Whereas propping up your LP with prog might extend your LP, but it won't give you a good quality egg, and you still won't conceive without a good egg.

Clomid isn't a great idea if you have lining issues - Clomid tends to thin lining anyways.

Have you had a fertility workup done to see what might be going on? Sorry you're having issues, it really does suck!

Bless you, I'm sorry to hear you are having problems too, I hope it all gets sorted for you quickly as you are right, it does suck. I live in the uk so I don't know what the stance is here with clomid and how they would deal with my problem. I haven't yet been to the doctors but I will try and get an appt tomorro. I'm only 29 so I'm not sure egg quality is an issue for me to be honest, I'm thinking, hoping, that's it's something that is relatively simple to fix. I hope everything goes well for you.

[LacePrincess]

Bless you, I'm sorry to hear you are having problems too, I hope it all gets sorted for you quickly as you are right, it does suck. I live in the uk so I don't know what the stance is here with clomid and how they would deal with my problem. I haven't yet been to the doctors but I will try and get an appt tomorro. I'm only 29 so I'm not sure egg quality is an issue for me to be honest, I'm thinking, hoping, that's it's something that is relatively simple to fix. I hope everything goes well for you.

Oh you're lucky you're still young! :) Oh to be 29 again....LOL.

The only good thing about being older than that magical "35" number, is that everyone takes you seriously LOL. So at least there's minimum waiting and I don't get the 'just keep trying' line. OTOH, the 'you MUST do IVF *now*' line gets a bit old too.

You still have time though at your age. You might want to give CoQ10 a shot at boosting your egg quality while you wait to get in with your doc. I'm taking CoQ10 800mg/day. And have your DH on a good fertility vit can only help and won't hurt your sway.

There's also vitex or B6. Neither worked for me in the past but you can look into it.

[mandyp85]

Oh you're lucky you're still young! :) Oh to be 29 again....LOL.

The only good thing about being older than that magical "35" number, is that everyone takes you seriously LOL. So at least there's minimum waiting and I don't get the 'just keep trying' line. OTOH, the 'you MUST do IVF *now*' line gets a bit old too.

You still have time though at your age. You might want to give CoQ10 a shot at boosting your egg quality while you wait to get in with your doc. I'm taking CoQ10 800mg/day. And have your DH on a good fertility vit can only help and won't hurt your sway.

There's also vitex or B6. Neither worked for me in the past but you can look into it.

I don't feel very young some days trust me ha ha but I am lucky in that sense, it's all very strange to me as I have never had trouble like this before, always found it easy to conceive, I'm in unknown territory so I appreciate the advice, thank you :-) I really do have everything crossed for you that you get a healthy bundle soon.

[mandyp85]

Oh you're lucky you're still young! :) Oh to be 29 again....LOL.

The only good thing about being older than that magical "35" number, is that everyone takes you seriously LOL. So at least there's minimum waiting and I don't get the 'just keep trying' line. OTOH, the 'you MUST do IVF *now*' line gets a bit old too.

You still have time though at your age. You might want to give CoQ10 a shot at boosting your egg quality while you wait to get in with your doc. I'm taking CoQ10 800mg/day. And have your DH on a good fertility vit can only help and won't hurt your sway.

There's also vitex or B6. Neither worked for me in the past but you can look into it.

I don't feel very young some days trust me ha ha but I am lucky in that sense, it's all very strange to me as I have never had trouble like this before, always found it easy to conceive, I'm in unknown territory so I appreciate the advice, thank you :-) I really do have everything crossed for you that you get a healthy bundle soon.

[LacePrincess]

Thank you! :)

Ah I've always had issues, lol. I call it my increasing subfertility.....2 tracked cycles for DS1, 9 cycles for DS2, and 14 cycles for DS3. And here we are, not able to conceive on our own at all after almost 3 years of trying. Can't say it's a huge shock for us given our history. Still sucks of course!

Funny thing is I FEEL a lot younger in my thirties than I did in my twenties. I only started to seriously eat well and exercise regularly after DS3 was born. And now I'm fitter than I've ever been in my life. I feel 25. Unfortunately, lol, while you can rewind time on your brain and heart and body, you can't on your ovaries!

[mandyp85]

Thank you! :)

Ah I've always had issues, lol. I call it my increasing subfertility.....2 tracked cycles for DS1, 9 cycles for DS2, and 14 cycles for DS3. And here we are, not able to conceive on our own at all after almost 3 years of trying. Can't say it's a huge shock for us given our history. Still sucks of course!

Funny thing is I FEEL a lot younger in my thirties than I did in my twenties. I only started to seriously eat well and exercise regularly after DS3 was born. And now I'm fitter than I've ever been in my life. I feel 25. Unfortunately, lol, while you can rewind time on your brain and heart and body, you can't on your ovaries!

I've actually heard a lot of people say that they feel better than ever in their 30s, I'm 30 in October so I hope it's true for me as well :-D I already feel healthier in myself being on the le diet as I have cut out so much rubbish from my previous diet, I've lost a lot of weight and just feel better in general.

I do feel awful when I'm going on to try and have my 5th when couples like you have struggled for each one of your babies, I wish you all the luck in the world.

[LacePrincess]

Thanks Mandy. :) Don't feel too sorry for me, I do have three healthy children and that is more than a lot of people have! I myself have GIANT GUILT TRIP bitching about struggling now when my best friend (same age as me) has primary infertility.

Well, infertility sucks all around for anyone so it's just shitty when your body doesn't cooperate.

[atomic sagebrush]

I think a trip to the doctor is def. warranted.

Clomid can indeed fix a short LP and is actually the best medication their is at doing so.

[mandyp85]

Yes you are right there but it doesn't make it easier when you hit a stumbling block does it, your heart wants what it wants and if that's another baby then no matter how many healthy children you have it still must be heartbreaking to struggle with conceiving. My sister in law has fertility issues as well, she is nearly 40, and that makes me feel guilty but I'm sure both her and your friend wouldn't want us to feel that way.

[mandyp85]

I think a trip to the doctor is def. warranted.

Clomid can indeed fix a short LP and is actually the best medication their is at doing so.

Thank you atomic, I will get in with the doc tomorrow and will update on how I get on. The lady doctor I'm hoping to see is lovely and I'm sure will do what she can to help so fingers crossed :-)

[LacePrincess]

Yes you are right there but it doesn't make it easier when you hit a stumbling block does it, your heart wants what it wants and if that's another baby then no matter how many healthy children you have it still must be heartbreaking to struggle with conceiving. My sister in law has fertility issues as well, she is nearly 40, and that makes me feel guilty but I'm sure both her and your friend wouldn't want us to feel that way.

Oh I totally agree. My friend has been the best support for me, and I hope I have been equally as good for her journey. It's difficult no matter what position you're in, and as they say - there are no pain Olympics. Someone else in the world will always have it worse but that doesn't invalidate your particular struggle yk?

[mandyp85]

Yes I agree, was trying to think how to word it but you got it spot on there. I hope things work out for your friend, one way or another. It's lovely that you both have a good support network. I can't discuss my issues with anybody really as no1 knows we are ttc, dh family would not approve so it's nice being able to come on here and chat away freely without being judged.

[mandyp85]

OK so I spoke to my gp who basically fobbed me off and said put away the opks as they are not accurate and just have sex regularly and to not worry unless I've been trying for 6-12 months (couldn't have lied about how long I have been trying as my baby is only 7 months) so apart from what lace advised is there anything else I can try and take to lengthen my cycle? I'm going back to work in a couple of weeks and I would really like a bfp soon as I feel ill struggle to adhere to the diet when I'm back on my night shifts.

[mandyp85]

Maybe it's my follicular period that is short rather than my lp, I have only used opks this month and maybe they are just not reliable for me, who knows.

[atomic sagebrush]

It can be quite normal for your cycle to still be kooky at this point and I suspect that your body is just doing all this as a bit of a birth control mechanism to give yourself a bit of time to recover.

There are things that people take like vitex but I have found that they make things worse for people so often that it is probably better to just leave as it is and have patience.

If you are dieting super strictly that may make it take longer, so the first thing I would try is relaxing on diet anyway.

The good news is, being on night shift may help sway pink a bit (even if it hasn't worked in the past, biologically it ought to sway pink) so take a deep breath, because it will all work out either way. If you don't get pg now, it's ok, youll have the night shift on your side then! :)

[mandyp85]

It can be quite normal for your cycle to still be kooky at this point and I suspect that your body is just doing all this as a bit of a birth control mechanism to give yourself a bit of time to recover.

There are things that people take like vitex but I have found that they make things worse for people so often that it is probably better to just leave as it is and have patience.

If you are dieting super strictly that may make it take longer, so the first thing I would try is relaxing on diet anyway.

The good news is, being on night shift may help sway pink a bit (even if it hasn't worked in the past, biologically it ought to sway pink) so take a deep breath, because it will all work out either way. If you don't get pg now, it's ok, youll have the night shift on your side then! :)

I did actually conceive my daughter when I worked nights and I had a diet that wasn't as boy friendly as when I conceived my boys so I do believe that was a factor in her conception :-) When you say relax a little on the diet, do you just mean eating more towards the upper limits of fat and protein? or with calories? Or both? Thank you atomic, you really are fab, you deserve a medal for all the help you give people :-)

[atomic sagebrush]

all. If your body is "nervous" that you don't have enough food coming in to sustain a pregnancy, it's not going to risk your life (because in our native environment, when you had a baby wasn't an issue of convenience, it could literally mean your death and the death of your already living kiddos because kids without a mom didn't make it long!) pursuing one. Your body is thinking, "I just had a baby, I need a break to take care of him" and so it is using these primitive BC methods it has to prevent pregnancy. In order to break out of that, you need to be eating a reasonable amount of food, getting rest, etc.

[mandyp85]

OK great thank you. Ill try that then and fingers crossed it'll do the job. It makes sense, the body is a very clever thing isn't it. I've got 4 months of the diet under my belt now so I'm happy to start eating a little more. In fact I do feel hungrier now between meals, I'm just nervous about increasing food intake, I guess ill feel like I'm cheating now seeing as I'm so used to what I currently eat.