Short luteal phase, need advice!

[jdd1017]

Long story...We are swaying girl and I have had a short luteal phase, anywhere from 6-9 days, since I started doing OPKs in December. However, I started doing Vitex and B6 around that time also, so after a couple months of the short luteal phase I figured it was from the supplements and dropped them. Still had a short LP so went to the OB in April and was prescribed Clomid. Lo and behold, that month I had a perfect cycle. Ovulated day 14! But we decided to skip trying that month because I knew I had a script for clomid in hand and that clomid swayed girl very strongly.(Another reason I skipped that month was that we were going on vacation to Florida in May and my husband had warned me that if I was pregnant we weren't going or I was going to have to wear long sleeves/pants the whole time bc of Zika Virus🙄). I really thought Clomid was going to be a magical drug and I would get pregnant my first cycle.

May was my first cycle...50 mg days 5-9. Ovulated day 16. One attempt at OPK after abstain. Got my period on day 26, 2 days earlier than normal which meant a 10 day LP. Ugh!!!

2nd cycle I did 50 mg again, days 3-7. Had 7 days of high strips on my OPK, finally got a peak on day 20 so i assume I ovulated day 21. So upsetting!!

My question is...I know a lot of people on here have used Clomid for swaying purposes only and also for short luteal phase. Did any of you that had normal cycles before Clomid end up having irregular cycles while on it, either longer or shorter or ovulating later? If you took it for short LP did it help and what dose and how long did it take? I took Pregnitude off and on for about 3 weeks in March...now I'm wondering if that is what helped my April cycle to be regular? Has anyone taken Pregnitude that had a short LP and if so, did it help?

I am wondering if I should just not Clomid next month and see if my cycle will go back to normal since it was normal my last cycle before I started it. Or not take clomid and do just Pregnitude...or take both the Clomid and Pregnitude. Or should I just give the Clomid another try? Any advice would be so so appreciated!!! 🤗😘
I should add that I have 2 boys who we had NO problems conceiving...this is all foreign to me. At this point I just want to get pregnant before the gap between my DS2 gets any bigger, him and the 3rd baby will already be almost 3 years apart at this point.😞

[carmella_marie]

Hopefully atomic will chime in here as this seems very complicated but I will give you my 2 cents for what its worth.

First, are you sure your LP is only 6-9 days? OPK's can be wrong, and temps are the only way to pinpoint O day for sure. Even if you get a +OPK there is a chance you didn't ovulate or you ovulated earlier than you might be guessing if you're only guessing based on OPK's.

B6 usually lengthens LP (luteal phase) so I don't think that would be shortening it, but Vitex could have messed with LP. Vitex didn't mess with my LP but I have heard it do wacky things. Short luteal phase is usually a lack of progesterone and vitamin B is needed for the body to produce progesterone, ergo it's supposed to help lengthen LP.

A 10 day LP should be enough to get pregnant. Clomid can really mess up OPK's. When I was on clomid I was on 50 mg CD 3-7 and I got a +OPK on CD 12 and 13, so I did my attempt the night of CD 12. Thankfully I was charting my temps so I could see that I ended up ovulating on CD 12! I got a BFN that month because my attempt ended up being AFTER ovulation. The next month I did 50 mg CD 3-7 and DTD every 4 days so as not to miss the egg. I timed it so I would have an attempt on CD 11, and lo and behold I O'ed on CD 12 according to temps. (again only getting a +OPK on CD 12 and 13). Just be advised that OPK's can do wacky things on clomid!

Pregnitude is actually B vitamins, so I would not be surprised if that is what lengthened your LP and regulated your cycle. It might have been that you stopped the Vitex and B6, thinking they were both messing you up when in fact only the Vitex was messing you up and you needed the B6 for short LP.

If I were in your shoes I would do the clomid one more month, add in the pregnitude and do an attempt every 4 days and rely on OPK's, they are just more hassle then they're worth. You can do OPKs but do an attempt every 4 days so you know you'll catch the egg. If you can do it without getting really crazy about it (you know us boy moms) taking your BBT temp can let you know the exact day you ovulated for sure. But only take temps if you're not going to stress and become anal about it. Just my opinion.

[BunnyGirl19]

Just chiming in, I took Vitex and it totally messed up my cycles. I started O'ing between CD25-35 and my LP shortened to 11 days with spotting starting at 8DPO.

[jdd1017]

Hopefully atomic will chime in here as this seems very complicated but I will give you my 2 cents for what its worth.

First, are you sure your LP is only 6-9 days? OPK's can be wrong, and temps are the only way to pinpoint O day for sure. Even if you get a +OPK there is a chance you didn't ovulate or you ovulated earlier than you might be guessing if you're only guessing based on OPK's.

B6 usually lengthens LP (luteal phase) so I don't think that would be shortening it, but Vitex could have messed with LP. Vitex didn't mess with my LP but I have heard it do wacky things. Short luteal phase is usually a lack of progesterone and vitamin B is needed for the body to produce progesterone, ergo it's supposed to help lengthen LP.

A 10 day LP should be enough to get pregnant. Clomid can really mess up OPK's. When I was on clomid I was on 50 mg CD 3-7 and I got a +OPK on CD 12 and 13, so I did my attempt the night of CD 12. Thankfully I was charting my temps so I could see that I ended up ovulating on CD 12! I got a BFN that month because my attempt ended up being AFTER ovulation. The next month I did 50 mg CD 3-7 and DTD every 4 days so as not to miss the egg. I timed it so I would have an attempt on CD 11, and lo and behold I O'ed on CD 12 according to temps. (again only getting a +OPK on CD 12 and 13). Just be advised that OPK's can do wacky things on clomid!

Pregnitude is actually B vitamins, so I would not be surprised if that is what lengthened your LP and regulated your cycle. It might have been that you stopped the Vitex and B6, thinking they were both messing you up when in fact only the Vitex was messing you up and you needed the B6 for short LP.

If I were in your shoes I would do the clomid one more month, add in the pregnitude and do an attempt every 4 days and rely on OPK's, they are just more hassle then they're worth. You can do OPKs but do an attempt every 4 days so you know you'll catch the egg. If you can do it without getting really crazy about it (you know us boy moms) taking your BBT temp can let you know the exact day you ovulated for sure. But only take temps if you're not going to stress and become anal about it. Just my opinion.

Thanks so much for your input!! I did BBT for the first time this month. I did have a dip about 4 days before I ovulated and then a rise after, so it seems that I ovulated when I got the positive OPK, but prior to the dips my temps were ALL over the place. I work night shift so I think my temps are a little off because of that. Not to mention our master bedroom faces the sun and is hot in the summer and freezing in the wonder, so right now in the afternoon when I take my temp after sleeping all day after working, it is bright (despite blackout curtains) and about 80 degrees in that room. Even after the spike in my temp after ovulating I am not very far above my baseline temps though[emoji53]

I am leaning toward giving clomid another month. After this 3rd cycle though, my OB wants to do a semen analysis and check my tubes for blockages and I don't really want to go that route, especially if I am still ovulating late despite the Clomid.

I am just clinging to the hope that all this struggle with getting pregnant makes me more girl friendly! [emoji178]


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[carmella_marie]

Working night shifts can make it quite hard to do BBT. When your post-O temps are not very high that means something, but I can't remember what? Low progesterone maybe?

If your LP is (potentially) the issue, why would they want to check your tubes and DH semen just yet? Why not do progesterone cream, that lengthens LP? (I am not familiar with progesterone cream but I have heard of women on it with clomid for short LP)

I would personally want to make sure LP is long enough first before doing anything more invasive (and expensive!) Maybe add pregnitude back in or your next comid month to up your progesterone to see if that lengthens LP? I would also do every 4 days if I were in your shoes so as not to miss the egg just in case OPK's are wonky.

Keeping fingers crossed that next month is your month and you won't need any tests!

[skillet04]

Yeah im confused as to why clomid was prescribed seeing as how you ovulate on your own. And it seems to make you ovulate later.....are you having 7dayspostovulation progesterone blood draw to check progesterone amount?

And yes a minimum lp of 10 days is good.


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[jdd1017]

Yeah im confused as to why clomid was prescribed seeing as how you ovulate on your own. And it seems to make you ovulate later.....are you having 7dayspostovulation progesterone blood draw to check progesterone amount?

And yes a minimum lp of 10 days is good.


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Clomid is prescribed for short luteal phases. It helps in most cases, but hasn't helped me yet. My OB is going to do a progesterone level on day 3 of my next cycle.


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[atomic sagebrush]

Clomid is the gold standard for lengthening LP but on occasion it doesn't fix it. I do want to assure you though, that 10 days is enough to get pregnant.

No one can say why your cycle was normal in April. May have been dropping the supps or some other reason.

I am wary of your taking Pregnitude because unless you have a proven reason to use it (moderate to severe PCOS) it will only make your problem worse.

If you're on fiber, drop it. Add in one serv. full fat dairy every day, 4-6 eggs a week, and a serving of salmon or red meat every week.

Can you tell me more about your diet and weight?

I think a call to the doctor may be in order as they may want to switch you to a different medication or add in prog. supps.

I think you need to stop doing one attempt and go to every 4 days, possibly with one more attempt at positive OPK now. It may be that you're not pregnant not because of the short LP but you're just missing O.

[atomic sagebrush]

B6 - I have actually seen this shorten LP for tons of people. B6 messes up things way more than it fixes them.

There are two reasons why LP gets short. One is PCOS-related where the body is mixed up and using the raw materials in fat and cholesterol to make testosterone instead of progesterone. It's almost like having too many hormones. These people can do things like vitex and pregnitude and B6 and be helped by them and since this issue is more common they have a rep for helping with short LP. But the other thing that causes short LP is TOO FEW hormones, a lack of raw materials so your body doesn't have enough to make prog. with. In this case, taking things that lower hormones like V and pregnitude are like throwing gasoline on a fire. They make things 1000 times worse. I suspect that you don't have enough raw materials due to diet and taking Vitex and B6 and Pregnitude that one month. So the solution is to stay away from those things and then give yourself those raw materials you need to make progesterone on your own.

[atomic sagebrush]

Yeah im confused as to why clomid was prescribed seeing as how you ovulate on your own. And it seems to make you ovulate later.....are you having 7dayspostovulation progesterone blood draw to check progesterone amount?

And yes a minimum lp of 10 days is good.


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Clomid is just as often used for women who are Oing on their own to correct a short LP. It is actually the gold standard treatment for that.

[atomic sagebrush]

Thanks so much for your input!! I did BBT for the first time this month. I did have a dip about 4 days before I ovulated and then a rise after, so it seems that I ovulated when I got the positive OPK, but prior to the dips my temps were ALL over the place. I work night shift so I think my temps are a little off because of that. Not to mention our master bedroom faces the sun and is hot in the summer and freezing in the wonder, so right now in the afternoon when I take my temp after sleeping all day after working, it is bright (despite blackout curtains) and about 80 degrees in that room. Even after the spike in my temp after ovulating I am not very far above my baseline temps though[emoji53]

I am leaning toward giving clomid another month. After this 3rd cycle though, my OB wants to do a semen analysis and check my tubes for blockages and I don't really want to go that route, especially if I am still ovulating late despite the Clomid.

I am just clinging to the hope that all this struggle with getting pregnant makes me more girl friendly! [emoji178]


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I think we deffo need to go to e4d and possibly add in an additional attempt at pos OPK. It may be that your attempts were just ill timed.

Temping can often be weird on Clomid and many doctors even tell people not to temp on Clomid.

I think you should keep going with the Clomid and we will do things to improve odds of conception.

[skillet04]

Well please forgive me ladies as the past 13yrs i have been an avid reader and member of all things pcos based most likely on a flipiant diagnosis just to get me out of the docs office as i "look textbook healthy" and so i only for sure knew it was rx for those not ovulating....yet no doc would suggest it to me....again my apologies...was just trying to brainstorm possibilities. Meant no need to quote and point out my ignorance ;-P

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[jdd1017]

Clomid is the gold standard for lengthening LP but on occasion it doesn't fix it. I do want to assure you though, that 10 days is enough to get pregnant.

No one can say why your cycle was normal in April. May have been dropping the supps or some other reason.

I am wary of your taking Pregnitude because unless you have a proven reason to use it (moderate to severe PCOS) it will only make your problem worse.

If you're on fiber, drop it. Add in one serv. full fat dairy every day, 4-6 eggs a week, and a serving of salmon or red meat every week.

Can you tell me more about your diet and weight?

I think a call to the doctor may be in order as they may want to switch you to a different medication or add in prog. supps.

I think you need to stop doing one attempt and go to every 4 days, possibly with one more attempt at positive OPK now. It may be that you're not pregnant not because of the short LP but you're just missing O.

Okay I won't do pregnitude. I definitely don't want to make things worse!

I usually only remember to take the fiber a few times a week, but I will drop it completely. I went from drinking a couple glasses of milk daily to none in the past two months, so I will gladly add that back in! I still eat cheese occasionally, probably once or twice a week. I also eat red meat probably once every two weeks and chicken probably once a week. I am not a big fish eater so I will prob just stick with red meat lol.

As far as my diet and weight go, I have lost about 15-18 lbs since March. My BMI went from 25, which I just discovered is considered overweight:(... to 22.5. I have been doing 60 min on the elliptical an average of 5 days a week for the past two months.

I called my OB last week and asked for a progesterone level to be drawn, they said since I ovulated late they really can't do it on day 21 like they normally would. They did tell me they could draw a day 3 level though, so I will do that. I also asked about progesterone suppositories and his nurse said they only do that if there is a history of miscarriage. I will have to discuss it with my OB at my appt though...I would think if my day 3 progesterone comes back low they would consider doing them.

My FF app thinks that I ovulated on day 19. It is weird because I did have a lot of lower abd pain that day that I figured might be ovulation pain and the ovary getting ready to release an egg. Then the next day I got my + OPK. The thing that really sucks is that I forgot to take my temp on day 20, so could I have ovulated that day instead of day 19? We hadn't BD since day 15 bc it was becoming a huge chore, so we did it on day 20 when I got my +OPK. I still have a very very tiny sliver of hope that maybe I ovulated on day 20 and will just have a longer cycle this month and maybe this will be my month. But I am preparing myself for that not to be the case and moving on with what to do next month.

Next month I absolutely plan on doing every 4 days and an additional attempt at OPK. I will still do OPK but I am so mad at myself for relying so heavily on those and not just DTD on a regular schedule in case they were wrong.

Thanks for your advice!!!! :):):) I'm hoping next month will be the month...I feel like I say that every month now lol!

[purple]

Can you post a link to your FF chart?

[jdd1017]

Sure!! If I can figure out how![emoji16]


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[jdd1017]

I took a screen shot of it. I had a dip this morning, so I think I'm officially out. The last 3 days I worked night shift and my temps seem to be higher when I check them in the afternoon.
31827


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[atomic sagebrush]

I quote people solely to avoid confusion in threads where no one knows who is talking to who. Not trying to call anyone out at all, simply because it's easier to read a thread where everyone knows what the heck I am talking about.

For reasons I will never understand, some doctors refuse Clomid to women for whom it's medically indicated. I do not know why this is because Clomid is a very safe medication and can help many women who are not ovulating. Lots of women with PCOS are given Clomid even when they are ovulating because it can lengthen LP which can be chronically short in people with PCOS.

My advice for anyone who should have gotten Clomid and is not being given it, is to go to another doctor. There are many doctors who are willing to help and it is THE treatment for anyone who has been TTC a long time (with or without PCOS) and not fallen pregnant.

[atomic sagebrush]

JDD - the good news is that your weight is such that it's not likely that is the issue. I'm going to take a look at your chart and sound off on that (this may explain everything) but at 22 BMI you should still be ovulating, esp with the Clomid. :agree:

[atomic sagebrush]

Well, you've definitely ovulated and I think much earlier than you think you did.

That temp dip is NORMAL at 7-8 DPO. It very well may rebound tomorrow and stay up for a few days.

I think the Clomid has made your temps a little goofy too so don't read TOO much into them - but just to clarify, are you saying you're also temping sometimes in morning and sometimes in afternoon???

[jdd1017]

Well, you've definitely ovulated and I think much earlier than you think you did.

That temp dip is NORMAL at 7-8 DPO. It very well may rebound tomorrow and stay up for a few days.

I think the Clomid has made your temps a little goofy too so don't read TOO much into them - but just to clarify, are you saying you're also temping sometimes in morning and sometimes in afternoon???

Yea, since I work night shift sometimes my temps are taken at 3-4pm when I wake up after sleeping all day bc I worked the night before and if I didn't work the night before they are taken at 5:30 am. I am so new to the temping thing that I guess I don't really know how to read the chart yet lol.


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[atomic sagebrush]

OK I think it may be entirely possible you're going to go onto have a normal LP this month. I think it's entirely possible FF has the crosshairs day wrong and you Oed more like CD 15-17 (which could mean that temp dip is AF arriving but your LP is actually ok) OR that you Oed on CD 19 and this is just the normal temp dip that we'd expect here.

I am not sure if you CAN temp when you work different shifts like this. I have literally never heard of anyone doing that. It may make it too unreliable. :/

The upshot of all of this is that at your present weight, there is really not a huge chance that you've lost ovulation. I suspect that things are on the upswing here and let's just stay the course and give the Clomid another month to work its magic. :)

[jdd1017]

That's why I've never been very consistent with temping in the past, because I wasn't sure it was even reliable because of my crazy schedule[emoji20]


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[atomic sagebrush]

Every 4 days plus one means you don't even have to worry about it.