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  1. #21
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    Hi again! I’m adding this to my previous thread for cohesiveness. We have officially decided to try for a fourth baby!! We’d been undecided for so long, and it feels much better to have decided. It comes with a slew of emotions - excitement, deep longing for a girl, trepidation over the potential of coming to terms with a fourth boy (sometimes I feel we can only make boys haha), middle of the night fear that I’m not worthy/capable of having another child, tremendous gratitude for the kids I have, guilt that I care about gender…maybe one day I will learn to turn my brain off haha. But mostly I am excited, and I have a deep sense that we are meant to have another person in our family.

    ANYWAY, I have been doing the LE diet since about May, just a little before getting my first postpartum period (at 21 months PP) which also coincided with having a stomach bug AND Covid at the same time. I lost a ton of weight from being sick. Fast forward to end of summer after a few months of no ovulation, and I have since ovulated three more times, each a little over a month apart which is amazingly regular for me. But my luteal phase has been only 7-9 days. I think myo inositol has been helping me ovulate (can’t say for sure, but it seemed to help in the past too), but I’m not sure why my luteal phase continues to be short. I am still breastfeeding my 26 mo old (1-3x/24hrs.), but I’ve always been able to get pregnant by now in the past. I’m not sure if the LE diet is contributing to short luteal phase. I have been increasing calories somewhat after ovulation, just in case.

    But here’s what is also confusing to me. I have been getting sick with the common cold and getting hit WAY WORSE than normal. Normally my immune system is pretty good, but lately my symptoms have been prolonged compared to the rest of my family, and it’s making it hard to function.

    I’m not sure if, in a state of “lower health” as demonstrated by my body not fighting sickness as well as usual, I should be hopeful that I’m increasing my odds at having a girl, or if things are so out of wack that I won’t be able to get pregnant altogether. By the way, my weight has held pretty steady at my norm between 98 and 100 lbs (after gaining back the weight I lost when I was sick. I had lost about 10 lbs!) so I’m not drastically underweight or anything. But I certainly have not been eating my normal super-healthy diet.

    Perhaps I’m overthinking and just need to be patient. But the gap between our last baby and our potential future baby is getting bigger, and at 37 I’m certainly not getting any younger! My last cycle my husband was gone for a week, we BD when he got back, and I ovulated 2 days later. I was SO HOPEFUL because we’d happened to have one attempt at a good time, I was pretty stressed while he was gone, and I’d kept to the diet really well…it seemed like such a good girl sway. But then my period started 9 days later. So we will try again, going back to e4d.. Assuming I maintain my pattern, I should ovulate at the end of November, but ovulating during the holiday season always feels tricky for sticking to a sway diet.

    Should I be concerned and/or do anything about my continued short luteal phase?

    Have you noticed others on the LE diet seem to have a less robust immune system, or is that just me? My last period was also quite a bit lighter than usual, and I wondered if that could be related to nutrition.

    Should I be worried about egg quality at all? I am taking folate. I am still eating mostly healthy, just not as MUCH or as excessively healthy.

    I’m trying to figure out if I should stay the course and be patient, or if there are any changes I should make. Thanks for any input. No rush though - I know you are busy!


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  2. #22
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    Hi! Welcome back!

    First, a few quick questions - are you doing the LE Diet as written, tracking your food intake at least somewhat, staying in the macros, eating a variety of many different foods, or are you basically just "eating less than I was" without really knowing how much you're getting? And by staying in the macros, I mean the HIGHER end of the macros because you're breastfeeding - 1800-2000 cals (or even higher if need be to keep weight on), 50-60 g protein and fat not counting the pro and fat in fruit and vegetables.

    Why did you start the diet so far in advance? I'm hoping you've been trying part of this time.

    Are you exercising?

    What else are you taking aside from myoinositol?

    My concern is that you may not be eating as much as you think, or that you should be. Too strict a diet plus breastfeeding, myoinositol when you don't need to be taking it (and I don't generally recommend it for anyone as slim as you), exercise - all these things can really muck up your cycle and they work together, so even if in the past one of them alone didn't change your cycle, the combination of all of them, over a long period of time, absolutely can. It can also be that having gotten a few illnesses can also exacerbate this, so it may be just one thing on top of another here.

    The answer to your question is, the LE Diet when done in a form in which you are getting adequate nutrient intake for your height, weight, and nutritional requirements, shouldn't affect your immune system at all in any negative way (and in fact for many people who are overweight, it would actually HELP their immune system by improving their health.) But if you're not eating enough, over the span of months, then yes, you could be seeing a decline in your immunity. Now, I don't necessarily think that's what is happening, but it is possible as it is possible any time when you are not getting enough nutrition.

    That having been said, the real concern for me is that you're seeing clear changes in your cycle that are associated with not eating enough. Typically, people worry way too much about their immune system - I get this question fairly often, even from people who have been on diet for a week or two, and additionally get it from people who are overweight and/or eating plenty of calories. It is largely in people's heads. Most of the time, the reason why you get sick is because you've been exposed to viruses and bacteria that you hadn't been exposed to before, and nothing whatsoever to do with a "weak immune system" or any such thing. The truth is there are tons of sicknesses going around right now because of the lockdowns - everyone is getting sick all the time including people who are taking lots of supplements and are on very nutritionally dense diets. Now, you're telling me you're getting sick longer and having trouble recovering compared to your family, and so I absolutely hear your concerns and take them far more seriously than a person who's been on diet a week of course, but the bigger problem from where I sit is the change in your cycle.

    Shorter, lighter periods happen to a lot of people on LE Diet. That is not in and of itself any cause for concern (and keep in mind a period tells us what happened LAST month, not this month) and we generally take it as a good sign, but I do want to ensure you're getting enough fat and calories to get and stay pregnant.

    Nothing about this indicates you have any egg quality issues but knowing more about your diet will really help me piece everything together.

    Nine days should be long enough to conceive, but I always like to see changes made whenever anything seems off. If you could fill me in about the other stuff going on in terms of diet, exercise, the supplements you're taking, etc then I can be of more help in telling you what to change.

    ETA - I did go over macros and stuff back on the first page, but we sometimes need to even go beyond them for people who lose ovulation very easily and/or have a lot of stuff happening that can affect their cycle negatively.
    Last edited by atomic sagebrush; November 17th, 2022 at 06:07 PM.
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  3. #23
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    Thanks for the reply!

    The reason I’ve been doing the LE diet so long is because we were undecided about whether to try for a fourth baby, but we also weren’t actively preventing pregnancy. I also didn’t anticipate such a long break in my cycles after getting sick. I stopped doing LE diet for a time in order to replenish after being sick.

    I haven’t been super strict or precise about the diet. To be honest, I tracked calories and macros early on, but it felt pretty overwhelming so I didn’t continue, especially since we hadn’t decided about TTC. So instead I just kept my diet similar to my usual but tried to reduce the amount of protein (particularly red meat, which I keep to about 2 servings a week), fats, and calories overall. Once I started ovulating again, I figured I must be getting sufficient calories since historically my body will drop ovulation SO EASILY.

    I realize I do not have good info to give you about my diet..sorry about that! I will try to track that better so I can understand what changes might be needed. I usually get overwhelmed because, while breakfast and lunch can be pretty straightforward, dinner is when I typically make a meal for my family loaded with veggies, healthy fats, and proteins. It feels daunting to estimate all the things in our dinners. I have still been eating dinner with everyone, just a slightly smaller portion than I normally would. I realize it’s very hard for you to help me without more concrete information, so I will see what I can do.

    My luteal phase tends to be short postpartum. In fact since I’ve been tracking my cycles, my longest luteal phase has been 11 days (the cycle prior to conceiving baby number 3). I’m thinking that means that: either a 8-11 day luteal phase is just my normal (especially if it is possible to get pregnant on a 9 day luteal phase. I had not heard that before, but I trust your knowledge on this) OR my cycles while breastfeeding just never have a chance to lengthen but I have conceived almost immediately once they are long enough OR there is still come combo of breastfeeding and calorie deficiency that needs to be addressed in order to lengthen my LP.

    My toddler is close to the age my other two boys were when weaned - this happened pretty naturally once I was in my second trimester of pregnancy. I’m not feeling ready to wean yet (breastfeeding is just so convenient for me!) but technically I could.

    And like I said, as far as ovulation goes, I have been ovulating amazingly regularly for me. It’s mainly the light period and the short LP this far postpartum (because usually I have conceived again by now) that seems off. But maybe it’s not actually too off for me, I have no idea. I am very relieved to hear that immune issues are probably not related to all this.

    No, I am not exercising. We are a pretty naturally active family, and I have not changed that (well, now that the weather is colder we haven’t been getting out as much, but we usually go back to being more active once we are all re-calibrated to cold weather). No major or consistent exercise for me though.

    The only supplements I am taking are myo inositol and folate. I have continued myo because I remember hearing from a doctor long ago that some women can be insulin resistant in their ovaries specifically as opposed to systemically. I have wondered if that MIGHT explain the irregularities related to my menstrual cycle (and since I have tested as having normal-to-low blood sugar and never had symptoms of insulin resistance). The myo seems to help me…but who knows, maybe it’s all in my head.

    I am drinking lots of coffee during the day and having alcohol most nights.

    I have also been curious about olive leaf extract for swaying? I used that in my previous sway (opposite), and my husband took it inconsistently. Is that something you recommend? What does it supposedly do for a sway?


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  4. #24
    Swaying Advice Coach
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    Ok bump this for me if I don't get back to you first thing tomorrow! Thanks!
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  5. #25
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    Bump! No rush though


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  6. #26
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    Oh ok great! Sometimes people think that if they're on the diet a long time they'll get better results, but generally it just ends up causing so much trouble with delaying or stopping ovulation that it's best not to approach it with a "more is better" mentality. If this was more convenient for you, then by all means.

    While it's fine to start off tracking and then drop it over time, just be very sure you are eating enough. It really is all too easy to cut back too far without even realizing it, and ending up undernourished.

    Something we do find is that people who have always had irregular cycles sometimes go onto the alternate LE Diet sometimes see improvements in their cycle that they never expected. We've had people who have never had a regular cycle get textbook cycles on the alternate LE. I want to be really careful though because if the issue is more that you're not eating enough, the alternate LE Diet can really aggravate that. Even if you were to just take an average day and add it up once, it might really help me understand if the issue is more PCO-tendencies causing short LP, or if you're truly not eating enough. Even tho the symptoms are the same, the fixes are different so I want to get this right and avoid any kookiness in your cycle.

    The thing with understanding LP and conception is a tricky one, because when you get pregnant you will never actually KNOW what day your period would have otherwise come!! We have absolutely seen many people with an 8 day and even 7 day LP who get pregnant, but we have no way of knowing if their LP was really even that long that month, or if it would have been 11-12 days long, that sort of thing. LP do change by the month and even if it's a regular pattern, we don't actually know if the people with a 9 day LP conceived with that, or if it' was 10 days long that month. But yes, I do regularly see people who have 9-10 day LP getting pregnant, and even with 8 day LP.

    The light period is less of a worry to me than the short LP - we see many many people with lighter periods on LE Diet - it happened to me personally and I had the lightest period I ever had in my life the month I conceived my daughter - but I do think if you eat a bit more consistently, particularly with calories and fat, we will see an improvement in both.

    But yes, I really do not see any immune system link between clients - I have many people who lose ovulation and never seem to get sick, and some people even swaying blue who will say they think swaying is making them sick, and people who are on diet an impossibly short time who ask me if swaying is making them sick - there's just not a strong trend that the LE Diet as written is making anyone get sick. But if you do feel you have something going on by all means we can consider doing something like adding in a prenatal 3x a week, or zinc/Vit. D/Vit C separately, even B12 if you think you might need that.

    Myoinositol absolutely can help people with irregular cycles to become more regular. The issue is that sometimes, we can get too much of a good thing going where we lower hormones via diet, nursing, myoinositol, weight loss, etc and end up with a different problem that looks the same - the symptoms are the same, delayed O and short LP, but it's because of lower hormones, not hormones that are too high. So I am wanting to rule that out in case we are having what is basically the opposite problem.

    The backstory on OLE is that we had a doctor from Australia show up on here in the first year of the site, who claimed she was studying it to make better gender splits with IVF for those who wanted girls. (more XX vs. XY) She claimed she was doing a study and it would be published eventually. But time passed and no study ever came out. In the meantime, some IVF people started using it and at first blush they did seem to be getting good splits. Then I started using it for a small number of swayers whose husbands had very bad sperm quality, and at first we also seemed to be getting good results.

    BUT. Over the course of time, I came to realize that firstly the IVF people were basically taking the OLE and then cycling UNTIL they got more XX than XY. For some people this was after a couple months, for others it took them 6 months or even longer. Whenever they got more XX, they declared the OLE had worked, and then went on from there. There was no pattern or rhyme/reason to how long it took to get this result. It occurred to me that it was likely that they were getting more XX eventually just from sheer dumb luck, and then deciding it was the OLE even when it took a year for it to supposedly work.

    At the same time, as more and more swayers used the OLE, even people who didn't have poor sperm health, the results dropped and settled at the overall success rate of the site (this generally indicates something is ineffective). It was likely that in the case of swayers, it was the original group - the couples with fertility issues and poor sperm quality - had better chance of pink to start with and as people outside that group used the OLE, it no longer appeared effective. I still let people use it so they avoid things like cranberry that are actually worse than the overall results of the site, and are also harsher on sperm, but in my gut I truly doubt it does anything.
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  7. #27
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    I am so sorry to be messaging on a holiday week, and please feel free to disregard..but I think I just need to process what might be happening and don’t know where to go.

    Yesterday I noticed some spotting. Very odd, especially because my period (or what I thought was my period; it was somewhat light and started 9 dpo) had ended just over a week ago. I wondered if it could be mid cycle spotting or what. On a whim I took a pregnancy test and it was POSITIVE. I took two more - both positive.

    What???? I spent the day not sure if I should be excited or sad or what. I have not been tracking my cycles other than temping to confirm ovulation and watching cervical fluid (trying to avoid obsessiveness), so I don’t know if my BBT had been elevated.

    I temped this morning, and it was low. Spotting has continued. I’m assuming I miscarried or am currently miscarrying. If it was a chemical pregnancy, I’m not sure my HCG would still be elevated? Or was that initial bleeding threatened miscarriage and now I’m having the real thing? Or is there some other reason HCG could be elevated?

    I know I probably just need to wait things out. But should I keep swaying, take a break from swaying until things get back to normal? Does this mean it’s going to be ages before I actually ovulate again? Did I do anything to cause this (I assumed I’d had my period I went back to drinking coffee and alcohol and my somewhat LE diet)?

    I feel bad posing all these questions to you, and you are in no way obligated to answer. It’s just you are so knowledgeable, and I’m not sure where else to turn. TTC can be such a roller coaster of a time.

    Also, thanks so much for your precious reply. Very helpful as usual. I’m feeling motivated to try to track again, maybe in a few days once the holiday weekend is over and I’m a little settled down.


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  8. #28
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    I had this twice… once was a chemical pregnancy (I tested positive and then a week later tested negative) with my last pregnancy with my little girl I thought I had a period but it stopped really quickly… I then took a test and it was positive I continued to bled as well… I bled each time my usual period was until 30 weeks . If I wasn’t ttc I wouldn’t have known I was pregnant ! All was fine with this pregnancy and went on to having my girl! (Scary with all the bleeding though !) maybe take a test in a weeks time - if it’s not a full blown period I’d hope it was just some bleeding which can happen in pregnancy. Such a scary time though ! ❤️

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  10. #29
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    Thank you so much for your reply!! How interesting. That must have been scary
    To have bleeding throughout your pregnancy, but I’m so glad it worked out! I never had bleeding in any of my pregnancies, nor have I had a chemical before. I had wondered if I could actually be pregnant and just having bleeding, but with my BBT being low, I don’t think that’s possible. We’re you tracking BBT by chance?

    I think it’s most likely that I had a chemical and maybe just a didn’t flush everything out which is why I’m having spotting now. And maybe that’s why I still am testing positive. I also have felt pregnant with slight nausea, but I know that can be due to any number of things. It sure seems like I’d be negative by now as it’s been well over a week since my “period” ended. It was a light period but dragged on with spotting for multiple days.

    Your advice is very good - I will take another test in a week or so and see what’s happening. Not sure where that leaves me with swaying..whether I should keep swaying or take a break for a bit on the off off chance I’m actually pregnant.

    Anyway, thanks again - I so appreciate hearing your experience! It makes me feel less crazy haha.


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  11. #30
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    My chemical was really heavy bleeding heavier than a normal period. My successful pregnancy my temp did drop slightly so I was thinking the same
    Thing happened but it was just spotting / light flow for 3-4
    Days! Was so stressful! Fingers crossed it’s all good for you!

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