Short cyles, not ovulating?

I'm not sure where to post this, so if this is not in the right place, sorry! My cycles have always been on the short side with cycles of max. 28 days and min. 23 days, but usually 25 days. Lately though my cycles have become shorter, with my last 3 cycles being 21 days each! I have also noticed less CM and am less in the mood for sex than usually. I used to feel the cramping in my ovaries for ovulation, but haven't felt that in ages. I have been breastfeeding for almost 6 years now (my DS1 stopped nursing a few weeks before DS2 was born and I continued from there) and have always been regular and have never experienced these short cycles and low sex drive. I got my period back about 6 weeks after I had my babies and never noticed anything different. I could easily pinpoint my ovulation and when I would start my period it would start straight away. But now I first spot for a day or 2 and only then the real flow comes. I fear I may not be ovulating anymore and I'm not sure why. My LF always seemed 14 days, as I would always get my period 14 days after I had the most CM. But now the days are getting shorter and shorter.

There could be a few reasons other than me breastfeeding, such as I have been overweight for almost 10 years now, have noticed I'm growing black hairs around my nipples and on my chin (UGH!!!) and my moodswings before my period are down right horrible. To the point where a few months ago I told my DH I wanted a divorce and felt suicidal (had a slight nervous breakdown to say the least) and all that stopped when I got my period and I felt so silly. My hormones seem to be completely off! My GP is not very helpful, he said it's because I breastfeed and if I don't get pregnant after one year I should come back. But I'm not trying to get pregnant and I didn't want to tell him we want to go HT next year. I just fear that HT will def not work for us with my body in this state. I know my lifestyle is very unhealthy at the moment, lots of junkfood and sugary stuff and I've been having rheumatoid infections all over my body so I'm very tired and in pain all the time. I want to exercise, but sometimes I can't even get up the strairs because of my joints being so sore with the rheumatism. I'm trying to pick up on my paleo diet again, as I felt so much better on it, but just can't seem to get it back on track because I get very agitated and faint the first few days of getting off the sugar and grain and can't get past that stage. Should I be worried? Is 21 days too short to get pregnant either naturally or with IVF? What can I do? Do I have PCO or is this completely the opposite? Maybe I'm even in pre-menopause or something as my hair is greying and I have hyperpigmentation and just feel overall old, sick and slow and am only 30 years young! I have had ovarian cysts in the past, I know of 3 for sure, never at the same time but always very painful and had to go to hospital to have them measured on ultrasound and was told I needed surgery, but they always dissapeared after a while. Uhm well I hope this is enough info for now, if anyone has any advice for me, I'd be so grateful as I'm really starting to worry about my fertility.

Unfortunately o pain isn't a reliable way to know if you're ovulating. I'd start temping everyday if you really want to know if you're ovulating.

I'd definitely try to go paleo if its worked in the past. Sugar can cause an addiction similar to cocaine! It affects the same part of the brain. So ease off the sugar and know it is exactly like fighting an addiction. You will also have to get disciplined to exercise as well.

I'd get a new doc that might be more helpful and sympathetic!

Hi, thanks for your reply! I know o pain doesn't say much, but I mentioned it anyway to show all the things that have changed in my body. How do I temp? Is that to be done everyday on the same time? Can I not use ovulation tests or are they not as reliable? Ugh and yes sugar is very addictive, it's crazy! I tried it again today and by the end of the day I was shaking and very agitated and then my mom came by with snacks and I blame her! lol. I'm going to see my dr. for my rheumatism next week and will ask him about low impact exercise, as I really do need to exercise just don't know how to start and avoid more pain and damage to my joints. And a new doc is not so easy here unfortunately, but have been on the look out for a new one for quite a while. Once we move I will be able to get a new dr, so hopefully we can move soon.

I second the advice to temp. Other than a blood test or ultrasound, it's the only way to know you are Oing. You need a special BBT (basal body thermometer) and you need to take your temp first thing upon waking, before you talk, move, etc. I recommend temping vaginally for tye most accurate results. Fertilityfriend.com is a great charting resource.

I am not very good at explaining complex things but I can relate to a lot of your issues.

If their is one thing I could encourage you to do it is eating better, primarily cutting out gluten. I know it sound insane but gluten problems can interfere with insulin and cause a host of issues, even the arthritic issue and such problems.

I am not one to talk with my bizarre fertility issues, but since I have changed my diet & cut out gluten, I am a different human being from my health, to my mood, to my hair, to my body, etc. everything is better & if I hadn't changed my diet I think I wouldn't have any chance to conceive.

Since you are going HT maybe a HE type diet with a focus on protein. Since I have changed to a more HE overall diet my sugar and carb cravings have all but disappeared. Body type has a major influence over these things as well.

Good luck, I think back to how miserable I felt most of the time for years and I would not want to go back to that. I hope you feel better soon.

I would definitely look into the possibility of PCOS. Also hypothyroid, B12 deficiency & anemia. Just bear in mind the tests & cut off for B12 & hypothyroid that most drs (even endocrinologists, who should know better!) are really bad. For hypo, insist on getting Free T3, Free T4 & antibodies in addition to the standard TSH. And get your actual numbers so you can do some research for yourself. With B12, also get your numbers. At least 1 expert on it believes anything below 500 (I just don't remember what scale that's for right now, might be universal) requires treatment, so find out what yours actually are

Oh yes doctors are always in such a hurry to chalk everything up to breastfeeding.

If you're getting your period the odds are that you are ovulating, but I am not liking the way things are going with you and I def. think bloodwork is called for in this case. 21 day cycles are darn short and if nothing else, are a nuisance. You can get pregnant with them.

Just to clarify, I think Carmella is quite right in that you may benefit from temping. You can't use O pain or the presence/absence of CM to tell you anything definitive about your cycle and while temping isn't perfect, at the least it will give us more of a clue about what is happening.

If you had PCOS, most of the time your cycle would get longer and longer. My suspicion is that due to the weight, you are making more and more estrogen (thus are able to surge early) and possibly depleting your body's resources early so later in the cycle you may not have enough raw materials to make progesterone.

I have an alternate diet that is NOT quite as low carb as Paleo and you can find that here - it's the "atomic fertility diet" and 5 posts from the top. http://genderdreaming.com/forum/gend...rt-3-pcos.html I think that would be a better option for you - personally I can't do super low carb diets because of the exact reasons you say - and I am not at all convinced that super low carb diets are good for HT anyway. Give the AFD a try and see if it works better for you.

Thanks for all your replies, really appreciate it! AS I will try the diet, but am finding it so hard to stick at anything atm as I'm just so tired and it's just a vicious circle. And will start temping next cycle so I can start on the first day. Should have had my ovulation by now, but haven't noticed anything change. Makes me wonder if we should try and see if we can make a girl this month, as I feel very girl-friendly right now ;) But it's not the right time for us now.