How to Shorten Follicular Phase

Okay first of all, everywhere I read says that fertility-wise it is normal and healthy to ovulate at CD 21 ( I usually ovulate CD 21 -23) BUT it is a PITA to have to wait a whole week longer than the women who O on CD 14. So I googled and I'm writing down everything I see about how to shorten follicular phase, and if you have an experience with one of these methods, please comment. I'll add my own comments.

1. Vitex. Some people consider vitex the miracle cure for almost every menstrual issue. BUT I tried it when I wasn't ovulating, and it didn't make me ovulate, so I'm not going to give it a second chance.

2. Exposure to bright light in the morning. I'd consider trying this.

3. Older women have shorter follicular phases. Maybe, but I can't change this, plus it brings down fertility in general.

4. Alcohol shortens FP. It also sways pink; I'm considering trying this one.

5. Physical activity LENGTHENS FP. Not willing to give that up.

6. Soy Isoflavones. The cycle I took SI I didn't ovulate at all, but got a bleed at the normal time. I don't recommend it at all, but other women on the internet swear it helped them.

7. Acupuncture. I don't have enough faith in this to put out the $$ for it. Maybe if I'm still not pregnant after a long time and get desperate though.

8. Marijuana LENGTHENS FP. I don't smoke it.

9. Lower education shortens FP. I have a BA, and there's nothing I can do about that.

10. Caffeine shortens FP. I'm already having 200 mg a day, and not comfortable with more than that because it's been linked to miscarriages.

11. Clomid shortens. I'm already doing this, and yes it does help shorten, the cycle I got pregnant I O'd CD 17, and this cycle I think I O'd CD 18/19, which is earlier than I O naturally.

12. Vitamin B6 shortens. I'm considering trying it.

From past i have experience with myoinositol, woman herbal tea and b6. All shorten FP.

I would say that I have seen lots of people try to "fix" non-issues in their cycle and it causes nothing but trouble. You may end up with an even LONGER FP and also a short LP too. I've seen it happen like 20x more often than any of these things ever fixed anyone's cycles.

1)Vitex works on ONE thing, and that's PCOS. So anyone who has long FP for OTHER reasons than PCOS, vitex is like throwing gas on a fire, it only makes things worse. I have people come to me regularly who have been on vitex for months/years under the advisement of an herbalist and I have them give it up and generally they get pregnant right away.

2)I'm all good with bright light in the morning.

3)My experience is you have to be WAY older for this to start happening. Like well into your 40's. I have only just now had this start happening and I'm 47.

4)No harm in trying it, I doubt it will do anything but i'm interested to hear your results.

5)Only if people are exercising too much. Please continue exercise for the sake of your sway

6)I have seen soy iso cause nothing but trouble for people. Again, just like with the vitex, I find this to be something that ~potentially~ helps a few women with PCOS issues and makes matters worse for everyone else.

7)I don't think it works, but many people seem to have been helped by it. I do think there may be something to having an hour of self-care/relaxation every few days and this may be accomplished by a hot bath or a facial or a backrub from DH or something much cheaper than acupuncture.

8) Don't want any women on MJ when TTC

9) I hope it is obvious reading this that many of these things are NOT "X causes Y" things but things that just happen to be coincidentally associated with them.

10)I doubt it does much at all and have never witnessed this firsthand, don't drink any more than you are comfy with

11)Clomid is the only thing on this list that actually works in any reliable way.

12)DO NOT TAKE B6 for a pink sway for ANY reason. This is second only to vitex on a list of "things I see people take that effs up their cycles way worse than they were to start with." I see B6 REGULARLY extending FP and making LP realy short (despite supposedly fixing these things). Plus, it sways blue and can cause miscarriage when you're taking it when TTC and then drop it in early pregnancy (always wean off, ladies) I cannot endorse you guys taking this at all.

I would just like to offer an explanation that puts all this into a framework for you. Why do some people have longer FP to start with?

There are actually two main reasons. One of them is, in short, too high of hormone levels (this is a very brief shorthand for a very complicated situation). For people with PCOS or tendencies that way, this is what happens. Their testosterone rises and this can delay ovulation AND also make their LP short. The solution for them is to do things that in effect lower their hormone levels and so (while correcting this with changes in diet and exercise is best) for some of them, occasionally taking things that can interfere with the way their hormones are working, can help them to have a shorter FP and ovulate sooner.

For another group of people, their O is delayed due to too few hormones. They aren't making enough estrogen so they don't surge and ovulate for some time later because it takes their body longer to build that estrogen up. Since testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone are all made from the same things, were these people to take things that lower hormone levels, this is a disaster because their hormones are already TOO low.

So when you guys look online and see things about how X herb is a miracle for "late ovulation" you do not know if that is what will help you at all or if it will make matters worse. And this is a two way street, because some of those claims - like saying "exercise lengthens LP" - well, we all know that women exercising a lot can experience delayed ovulation because their hormone levels fall...it would be absolutely a huge step in the wrong direction for a person who has a longer FP becuase of PCOS, to avoid exercise (best thing for PCOS, bar none) out of some misguided thing they read online that claimed that exercise can make LP longer. Virtually every one of these things is misleading in some way and most of them are NOT RIGHT for every person at all.

Guys, if your FP is in normalish range, even if it's long, roll with it. Don't fix what ain't broke. Again and again and again, I'm sure into the thousands of times by now, the people taking the most BS stuff to "fix problems" that don't even exist, and misunderstanding the "problems" that they have, are the ones who take the longest to get pregnant because they end up messing up their cycles so hugely that it ended up taking ages just for things to get normalized enough to conceive with.

Thanks so much for the detailed response, atomic!