Coffee - now freaking out?

[atomic sagebrush]

CD 23 is not terribly late O though. Did you still have attempts at that time?

Oh no I'm sorry to hear you weren't well! It does sound like a UTI, did they give you any antibiotics?

Have you had any spotting this month so far?

You could try "not trying, not preventing" as a method if you wanted to. Just have unprotected sex when you want to and then don't worry about it otherwise. It can help cut the stress a lot to do that.

[jac1417]

Hi Atomic

Sorry I taking time away from everything as we were moving house.

So I’m back again and still not managed to conceive. This is exactly a year now and still no further forward as to why. I’m ok cd 41 today with no period and no sign of it. All negative tests and I’m pretty sure I didn’t ovulate this month which would be a first for me. (I track my rhr every month and it rises until I get my period which it then declines. This month I just declined straight away, although I had all the symptoms of ovulation). I had bad cramps the night before my period was due and then Iv had on and off cramps and my belly is so bloated I can barley hold it in.

While I’m waiting to be seen by a fertility specialist is this common for that to happen and do you think it’s possible to ovulate this month coming.

[atomic sagebrush]

Hey, you guys never need to worry about not getting back to me! It's my job to get back to you, not the other way round.

When did you think you ovulated in relation to where we are now?

I don't find your heart rate to be very predictive of who is pregnant and who isn't. Even though it seemed to be accurate for you in the past that doesn't mean it always will be. Many things affect your heart rate that have nothing to do with hormones.

Have you taken a pregnancy test?

[jac1417]

Yeh Iv took loads and still negative. I usually always ovulate between days 14-23. It’s never really went over this or even missed it. My cycles have been so regular for over a year now.

I know I think with my rhr it’s always the same graph roughly that happens. It tends to go up after ovulation and then decline when I get my period. But this month it went up twice and just declined straight away. I had all the usual symptoms of ovulation and had all the cramps when I thought I was along with the brown bleed I have been getting and then cramps after when I was due on.

My only explanation would be my hormones are all out of balance ? Would it be possible to just ovulate again or would I need to take a period before this can happen 😞

[atomic sagebrush]

If you have not ovulated, which is entirely possible, you can, and in most cases, still will, ovulate. If you have ovulated, which is also possible and you've just not gone long enough to get your period yet, you will get your period soon. There is also the possibility of an anovulatory cycle which simply means you will get a bleed that acts like a period, your estrogen will drop and you'll have bleeding, without ever ovulating. This is ok because if it happens it will be a reset and you'll start over with a new cycle. In most cases, the following cycle is normal and everything will be good to go at that point.

If you feel you need more clarity, your doc can give you bloodwork or an ultrasound to see where you are in the cycle. Please note, they are not always flawless in doing this and can make mistakes (less so with the bloodwork, but they sometimes interpret them wrongly). Your doctor can prescribe some medicine that will make you have a bleed (not a period, but a resetting bleed like i described above) but PLEASE do not take it till you've gone 14 days without unprotected sex and a negative pregnancy test at the end of that time. Even if they do the bloodwork and ultrasound, they can be wrong and make mistakes, and using that medication when you're pregnant can cause a miscarriage. Do this waiting for 14 days even if they tell you it's ok not to, please trust me on this as we've had several sad/stressful stories from doctors being neglectful in giving out the medicine to people who were pregnant but just too soon along to have it register on a pregnancy test.

[jac1417]

Thank you so much for all the advice.

I still haven’t had a bleed and booked in tomorrow for blood work. I have taking another test today which is negative again so I’m assuming the blood work tomorrow will confirm I am not pregnant.
I will take everything you have said on board and if they offer me something to restart I will wait the 14 days.

Could all my hormones being out of whack cause tiredness, bloating, and sore breasts. I have no sign of either ovulation or my period coming but I’m just hoping I will bleed soon so I can re start again.

[atomic sagebrush]

Do be aware though that if you've been having unprotected sex you can still be pregnant, and just not be far enough along though to have it register even on the bloodwork. I would go 14 days without having unprotected sex and a negative pregnancy test before using any medication to trigger a bleed to kickstart a new cycle.

Extended cycles do sometimes seem to bring with them many unpleasant symptoms. But try not to think of it as being "out of whack" because long cycles are one manifestation of normal that your body does sometimes when it needs to. Doctors too often treat women's bodies as if we're broken if we don't have what htey have deemed "perfect" 28 day cycles, but in reality we're not meant to have 12 cycles a year, it's normal and natural for us to have some longer cycles in the mix and historically the 12 regular 28 day cycles a year is the exception, not the rule.

Hang in there, hopefully AF will come shortly.

[jac1417]

Thankfully AF arrived this morning. I don’t think Iv even been glad to see her than I ever have. 🤦*♀️

So I have made an appointment to go private and will be seen within 3 weeks rather than the 6 month to a year after my referral. Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this. I wish I don’t it sooner but was forever told I had to wait the year.

My cycle there was 7 weeks so maybe it’s what my body needed, who knows.

[atomic sagebrush]

Can you think back about 2 weeks? Did you have any symptoms of ovulation at that time?

[jac1417]

To be fair that full month my body was everywhere. I had the usual brown bleed I have but around 1 week before the suspected ovulation date and tiredness and bloating all just before AF arrived.

My AF this month and last has only lasted 2 days and then stop/start for 2 days after it. Plus yesterday after exercise I was bleeding when wiped. I had the heavy feeling in my pelvis I usually get before ovulation/AF
just after exercising. Wish I knew what is going on down there.