Cycles changes...

[TeacherMom]

OK so I have asked my doctor this and she is "pretty sure" I am ovulating around CD 20 (only because I had EWCM though, wasn't actually tested). But still, my cycle is stressing me out. I trained for a marathon last summer through October. I have been a distance runner for several years. I decided to stop running (pretty much quit cold turkey) end of October and ever since then, I have had this ANNOYING spotting for like 3-5 days before my actual flow starts. Normally, I have periods every 33-36 days(ish) and would have a moderate flow the first day and it would last about 5 days. Now, I start spotting around CD 30/31 and spot until my period would normally start. No weight change, just completely stopped running. Can this be from not running or do sometimes our cycles just change? Also, does spotting for a few days before AF arrives mean I might have trouble getting pregnant? Anyone else have spotting like this?

Also: my doctor told me to limit running or even stop if I want to conceive because of my lower body fat. But now my cycles are like this. Maybe quitting running to conceive was actually the opposite of what I should be doing...

Thanks all!

[atomic sagebrush]

Well, while I don't totally approve of the flip response there, your doc is ~probably~ right in that if you're having regular cycles that stay mostly the same from month to month with EWCM in midmonth when it's supposed to show up, then you're most likely ovulating.

What does your LP look like aside from the spotting??? If your LP is 14 days with 3-5 days spotting, that is probably going to be ok and not prevent pg. but if your LP is 10 days and 3-5 days spotting, then that is not ok and you may have a luteal phase defect that might need medical treatment.

I think it's time to seek a second opinion and hopefully get some bloodwork done. I have mixed feelings about blanket advice to stop running if your cycles were regular before and you were able to get pg just fine with your son, KWIM?? Had you been TTC a while without success???

[TeacherMom]

Thanks for your response. I always get so excited when I see your name next to it LOL. My LP is ABOUT 14 days if I count my real flow as the 14th day, but like 10 if I count my spotting beforehand. Does spotting count? I am not sure if this spotting is something to not count as part of my AF or if it is part of it now, so hard to determine when I start. And honestly, I have always just guessed when I O based on O pains and CM because I have never thought to track it until this month. Does spotting count as day 1? I know people's cycles can change over time, but I just feel it is too coincidental to have changed right after that marathon. We have been trying 3 months. I am 29, DH is 27. Which isn't a long time I know, but I conceived my son on BC!

I have also always had EWCM in abundance until this past month. I had nothing really. No reason for it because I was not doing a swaying diet or anything.

What kind of blood work do I ask for?

Thanks for your help. :-)

[atomic sagebrush]

You want to find out whether you're ovulating and how long your LP really is, plus your prog levels. You don't need to ask for a specific test, just go in and describe the situation, they know what to do.

CD 1 is the first day with full red flow. The spotting for a few days before is ok as long as you have a good 7-10 days without it (which you seem to most months) It's not ideal, but it's ok and within the wheelhouse of normal.

If you want to try to change things up a bit you may want to try adding in 1 serving of full fat dairy a day, a couple eggs a week, and/or a serving of salmon every week. If your'e not comfy with all of them, you can try just adding one or the other. What I think is happening is that your prog is fine, but your estrogen may be a little bit low. At about 7 DPO your corpus luteum starts to break down and your body releases a little bit of estrogen to maintain your lining for the duration of your LP and I think this is not happening as effectively as needs be for you for some reason.

Not sure why it would commence when you stopped running - but one possibility that occurs to me is that maybe you weren't actually ovulating when you were running and now you are. I don't think it's super likely, but just tossing that out as a possibility.

[TeacherMom]

Thanks for the insight. I actually do eat full fat dairy regularly and eggs. AF actually came FULL FORCE this morning, so CD 34. Are eating those things supposed to increase estrogen? What are some common reasons someone would have low estrogen when they never used to have a problem with it? Is it a body fat thing? I don't know my body fat percentage but I do know I am about 100 lbs, 5 foot 2.
I also was reading about women who took soy isoflavones to lengthen luteal phases on CD 3-7...would that do anything for me? I was originally planning on swaying but since my cycles have been so different all of a sudden, I don't think doing an LE Diet would be a good idea for me. I am picking a few things here and there that are part of a pink sway, but nothing drastic. :-)

Do doctors really make you wait until you have been trying a full year before giving Clomid? I don't WANT to be on Clomid because every time I take anything hormonal I get so sick with it. But, I can't imagine trying a whole year before getting any kind of help.

I am going to (for the first time ever) use an OPK this month so if nothing is detected I guess I can assume I should call the doctor. Thank you so much for paying attention to this little thread! And let me know what you think about the soy if you can! :-)

[TeacherMom]

bump to atomic? :-)

[atomic sagebrush]

Thanks for bump!

yes, giving your body enough sources of saturated fat and cholesterol, plus a bit of Omega 3 fats in the salmon, can help provide the raw materials you need to make the sex hormones (of which estrogen is one).

It is partly body fat (fat makes estrogen), partly weight overall, and partly that too much exercise can alter the function of your hypothalamus which makes GnRH that stimulates your body to make estrogen to begin with. My guess is that either your body had adjusted to things as they were and then when you stopped exercise, this somehow confused things and now you're not making the GnRH in the right proportion. OR, my other guess is that you weren't actually ovulating even though your cycle was seemingly still regular and now things are actually better in terms of fertility, not worse.

Some docs make you wait a year which I think is criminal because we have a limited amount of time in the fertile window. But if you're in the US, you have the option of going to a different doctor till you get one that is willing to prescribe it (In the UK and Australia this is more difficult to do)

The soy is an option, but I will say that several people who took it, it really seemed to make matters worse and they had a lot of side effects.

[TeacherMom]

I bet it is my body adapting. And no soy for me...don't want to risk making things worse. Thanks sooo much!