Fertility, Short/fluctuating Luteal Phase??

Updated on February 28, 2010
M.K. asks from Eldorado, WI
4 answers

I'll try to keep this as short as possible, while providing enough details. I had to use Clomid to conceive my first 2 children; since then I have RE-read the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility. I have never had regular cycles, but From monitoring cervical fluid, I determined that my luteal phase is approx. 14-15 days (on clomid it was usually 16 days, but cervical fluid was much trickier to monitor). I had not been specifically tracking BBT (basal temp) due to being in the phase of not preventing but not specifically trying to conceive. After 2nd child was born I refused to go back on BC. Cycles initially were 37-40 days, but luteal phase consistent. Now that we are ready to really try, it seems things are way out of whack. Had a 42+ day cycle dec to january; Thought perhaps it was actually an annovulatory cycle (I know, had I been checking BBT, I would know for sure!) b/c about 2 weeks later I had tannish spotting for about 3 days that I thought was perhaps ovulatory spotting and was accompanied by sharp left lower quatdrant pain that I assumed was ovulation (have had occasionally in the past and it matched up with a period starting 2 weeks later, ie 14 day luteal phase). Started checking temp more regularly by about day 10--it was low and then last weekend went up .4 degrees. I assumed a thermal shift and that I hadn't ovulated during the spotting but rather the day before the thermal shift (miniscule amount of egg-white cervical fluid seemed to match); temp stayed up roughly 6 days and well, now only a week later my temp has been back down for the past 2 mornings, but no sign of my period (in the past, I've had a tri-phasic pattern with both pregnancies; when not pregnant, period starts within 24-36 hours of that temperature drop). What gives??? Partly a rhetorical question in that why, now that we really want to conceive, does the body go haywire and cycles getting progressively longer?? but it was almost like clockwork before (in terms of luteal phase). I really do not want to go back on clomid (took about 8 months first pregnancy, 16 months second, WITH clomid!)--I feel like when my cervical fluid "cooperates" (that fluctuates too!!) I can really tell what would be the fertile days, it's that obvious. So, this got longer than I thought, but what would be affecting a luteal phase that had been so consistent before. I have not been sick; sleep has been pretty much the same (been up a bit later at night for the Olympics, but not much), no new stress in my life.... and why such fluctuation in cervical fluid while we're at the questions! I will pull out TCOYF again, but sometimes I can't quite find what I want in there. I did a brief google search, looks like maybe extra B6 would help? But shouldn't there be plenty of that in the prenatal vitamins I'm taking?? Thanks ladies--I know there are many TCOYF fans out there from previous posts, so I'm hoping you can help guide me here! FOLLOW UP: First 2 posts already assume I am obsessing. I suppose from my question it may appear that's the case, but I really am not. Having long cycles means I only ovulate 8-9 times a year, so I have to be ovservant to maximize potential.

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So What Happened?

Found a page and sample chart in TCOYF that talks about a drop after the initial rise in temp---apparently this does happen; it's just never happened to me until now, and as explained in the book, it is back "up" again. Also, my long, irregular cycles existed LONG before I was ever even interested in sex, so I don't think the "thinking about it" is making anything worse. Nothing more frustrating, though, than KNOWING you are ovulating and your husband is out of town, or you are on family vacation sharing a condo or other similar sleeping arrangements!--that has happened too; LOL!

More Answers

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A.S.

answers from Dallas on

I am sure the prenatal vitamins you are taking have enough B6 in them. However, if you are stressed out and obsessing over something that is already stressful enough, you are just going to put your body into a sympathetic dominant state. What that means is that your constant stress is going to throw your nervous system out of balance. There should be a balance between your parasympathetic nervous system (responsible for resting and digesting) and your sympathetic nervous system (responsible for giving your adrenaline in stressful states). If you tip the scales toward the sympathetic/stressed out side, not only does it decrease your absorption of nutrients from food, etc but it will increase cortisol, mess with sex hormones (estrogen levels), and mess with your blood sugar levels.
So, long answer made short, for your health and your ability to conceive, you need to find some ways to de-stress. Yoga, meditation, hypnosis, etc. are all really great ways to reduce stress.
You have two children already. We all know how stressful kids can be, but maybe as part of your meditation, you could go into their room while they are sleeping and have a quiet 10-15minutes of just looking at them and basking in the love you share with them. For 10minutes each night, stop thinking about getting pregnant/how to get pregnant and your cervical fluid/temperature/etc. and just focus on the beautiful gifts you have and how happy they make you. Good luck!

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M.W.

answers from Boise on

Hi,

You are really super monitoring your fertility right now, but I don't think that you should.

Instead, I highly recommend doing acupuncture for a few series and consulting them on ways for you to relax and get your body back in a good cycle.

I say this because I was so hyper during my infertility and I studied every little change in my body and charted and did all the full medical workups and it just made me crazy!

After doing IVF to get my kids, I was diagnosed with premature ovarian failure/menopause, and was told to do HRT. By then I was desperature to try anything to get back on track, and the Chinese medicine made my cycles go back to normal and more hormone levels all went down to normal. I was SHOCKED! I really think that stress and obsessing about infertility only enhances it.

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K.B.

answers from Milwaukee on

I don't have any advice for you (out of my knowledge area), but I frequent a web board at www.fertilichat.com and there are a very nice group of women who know an awful lot about this stuff. You may want to visit it. Good luck!

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D.R.

answers from Minneapolis on

What I can say from my experience, having had trouble conceiving my first child, and using the same book pretty religiously is this: The stress and rigidity of monitoring, testing, planning does all kinds of numbers on your body and it's ability to do what its supposed to do. I think thats a big part of why many people conceive consecutive children without really trying after using fertility with the first (as is my case) - because they are NOT trying and therefore more relaxed. I know its hard to not think about it, but just have sex a few times a week, lay still for about 5-10 minutes afterwards, and hopefully you'll get the results you're looking for! Good luck!

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