Quick question for those of you who practice NFP...
I'm on my 6th month of charting now after coming off the Pill (also 6 months off the Pill), and I'm noticing that I have a consistently short luteal phase. For anyone not familiar with the terminology, that's just the time from ovulation to menses, and it's a point of concern if one is trying to conceive because if it's too short, a conception might not have sufficient time to implant prior to menses. I count from the first day of temperature rise until the day before my period starts. Everything I read says that it should be 12-16 days, and that anything less than 10 is considered a potential fertility problem.
Mine have been 10 days long every month. I don't like this. Not that I'm trying to conceive (clearly), but I AM trying to get everything on-track in advance so that we're in the best possible position to conceive when the time comes. According to my book on nutrition and fertility, a short luteal phase is usually due to low progesterone, which can often be alleviated by bumping up one's vitamin B6 intake. I recently decided to start a new vitamin regimen (started about 2 weeks ago) to try to fix the problem, which includes a good prenatal vitamin (I checked the contents against the recommendations in my book - you'd be surprised how high the recommendations are compared to what the average prenatal vitamin contains!), extra vitamin D (because I was deficient at my last dr's appointment), extra B6 and an omega 3-6-9 capsule. Obviously that may take a few months to make any difference, so I'll just have to wait and see for a while.
So on to the questions... Have any of you dealt with a short luteal phase, and if so, what did you do to help lengthen it? Have any of you conceived despite having what might be considered a "short" luteal phase? That would make me feel better ;]
Thanks, Ladies!
Hi Jenna! We've been practicing NFP for going on 7 years now and have taught for almost 3 of those years! I have conceived 3 of our children while having 9 - 11 day lp's. That being said it did take 6 months of active "trying" to conceive 2 of the three and I feel that my shorter LP may have certainly played a part. With each I had scheduled an appointment with my doctor to test progesterone the following month but then we conceived and I didn't need the test.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree that progesterone is the first place I look for short LP but some other thoughts for you.
What are your temps like and is your "shift" obvious? Temps that are too Low or High can indicate thyroid problems, and a shift that is "weak" or not properly defined can indicate some hormone issues as well.
Last questions. Is it just your LP that is a bit short or do you find that you ovulate early as well? Sometimes women who have shorter LP are also ovulating early and what is actually happening is that they are ovulating an immature egg. So while they have the hormone shifts happen it's all just a bit weak. Also this is where you may see a women who is TTC have repeated positive pregnancy test followed by AF or early miscarriage. Those eggs are able to be fertilized enough to create HcG but not enough to develop properly. This pattern can of course be caused my low progesterone also.
Just some things for you to think about! Hope something here rings a bell! The great thing is everything I mentioned can be quite easily and very naturally treated in most cases! Thanks for this wonderful blog!!
Kristin - Thanks so much for your response! Reassuring to hear that you've been able to conceive despite the short LPs :] I do usually have an obvious shift, lows around 97.1-97.5 and highs around 98-98.4.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I have been ovulating LATE. My earliest temp rise over these past 5 charts was day 18, and my latest was day 23. I've read that ovulating late can also be a problem, because the uterine lining is getting "old" by then and may be less conducive to implantation. So with an ovulation that late I should be having a pretty long cycle, but I'm still having 30-or-so day cycles because of the short LP.
It's entirely possible that my body is still working out what my cycle is going to settle into without the artificial hormones, but since I'm into month six now I'm starting to question whether I should be doing something about it. So like I said, I started on a new vitamin regimen for now to try to help the short LP, but I'm still wondering about the late O's. Any thoughts?
Personally I don't think CD 18 - 23 is so late that it should be of concern. If you were looking at cd 40 or something that might be another story. I would say to give your body a bit more time since yes, although effects should be subsiding, it's still possible that you are experiencing residual effects of the HBC. It's the same thing that we often see with women that start cycling again postpartum. Ovulation is delayed and LP can be shorter then desirable but typically within 6 months or so things slowly balance back out to what will be their "new normal". I know several women who have started similar vitamin regiments as you and have seen promising results but it has taken a couple months to "kick in" so to speak. You're temps and temp shift sounds great so that's wonderful! Keep in mind you've also been under a good amount of stress lately correct? That can always cause delayed ovulation as I'm sure you know. I think it would be worth taking another 3-4 cycles to see if things work themselves out...but again I don't think ovulating cd 18-23 should be of particular concern especially if your LP lengthens out. Happy charting!
ReplyDeleteThat's all very reassuring - thank you so much for your input! I really appreciate it :]
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