# Does anybody here have short cycles, possibly anovulatory?



## mpenzi77

Hi all so I am nearly 35 years old and TTC for about a year now. A couple of years ago I noticed my cycles getting shorter. In my 20s they were always about 33 days, now they are usually between 22 and 26 days. Also now I usually have spotting in the days before :witch: shows up. Sometimes up to 4 consecutive days of spotting before I actually get the heavy bleeding and cramping. That makes it hard to know when to count CD 1 but that's not my main concern.

The research I've done says these short cycles and spotting during the LP could be a symptom of a low functioning thyroid and/or low progesterone? And possibly even anovulatory cycles? Has anyone else heard about this? Anyone else have this problem and managed to fix it and conceive?

I'm considering trying Traditional Chinese Medicine to try to get my cycles normal again. Something just seems not right with the short cycles and all the spotting before :witch:

Anybody have any clues? :flower:


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## kel21

I don't know about the thyroid, but for sure it sounds like a progesterone problem! I would either go to your dr and ask for 7dpo bloods, to see if you ovulated or maybe do some research on natural progesterone creams to use after you o. Sorry I can't be more help! Gl! And I am on clomid because my progesterone was low, but I had normal cycles.


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## Smiley25

kel21 said:


> I don't know about the thyroid, but for sure it sounds like a progesterone problem! I would either go to your dr and ask for 7dpo bloods, to see if you ovulated or maybe do some research on natural progesterone creams to use after you o. Sorry I can't be more help! Gl! And I am on clomid because my progesterone was low, but I had normal cycles.

Hello..... What does clomid actually do? Because I have 25day cycle. I used to have bleeding n spotting like the lady before but it was because I had a polyp in my uterus but we had it removed....


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## Smiley25

mpenzi77 said:


> Hi all so I am nearly 35 years old and TTC for about a year now. A couple of years ago I noticed my cycles getting shorter. In my 20s they were always about 33 days, now they are usually between 22 and 26 days. Also now I usually have spotting in the days before :witch: shows up. Sometimes up to 4 consecutive days of spotting before I actually get the heavy bleeding and cramping. That makes it hard to know when to count CD 1 but that's not my main concern.
> 
> The research I've done says these short cycles and spotting during the LP could be a symptom of a low functioning thyroid and/or low progesterone? And possibly even anovulatory cycles? Has anyone else heard about this? Anyone else have this problem and managed to fix it and conceive?
> 
> I'm considering trying Traditional Chinese Medicine to try to get my cycles normal again. Something just seems not right with the short cycles and all the spotting before :witch:
> 
> Anybody have any clues? :flower:

I had that same issue and it was caused by a polyp in my uterus....but we had it removed....now I have a 25day solid cycle... But I'm still puzzled as to y my cycle is so short....???


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## kel21

Clomid makes your body think it is not producing enough estrogen before o, so your body makes more. Then after o it makes you make more progesterone. But last cycle i had a 19 day cycle on clomid. Not sure what my body is doing! Good luck!


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## Nise

Hi Mpenzi It might be worth a visit to your doctors (if you haven't already) to try and get to the bottom of hormonal balance before trying anything else. I would ask for all Fertility related blood tests. This link https://www.gettingpregnant.co.uk/bloodtests.htm should explain what these are and which cycle day to have them on. But in a nutshell you will need to get some done on CD3 of your cycle and then another lot done on whatever dpo you would consider to be approx the middle of your LP (the norm is cycle day 21 but this may be to late for your short cycles). Though 25 - 30 days cycle length are considered normal by most doctors. 

With regard to TCM - I found this quite effective, it is often done hand in hand with acupuncture and you will find many acu's who specialise in fertility - make sure you get one who is qualified to practise TCM after assessing you and pinpointing your needs they will then balance the correct herbs for you o take - be warned, they don't taste great but I think the ones you drink are better than pills!!! The blood test results will be useful to your Acupuncturist as will Fertility charts if you do them. 

Good luck to you, I hope you get to the bottom of things and get your dream. :flower:


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## winterdaze

Hi there, I'm glad you asked this question because I also have been noticing that my cycles are getting shorter, and lighter too, and I had no idea why. Last year I had weight loss surgery and it helped me to get my periods back. When I was obese, I would go months without a period, so I was definitely not ovulating. However, when I was in my 20's my cycles were 28-31 days and fairly heavy. I will be 35 in July, and now my cycles are 26-28 days and light. Sometimes I get 1 or 2 days of spotting before full flow. I don't know if it's related to my 100 lbs rapid weight loss, or another issue, but I've been TTC since January with no luck. I think the other ladies are giving you some good ideas on what to do. I think I'll also go get my progesterone and everything else checked as well. Good luck, and lots of babydust to you and everyone!


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## mpenzi77

Thank you all for replying and for the good advice!

Winterdaze you sound identical to me! I'm also going to be 35 in July.

My periods were always heavy in my teens and 20s and I'm beginning to think heavy periods are a good indicator of fertility. Now since being in my 30s they have gotten much lighter and with midcycle spotting. It just doesn't seem right. When I was younger I never had midcycle spotting unless I was on the pill.

I'm definitely going to purse the TCM! I don't have insurance so I will try that route before anything else. I've heard great things about TCM!

Thanks again all! And if anybody else has any more feedback or experiences with this I'd love to hear about it!

:dust:


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## winterdaze

Hi mpenzi77! I think you're right about heavier periods being a good indicator of fertility. My last period was short and light. I suspected that I wasn't pregnant and something was wrong with me when I could feel the same kind of daily "twinges"/mild cramps in my pelvic area after ovulation that I feel whenever I'm not pregnant. So last week I called and got the process going for a consult to the women's clinic for an evaluation. I'm glad I did that, because I spotted Sunday night, and yesterday I started my period full-flow, which was 3-4 days early, leaving me with a 24 day cycle! My shortest one ever! I've been getting positive OPK's (the internet cheapies and also the CB digital smileys), and got my positive and smiley on the 8th (1 day earlier than expected), so I may have a LP defect. I don't know if I even ovulate anymore, despite the positive OPK's. I hope whatever it is, that it's easy to correct. I have lost over 100 lbs in less than 10 months, so it may be related to that as well.

I hope the TCM works for you! I think I'm going to try Coenzyme Q10 and maybe DHEA and Robitussin. I'll start looking into TCM as well. :dust:


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## mpenzi77

Thank you for that info winterdaze! I agree with you about the LP, sounds like we are on the same page. At least you know you are ovulating though. I've been having short cycles too, one month it was only 17 days! Plus light periods that just feel like something is wrong, like its not coming out freely like I remember it used to when I was younger. Or like my uterine lining isn't getting thick like it should be. Or like its not coming out and staying inside my uterus which of course would not be a good environment for a fetus to implant in!

This month was a little better though. :witch: was normal. I think part of it might be stress related and I've been trying to reduce my stress. I've had a lot of stress the past few years.

This month I'm trying Vitex, Fennel, and Dong Quai and already feeling better about my cycle. I've been taking them for about a week and this morning I noticed EWCM for the first time! I'm sure I'm ovulating now. Before I think maybe I wasn't ovulating due to stress? 

OH is not here to :sex: but at least now I'm feeling better about our chances! I'm gonna keep up the supplements and the destressing and see if that makes a difference!

Thanks for all your replies!

:dust:


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## Briss

Hi ladies, I think I belong here now as got the same problem.

All my life I had perfectly regular cycles 26-28 days and ovulate on CD13-14. After I had Lap&Dye/Hysteroscopy in mid April, things seemed to change for the worse. I already managed to have 2 cycles after the operation because they have become super short - 22 days!!! I never had such short cycles before. I seem to ovulate on CD9-10 now, although cant be 100% sure. have to say I feel pretty miserable at the moment I do not understand what could have gone wrong during the operation to have such an effect as they told me it was straightforward and they did not find any problems; I am planning to see my FS to discuss this situation but in the meantime would stalk your thread for any information and advice.


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