knobby
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I have always had longer than normal menstrual cycles (average 34 days long). Lately I have been having especially long cycles - 40 days long - and consequently have been having longer follicular phases (in the medical community long is considered >20 days; mine have been 25-27 days long). I have been researching and have read that a long follicular phase can affect egg quality and makes conceiving more difficult (has even been correlated with recurrent miscarriage and birth defects... https://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art174098.asp).
I have talked to my dr about my long cycles and he wants me to track my cycles till March and will address any problems with my cycle then.
So in the meantime I have been looking into natural methods of regulating and hopefully shortening my cycle, mainly my follicular phase since my luteal phase is usually about 14 days and normal. I already eat super healthy and I am at my ideal weight. So I looked into supplements...
I first tried taking vitex for 2 full cycles everyday and it didn't shorten my cycles at all. And when my period did come it was barely there. First cycle on vitex was brown discharge for 6 days. 2nd cycle was only 1.5 days of bleeding. I also suspect vitex may have made me not ovulate those cycles. Not wanting to disrupt my cycle further I stopped taking the vitex.
My last cycle I tried nothing and my bleeding was back to normal; 5 days of regular flow (heavy to moderate to light). But my cycle was still long; 38 days.
So I decided this cycle to start drinking raspberry leaf tea. Started drinking it yesterday (cycle day 8). I plan to drink 2-3 cups per day.
I was wondering if anyone else here has used raspberry leaf tea to shorten their long cycle. And if so, did it work for you or not? I have searched all over and only found a couple people say they used it to shorten their long cycles - most women use the tea during pregnancy to help labor, so that is mostly what I am finding along with people using it to help menstrual cramps and flow.
I will of course update this thread with my results of drinking raspberry leaf tea - good or bad - so anyone that finds this in the future will hopefully find this helpful.
I have talked to my dr about my long cycles and he wants me to track my cycles till March and will address any problems with my cycle then.
So in the meantime I have been looking into natural methods of regulating and hopefully shortening my cycle, mainly my follicular phase since my luteal phase is usually about 14 days and normal. I already eat super healthy and I am at my ideal weight. So I looked into supplements...
I first tried taking vitex for 2 full cycles everyday and it didn't shorten my cycles at all. And when my period did come it was barely there. First cycle on vitex was brown discharge for 6 days. 2nd cycle was only 1.5 days of bleeding. I also suspect vitex may have made me not ovulate those cycles. Not wanting to disrupt my cycle further I stopped taking the vitex.
My last cycle I tried nothing and my bleeding was back to normal; 5 days of regular flow (heavy to moderate to light). But my cycle was still long; 38 days.
So I decided this cycle to start drinking raspberry leaf tea. Started drinking it yesterday (cycle day 8). I plan to drink 2-3 cups per day.
I was wondering if anyone else here has used raspberry leaf tea to shorten their long cycle. And if so, did it work for you or not? I have searched all over and only found a couple people say they used it to shorten their long cycles - most women use the tea during pregnancy to help labor, so that is mostly what I am finding along with people using it to help menstrual cramps and flow.
I will of course update this thread with my results of drinking raspberry leaf tea - good or bad - so anyone that finds this in the future will hopefully find this helpful.