Spotting week before AF every month - anyone else?

[Soili]

almosthere, I hope the ovulation is just around the corner for you, if it didn't happen yet!

 

[Soili]

one_dips, the first step is always trying to determine if you might be getting periods without ovulation. That's why it's a great thing that you're charting! If your temps stay erratic and FF won't determine a temp shift, but you'll still get your period, then it's very likely that you're getting anovulatory cycles. When it happened to me last year, I tried every vitamin and food supplement available to try to kickstart ovulation - nothing worked. If you have any suspicion that you might have PCOS and by any chance have some weight to loose, then I would say loosing some of it would be only thing worth trying on your own. But you'll need to be prepared that it might take a few months to see the effect on your cycles. Otherwise, if you're eager to determine what's the issue, the only thing I'd recommend is going to a doctor and checking your hormone levels. Thyroid issues, high prolactin or elevated male hormones (common in PCOS) can interfere with the hormones production needed for ovulation to occur.

I'm not your typical "run to doctors for answers" kind of person myself. In fact I'm the complete opposite. I try to ignore problems hoping they go away. And I wish there was some home remedy for anovulatory cycles, but because you don't know what's causing it, it's nearly impossible trying to find a cure on your own.

Once again though - I really hope I'm wrong about anovulatory cycles!

 

[expatttc]

Thanks for the wishes re. no spotting ladies It’s stayed away even with some bding on the weekend (though I have to admit, DH and I took it pretty easy as we were both nervous that could start something off).

MrsP, how’s your cat doing? Hope your holiday was good!

Soili, SA results can change so much - don’t worry too much about them! My dh’s improved a ton after he quit smoking. He still has the occasional cigar, and did when we got pregnant, and never gave up caffeine (2 espressos a day), or took vitamins, but we do eat pretty healthy (no junkfood, lots of fresh everything since he’s Italian).

Katie, I didn’t take any drugs, just used a bit of topical yeast infection cream outside on the itchy bits - very little - after the doc said it was just fine. Eating lots of yoghurt has definitely helped taking care of everything and it all cleared up pretty quickly.

almostthere, hope the bding is fun! fx for you

one_dips it can be hard to relax - particularly around the preg announcements (augh) I have had sharp twinges all through my cycles, and they still happen every now and then. No clue why… If you’re not ovulating there are so many things that you can do to jump start the little egg, and I think (?) that it can be diagnosed through scans of your follicles. In any case, talking to a doc will help, and soili’s right, it’s great that you’re charting.

dreaminghopin, HA! about the thin walls! You can always go for a drive! I also had smiles in a row a while back (just fun to pee on things, I have no clue why I still did it), but they did go away. OPKs can definitely stay positive for a few days, which is why I always relied on them PLUS ewcm.

Jellycat, hope the temping’s going well!

AFM, I ab all stubbed ub (I’m all stuffed up), with what appears to be crazy allergies, but apparently it’s just another side effect of the bean. Still nauseous but still haven’t thrown up, just so frustrating to try to eat/drink when everything makes me gag.

 

[one_dips]

one_dips, the first step is always trying to determine if you might be getting periods without ovulation. That's why it's a great thing that you're charting! If your temps stay erratic and FF won't determine a temp shift, but you'll still get your period, then it's very likely that you're getting anovulatory cycles. When it happened to me last year, I tried every vitamin and food supplement available to try to kickstart ovulation - nothing worked. If you have any suspicion that you might have PCOS and by any chance have some weight to loose, then I would say loosing some of it would be only thing worth trying on your own. But you'll need to be prepared that it might take a few months to see the effect on your cycles. Otherwise, if you're eager to determine what's the issue, the only thing I'd recommend is going to a doctor and checking your hormone levels. Thyroid issues, high prolactin or elevated male hormones (common in PCOS) can interfere with the hormones production needed for ovulation to occur.

I'm not your typical "run to doctors for answers" kind of person myself. In fact I'm the complete opposite. I try to ignore problems hoping they go away. And I wish there was some home remedy for anovulatory cycles, but because you don't know what's causing it, it's nearly impossible trying to find a cure on your own.

Once again though - I really hope I'm wrong about anovulatory cycles!

Thanks for the wishes re. no spotting ladies It’s stayed away even with some bding on the weekend (though I have to admit, DH and I took it pretty easy as we were both nervous that could start something off).

MrsP, how’s your cat doing? Hope your holiday was good!

Soili, SA results can change so much - don’t worry too much about them! My dh’s improved a ton after he quit smoking. He still has the occasional cigar, and did when we got pregnant, and never gave up caffeine (2 espressos a day), or took vitamins, but we do eat pretty healthy (no junkfood, lots of fresh everything since he’s Italian).

Katie, I didn’t take any drugs, just used a bit of topical yeast infection cream outside on the itchy bits - very little - after the doc said it was just fine. Eating lots of yoghurt has definitely helped taking care of everything and it all cleared up pretty quickly.

almostthere, hope the bding is fun! fx for you

one_dips it can be hard to relax - particularly around the preg announcements (augh) I have had sharp twinges all through my cycles, and they still happen every now and then. No clue why… If you’re not ovulating there are so many things that you can do to jump start the little egg, and I think (?) that it can be diagnosed through scans of your follicles. In any case, talking to a doc will help, and soili’s right, it’s great that you’re charting.

dreaminghopin, HA! about the thin walls! You can always go for a drive! I also had smiles in a row a while back (just fun to pee on things, I have no clue why I still did it), but they did go away. OPKs can definitely stay positive for a few days, which is why I always relied on them PLUS ewcm.

Jellycat, hope the temping’s going well!

AFM, I ab all stubbed ub (I’m all stuffed up), with what appears to be crazy allergies, but apparently it’s just another side effect of the bean. Still nauseous but still haven’t thrown up, just so frustrating to try to eat/drink when everything makes me gag.

Cheers ladies... really hope i ovulate at some point in next week or so as if its gunna happen it should be any time soon.. if not ive got a appointment with the nurse next thursday so guna try and persuade her to test me for pcos or some other stuff coz there must be a reason i aint getting preg even if i am ovulatin but it willtake longer least i will no....

heres my chart what u all think i had a patch of wet cm but now its really creamy quiteabit of it.... ihad a sharp short pain sort of (inside my vagina) on sunday but had lil twinges and pains for about a week now really and stull have now been using cheapy opks now as ran out of digital... not sure if my last one had a lil darker line but was still only just there but previously it was non existant..... another two f.book announcments and sadly one mc which is making me think getting preg doesn't mean a perfect baby its only the start....
https://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/3ca334/thumb.png
My Ovulation Chart

my temp on sunday was taken at a different time but i used ff's adjuster to get a time hope its accutate ..
Hope your all well xx

 

[almosthere]

are you sure you did not already ov? I see you have been testing-but looks like you did not test for cd 14 and on....I would say a possible ov on cd 17! My second guess is cd 28 if you get one more high temp!

 

[almosthere]

a also do not know if I even OVd this cycle....hmmm

 

[one_dips]

are you sure you did not already ov? I see you have been testing-but looks like you did not test for cd 14 and on....I would say a possible ov on cd 17! My second guess is cd 28 if you get one more high temp!

Hiiya almosthere... not really sure i think i must have forgotten to put opk results down but ive had neg tests everyday ill update my chart now... i compared my last 3 days ic opks and the 2nd line which was none existant was faint then y.day was faint but darker on one side also still getting pain on left side hoping somthings going on in there ...looking forwards to test using opk tonight to see if its even darker does it have to be a full bold dark line or can it be onesided im using one step ovulation tests.

my temp went to 35.8 today... think i went wrong in not getting a more acurate themometer.

How you finding now knowing if ur o'ing is there a reason for your that you no of?

 

[Soili]

one_dips, with IC OPK, the one good way to tell a positive is by checking for results within the first 5-10 minutes. Usually the test line starts forming even before the background goes back to white. If it's not positive within at most first 10 minutes, throw it out. They tend to form stronger line on the edge opposite to control line as they dry up. That's just the dye residue pilling up.

 

[one_dips]

one_dips, with IC OPK, the one good way to tell a positive is by checking for results within the first 5-10 minutes. Usually the test line starts forming even before the background goes back to white. If it's not positive within at most first 10 minutes, throw it out. They tend to form stronger line on the edge opposite to control line as they dry up. That's just the dye residue pilling up.

hiya soili...cheers for replying gunna test again tonight and see what it goes like if its darker still ill upload pics see what you all think...ill take your advice with checking during the 5-10 mins...last cycle my teinges was mainly right side but past few days and now they are definetly left sided...so excited might go get a more accurate themometer so have more chanse detecting a shift in a few days if it does hapen snd some more digi tests... just incase tonights test is dark ...feeling positive today ...baby dust to everyone

 

[one_dips]

one_dips, with IC OPK, the one good way to tell a positive is by checking for results within the first 5-10 minutes. Usually the test line starts forming even before the background goes back to white. If it's not positive within at most first 10 minutes, throw it out. They tend to form stronger line on the edge opposite to control line as they dry up. That's just the dye residue pilling up.

hiya soili...cheers for replying gunna test again tonight and see what it goes like if its darker still ill upload pics see what you all think...ill take your advice with checking during the 5-10 mins...last cycle my teinges was mainly right side but past few days and now they are definetly left sided...so excited might go get a more accurate themometer so have more chanse detecting a shift in a few days if it does hapen snd some more digi tests... just incase tonights test is dark ...feeling positive today ...baby dust to everyone

well opk was about as dark as y.days so one side of line was dark but hard to tell if it was as dark as control line...had pains left side again and checked cm and its a tricky one sorry tmi but it was like a string of clear cm but with like white strands within it ha ha...sorta sorry (bogey like)...we bd last night so not sure cud be semen however i checked earlier and was more wet creamy....bought a proper themometer with two decimel places to use to help see a possible shift but ill make notes on using both themometers incase gives different readings..hope everyones good xx

 

[almosthere]

FX for you One-Dips...and I do know I O based on previous pos opks....BUT I am just taking it easy and not temping or opking so I do not know my o day! haha....and no spotting still aside from cd15 once and not from dtd so assuming that was either o spotting, or random spotting from some odd irritation in there. If it was o spotting then I am in shock I have not spotted after dtd so either possibly caught the eggy OR body is just finally regulated since stopping bcps back in sept! =)

 

[Soili]

one_dips, IC tend to form one-sided test lines pretty much all the time. It gets worse as the strip starts drying up. That's why it's best to stick to time limit because as they dry up, they can form that residue line almost as dark as control line, but that would be a false positive. Keep testing every day! LH levels fluctuate throughout the cycle, there's always a certain amount in your system anyway, so it can go slightly up and down, but what you need to catch is a big surge. Fingers crossed it's coming!

 

[Soili]

almosthere, I hope that's it, girl! That you ovulated already and caught the egg! Are you planning to test early or wait till AF is due?

Looks like it's only 3 of us left here these days

 

[one_dips]

one_dips, IC tend to form one-sided test lines pretty much all the time. It gets worse as the strip starts drying up. That's why it's best to stick to time limit because as they dry up, they can form that residue line almost as dark as control line, but that would be a false positive. Keep testing every day! LH levels fluctuate throughout the cycle, there's always a certain amount in your system anyway, so it can go slightly up and down, but what you need to catch is a big surge. Fingers crossed it's coming!

Guess what... thiinnk i found ewcm last night not masses of it but definelty not had anything like this before i had (creamy clear globby) bits before a bath and then checked again before going to bed and was thin clear but very strechy... (stretched in all directions...? not sure if thats a gd thing) only a small amount really hoping it was ewcm coz we have bd's two nights running and will plan on maybe pouncing on my fiance again tonight or should i leave it till tomorrow?..... i did the water thing with the (creamy clear glob) of cm and it balled up and sank...
Not gunna tell my fiance in case i make any extra pressure...gunna plan on drinking piles of water today as i dont drink enough enought throughout the day so could explain why there wasn't much cm...
Lil bit excited to temp over the w.end although gunna have to wake up at 5am just to make sure the temps are accurate incase i egt that spike thing!! sorry im abit excitable.... Baby dust to eveyone hope its all our months!!

 

[almosthere]

yay one-dips, sounding promising, i would only dtd if in the mood! if not, sounds like you are covered until tomorrow anyways! GL! And I think I shall wait for AF this time around since I don't know when the earliest I could start testing is anyway! we will see how long that lasts! hahaaa

 

[Chloe597]

one_dips, sounds promising! live longer in EWCM so if you skip a day of BD, you should still be ok. I never had lots of EWCM, but on the days that i noticed any, i pounced on DH as well. Only ended up being 4 times within a week and a half, so apparently that was enough.

Almosthere, yay for no spotting so far! What CD are you on now? Those BCPS are evil! I don't know if i ever want to go on them again, but at the same time, they got rid of my spotting, which just made life so much more pleasant.

Soili - how are you doing? Is DH taking a bunch of vitamins or are you waiting on more Dr tests?

 

[KatieTTC]

Hello ladies, sorry, I abandoned you for a while, I was just trying to stay away and keep my mind off all of that TTC stuff. I missed you all though, so here I am again, although there's nothing to report on.

FX, almosthere, hope you caught the egg! Glad to hear you're not spotting.

Good luck, one_dips, ewcm sounds promising!

Soili, how are you doing? Did you try this month too, or are you waiting for more tests?

Nothing new with me, tried not to obsess about it all and stay away from all the pregnancy talk, read, and thought, but it's easier said than done. I'm currently 10dpo and might last for two more days, but will most certainly test after that if AF doesn't arrive. Waiting to test is really hard. I've been spotting pretty heavily for over a week and generally feel like AF is just around the corner. My boobs are sore, I'm breaking out and spotting has been present for a while now, so AF should be arriving soon. I know pregnancy symptoms are similar to preAF ones, but somehow I'm just not feeling this was our month. I've also been having quite a bit of cramping on my left side after ovulation, read that it's normal, ovaries are probably still in shock after a cycle of clomid, will ask my doctor about that.

Seems like pregnancy announcements from friends and acquaintances are getting more frequent the harder we TTC. One friend - a new mom, 3 months after a cesarean section, just announced she's pregnant again, an accident. I caught myself thinking: 'why you?' I don't like reacting this way. I am genuinely happy for pregnant women, but I have to admit it, there's jealousy when someone who hasn't been even trying, gets pregnant.

My best friend is coming to visit and this will keep me busy for a week and distract me from all the negative thoughts. She couldn't have picked a better time. It would be wonderful if with my BFF arrived a BFP, but I'm already setting my mind on the new cycle. If AF arrives, it better arrive soon, I've been really craving some nice cold draft beer.

Baby dust to all!

 

[one_dips]

one_dips, sounds promising! live longer in EWCM so if you skip a day of BD, you should still be ok. I never had lots of EWCM, but on the days that i noticed any, i pounced on DH as well. Only ended up being 4 times within a week and a half, so apparently that was enough.

Almosthere, yay for no spotting so far! What CD are you on now? Those BCPS are evil! I don't know if i ever want to go on them again, but at the same time, they got rid of my spotting, which just made life so much more pleasant.

Soili - how are you doing? Is DH taking a bunch of vitamins or are you waiting on more Dr tests?

not really had any stretch cm today but is wet.... opk was veru very faint too so hoping the datkest one on the wed was a positive...ill soon see i suppose with my temps over the w.end...not had any left sided pains all day today...think my cycle must have shortened as my last cyvle my predicted possible ovulation wasnt until 12 days time...hopeing ive caught the egg...19 days till normal spotting and 29 till af normally due...only thing ive done diff is taken epo ...baby dust everyone should i class myself as 2dpo or wait for temps to confirm o c

 

[Chloe597]

onedips, I would wait for temps to confirm O. I used to pee on OPK's and i constantly got false positives. My RE told me they were not reliable unless you had very regular cycles (in which case I dont know why you would bother using them??). And the surge could be so quick you could miss it, or your pee could not be concentrated enough so it could be false negative. So much room for error.

 

[almosthere]

thanks ladies-& I am cd20 already! =) but my cycles range anywhere from 25days long to 36!!!! So who knows when/if I od yet!

and chloe-I think I will never go on them-I wish I had more education about coming off them before I started them! Sounds funny...but I feel it is really important! I got very sick coming off of them, had visual migrans, VERY emotional/weepy and sooo moody too! I thought I was experiencing pregnancy symptoms, but OH NO, it was just bcp withdrawl!! hahaa