Spotting week before AF every month - anyone else?

[Jomojo]

Hi ladies, I hope you don't mind if I join you. Here's my spotting story:

I started to spot mid cycle about 12 years ago whilst on the pill. I visited the GPs countless times and tried many different brands of the pill but the spotting stayed put. In June 2012 DH and I got married and I came off the pill to start ttc. The mid cycle spotting continued but I also started spotting 3-7 days before af. Also, af was really light and only lasted 1-2 days whereas before I was on the pill it was much heavier and would last a week.

In December 2012 I went to my gp about the spotting again and was diagnosed with a cervical ectropion. I was told that I this made my cervix sensitive to fluctuating hormones which caused the spotting. In June 2013 I went back to the gps as we had been ttc for nearly a year (took a couple months off wen started a new job). I explained about spotting and also about really bad acne I get at time of ovulation and queried hormonal imbalance. Gp ordered day 3 and 21 bloods which came back fine.

In dec 2013 went back to gp- still no bfp so referred to fertility clinic. We had an initial appointment in Jan and an appointment was made to see the consultant 22nd April and I was told to book HSG and DH was to have his swimmers checked out aswell. I also had swabs taken and bloods.

A couple of weeks after the appointment I received a letter stating they wanted me to have further bloods taken as my prolactin levels were high. When I went to have further bloods taken the nurse looked up my results on the computer and told me they were 868. Dr google confirmed normal levels should be less than 400 but that stress and all sorts of things can elevate the levels temporarily. Got to wait until I see the consultant for the results of the second blood test.

So anyhow, I have stumbled a cross this thread and discovered I am not the only one with this problem and that a lot of people have gone on to conceive despite the spotting which makes me hopeful. I am also really interested to find out what works for people and what doesn't to improve the spotting.

Finally (sorry bout the essay here ladies!) I think I have had a chemical pregnancy this week- I got a faint positive on an ic on Tuesday (10 dpo) and have been getting faint lines since until last night and this morning wen the lines disappeared and lo and behold I hav started to spot. Onwards and upwards to next cycle I guess!

 

[trela]

Hi ladies, I hope you don't mind if I join you. Here's my spotting story:

I started to spot mid cycle about 12 years ago whilst on the pill. I visited the GPs countless times and tried many different brands of the pill but the spotting stayed put. In June 2012 DH and I got married and I came off the pill to start ttc. The mid cycle spotting continued but I also started spotting 3-7 days before af. Also, af was really light and only lasted 1-2 days whereas before I was on the pill it was much heavier and would last a week.

In December 2012 I went to my gp about the spotting again and was diagnosed with a cervical ectropion. I was told that I this made my cervix sensitive to fluctuating hormones which caused the spotting. In June 2013 I went back to the gps as we had been ttc for nearly a year (took a couple months off wen started a new job). I explained about spotting and also about really bad acne I get at time of ovulation and queried hormonal imbalance. Gp ordered day 3 and 21 bloods which came back fine.

In dec 2013 went back to gp- still no bfp so referred to fertility clinic. We had an initial appointment in Jan and an appointment was made to see the consultant 22nd April and I was told to book HSG and DH was to have his swimmers checked out aswell. I also had swabs taken and bloods.

A couple of weeks after the appointment I received a letter stating they wanted me to have further bloods taken as my prolactin levels were high. When I went to have further bloods taken the nurse looked up my results on the computer and told me they were 868. Dr google confirmed normal levels should be less than 400 but that stress and all sorts of things can elevate the levels temporarily. Got to wait until I see the consultant for the results of the second blood test.

So anyhow, I have stumbled a cross this thread and discovered I am not the only one with this problem and that a lot of people have gone on to conceive despite the spotting which makes me hopeful. I am also really interested to find out what works for people and what doesn't to improve the spotting.

Finally (sorry bout the essay here ladies!) I think I have had a chemical pregnancy this week- I got a faint positive on an ic on Tuesday (10 dpo) and have been getting faint lines since until last night and this morning wen the lines disappeared and lo and behold I hav started to spot. Onwards and upwards to next cycle I guess!

Hello and welcome!
Here is my bfp story and how we did it...check it out i think you will find some tips(we have some similarities,also in my case the pill made the spotting worse)

https://babyandbump.momtastic.com/success-stories/2118063-pre-af-spotting-finally-bfp-we-did.html

About the faint lines i got many evap-shadow lines that appeared after the 5minute frame, which ones do you use?
However it is possible that you had a chemical i also believed that the spotting stopped or messed with the implantation (unfortunately,these two happened at the same time) even though the egg was firtilised...

Anyway i wish you a BFP!!!!!

 

[Jomojo]

Many thanks for the link to your story Trela and congrats for your bfp! Funnily enough I also started taking vit b6 and 12 a couple of months ago (along with a load of other supplements I have read about on another forum (if anyone's interested in this- google 'angel bumps fertility protocol'- it won't let me post the link as I'm a newbie) and have noticed a slight improvement in my spotting- last month I had a tiny amount of mid cycle spotting and I only spotted for 2 days before af. This month I have had more mid cycle spotting and pre af spotting has started today - af is due tue (I hav a 16 day lp). However I had an hsg this cycle so don't know whether that has affected spotting this month. Also, I understand it takes 3 months or so for supplements to have an effect so I will see how the spotting goes over next few cycles. I will ask the consultant about thyroid at my next appointment- thanks for this!

 

[Jelly84]

Baileylove: Interesting about the polyps - expecting to have something similar myself after the HSG. Out of interest what are your AFs like? Heavy/light, long/short etc and do you get any pain?

Welcome Jomojo! Your spotting, cervical ectropion, spots and short AF sounds like me! Let us know how you get on with the consultant.

I am a week into taking Agnus Castus. No changes so far but interesting to see if my temps are different around ovulation. Will report back. Day 8 for me.

XOXOXOX

 

[Jomojo]

Hi Jelly, thanks for the warm welcome. I have read some of your posts- gosh our issues do sound very similar! I've also decided to give acupuncture a try - I have my first session the week after next. Hoping it will help increase the length of my af (never thought I'd hear myself say that- I would have killed for light periods as a teenager!). I tried angus cactus a year or so ago and didn't notice much difference but I don't think I took it very consistently or for long enough to make a difference so I will be interested to hear if it works for you. Fx it helps get you your bfp!

 

[Baileylove]

Hi Jomojo and welcome! So sorry to hear about your chemical this cycle! My spotting length sounds pretty similar to yours. Please let us know how your testing goes. My testing is on hold for now until I can get a d&c which will be a month from now I think. DH and I are supposed to meet with our doctor a week from Tuesday to go over our results so far.

Hi Jelly - My AF typically lasts about 5 days with 2-3 really heavy days. I have pretty bad cramps a day before and the first 2 heavy days. Are yours pretty similar? Also, my polyps were pretty small I guess and not found with the HSG. They were found with the hysteroscopy where they look at your uterine lining with a camera.

Also, I wanted to tell you guys the other supplement my doctor put me on was neoq-10. After researching, it looks like it improves egg quality. I will be adding this supplement along with the vitamin D in addition to prenatal and fish oil I have already been taking. I am on CD9. Will start testing for the surge tomorrow.

 

[Jelly84]

Hi Jomojo - good work on trying acupuncture! I find it so relaxing (once you get over how odd it is lying there covered in needles!!) It doesn't hurt (pin prick then you feel nothing) and you can literally feel your blood flowing through you. I get them in my feet, leg, hands and head! My periods got more 'healthy' looking within a couple of months but the spotting is still there (I've been going weekly for nearly 4 months). Good luck!!Will keep you posted on how it goes....I think the weird thing for me is my temps stay up throughout the spotting which is what is confusing my acupuncturist as my charts are pretty text book aside from the dreaded spotting!! I guess the only thing I could say is at ovulation my temp spike isn't massive. It goes from like 97.6 - 98 and then gradually goes up over the next couple of days to 98.4 type temps. I wonder if my ovulation isn't 'strong' enough. What happens with you guys?

Hi Baileylove: No, my periods aren't like that. I get this week of gradually darker spotting then have a 1-2 day period (pretty light) and then perhaps another day or so of spotting. I get small usual stomach cramps but nothing bad or too painful - I can just tell i'm on if you know what I mean.

I also get mid cycle spots and at the age of nearly 30 it seems strange I still get them! Vitamin B6 did nothing for me (think it made my spotting worse).

One more thing everyone: is your spotting mostly brown? I don't get why it's brown...I mean brown is old blood so could have been hanging around for days....I don't get why it's not red. I know I sound like a maniac but unless it's left over from the previous month's cycle or something I don't get it!! If it was the lining shedding prematurely surely it would be red?

Good luck everyone keep the updates coming X

 

[Buninmyoven]

Im one day late for my period. I honestly thought that this might be it for me this month because although I have had some spotting, its been almost non-existent. I caved in this afternoon and took a test. Of course silly me BFN. I feel like such a fool for even thinking otherwise. Just need to wait for my period now. I really hope it starts normally this month - but knowing my luck it will be days and days of spotting. Doubt I even ovulated and thats why theres been no bleeding etc. What a joke. Good luck everyone else x

Edited to say I started taking extra vitamin D via a spray (oral). Not sure if this is whats improved things but though it might be worth mentioning x

 

[2moms2be]

Hi Jomojo - good work on trying acupuncture! I find it so relaxing (once you get over how odd it is lying there covered in needles!!) It doesn't hurt (pin prick then you feel nothing) and you can literally feel your blood flowing through you. I get them in my feet, leg, hands and head! My periods got more 'healthy' looking within a couple of months but the spotting is still there (I've been going weekly for nearly 4 months). Good luck!!Will keep you posted on how it goes....I think the weird thing for me is my temps stay up throughout the spotting which is what is confusing my acupuncturist as my charts are pretty text book aside from the dreaded spotting!! I guess the only thing I could say is at ovulation my temp spike isn't massive. It goes from like 97.6 - 98 and then gradually goes up over the next couple of days to 98.4 type temps. I wonder if my ovulation isn't 'strong' enough. What happens with you guys?

Hi Baileylove: No, my periods aren't like that. I get this week of gradually darker spotting then have a 1-2 day period (pretty light) and then perhaps another day or so of spotting. I get small usual stomach cramps but nothing bad or too painful - I can just tell i'm on if you know what I mean.

I also get mid cycle spots and at the age of nearly 30 it seems strange I still get them! Vitamin B6 did nothing for me (think it made my spotting worse).

One more thing everyone: is your spotting mostly brown? I don't get why it's brown...I mean brown is old blood so could have been hanging around for days....I don't get why it's not red. I know I sound like a maniac but unless it's left over from the previous month's cycle or something I don't get it!! If it was the lining shedding prematurely surely it would be red?

Good luck everyone keep the updates coming X

Your chart sounds like mine... my temps are pretty great, and they stay way up, even with the spotting. I also tend to have a slower rise, though sometimes I'll see a big spike. My chart is fairly "textbook," other than the spotting, as well. Though I'll have 3-7 days of spotting, gradually getting heavier (usually brown, as well), and then a big ol' 5-6 day period on top of that. Ugh. So I'm essentially bleeding for almost 2 weeks every month. This can't be normal, I'm thinking... but neither my doc or midwife is concerned. My charts look good, and they tell me this just happens to some women.

I take B-vits, which did nothing for my spotting. This is my second cycle on Vitex, and I'm hoping it might help. Though last cycle, the spotting actually started earlier than normal

 

[DrCo]

Hi again. I am already CD15 today, had positive opk last night and today.

I went to my gp last week and I am going to have blood tests done again, the whole lot day3 and 7dpo. Last one I had about 5 months before I got pregnant with my miscarriage, so will see if anything changed. And then regardless the results will get an obgyn referral to investigate my dysfunctional bleeding (that's how we are going to call it so I can get it through my private insurance in a private hospital as my insurance doesn't cover fertility problems).

Buninmyoven: I hope your ivf works out the first time! It is shame about the nhs - there are lots of people who come to the UK from abroad, just staying with friends or family, not contributing to the system and they get treatment which is much more expensive then ivf and nothing can be done about it - if the system was made harder to abuse I am sure there would be much more money left for people who deserve it.
I guess I would be in the same situation if I do not get pregnant within another year because of my miscarriage a year into our ttc.

Jelly84: brown blood is blood that runs out in small quantities slowly out of your body, it turns brown when it gets out of blood vessels and in a contact with air. If the flow is slow then the haemoglobin in red blood cells has time to break down changing colour... the longer the blood is outside of blood vessels the darker it gets, it may even go black. You can read on internet that people sometimes refer to it as old blood. This is not entirely right and could be misleading as it doesn't tell you how old. Some even say it is left over from your last period which is an utter nonsense... where would be the blood stored? I think there might be a few hours delay max between the start of bleed in the uterus and appearing outside even with the darkest blood. The colour can also change if gets mixed with your cervical and vaginal mucous making it lighter.


TMI alert: Some of you were talking about the kind of bleeding you have during af. It is rather interesting that I do have it heavy for about 2-3 days and it is quite clotty but when I was on progesterone it was not clotty at all and it was more runny like when you cut yourself. It seemed a bit heavier and I had a couple of accidents after sitting for a longer period of time and then getting up as it was so runny. And this doesn't normally happen to me. Have any of you had similar experience when being on progesterone?

My temperature also stays elevated during spotting and drops down on the day or one day before af.

Anyway this month I started horse riding again and it helped my mental health a lot. Going to have one more lesson on Sat which will be 3dpo so it should be ok and then book myself for the following Sun 11pdo which I will attend provided I have BFN. I also bought a semi permanent hair colour and will go ginger if I am not pregnant this cycle. I just need to have another goal apart from getting bfp to keep sane during 2ww.

Good luck to us all this cycle!

 

[Jelly84]

2moms2be: thanks for your post! It's so odd isn't it. B6 made my spotting worse ...I'll know this month is the vitex does. I'm not seeing as much fertile cm as usual which is a worrying sign on it though...If the vitex makes my spotting worse (which I'm half expecting), then 2 vitamins which are meant to help increase progesterone levels (in a round about way) make things worse - could it be that in fact progesterone is too high? Thinking about it this could make sense as my spotting arrives circa day 21 (or the day or 2 before) which is when progesterone is at it's highest in the cycle. It might be a coincidence but what if it's actually the progesterone level which is too high? Not even sure if that can happen but it would explain why progesterone boosting vitamins seem to make things worse. I've googled too high progesterone but the symptoms (tender breasts in 2ww etc) are pretty much the same as estrogen dominance so it's hard to tell. When I first went to acupuncture, the guy said he thought I had too much 'heat' in my body from feeling my pulse and looking at my bbt charts and obviously it's progesterone which is the warming hormone....Something else to research I guess!

Dr Co: Let us know how you get on with your further blood tests. Thanks for the info on brown blood - so it's coming out slowly hence the spotting and the colour....Glad you are back horse riding. I go running and for months tried to go easy with it in case but I've realised I've been at this so long that I need my exercise to keep me sane!

Buninmyoven: Any news ? X

CD14 for me. Not seen a postivie opk yet but I have trouble with those as I drink loads of liquid throughout the day so rarely use them properly! My temps are pre ov, expecting it today or tomorrow. Interested to see if there is any difference after using the vitex (plus pregnacare concep, oil of evening primrose and magnesium)!!

Good luck everyone XXX

 

[trela]

2moms2be: thanks for your post! It's so odd isn't it. B6 made my spotting worse ...I'll know this month is the vitex does. I'm not seeing as much fertile cm as usual which is a worrying sign on it though...If the vitex makes my spotting worse (which I'm half expecting), then 2 vitamins which are meant to help increase progesterone levels (in a round about way) make things worse - could it be that in fact progesterone is too high? Thinking about it this could make sense as my spotting arrives circa day 21 (or the day or 2 before) which is when progesterone is at it's highest in the cycle. It might be a coincidence but what if it's actually the progesterone level which is too high? Not even sure if that can happen but it would explain why progesterone boosting vitamins seem to make things worse. I've googled too high progesterone but the symptoms (tender breasts in 2ww etc) are pretty much the same as estrogen dominance so it's hard to tell. When I first went to acupuncture, the guy said he thought I had too much 'heat' in my body from feeling my pulse and looking at my bbt charts and obviously it's progesterone which is the warming hormone....Something else to research I guess!

Dr Co: Let us know how you get on with your further blood tests. Thanks for the info on brown blood - so it's coming out slowly hence the spotting and the colour....Glad you are back horse riding. I go running and for months tried to go easy with it in case but I've realised I've been at this so long that I need my exercise to keep me sane!

Buninmyoven: Any news ? X

CD14 for me. Not seen a postivie opk yet but I have trouble with those as I drink loads of liquid throughout the day so rarely use them properly! My temps are pre ov, expecting it today or tomorrow. Interested to see if there is any difference after using the vitex (plus pregnacare concep, oil of evening primrose and magnesium)!!

Good luck everyone XXX

I noticed you are taking pregnacare conception ...
my doctor after the hsg wanted to put me on a multivitamin so he prescribed to me pregnacare original ( not the conception ones) when going to the pharmacy and saw there are the conception pills also which suited me best i thought he made a mistake and bought them
when calling his assistant who is a nurse she said they get this call from their patients all the time!(thats why he gives the ORIGINAL pills)
Anyway they had many claims from women that the pregnacare conception pills messed up their cycle and made the ovulation occur later in cycle even to the ones that never issued a problem with their cycle!
So thats the reason why they give the pregnacare original tablets
I found it weird so i also searched online about this issue(cause i had already paid them and took 2-3 pills so i wanted to give them a try)
I googled in greek google didnt find anything related well we are not so used to take multivitamins here ...when googled this issue in english i found hundreds of threads of women who had problem with pregnacare conception vitamins!!!!!
So i instantly stopped them and bought the pregnacare original
I dont know about your case maybe you already take them for a while and you have gotten used to so you have an on time ovulation but if this bis not the case i suggest you take the original they are not just for pregnancy

 

[plsBpositive]

hi guys!

i have my period every month but early last year, i started spotting days before AF...1-2 weeks sometimes...
dr ordered for CD21 progesterone bloodwork and i was actually spotting when i had the test done.. results came in and i had 0.20 level...

NOW, Dr. ordered 25mg clomid for CD 5-9 and progesterone bloodwork on CD21 to check if there's any changes on my progesterone level..im just hoping the low dose clomid will work and help me get pregnant! fingers crossed!

 

[Baileylove]

Just stopping in to say hello. Have been super busy with work which is probably a good thing as it keeps my mind off of obsessing with ttc. I am on CD17 right now. Got a positive OPK on CD12. The spotting should be showing up at the end of this week sometime. I have scheduled my d&c to remove the polyps for next month right after AF. I also have a meeting with my doctor to go over all the tests so far next Friday. Will let you all know how that goes. All of my further testing is on hold til I get my d&c. Btw I also took B6 and it made my spotting worse so I stopped taking it.

DrCo - Please let us know how your testing goes. I love horseback riding!

Jelly - Did you get your positive OPK? Interesting about the acupuncture. Maybe I should give it a shot. I will have to read up on it some more.

PlsBPositive - Have you taken the Clomid at all yet? Just curious if there were any side effects or anything?

2moms2be - Your spotting sounds a lot like mine. My previous doctors were not concerned with my spotting either which really frustrated me cause I agree that it can't be normal. Please let us know how the Vitex works for you.

Buninmyoven - My doctor also put me on Vitamin D. Not a spray, but the pills. I ordered them and I am just waiting for them to show up. How is everything going?

Trela - Thank you for the info! How is your pregnancy going? So excited for you!

Keeping my fingers crossed for all of you! Xoxo

 

[plsBpositive]

PlsBPositive - Have you taken the Clomid at all yet? Just curious if there were any side effects or anything?

Hi bailey love,

I'm on low dose clomid (25mg) and so far didn't get any side effects. But I noticed though that bbt has increased when I started clomid, up until now. I'm on CD 8 and will stop clomid at CD9.

 

[Jelly84]

Update on the vitex: CD18 and not sure I've even ovulated yet! I usually do on CD14 (or so i think but there's usually a small rise and then another one at around CD16 so perhaps this has been wrong all along on FF). I am getting EWCM for the past 2 days (really odd) and when I used OPKs around the 12-13-14 I didn't get a positive so I think it's definitely delayed ov! My temps went from 97.3 to 97.7 today so it could have happened but don't normally get EWCM after. Ooooh the mystery. Will keep you all posted - not sure I want a longer cycle! I've probably messed things up as in terms of length my cycle was normal....hmm whether to continue with them or not this month!

Baileylove: Good luck with your tests and procedures. I've had letters through for my scan and HSG so these will be next month hopefully.

PlsBpositive: Let us know how the clomid goes for you. Out of interest were you post ov temps always high even though you had low progest?

X

 

[plsBpositive]

PlsBpositive: Let us know how the clomid goes for you. Out of interest were you post ov temps always high even though you had low progest?

X

Hi jelly84! I haven't seen any pattern yet since I just started last month. Previous month's chart was actually confusing. CD 11 I got +opk and fertility friend predicted that I ovulated on that day since there was a dip on my temp. I started spotting CD 19 and on CD 21, I got another dip. Fertility friend recalculated my ovulation date from CD 11 to CD 21. Now, I'm not even sure if I ovulated at all since progesterone was at 0.20.

 

[trela]

Baileylove

About my pregnancy,
I have low lying placenta and i get spotting all the time thats why i am resting most of the day...fortunately i dont work...
So pregnancy has its complications too!!! But spotting gets on my nerves!!!
Its like i m cursed i had it before i got pregnant and even now i just cant get rid of it!!!
Anyway this issue makes me very stressed about making it full term, have a healthy baby etc.
Thank you for asking

 

[Buninmyoven]

Hi ladies,
Quick update from me. I saw my lovely consultant recently and they have put in n appeal to our local CCG. As I said last month I did spot but there was hardly any spotting at all. Just the tiniest amount on 2 occasions a couple of days before AF and then for the first time ever in the whole 3.5 years since coming off the pill my AF started normally. I did several things differently last month. One of them was to take the original Pregnacare which is interesting given what Trela says in her post above. That was only because I had some left over from ages ago. I never thought that this could be why it was better. I continued to used the vitamin D oral spray (I'm sure that this has improved things). I take a DHEA supplement but I have had spotting on the months I have taken that so I don't know if this is helping or not and these tablets are expensive. Another thing I did differently was to stop having baths and to shower instead. I know it sounds crazy but the last time I got pregnant over 2 years ago I remember I didn't have any baths that month and used the shower instead because my father inlaw had fixed our shower for us. I wonder if the heat from the bath was interfering with implantation on the months I haven't conceived? I also decided to stop taking the Clomid and progesterone (which I was given to take after ovulation). The spotting was better than it ever has been when I was not taking these medications.

I have started taking the Pregnacare conception tablets this month but after reading Trelas post I'm going to stop and replace them with the original ones instead.

This month I am taking up yoga and giving up alcohol and be going to bed earlier. I will continue with the vitamin D and DHEA. I won't be using my last dose of Clomid or using the progesterone I have been given.

Another tip I've got is pink grapefruit juice. (Warning tmi) I don't normally get much CF in the lead up to ovulation but when I drink lots of this stuff in the first half of my cycle I get loads of it.

Jelly, I took Agnus Castus and I too found it delayed my ovulation by a couple of days. I decided to stop taking it but I have heard lots of other women say they got good results with it.

Im going to the open day at a fertility clinic soon so if my appeal is rejected then we should (hopefully) have a backup option.

Good luck everyone x

 

[trela]

Buninmyoven
I should have post this to my story but i forgot!!!
About my eating habits after searching hours online what helps to get me pregnant i also added pineaaple juice to my daily routine and kiwis!!!!!!!!!
Thats what many women with spotting said it helped
And when it comes to bathing i never bath because we only have a shower cabin(if i say it correctly)
I have also read that doctors tell to women who are doing ivf to never bath during implantation period or to shower with high temperature water for too long...i think it has something to do with the increased temperature and its relation to blood circulation in the area