Spotting week before AF every month - anyone else?

[Molly5186]

Thanks for the replies . I really hope SOMEONE gets an answer as to what the hell is causing the spotting for each of us. I find it rather strange that a TON of us have this same exact brown crap every month and not one of us has found out an answer as to why. I think IUI is going to be our next step, I'm really not sure how successful it will be though especially if the uterine lining is shedding a week after ovulation!

 

[MrsHY]

Welcome Casperess

Mollie.

Thanks MrsHY, hope next month the Clomid does the trick! .

AFM, so I had my FS appointment today and the results weren't what I was expecting.. I think I'm in shock... No ovulation last month! I said "but I temp & it confirmed ovulation" and he says temping is a load of rubbish, there's so many things that affect your temperature it's the worst way to check for ovulation. So that's my thermometer going back in it's box! Due to my longer cycles and the crap progesterone levels he says he has evidence of "irregular ovulation" and is putting me on Clomid for 6 months and we're doing follicle tracking next cycle. He said if I wanted to we could just do the follicle tracking & see what happens but suggested I start the Clomid right away. I was so not expecting that and have been a little upset. He said the Clomid has 25% chance of twins, I knew it increased your chances but not by that much! When I told DH on the phone he went very quiet - neither of us want twins & he doesn't know how we'd cope. Anyway, we're gonna have a chat about it tonight. I just think if I don't start it now it's delaying things even more. I had a feeling they'd give me Clomid anyway as they hand it out like sweets but to be told no ovulation is a kick in the guts. Also, he says not to believe everything I read and says Luteal Phase Defect is not something they believe in anymore as there is no evidence - he said it used to be "in the book" but not now and didn't seem concerned about the spotting one little bit (though I am not now either as it seems to have subsided.) He's got a good reputation too, when I was in the waiting room there were newspaper articles with him in, and loads of photos of babies I assume born with his help xx

Hi there

How did they know you didn't ovulate last month - was it from progesterone? Any chance they could have taken it too soon?

As for the twin situation - I know how you feel! That's why the follicle tracking is important - they will see whether more than one follicle is developing as dominant - that's the way Clomid increases the twin probability - by increasing the number of follicles. So too many follicles = your right to cancel the cycle. The first cycle should give you an idea of how responsive you are, although it's obviously not guaranteed.

x

 

[IslandGrl]

Hi ladies,

Welcome Casperess

MrsPTTC - Sorry to hear about your appointment but at least you have some answers and your doctor seems to be helpful and reputable. How does he know you didn't ovulate? Was it the progesterone number? Were your cd3 tests ok? I'm assuming they were. As for clomid I thought the increased risk of twins was 10%. Apparently it's a lot higher than I thought.

MrsHY - Sorry to hear about af arriving. A good friend of mine was off and on clomid for 1 1/2 before she had her sticky bean. She had 2 mc's in that time at 7-8 weeks (possibly due to age) but clomid did the trick for her and the doctor didn't mind prescribing her any but she did have some breaks. Thanks for asking, yes, I have recovered although still have a bit of pain in the left side of my uterus.

Molly - Sorry to hear about the spotting. It drives me crazy! Although when I was pregnant in June I had spotting and ended up having a bfp after 5 days of spotting.

AFM I just got back from an hsg. It was uncomfortable and a bit painful but it didn't last that long. Thankfully the tubes are open and uterus looks good. I was a bag of nerves this morning since I thought I was going under and I hate to be under. The office screwed up so I don't know if I will have the D&C or hysterscope at this point. I will have an appt. in 2 weeks. Off to rest! I'm a bit tired after all the excitement today.

 

[yum]

hello ladies,
welcome casperess !

molly- sorry abt the spotting hun ! wish someone could help us with some ans ! i had little spotting wen i used npc but din't cut down the no# of days though !

ig-how r u feeling ? great news abt hsg ! they put u under just 4r hsg ? sorry abt the screw up..they r so reckless sometimes ! get well soon !

mrshy- sorry abt the af & spotting..did ur dh's get his tests done too ? did they not give u any prog supplis ? u have a gud 11 day lp which is gud ! hope u get a bfp naturally real soon !

mrspttc- thanks abt the spotting info in otr post !
sorry abt the appnmt..same quest- how did they know u din't ov ? how much was ur pro & other cd3 tests ? some docs belive in somethings which others don't..my gp askd me monitor thru bbt chart ! on the bright side, u'll have monitored cycle so u can know xactly what's happenin..clomid works 4r lotta ppl so may b it'll do the magic ! fx 4r ya ! regarding twins- 10% is not that high ! with iui/ivf, there are always chances but as mrshy said, u'll have a choice to cancel !
i understand it would b tough with twins but i personally would be glad with twins as i always wanted 2 kids..its just me though ! don't worry, it'll all be ok

takecare ladies !

 

[Molly5186]

Hi ladies,

Welcome Casperess

MrsPTTC - Sorry to hear about your appointment but at least you have some answers and your doctor seems to be helpful and reputable. How does he know you didn't ovulate? Was it the progesterone number? Were your cd3 tests ok? I'm assuming they were. As for clomid I thought the increased risk of twins was 10%. Apparently it's a lot higher than I thought.

MrsHY - Sorry to hear about af arriving. A good friend of mine was off and on clomid for 1 1/2 before she had her sticky bean. She had 2 mc's in that time at 7-8 weeks (possibly due to age) but clomid did the trick for her and the doctor didn't mind prescribing her any but she did have some breaks. Thanks for asking, yes, I have recovered although still have a bit of pain in the left side of my uterus.

Molly - Sorry to hear about the spotting. It drives me crazy! Although when I was pregnant in June I had spotting and ended up having a bfp after 5 days of spotting.

AFM I just got back from an hsg. It was uncomfortable and a bit painful but it didn't last that long. Thankfully the tubes are open and uterus looks good. I was a bag of nerves this morning since I thought I was going under and I hate to be under. The office screwed up so I don't know if I will have the D&C or hysterscope at this point. I will have an appt. in 2 weeks. Off to rest! I'm a bit tired after all the excitement today.

See that's what makes me wonder if this spotting actually causes infertility or not . Did it start off lightly brown and then progress? I usually start off just wiping and noticing the tinge of light brown/yellow, then as the days go on it just increases until AF shows

 

[MrsPTTC]

Thanks ladies I feel better about it now, after the initial surprise. Yes it was my progesterone levels, and the blood test was bang on time, CD27 instead of 21 for me though as I have a 34/35 day cycle. He was even questioning me this morning in case I got my dates mixed up and he said I definitely didn't ovulate. I still think it weird cos of the BBT chart, I'll never believe BBT doesn't show ovulation no matter what he says but that said I'm going to stop. I'm not sure what the level was, he didn't give me it in writing. The CD3 results were fine though

Yes I never thought that I could just not BD that cycle, though he said he'd only track the one cycle unless the Clomid has an over or under reaction & the dose needs to change. Well he said 25% but someone on here said it's a 25% higher than average risk, not a 25% risk in general, and as he said it's only 60% effective within a year technically the percentage is more like 15% in a year I've been googling too and have read anywhere from 7% to 15% so it's not so bad.

Islandgrl, pleased your HSG went well

xx

 

[IslandGrl]

Yum - No I was awake for the hsg. I was supposed to go under for the hsg and a few other procedures at the same time but the anesthesiologist wasn't available due to an office screw up.

Molly - My spotting starts out as light brown/pink and quickly turns red with a bit of shedding of the lining coming out as well. It was the same for my bfp.

MrsPttc - Thanks Just wondering if you use opk's and were getting positives? Maybe you just have weak ovulation? I think that's my problem.

I have no clue when I ovulated this month. Normally I should be getting af in a few days but we've had a stressful month and the procedure earlier this month really threw me off so I think I only ovulated 2 days ago. So this month will be a very long cycle for me.

 

[MrsPTTC]

Yep islandgrl, I've OPK'd every month & always got a positive, I've temped around 7 or 8 cycles out of 12 & every one has had a temp shift so I didn't think for a minute I wasn't ovulating! Whats the definition of weak ovulation hun? It's our wedding anniversary today, 5 long wonderful years x

 

[IslandGrl]

MrsPttc- Happy Anniversary!

From what I've been told weak ovulation can mean that your ovaries aren't that reliable in ovulating consistently or there's an issue with hormones being off in the folicular phase of your cycle. Possibly causing immature folicles to release and hence a poor corpus luteum. This could explain the spotting in my case since it starts around 7-8dpo. Also I find if I'm the least bit stressed or sick I'll ovulate late in my cycle. This month is a perfect example. I had some stress this month and I had a cold and I'm at least a week late ovulating. After I got of bc I had one period in 10 months! I think my ovaries are a bit sleepy!

 

[Soili]

MrsPTTC, I really don't think you're not ovulating. Your chart is VERY clear. I would understand it if it was the only cycle you temped and there would be a chance you temps were affected by something like cold or room temperature. But if you're always getting a shift and are rather familiar with it already, then I simply think your doctor is wrong. The progesterone test they do is very specific. They're looking for very particular range and if you fall a little under, that's it, they think you don't ovulate. Did he actually tell you what was your progesterone level? I bet he didn't.

And I'm just so sick of this "Yeah, whatever your doing is unreliable, listen to me, I know it all" attitude doctors have.

Sorry, don't mean to shake your trust or anything. But I do really think you ovulate.

 

[MrsPTTC]

Hi soili, thanks Well I have had lightbulb moment tonight! It suddenly dawned on me to check my chart & diary...He said to me I didn't ovulate LAST month. It wasn't bloody last month it was July I got my bloods taken so it was the month before last when I decided to have a break from temping!! So perhaps it was a one off, but either way I'm happy for the clomid to give me a helping hand! x x

 

[MrsPTTC]

Oh and no he didnt tell me the progesterone levels but I could see the screen & out of the list of results one was red & the others were green, I definitely got the impression it wasn't borderline x

 

[MrsPTTC]

MrsPttc- Happy Anniversary!

From what I've been told weak ovulation can mean that your ovaries aren't that reliable in ovulating consistently or there's an issue with hormones being off in the folicular phase of your cycle. Possibly causing immature folicles to release and hence a poor corpus luteum. This could explain the spotting in my case since it starts around 7-8dpo. Also I find if I'm the least bit stressed or sick I'll ovulate late in my cycle. This month is a perfect example. I had some stress this month and I had a cold and I'm at least a week late ovulating. After I got of bc I had one period in 10 months! I think my ovaries are a bit sleepy!

This is interesting as the cycle we're talking about my spotting was worse!! X

 

[Soili]

Oh, that makes a lot more sense! Because I would hate it for you to think that you can't trust charting or OPK anymore. Because your last month chart is so very obviously ovulatory!

Imagine that, huh? The month you decide to take a more relaxed approach, you end up not ovulating. That should shut up all the people who like to tell others to relax and it'll happen

Hun, anything that's even 0.1 higher or lower than "normal range" would come up in red or bold in test results. I once had one equal to high range and it was in bold.

 

[MrsPTTC]

Lol, too right Soili they can stick their relax & it'll happen approach . I do feel like the pressure is off this cycle, with taking the clomid next cycle. I don't have any ic OPKs in, just a couple of CB so I'm just gonna BD every other day & not POAS. Next cycle I will opk as the clomid should bring ovulation right forward & want to keep an eye on my LP x

 

[MrsHY]

Hi ladies,

Welcome Casperess

MrsPTTC - Sorry to hear about your appointment but at least you have some answers and your doctor seems to be helpful and reputable. How does he know you didn't ovulate? Was it the progesterone number? Were your cd3 tests ok? I'm assuming they were. As for clomid I thought the increased risk of twins was 10%. Apparently it's a lot higher than I thought.

MrsHY - Sorry to hear about af arriving. A good friend of mine was off and on clomid for 1 1/2 before she had her sticky bean. She had 2 mc's in that time at 7-8 weeks (possibly due to age) but clomid did the trick for her and the doctor didn't mind prescribing her any but she did have some breaks. Thanks for asking, yes, I have recovered although still have a bit of pain in the left side of my uterus.

Molly - Sorry to hear about the spotting. It drives me crazy! Although when I was pregnant in June I had spotting and ended up having a bfp after 5 days of spotting.

AFM I just got back from an hsg. It was uncomfortable and a bit painful but it didn't last that long. Thankfully the tubes are open and uterus looks good. I was a bag of nerves this morning since I thought I was going under and I hate to be under. The office screwed up so I don't know if I will have the D&C or hysterscope at this point. I will have an appt. in 2 weeks. Off to rest! I'm a bit tired after all the excitement today.

Islandgirl - I've been offered a HSG and I really don't know whether to go ahead - I'm really scared! Did they give you any sedative/local anaesthetics at all? I just know how painful it is for me when the end of the internal camera bumps against my cervix so am dreading having a tube put up there! x

 

[MrsPTTC]

I was really scared for mine Mrshy, esp as sex can be painful for me as I 'clam up' but mine wasn't painful at all, just uncomfortable & a bit crampy for a few days afterwards, I'd have another one again tomorrow. That being said everyone is different, I think if you've got a blockage you'll feel more pain. You're supposed to take painkillers an hour before but I forgot & you get antibiotics the night before. A word of warning they sent me drowsy & a bit sickly, so don't go anywhere lol. X

 

[yum]

mrspttc- the one mpnth u take a break & this happens..i'm guessing its the same month u tuk ac & had lotta spotting..that makes sense..
belated happy anniversary hope with all the clomid & monitored cycle u'll get the bfp soon..why r u having a hsg again ? are they giving u any prog supplements too 4rm next cycle ? gl with everything !

mrshy- can't help u with the hsg question but if u decide to go ahead with it , hope it'll be painfree & all normal !

 

[MrsPTTC]

Thanks yum, no I've not been on AC for months now, & feel much better for it. But it was the cycle I increased my Maca & had worse spotting, maybe coincidence who know...I had the HSG just as routine to rule out blocked tubes. No he says they don't believe in LPD or progesterone supplements either . x

 

[IslandGrl]

MrsHY- To be honest I was more afraid of being put under but I have a fear with going under anesthesia. When I found out I wasn't being put to sleep, about 20min before, I was relieved but I had to mentally prepare myself. I just kept telling myself I can do this, lots of women go through this, it's a step in the right direction to get to the end goal, etc... It was a little intimidating being in an operating room but I suppose it's the safest place to be! The speculum didn't bother me, nor the catheder, but once they put the dye through you get serious cramps. It doesn't last long and is over quickly. As soon as they're finished they pull everything out and the discomfort goes away. Unfortunately with me they had to do it twice since the instrument wasn't the right fit (whatever that means) and the dye wouldn't go through so I was a bit discouraged when I had to do it again but it worked. I also had a nice nurse who let me squeeze her hand. I had mild cramps the rest of the day and the following day I was fine. No bleeding either. I didn't have antibiotics prescribed to me.
Best of luck if you have it done. I'm hoping it cleared any debris but the dye went through pretty quickly so I don't think that's my problem.