Spotting week before AF every month - anyone else?

[lizc123]

Hi There

Thanks for peoples comments on the 11 day period thing!

Everything I've read contradicts what the gynae said-everything online says any bleeding outside of your period (ie the spotting) and period lasting over 7 days IS abnormal! But he said it is nothing to worry about and he's a specialist!

I would be concerned even if I wasn't trying to get pregnant but feel like as soon as you say the words trying to conceive they are just like come back after a year

Not sure what to do now, feel like i want to go back to my GP, but will feel like an idiot for basically saying I don't believe the gynae seeing as he is more specialist than the gp,
He probably already thinks I am some kind of crazy hypochondriac!

But if they would look into abnormal periods for someone not trying to conceive ie to look for polyps of fibroid as a cause, why do we have to wait a year just because we dare to want a baby, as it is affecting you anyway?

Sorry to be on a downer, feel so useless at times, the gynae appointment had put my mind at ease a bit, but then alarm bells just keep flaring up still =0(

So grateful I found this thread xxx

 

[ginny83]

Hello all
Ginny83 - welcome! I take it that the spotting didn't stop you getting pregnant with your DS (he's very cute if that's him in the picture!). How long were you trying with him?

Thanks for the welcome! No, the spotting did stop with DS! I never bled once through my pregnancy.

We didn't try for DS, he was a bit of a suprise. I think I thought since my periods were a bit strange from coming off the pill (about 4 months earlier) it wouldn't happen straight away.

Anyway I've decided to book an appointment with my GP to make sure my long periods/spotting isn't affecting my iron levels and ask her about it in general. I had low iron stores when I was pregnant, so would like to make sure i'm back on track with that.

Also, I've never heard of a reflexologist - sounds interesting

 

[almosthere]

Hi ladies, hope you are all doing well, looks like some of you are starting to get some answers from the doctors and taking the next step with ttc! I started my AF spotting today finally, which unfortunately means I am officially in my 6th month of TTC. I broke down crying on the way home from work today and had to stop my car I was crying so hard. I just keep thinking the reason I am not getting pregnant is because something is wrong with my body, because of the spotting and super light periods and that I am never going to get to hold my own baby in my arms one day. I think once I see my doctor this month-(hurry up feb 24th!!!) which will be around cycle 6 of my OV time/my tww, I will feel better-at this point I just want to make sure everything is on track down there seeing as I am 22 and no luck yet...

hope you ladies are holding up better than
I am, sorry for the long rant!

I think the first day of spotting is always the worst. I started spotting last Thursday and broke down at work too. I always build my hopes up thinking
this could be it. It's also hard because you also hear the odd tale of someone
spotting like normal then going on to get their bfp. It's unbearable and we are all hear for you. A good cry and planning the strategy for the next month with dh always helps me. My strategy next month is relax and exercise (i know i am rolling my eyes as i type this). Going to visit dh's family in Spain. Think I will be ovulating just before we leave so have booked an overnight stay at nice hotel near airport. We are also prepared to join the mile high club if req lol.

Also have my first gyno on Thursday and I have been preparing all weekend lol. I really hope the spotting is acknowledged.

Glad your appointment is soon too Hun. We can compare notes.

Take care x

You cracked me up about the mile high club! And thanks to all who responded-makes me feel like I am not a lone! It is so hard b.c dh and I are keeping it a secret but I sure wish I could cry with my mom about it sometimes, DH is great, but he is no woman .

Also, I recall someone mentioned spotting 11 days before af-Is it every day up to af or random? I spot as early as 3dpo!!!-but it is only after sex and not every day which I do not understand. Hope we all get answers or bfp soon!

 

[daydream]

And thanks to all who responded-makes me feel like I am not a lone! It is so hard b.c dh and I are keeping it a secret but I sure wish I could cry with my mom about it sometimes, DH is great, but he is no woman .

Wow I really was in your same situation! I didn't end up telling my mom until about 10 months in. She kept making really rude comments about how I was such a "mean" daughter not making her a grandma. Finally I just had to get it out. I'm reading the book A Few Good Eggs, which talks about how women in general need to nurture and share. At this point, now that we're starting the more "hard core" IF treatment, I'm a bit more open with talking to people about it. I'm still not freely talking about it, but trying to feel less ashamed that I'm not crazy fertile like some of my friends/family. Believe me, it feels SO MUCH BETTER having someone to talk to about it.

 

[sharnw]

Sorry that this is not related to this thread, but I hate not falling pregnant, my best friend just announced she's having a baby boy from her 20 weeks scan, im so happy for her. But it made me more depressed and I took it out on dh, that he'l never get me pregnant.

Only my best friend and another friend know that Im ttc for a while now, I hate this, im about to give up. you think i would be pregnant after NTNP for over a year now, however we'v been together for 6 years and stopped using condoms 4 years ago, I'v never takin contraceptives except for the odd morning after pill..

I blame it on dh because he works away in another town. I hate this so much, he's never EVER been home EVER on my fertile days, just this Christmas time 2011, we'v actually sorted the problem about to BD on my fertile days, he actually comes home on those days now, so its been 2 months indefinite for the sperm meeting the egg plan. but still nothing. All my fertility checks came back normal, and so did dh's fertility checks came back normal. What the heck??!!

BTW im 24 and he is 27

 

[dreaminghopin]

Hi everyone,

Sorry to hear your feeling down Sharnw, we can all def relate to how your feeling.

Welcome new folk.... lets try and get some BFPs!!!!

Lizc123 - I would try and get a second opinion. When my gp said initially to come back in a year I looked into having a private initial consultation. Are you in the UK?

Well as for me... had a record 9 (as opposed to 7) days spotting this month. Also due AF saturday but she came unexpectedly today. Still blaming vitamins for such an unpredictable cycle. Still I think she was kind to come early (hmmm not sure if I am allowed to use 'kind' and 'AF' in same sentence) as means I have a few less days of miserable spotting wondering if I could still in with a chance and im closer to ovulating. On the other hand, I have my first gyn appointment tomorrow and thought it would be great to be examined at this point in my cycle (nope she is def a wicked witch)

Right ladies I am wondering if you could help me, as I said, I have my very first Gyn appointment tomorrow morning and not really sure what to expect. Will they examine me as will have my period. I am taking charts of my last 5 cycles and have written down the following things I would like to dicuss:
1. my 21 bloods were taken the month I had a chemical pregnancy. Could results be skewed and need repeated?
2. how can a fertilized egg implant if my lining is shedding at 8dpo
3. does early ovulation signal a problem?
4. should i continue with vitamins
5. can this indicate low progesterone, polyps, endo, pcos, fibroids, cervical erosion (have i missed anything)?

On the other hand, i am also expecting a quick 10 min meeting where they just take a history.

Will report back.

x

 

[yum]

hello,
mrsp- sorry abt af but u got the right attitude
it was nothin real bad.. thanks 4r the support hun everythin is ok now !
i keep havin thoso tears( fissure ?? ) on & off..no matter how much i change my diet, it crops up once a while but nothin painful..as soili said, soups, veggies, watr,prune juice should do the trick !

jellycat- amh is anti-mullerian hormone,AMH blood levels are thought to reflect the size of the remaining egg supply or ovarian reserve..

almostthere- i know how u feel but it'll happen soon dear ! hope the appnt goes well & u get some ans ! if u spot only after bd in lp, cervical erosion,polyps r that come to my mind !

mrsh- reflexology ha, sounds interesting..i considered accupuncture but i can't afford 80$/session so, i put that on hold for now !

ginny- welcome ! thanks 4r sharin ur story, gives hope

sharnw- i feel ur pain on the bright side, with u solvin ur issue with dh , hope u'll get bfp real soon dear ! BTW, luv ur sign !

dreaminhopin - sorry abt the witches
i dont think ur gyn would do any tests wen u r bleeding ( xcept 4r wen they check antral follicles )
i think u shud ask to get retested & also get cd3 tests,thyroid & ultrasound if u haven't already.
u pretty much covered all..the otr thing comes it my mind is endo..
dont hold back & ask her again & again if u have to..
gl with appnt & hope u get som ans !

 

[dreaminghopin]

hello,
mrsp- sorry abt af but u got the right attitude
it was nothin real bad.. thanks 4r the support hun everythin is ok now !
i keep havin thoso tears( fissure ?? ) on & off..no matter how much i change my diet, it crops up once a while but nothin painful..as soili said, soups, veggies, watr,prune juice should do the trick !

jellycat- amh is anti-mullerian hormone,AMH blood levels are thought to reflect the size of the remaining egg supply or ovarian reserve..

almostthere- i know how u feel but it'll happen soon dear ! hope the appnt goes well & u get some ans ! if u spot only after bd in lp, cervical erosion,polyps r that come to my mind !

mrsh- reflexology ha, sounds interesting..i considered accupuncture but i can't afford 80$/session so, i put that on hold for now !

ginny- welcome ! thanks 4r sharin ur story, gives hope

sharnw- i feel ur pain on the bright side, with u solvin ur issue with dh , hope u'll get bfp real soon dear ! BTW, luv ur sign !

dreaminhopin - sorry abt the witches
i dont think ur gyn would do any tests wen u r bleeding ( xcept 4r wen they check antral follicles )
i think u shud ask to get retested & also get cd3 tests,thyroid & ultrasound if u haven't already.
u pretty much covered all..the otr thing comes it my mind is endo..
dont hold back & ask her again & again if u have to..
gl with appnt & hope u get som ans !

Thanks Yum I know will try and make sure i leave knowing that I have done / asked as much as i can.

 

[dreaminghopin]

Hubby just came home and told me he got his sperm results back and the count is 1 million which is super super super super low. We are holding on to the fact that we forgot about appointment, bedded the night before (when they tell you to refrain for 48 hours) and it was following a weekend where dh had been drinking. Also we did managed to get a BFP before spotting appeared two months ago. He goes for a second test next week. Please please please let him be ok. Why when you try and stay positive, something else pops up. Hubby refusing to see this as a problem at the moment, i hope he is right.

 

[MrsHY]

Hubby just came home and told me he got his sperm results back and the count is 1 million which is super super super super low. We are holding on to the fact that we forgot about appointment, bedded the night before (when they tell you to refrain for 48 hours) and it was following a weekend where dh had been drinking. Also we did managed to get a BFP before spotting appeared two months ago. He goes for a second test next week. Please please please let him be ok. Why when you try and stay positive, something else pops up. Hubby refusing to see this as a problem at the moment, i hope he is right.

Sorry hon, but as you say, you did BD the night before and you have got pregnant before, so fingers crossed this was a blip! Keeping everything crossed that his next sample will be full of the little buggers

 

[MrsHY]

Oh, and Dreaminghopin, I'm also really interested in the answer to the question 'how can an embryo impant if the lining is shedding at 8dpo' so do keep us posted on that one!

I did read something a little while ago about endometriosis and how spotting might not be the uterine lining coming away, but the other tissues affected by the endo reacting to the progesterone. I guess that would explain why a lot of women who spot from fairly early in the cycle (e.g. 5 dpo like me) still spot on a BFP cycle, but then as the progesterone increases with a pregnancy the spotting stops.

It's all a bit of a mystery though!

 

[almosthere]

And thanks to all who responded-makes me feel like I am not a lone! It is so hard b.c dh and I are keeping it a secret but I sure wish I could cry with my mom about it sometimes, DH is great, but he is no woman .

Wow I really was in your same situation! I didn't end up telling my mom until about 10 months in. She kept making really rude comments about how I was such a "mean" daughter not making her a grandma. Finally I just had to get it out. I'm reading the book A Few Good Eggs, which talks about how women in general need to nurture and share. At this point, now that we're starting the more "hard core" IF treatment, I'm a bit more open with talking to people about it. I'm still not freely talking about it, but trying to feel less ashamed that I'm not crazy fertile like some of my friends/family. Believe me, it feels SO MUCH BETTER having someone to talk to about it.

My mom also keeps bugging me!!! I am only 22 and she has been bugging me since I was prob 18 when I got married! haha. I want to yell at her sometimes and be like "stop asking when we are going to start trying, we have been for the past 5 months, ahh!! lol. But I am so happy to hear you can now share your experience with your mom, must be a relief. I want to surprise my mom so bad but if it takes us longer than a year, I will tell her by then. In the meantime, I am keeping strong! Thanks for the book suggestion too =)

Also Q for all! : Do any of you lovely ladies have a child or children already and when you were trying to get pregnant with them, did you have spotting issues? Just curious, thanks for any who can share!

 

[ginny83]

Hi, I have a 12 month old son and I had spotting issues for about 10 months prior to conceiving him. I hoped that being pregnant would make my AF go back to how it use to be - 28day cycle and 7 days of AF - but it didn't it's just gone back to about 3 days of spotting before AF and a couple of days after.

When I fell pregnant though I had no spotting at all. I did have low iron store though, which I wonder if it was because I was bleeding for so many days?

I'm still not 100% sure if I am actually experiencing spotting or the length of my period has just increased and starts/ends now very lightly.

 

[expatttc]

Hi ladies,
I'm now 11dpo and yesterday after a sweep around my cvx, I found a bit of light brown cm. That's one day earlier than normal, so I think I am probably out of the tww already... This month I kept taking b-complex vitamins, and did a ton of bding, so I am just praying that I might still get a bfp in a few days. Send some babydust if you can... I am really feeling a bit unnerved this cycle... lots of luck to all.

 

[lizc123]

Good luck today dreaminghoping hope u get some answers to ur questions, will look out for your next post to see what they said to you xxx

 

[dreaminghopin]

hi ladies,

Just left my gyno appointment. Feeling mixed emotions. First of all the clinic was an hour behind schedule. I then met with a doctor who seriously looked about 18!! I explained everything, she took notes and commented on how pretty my charts were. She then said she was going to discuss my case with the consultant. She came back about 10 mins later and said that my cycles are normal and regular and it indicates I am ovulating and as i have managed to conceive within 12 months they do not see need for further investigation.

I started to get (a tad) emotional but managed to stay focused and said that I had done a lot of research and nowhere does it say that 2 weeks of bleeding is normal. She said that information was wrong and many woman spot before AF and it is not linked to fertility. She told me that as I do not have irregular periods or pain during sex then they would not test for endo, pcos or fibroid s and I would have to wait 18 months for testing. I then asked how a fertilized egg could implant if my lining was starting to shed 8 days post ovulation. She said that if the egg was fertilized, it would send signals to ensure the progesterone levels would be maintained and spotting would not occur. I then asked then asked her what normal progesterone levels were to ensure i was in normal range. She said she didnt know off the top of her head (dear lord) and thought it would be better if the consultant spoke to me. The consultant couldn't have been nicer and has now prescribed cyclogest pessaries (which i think is progesterone) to take 6 days post ovulation to stop lining from shedding. He also told me that it is a biological fact that females ovulate EXACTLY 14 days before their period comes. When I told him that OPKs are positive about day 10 and CM is egg white day 12, he said this was not reliable.

So to conclude, bleeding / spotting 7 days before period is apparently normal but I do feel they have contradicted themselves by providing progesterone. My level 10 days post ovulation was 34 so not really sure whether to even take it as it may just mask what real problem is.

What do you this ladies??

 

[dreaminghopin]

thanks everyone for your good luck wishes xxxxxxxxxxx

 

[ginny83]

hi ladies,

Just left my gyno appointment. Feeling mixed emotions. First of all the clinic was an hour behind schedule. I then met with a doctor who seriously looked about 18!! I explained everything, she took notes and commented on how pretty my charts were. She then said she was going to discuss my case with the consultant. She came back about 10 mins later and said that my cycles are normal and regular and it indicates I am ovulating and as i have managed to conceive within 12 months they do not see need for further investigation.

I started to get (a tad) emotional but managed to stay focused and said that I had done a lot of research and nowhere does it say that 2 weeks of bleeding is normal. She said that information was wrong and many woman spot before AF and it is not linked to fertility. She told me that as I do not have irregular periods or pain during sex then they would not test for endo, pcos or fibroid s and I would have to wait 18 months for testing. I then asked how a fertilized egg could implant if my lining was starting to shed 8 days post ovulation. She said that if the egg was fertilized, it would send signals to ensure the progesterone levels would be maintained and spotting would not occur. I then asked then asked her what normal progesterone levels were to ensure i was in normal range. She said she didnt know off the top of her head (dear lord) and thought it would be better if the consultant spoke to me. The consultant couldn't have been nicer and has now prescribed cyclogest pessaries (which i think is progesterone) to take 6 days post ovulation to stop lining from shedding. He also told me that it is a biological fact that females ovulate EXACTLY 14 days before their period comes. When I told him that OPKs are positive about day 10 and CM is egg white day 12, he said this was not reliable.

So to conclude, bleeding / spotting 7 days before period is apparently normal but I do feel they have contradicted themselves by providing progesterone. My level 10 days post ovulation was 34 so not really sure whether to even take it as it may just mask what real problem is.

What do you this ladies??

The part about how once the egg is fertilized you wouldn't spot, that happened to me. Even though I was spotting for a few days before AF, when I fell pregnant with DS I didn't spot during the tww or at any point during my pregnancy. I know it's a bit different to you're case, but might give you so hope

 

[Soili]

She said that if the egg was fertilized, it would send signals to ensure the progesterone levels would be maintained and spotting would not occur.
[...]
He also told me that it is a biological fact that females ovulate EXACTLY 14 days before their period comes.

OMG!!! Are you SURE you were seeing doctors??

Fertilized egg doesn't send signals UNTIL it implants.
But the "biological fact" just killed me.

 

[Soili]

Hi ladies,
I'm now 11dpo and yesterday after a sweep around my cvx, I found a bit of light brown cm. That's one day earlier than normal, so I think I am probably out of the tww already... This month I kept taking b-complex vitamins, and did a ton of bding, so I am just praying that I might still get a bfp in a few days. Send some babydust if you can... I am really feeling a bit unnerved this cycle... lots of luck to all.

Hey there, hun! Here's a TON for you!!!