Really loooong cycles

Hi there,

Just wondering about conception success rates if TTC with really long cycles. I've been off bcp for just over 5 months now. 1st cycle was 79days, 2nd cycle was 52days. Now on my 3rd cycle cd31 (and no O yet :wall:). I temp and use OPKs and I definitely O and seem to have a normal luteal phase length.

I read that if you have long follicular phases then the egg and lining are poorer quality and your less likely to conceive. Any ideas? I'm thinking of going to a FS now (I'm not getting any younger).... Has anyone conceived with long irregular cycles like these? Should I go and beg for some Clomid now?

Thanks

sorry i can give any advice i just wanted to say i hope things get better and it seems they are slowly getiin shorter.

Hi Principessa76, maybe talk to your dr about it. everyone is different when coming off bcp. Some women take longer to regulate and others can fall pg in the first cycle. Your Dr can order a blood test to be done on day 21 of your cycle and this will test loads of things including FSH, progesterone, rubella etc. Most importantly you wil be able to find out whether or not you actually are ovulating.
Your cycles seem to be getting shorter which is a great sign.
Most Drs wont refer you to a fs untill you have been ttc for atleast 12months but (no offence) maybe because you are in your 30's they will make an exception. Usually too, they like to have your bloods done and test DH's little guys first so you have some history to take with you
Good Luck :goodluck:

Thanks for the kind words Sassy.

Thanks for the advice MrsB26. I agree the cycles getting shorter is good but I was hoping this next one would have been much shorter..... the waiting is killing me and its really getting me down. I didn't have regular cycles when I first went on the pill 15 years ago so I'm sure its just the same problem recurring now. I've got a friend who's a GP so I'll have no trouble getting a referral if I want one. Thanks again.

Hi Principessa76,

I can understand your frustration. I agree that the fact your cycles are getting shorter is a really good sign, so is having normal length luteal phases - all very positve!!.

I have PCOS so am used to the frustration that longer, irregular cycles can bring.

My DS was concieved on about a 60 day cycle on about day 46. I was actually undergoing fertility testing at the time, on this cycle O happened so quickly that all medical tests missed it. I was simply told that I was not O'ing and had no chance of concieving when in fact I was pregnant. So , yes it is possible to concieve on a long cycle.

For some women, long cycles are not caused by long follicular phases, but by the follicular phase starting later in the cycle - which is what I think happened when DS was concieved because the actual O happened really quickly and obviously produced a good quality eggy. SO the poorer egg quality theory is not necessarily true.

I asked my FS at the time about the longer cycle and poorer egg quality thingy and she advised that there was no evidence that women with longer cycles miscarry at higher rates than women with shorter cycles.

Obviously, longer cycles mean you have less chances, so it can take a bit longer to concieve. One OB advised me that on average a woman needs 6 cycles to concieve. DS was concieved after 3, but it did take 11 months because my cycles varied anything from 28 days to 6 months.

You might want to see a FS just to have your cycle tracked initially so that you can work out what is going on.

With my irregular cycles, I find that CM is the best sign of O for me and is actually how DS was concieved because I knew I was about to O, even though the Drs told me that it was not happening.

Fingers crossed for the BFP very soon.
TICKLISH

Hi ticklish,

Thank-you so much for your advice. I think I will go to the FS and find out exactly what's going on. I'm hopefully going to O soon but today I was thinking what's the point in even trying if the egg that comes out is old and useless anyway..... but you've given me some hope. Its amazing how quickly you can become down in the dumps over the whole thing. It seems like such a basic thing to O and get AF and yet my body doesn't want to co-operate.

Through your own experience you obviously know a lot about this stuff so thanks heaps for sharing and putting a smile back on my face today. :)

No problems principessa. Glad to hear your smiling :p.