Short Luteal Phase

My husband and I are about to start TTC (have to wait unti AF is gone) but I've been temping since May so I could understand my body better. I've only had two ovulations since May (coming off Depo is a real treat) and apparently my Luteal Phase has been 9 days both times.

I've been doing a lot of reading lately and found your Luteal Phase is supposed to be 10-16 days in order for implantation to take place, and a short phase often results in fertility problems. Does this mean I am going to have a lot of trouble conceiving? Am I going to be able to conceive at all? I was all excited to start trying but I'm all worried now that it's going to be in vane. If it's just going to be difficult I can deal with that, but the inability is what worries me.

Hi there,

I have had this too. The problem with a short luteal phase is exactly how you described. It may not mean that you don't conceive but it can cause problems and it is worth trying to get it corrected. See your doctor and have a chat to them about it. There are many solutions to this particular problem. Some of the girls on here have had help from naturopaths to correct LPD but it is always best to have an actual confirmation of this diagnosis first before proceeding with any kind of treatment.

Best of luck.

Mel

Hi,
I too have had a shortened LP since the loss of my last child in March. My LP has been 10-11 days. There are a few natural things you can try - B6 is one, for me it didn't change my LP but there are many sucess stories. Having said this I think it would be a really good idea to have a consult with a gynae. Take in your charts so she/he can see them and get some advice.
I am nudging 39 :eek: I didn't want to wait any longer so opted for clomid. You will see a thread in TTCAML entitled Clomid for LPD.
I wish you a short and successful TTC journey!

Remember too that coming off Depo can be an issue in itself. There may not be much you can do until the drug is completely out of your system.

Definitely speak to your doctor. He/she may want to run bloodwork through your cycles to see what your hormones are doing at particular stages. This can be a really good place to start.

I'd also suggest trying Vitex. You can either purchase this as drops from a naturopath or as a tablet (Blackmores) from the chemist. I tried it and whilst it didn't do much for my LP, it did alter my O date.

I don't have a short LP, but I do have an slightly irregular LP in that depending upon when I O, my body adjusts my LP so that I have a 28-ish day cycle. Since my loss in April I've had a couple of cycles where I have O'd early, CD10, 11 or 12 and my LP has been at least 16 days long to compensate. It's offputting but I'm getting used to it now. Mind you the FF software doesn't like it one little bit and I'm forever getting messages telling me that my LP fluctuates more than *they* would expect and I should see my Dr about it. But I have and there is absolutely nothing wrong.

Good luck. Hope you get an answer soon.

Lisa

Thank you so much for all your replies. I really appreciated them. I"m hoping that it's just my body adjusting after Depo and that maybe during this next cycle it will be longer.

I chatted with my doctor last week (before I read about LP) and she didn't see any reason why I shouldn't be able to get pregant and said due to the depo my schedule may never fully return to normal. She's nice enough but she's got a bit of a rough bedside manner so I'm not anxious to go see her again so soon.

I think I'll see how this cycle goes {and in the meantime continue TTC and see what happens) and if I have another short LP I'll take my charts in to see her. I've only had two cycles with ovulation since I started temping, I'd feel better having at least one more to show her.

Wishing u all the best as u TTC - hope ur short LP doesn't affect ur chances of conception very soon :) Will keep my fingers crossed for u!

My first 3 cycles had a LP of 8-9 days. I started to take Vitex (Blackmores) under the guidance of my naturopath and my LP increased to 11 the first cycle. 2 cycles later and I was pregnant.

I suggest that you have a chat to a naturopath as they helped me.

Best of luck!

I think Dee Deez advice is sound. Before you take any type of herbal supplementation it is wise to have a consult with a naturopath. Just as you wouldn't take medicine without advis[e you shouldn't take herbs without it. A natural therapist will take a full history and note you symptoms and concoct a brew just for you!

I think this would be a good road to take as the depo can muck things about a bit and the herbs will hopefully balance out your cycle.

I personally have had huge success with herbal supplementation in the past.

I wish you luck again for your journey... :hug:

Just to defend myself. I took Vitex at my Dr's suggestion. He also commented that in most cases herbs/vitamins/minerals that are available as "over the counter" preparations in chemists and supermarkets are largely way under dosage and would be unlikely to cause irreparable harm if taken. If they were truly "dangerous" they'd be sold as "prescription only" or "chemist advice".

Lisa

Even though we haven't actually started TTC yet (we wanted to wait until the end of the summer and are going to start this cycle, but I wanted to start charting early) do you think it would still be good to see the naturopath? Would she still maybe recommend supplements?

I just looked in the phone book and there are a few NP's in my area but I feel a bit weird booking an appointment for fertility problems when we haven't actually tried yet. It would be nice though to not have to go through months of failed attempts and dissapointment if herbal supplements might help.

I'm in Canada so we don't have Blackmoore's here, but out of curiousity I'm going to see if my pharmacy has the vitex. Dont worry I won't buy it without consulting my doctor first.

HI Twinsister,
I didn't notice you were in canada. Gorgeous place - I have fond memories of lots of fun over there!
I have worked with women during conception and let me say what you are doing is truly sensible and helpful.

It is never too early to prepare your body to grow a baby. In fact stock standard we should do at least 3 months preconception care prior to attempting to conceive.
So, now is a good time to start cutting down on refined sugars, white flour etc and upping the fruit, vege and nut intake. Ensure you are eating adequate calcium and folate rich foods. If you haven't yet; begin taking a preconception vitamin which will have a balance of vitamin supplements including folate and iodine which are really important both preconception and during pregnancy.

I think it is really great that you are considering consulting a natural therapist - try asking friends, colleagues and rellies for a personal recommendation. Like any practitioner there are good and ordinary ones.

I am a bit of a fan of chinese medicine and acupuncture. I have used this through 4 of my pregnancies with good effect. Chinese medicine has a reputation for being pretty wonderful and enhancing fertility and helping to keep babies growing until they are due to be born. I used acupuncture and chinese herbs to turn one of my babies who was breech. I also used it (along with other things) to induce my 3rd daughters labour.

We all have different preferences and ideas and of course that is just my personal preference. I would try a few out and see how you feel and what you are comfy with.

Vitex is a herb that you will find most natural therapists will add to a preconception formula. However Chinese medicine practitioners use different herbs that have a similar affect. Things are obviously different in your health system but here in Australia I was fortunate to find a chinese doctor who practises both eatern and western medicine. I am sure you would be able to access one over your way.

Yes, Blackmores is an Aussie company so you probably don't have it over there! Most natural therapists tend to recommend a tincture of the herb rather than tablets. The tincture, as it's a liquid, is believed to be more readily absorbed into your body. I would wait though and seek out a practitioner. Weather it's chinese medicine or naturopathy you go for then the practitioner will make a formula to support your personal needs. Herbs are generally not taken in isolation, meaning not a singular herb as they work together to support each other. You will find a natural therapist will add vitex and other herbs together to work in unison. In chinese medicine the herbs are combined and you often make a tea from them - not too delish but all for a good cause! A herbalist or naturopath will ususally make up a tincture of the herbs she prescribed.

Anyway I wish you a beautiful and successful ttc journey. I look forward to hearing how you go! :hug:

I looked in several pharmacies and they didn't have any of the Vitex (also looked for Chasteberry and Monk's Pepper to no avail) I called the naturopath to set up an appointment and wow is it ever expensive. My husband is looking into our extended medical coverage today to see if a naturopath visit would be covered. I'll likely go either way it would just be really nice if I didn't have to pay the full cost out of pocket.

As for pre-natal vitamins I started taking them a few months ago and I changed my diet about a year ago when I joined weight watchers. I wanted to develop healtheir eating habits and get down to a healthier weight (lost 25 lbs and feel soo much better). I eat at least 3 peices of fruit a day plus 3 servings of veggies and I only eat high fibre whole grain bread. I also make sure I get at least two servings of milk a day (milk for breakfast, yogurt for lunch). I'm on calcium supplements as well (started when I went on depo and never stopped when I came off)

I no longer drink alcohol (stoppedf a year ago), and I haven't been able to have caffeine or much refined sugar in the past 10 years as I have an intolerance to both and get quite sick if i have either. My refined suger intake is limited to 2 cookies a week.

All your posts have been so helpful, thank-you so much.

Sounds like you are doing all the right things twinsister.
I also had an erratic luteal phase and found that taking an additional 50mg of B6 from ovulation and in addition to my vitamins stretched out my LP.

How are you determining when you O btw? Are you using a program or Fertility friend to assist? Because if not, the other possibility is that you think you are O'ing later than you really are. Just a thought.

I will try adding the B6 to my vitamins, thank-you. :)

I am temping every day and using Fertility Friend to determine ovulation, so I'm pretty sure it's only 9 days. I don't know if it's always been short or just since Depo.

We're going to officially start this week-end. I'm so scared and excited at the same time.

Good luck TwinSister. Fertility friend is usually very reliable! Best of luck.

Like Kar, I think you are doing great.
How exciting this weekend is IT! I wish you lots of positive conception vibes. May your journey be short and sweet!
:fertilise:

I'm at 7 DPO and my chart doesn't look that good PG-wise this month (temperature is not below the coverline yet but it is close, and definately on the decline). I'm ok with that though, my husband worked a lot of night shifts this month so we didn't get a whole lot of BDing in and I know my chances of being PG are pretty low. We'll try a lot harder next month. What I'm hoping for this month though is an increased LP.

I have been taking the B6 for the last few weeks but think I have to stop them as they really don't agree with my stomach. As soon as I started them I felt really bloated and the bloating eventually turned into stomach cramps. These symptoms let up as soon as I missed a pill anmd resumed once I started them again. I may try a half pill at a time and see if that goes over well, if not I'll have to give them up.

I'm pretty sick right now with a bad cold (sore throat, cough and congestion) and I'm sure no baby would want to latch on in there right now anyways, too many earthquakes with all the coughing and sneezing going on. Seriously the sneezing and coughing fits make my abdomen hurt so much it's exhausting.

Perhpas try taking them with food and preferably in the morning. B vitamins can give some people stomach discomfort....
If that doesn't work, perhaps take them second daily?
Good luck with everything! :hug:

I do take them with dinner right now so I will try 1/2 (50mg) in the morning and see if that helps. Thanks!

Twin Sister - sorry to hear u r feeling so crappy right now...i'll still send over some :bluedust: just incase there's a slight chance :crossfingers:

Hey twin sister - I've always found having them in the morning is better. Your temp dip at 7dpo could be normal - it could also be an implantation dip - so don't give up hope yet and, if you can, try stay on the B6 just for the rest of this cycle just in case or until AF turns up.

Thanks so much for all you support, i really appreciate it. I just took a whole pill with my breakfast so I'll see how that goes.

As for my temperature it just dropped way below the coverline today so I'm pretty sure I'm not PG. I just looked at my chart though and I'm actually 9 DPO and AF isn't here yet so that's already an improvement as usually by day 8 I start spotting and AF comes on day 9.

http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/153c48

Well AF started today but at least I made it to 10DPO this month. I aso found my stomach was better takinmg the B6 in the morning like suggested so I will continue on and maybe next month :)

Well done Twinsister - that's great.

Sorry about AF - but good about the 10 DPO :) Hope next month is even better!!!!!

So now I'm confused. I thought I got AF the other day but it was just a bit of spotting and now at 11 DPO still no AF. My temp was up again today. I still think my chances of being PG are pretty low (especially looking at my temps this week) but I went out and got a home PG test just in case (wishful thinking and all). FF friend said I'm due to test today but I'm waiting for tomorrow morning as I still think AF is going to show up. I know it's still early but Fingers crossed.

Oh interesting!!!!! Some people get a dip in temp 7-10 days after o for implantation...could that be it????? How intriguing - u might still be in for a chance. Will be sending u HEAPS of :bluedust: Let us know how u go tomorrow - but remember it still may be too early to test. Good luck :)

Keeping my fingers crossed for you Twinsister...sending you lots of :bluedust:
Emma xo

I havae my fingers crossed for you Twinsister! :hug:

Well there was no need to test in the end, as AF came today (for real this time) but I'm pleased that I made it to 12 DPO before she came and I have high hopes for next month. Thanks so much for all you kind words and wishes though, i really appreciated them.

Awww sorry to hear that :( But you are right about being positive about your 12 day LP - that's fabulous!!! Best wishes for this next cycle :)

Thanks Iluvella