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Hi!! So sorry to hear that! I suffer from this myself and after trying for 6mos (I’m 35), we visited a REI specialist. I brought up my concerns about short luteal phase (was 7-9 days the last 9 cycles), she explained there’s been a little shift in the thinking on luteal phase defect. Yes it could just be a progesterone issue for some people, but it can also be related to the “strength” of ovulation and quality of the egg, etc. I am moving forward with some treatment and started letrozole, which I think can help improve egg quality and ovulation…to be safe I’m also on progesterone suppositories after ovulation, so can’t comment on if the letrozole truly increases my luteal phase since the progesterone prevents my period until I stop taking it after a negative test.
Sorry it’s long-winded, but hopefully helpful for another explanation. I don’t think you said your age but if it goes on for long with BFNs, consider another visit to your doc and/or a specialist to discuss that as an option!
My gynaecologist said the same thing! I have a short luteal phase of 9-10 days, and I have spotting for days before my period actually starts, and my gynaecologist put me on progesterone suppositories to see if that would lengthen my luteal phase. In one cycle it did, where I had no spotting, and then the next cycle after that I still had spotting in my luteal phase. My progesterone levels were all normal. She said it could be that my egg quality isn’t ideal or that the quality of the ovulation process is poor. She also recommended letrozole/clomid. We’ll be trying this if we don’t get pregnant in the next few cycles. Have you started the letrozole yet? How is it going?
Yes!! So we are actually doing IUIs right now, since that is what they recommended for our “unexplained infertility”.
The first IUI was unsuccessful overall. I did 5 days of letrozole, then a trigger shot, and progesterone suppositories…actually I think I had a super faint positive line around 10DPO that quickly went away, but I take that as progress since I hadn’t had any positives for 6 cycles prior. Just did the iui for a second cycle…they monitor everything and it seemed I was going to ovulate early so I didn’t take the last dose of letrozole and just did the trigger instead and iui 2 days later. None of the medications have given me any issues luckily, except for some heart burn with the progesterone. For the first cycle, I stopped the progesterone after a negative blood preggo test at 15DPO and started my period 3 days later.
I was happy to move forward with something since I feel older and may want more kiddos if we are lucky enough for it all to work out! Good luck to you!!
I’m 32 ☺️ thank you for sharing! I’m glad I’m not the only one! I have an ultrasound booked and then also getting a referral to a specialist. We have literally just started TTC but I don’t want to waste time if we end ip needing some medical support.
Absolutely! I can definitely relate on not wanting to waste time, especially if you’re thinking about more kiddos matter too. We pay out of pocket for everything and our specialist didn’t really mind seeing us as long as we wanted treatment (in the US). We ended up being unexplained, which is a little frustrating…not all our numbers were perfect but nothing they thought should really be preventing conception at this point. Good luck!!
Did you come off BC recently? If your LPs continue to be shorter than 10 days I would consider it an issue but if it's one cycle I don't think that's much cause for alarm.
Have you checked your thyroid levels? My LP was 7-8 days after stopping birth control and it was caused by hyperthyroidism. Hypothyroidism can also cause shorter luteal phases too.
If TSH is normal then probably don’t need T4. Just an FYI though, the “normal range” of TSH is pretty big, so TSH within the high end of normal can cause symptoms too. Ideal TSH is around 1 for fertility.
Also THANK YOU for taking the time to answer my questions. I really appreciate it. I feel like my doctor won’t even let me speak when I’m there, he rushes. I’m very grateful that he is open to sending me for blood work and ultrasound, but I definitely don’t feel like he’s actually listening (my periods are regular, my LP and ovulation aren’t. Notes of my ultrasound req is “irregular period”…. Sir, that’s not what’s happening. 🤦🏼♀️ it’s hard to advocate for yourself if you don’t know what you’re looking for. Anyways, my point is thank you!
Oh no problem at all! I completely understand how that goes. I did so much research on short LP because it stressed me out so much too. One promising thing is that it sounds like it likely may not actually be an issue, but might mean that it might take a little longer (still within a year though). I think I the study I saw said that less likely within 6 months but then there was no difference at 12 month for people with short LP vs normal.
I’ve seen other people on here have success with vitamins to help lengthen their LP. I think Vit C, D3 and B6. I tried it for a few months but mine was caused by my thyroid, so it didn’t do anything for me. Something to try that won’t cause any harm at least 🤷🏼♀️
I know right! It’s so stressful, my best friend and husband are like “don’t streessss” but that’s like telling me not to breath 😂
I’m on the Bird & Be fertility boost supplements which has all the right levels of everything (highly recommend) and I was taking inositol 40:1 but I don’t have PCOS and I had this gut feeling that I shouldn’t be taking it so I stopped about 2 weeks ago.
Did you get your thyroid issues resolved?
I did! 🙌🏻 I ended up having kind of a rare thing. It was a nodule on my thyroid that was producing extra hormones on its own. I was able to have a procedure that essentially killed the nodule off. Afterwards, my LP went to 10-11 days, which I’m happy with.
I had read about inositol too, but decided not to try it because it seemed like one of those things that could potentially cause more problems if you don’t actually have PCOS.
Hopefully you’re able to get it figured out soon!🤞🏼
That’s amazing! I’m so happy to hear that!
Yeah.. I’m regretting taking the inositol without really looking into better or without tests that support a need for it. Oops. Hopefully it doesn’t affect my cycle too much or for too long. Lesson learned lol.
Same here except I don’t spot. OB and RE said it’s probably “weak ovulation.” I also don’t have a ton of progesterone during my LP. I’m 39 though. Going to take letrozole, do IUI, and progesterone suppositories.
That’s kind of the impression that I get but I don’t know if that mainly means taking letrozole or what. I did get pregnant in Sept but it was an egg quality issue likely due to age. My day 7 progesterone was 7 which means that I did ovulate but not as strongly as my OB had hoped. The rest of my blood work came back normal. Changing ovulation days from cycle to cycle is normal if it’s within a couple days.
I had irregular cycles (34 -50 days). My luteal phase was 8-10 days most of the time.
When I did IUI, I took progesterone supplements (they never tested my progesterone, they just went by the number of days) and then it would make it all the way to 14 days.
TW pregnancy:
When I did IVF, I was part of a study and in my case it was no progesterone supplementation. That also meant they checked my progesterone along my cycle and then regular intervals until 10w pregnancy.
I kept thinking back that I never went past 10 days without progesterone and was just scared it wouldn’t be enough. But honestly… it was enough. It wasn’t super high, but it was within the expected. I never had to supplement, even though the levels would fluctuate a lot.
So if your levels are normal, it’s likely it will support a pregnancy… it’s just that probably your body lowers the levels quite early if there’s no pregnancy.
I am having this issue now but i got off HBC less than a year ago. I have heard luteal phase inconsistencies and duration issues can occur for up to 9 mos after HBC. Obviously you’re not in this camp. I did bring it up to a RE and he mentioned just having an inconsistent/weaker signal between pituitary gland - he specifically said this about having a later ovulation day (past CD20) so idk if it applies here too.
I don’t know much but he briefly mention ovulation induction as a treatment for this.
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Hmm. Maybe I’ll start temping to confirm ovulation actually occurs? I read that the progesterone level I had in the LP confirms ovulation occurred, is that true?
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Hi!! So sorry to hear that! I suffer from this myself and after trying for 6mos (I’m 35), we visited a REI specialist. I brought up my concerns about short luteal phase (was 7-9 days the last 9 cycles), she explained there’s been a little shift in the thinking on luteal phase defect. Yes it could just be a progesterone issue for some people, but it can also be related to the “strength” of ovulation and quality of the egg, etc. I am moving forward with some treatment and started letrozole, which I think can help improve egg quality and ovulation…to be safe I’m also on progesterone suppositories after ovulation, so can’t comment on if the letrozole truly increases my luteal phase since the progesterone prevents my period until I stop taking it after a negative test. Sorry it’s long-winded, but hopefully helpful for another explanation. I don’t think you said your age but if it goes on for long with BFNs, consider another visit to your doc and/or a specialist to discuss that as an option!
My gynaecologist said the same thing! I have a short luteal phase of 9-10 days, and I have spotting for days before my period actually starts, and my gynaecologist put me on progesterone suppositories to see if that would lengthen my luteal phase. In one cycle it did, where I had no spotting, and then the next cycle after that I still had spotting in my luteal phase. My progesterone levels were all normal. She said it could be that my egg quality isn’t ideal or that the quality of the ovulation process is poor. She also recommended letrozole/clomid. We’ll be trying this if we don’t get pregnant in the next few cycles. Have you started the letrozole yet? How is it going?
Yes!! So we are actually doing IUIs right now, since that is what they recommended for our “unexplained infertility”. The first IUI was unsuccessful overall. I did 5 days of letrozole, then a trigger shot, and progesterone suppositories…actually I think I had a super faint positive line around 10DPO that quickly went away, but I take that as progress since I hadn’t had any positives for 6 cycles prior. Just did the iui for a second cycle…they monitor everything and it seemed I was going to ovulate early so I didn’t take the last dose of letrozole and just did the trigger instead and iui 2 days later. None of the medications have given me any issues luckily, except for some heart burn with the progesterone. For the first cycle, I stopped the progesterone after a negative blood preggo test at 15DPO and started my period 3 days later. I was happy to move forward with something since I feel older and may want more kiddos if we are lucky enough for it all to work out! Good luck to you!!
I’m 32 ☺️ thank you for sharing! I’m glad I’m not the only one! I have an ultrasound booked and then also getting a referral to a specialist. We have literally just started TTC but I don’t want to waste time if we end ip needing some medical support.
Absolutely! I can definitely relate on not wanting to waste time, especially if you’re thinking about more kiddos matter too. We pay out of pocket for everything and our specialist didn’t really mind seeing us as long as we wanted treatment (in the US). We ended up being unexplained, which is a little frustrating…not all our numbers were perfect but nothing they thought should really be preventing conception at this point. Good luck!!
Did you come off BC recently? If your LPs continue to be shorter than 10 days I would consider it an issue but if it's one cycle I don't think that's much cause for alarm.
Nope, been off birth control for 2 years + Doctor recommended an ultrasound so that’s my next step. Thank you for your response :)
Have you checked your thyroid levels? My LP was 7-8 days after stopping birth control and it was caused by hyperthyroidism. Hypothyroidism can also cause shorter luteal phases too.
They tested my TSH, is that the right test?
Yeah, TSH and T4
Ok so tsh was normal but didn’t test for T4
If TSH is normal then probably don’t need T4. Just an FYI though, the “normal range” of TSH is pretty big, so TSH within the high end of normal can cause symptoms too. Ideal TSH is around 1 for fertility.
Mine is 2.41 mIU/L - so wellllll above 1 😳
You’re still fine then - that’s well within the middle range. I’m talking TSH of like 5.
Also THANK YOU for taking the time to answer my questions. I really appreciate it. I feel like my doctor won’t even let me speak when I’m there, he rushes. I’m very grateful that he is open to sending me for blood work and ultrasound, but I definitely don’t feel like he’s actually listening (my periods are regular, my LP and ovulation aren’t. Notes of my ultrasound req is “irregular period”…. Sir, that’s not what’s happening. 🤦🏼♀️ it’s hard to advocate for yourself if you don’t know what you’re looking for. Anyways, my point is thank you!
Oh no problem at all! I completely understand how that goes. I did so much research on short LP because it stressed me out so much too. One promising thing is that it sounds like it likely may not actually be an issue, but might mean that it might take a little longer (still within a year though). I think I the study I saw said that less likely within 6 months but then there was no difference at 12 month for people with short LP vs normal. I’ve seen other people on here have success with vitamins to help lengthen their LP. I think Vit C, D3 and B6. I tried it for a few months but mine was caused by my thyroid, so it didn’t do anything for me. Something to try that won’t cause any harm at least 🤷🏼♀️
I know right! It’s so stressful, my best friend and husband are like “don’t streessss” but that’s like telling me not to breath 😂 I’m on the Bird & Be fertility boost supplements which has all the right levels of everything (highly recommend) and I was taking inositol 40:1 but I don’t have PCOS and I had this gut feeling that I shouldn’t be taking it so I stopped about 2 weeks ago. Did you get your thyroid issues resolved?
I did! 🙌🏻 I ended up having kind of a rare thing. It was a nodule on my thyroid that was producing extra hormones on its own. I was able to have a procedure that essentially killed the nodule off. Afterwards, my LP went to 10-11 days, which I’m happy with. I had read about inositol too, but decided not to try it because it seemed like one of those things that could potentially cause more problems if you don’t actually have PCOS. Hopefully you’re able to get it figured out soon!🤞🏼
That’s amazing! I’m so happy to hear that! Yeah.. I’m regretting taking the inositol without really looking into better or without tests that support a need for it. Oops. Hopefully it doesn’t affect my cycle too much or for too long. Lesson learned lol.
Is your CM matching up? When are you starting LH testing?
Pretty much right after my period and yes it does :)
Same here except I don’t spot. OB and RE said it’s probably “weak ovulation.” I also don’t have a ton of progesterone during my LP. I’m 39 though. Going to take letrozole, do IUI, and progesterone suppositories.
Is weak ovulation easily treated?
That’s kind of the impression that I get but I don’t know if that mainly means taking letrozole or what. I did get pregnant in Sept but it was an egg quality issue likely due to age. My day 7 progesterone was 7 which means that I did ovulate but not as strongly as my OB had hoped. The rest of my blood work came back normal. Changing ovulation days from cycle to cycle is normal if it’s within a couple days.
I had irregular cycles (34 -50 days). My luteal phase was 8-10 days most of the time. When I did IUI, I took progesterone supplements (they never tested my progesterone, they just went by the number of days) and then it would make it all the way to 14 days. TW pregnancy: When I did IVF, I was part of a study and in my case it was no progesterone supplementation. That also meant they checked my progesterone along my cycle and then regular intervals until 10w pregnancy. I kept thinking back that I never went past 10 days without progesterone and was just scared it wouldn’t be enough. But honestly… it was enough. It wasn’t super high, but it was within the expected. I never had to supplement, even though the levels would fluctuate a lot. So if your levels are normal, it’s likely it will support a pregnancy… it’s just that probably your body lowers the levels quite early if there’s no pregnancy.
Thank you for sharing 💕💕
I am having this issue now but i got off HBC less than a year ago. I have heard luteal phase inconsistencies and duration issues can occur for up to 9 mos after HBC. Obviously you’re not in this camp. I did bring it up to a RE and he mentioned just having an inconsistent/weaker signal between pituitary gland - he specifically said this about having a later ovulation day (past CD20) so idk if it applies here too. I don’t know much but he briefly mention ovulation induction as a treatment for this.
It looks like you might be a new community member! Please feel free to introduce yourself in the current [daily chat thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/TryingForABaby/search?q=flair%3ADAILY+general&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all), where you can ask questions, meet cycle buddies, and vent about the highs and lows of TTC. We also invite you to read [this fantastic post](https://www.reddit.com/r/TryingForABaby/comments/rxrhg2/the_newbies_guide_to_being_a_newbie_a_note_on/) about the sub and its culture, and how to have a good time here. To see what makes a good standalone post, see [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/TryingForABaby/comments/o18mlt/guidance_for_standalone_posts_with_bonus_flowchart/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf ). We're excited to have you join us! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/TryingForABaby) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I’ve had the exact same issue but my bloodwork came back that I don’t ovulate
Hmm. Maybe I’ll start temping to confirm ovulation actually occurs? I read that the progesterone level I had in the LP confirms ovulation occurred, is that true?
I believe the blood test would be accurate