Short Luteal Phase

Thanks Lucked that's really helpful. I'm 38!

I kept reading that you might not ovulate for another 36 hours till after the OPK, so maybe I've not been starting early enough!

How old are you? The older you are the shorter the time between the surge and egg release. I managed to get pregnant whilst away from home on a business trip!! I was away when my opk turned positive but I had sex the night before I left. I did some reading around and it is possible for the egg to be released before you have enough LH to turn the opk positive. This is usually only in older women but I was 35 and the time, I think it was a combination of sperm hanging around and an egg that was released pronto.

Because of this I tell friends who are trying to conceive to make sure they are having sex in the run up to the opk turning positive if they have a regular cycle.

Mascara that's good you're starting to get some answers. Yes, if no ovulation, then Clomid etc the way to go. At least there's a tangible path you can follow now.

I'm going to find out at my clinic appointment if I'm ovulating or not. (I have no idea yet if I do - I get OPK surges around CD 15 but as I keep reading, that doesn't mean I've necessarily ovulated!)

Thanks Auf would love some fanjo bullets . Fingers crossed I get a helpful consultant.

Well done mascara on switching that's what I call being proactive! Awesome!

Oh yes doo is right I think that's why my doc also gave me letrozole (similar to clomid in function) in case as my ov looked haphazard It was quite nice seeing the follicles growing on the dildocam! The hcg shot is also said to help lengthen your lp but they won't ever just give that by itself and I'm not 100% sure of the studies on that anyway as there aren't too many reads medical journals nerd alert. I'm staying on progesterone until I'm 12 weeks to make entirely sure my levels stay up.

Oh and to give you some hope about a referral... My referral was put through to the fertility specialist in late November 2012, first app with him was Dec 12th, started Clomid Dec 24th, BFP Jan 23rd!

Progesterone wouldn't have worked for me. My low progesterone was caused by weak ovulation. That's why Clomid worked. Once I conceived, I asked about Progesterone and the consultant said there was no need as he was convinced the Clomid would have done its job and he was right. No amount of Progesterone would have saved what was essentially a "bad egg"! However, that's me, not saying it's the same for others but something else to consider.

Oo-ooh switzerland! And the Lake District you lucky thing! Maybe a private gynae in the Lake District won't be too expensive? GynaeS can also prescribe as they obviously deal with exactly this sort of cycle problem.

morning yes, moaning is definitely the way to go!
Good luck with the bloods and I really hope you don't have to be cross at all and can walk out with wonderful fanjo bullets that will fixed it aaa-aaaa-all!

Mascara no BFP sadly, I actually did my first ever home pregnancy test yesterday (gave in after 8 months!) and it's a BFN so far.

Auf I agree about the low progesterone likely being the cause. I've been moaning on (on another thread ) about how I think I've got low progesterone.

I've already been referred to a fertility clinic, luckily; have had my bloods done there and am getting the results back in about two weeks.

If the fertility consultant doesn't prescribe me progesterone, I will be quite cross. I have all the signs of progesterone ishoos, including spotting and very sore boobs pre AF for about a week.

However, having recently discovered inositol, am giving this a try until then. There have been some scientific papers on it so it's giving me hope!

A-ah that's quite a lot for a first consult. :( I was looking into it and came up with around £65. I don't know if they would expect a second consult for prescribing, but it would be surprising if there weren't additional diagnoses.
Maybe you could see what a private GP somewhere else costs? Where are you going on your mini-breaks? Somewhere where the cost of living is cheaper?
I would always phone and check about the referral leaving the GP but be prepared to face the wrath of the secretary or administrator!
If you know your regular GP that also sounds like a good plan. I'm sure the temporary doctor could've prescribed if she wanted to so sounds like she just didn't want to "make a decision". Definitely go back to your regular GP! It'll be interesting to see what your new bloods come back with too.

jumps in to shout progesterone pessaries!
If I could go back now six months with all the stuff I was trying (B6, soy, Vit C, BComplex, selenium, this, that and the other) for all that time my LP stayed at 6/7 days, I would jump at it! Seriously. Proper medicine. I'm not saying the other things might not work, but it is more likely that it won't, and more likely that progesterone treatment will. And that it will save you time and heartache if, like for me, the vits and sups don't work and you've wasted x months of your life hoping it will. Not to even think about the fact that I was likely to have had a few fertilisations too but they were lost because my LP collapsed too soon.
There is a reason doctors prescribe progesterone and not B6. If B6 worked at the same rates that progesterone does then we'd all have been prescribed B6. If soy worked at the same rates that clomid or letrozole does, there would be no need for clomid or letrozole treatment!
Again, I don't at all doubt that it works for some people, but overall the rates are much lower. I wish I was just pushy in the beginning and hounded the GP for just one course of progesterone early one once I realised it was my LP that was the issue. So much time wasted.
If your NHS GP doesn't want to prescribe for you, the money for a private appointment and a script just for one month (you only take it from the day of ovulation until your period arrives) will more than balance out all the cost of extra vitamins and stuff. It's not very expensive. I see online my progesterone pill and dosage is between £18-£30 per cycle depending on the website so definitely worth at least one month's investment to see if it makes a difference!
Sorry I don't want to sound dramatic well maybe I do, but honestly, the amount of women I saw at the fertility clinic who were fixed up the very first month of progesterone pessaries were overwhelming. Proper medicine is good. :)
runs away again

Forgot to add - inositol is part of the B vitamin complex!

Hi Mascara just chiming in as I've been struggling with a short LP too.

I've been TTC 8 months, my LP was about 9 days.

After much research obsessive googling, I came across loads of people saying they took inositol, or myo-inositol. I took it last month (I took it in powdered form, it comes in tubs and looks like those tubs of protein powder that gym bunnies take).

It's increased my LP so much that whereas my cycle was usually 25 or 26 days, I'm now CD 28 and AF has still not come (just light spotting last night, CD 27).

That was another thing it got rid of, I seemed to spot madly for about 4-5 days pre AF.

Sorry to contribute to rattling, but at least this one isn't another pill! Have a google anyway and see if it might be for you.

I used 50mg b6 daily. You have to be a bit careful as too much can start tingly nerves (like pins and needles all the time). You can read up on that but I settled for 50mg daily in the end and the. It probably took a month or so to impact my LP. Obviously this is just my experience but it was the same both times I TTCd (I have 2 DC).

For temping, you can start anytime. Good info to have on any day of your cycle. I also found Fertility friend was good to record instead of doing on paper, sort of interprets for you which is good as the changes are so subtle.

*Start on...
*Keep going...

Stupid autocorrect!