cycle varies how to work out ovulation?

[jam3]

hi

my cycle is all over the place varies from 41, 36, 32 days... how do I work out when I am ovulating? hope its not a really stupid question but having read some threads everyone seems really helpful here

tnxx

There's a lot of kits you can buy, but (and this is yuck sorry) one of the easiest is by watching for the vaginal mucus- you lose stickier, more jelly like mucus at the time of ovulation, this is the plug to the uterus.

there are also charts vailable online you can download and fill in with your temperature, and obsewrvations such as vaginal mucus. Babyworld used to do one but I think googling ovulation chart would find one/

My cycle is irregular too, but I've been charting my temps for a few months now & am also using ovulation predictor kits (OPKs) which I buy off eBay. Can realiably predict my ov each cycle now. Fertilityfriend.com is a great site for recording your temps, OPK results, CM etc & will keep track of your cycles, work out your ov date etc. HTH, Iona

great tips/advise thanks girlsx

Hi,

How long have your been ttc for now?. If it is coming up to a year I would seek medical help now.

Am going to sound a note of caution re such methods suggested as such methods are not of any real benefit at all if your periods are irregular like this. A "normal" cycle is a cycle length of between 21 and 35 days OR with less than 4 days of variation from month to month. This is clearly not the case with your good self.

I would actually go to the GP and ask for a blood test to be done. Your hormone levels need to be looked at properly with particular attention paid to LH (luteinising hormone) and FSH (follicle stimulating hormone). These two control ovulation; if these two are out of balance then ovulation will be affected and your menstrual cycles will go all over the place as a result. It is also quite possible to have periods without ovulating.

If the underlying cause is a hormonal one it can be treated.

OPK's can also be problematic in that they measure LH hormone. If you are one of many women who produce an excess of this hormone to start with then the kit will measure this excess. Also such kits assume that women only have one rise in LH every month (not true) and that a rise in LH is immediately followed by ovulation(again not the case).

Although such kits are persuasive they are expensive and are not always helpful. They are therefore best avoided.

I agree with MKU, you should go to your GP as anything over a 35 day cycle should be investigated. My cycle was like yours and I've been diagnosed with PCOS.

I have a 2yr old and had no probs ttc only for reasons I would rather not go into we have to make sure we try on the most likley day as we wont have much more than a couple of goes per month...does it make sense? tnx all x

You usually ovulate anywhere from 7 to 21 days from the first day of your last period. I think your best option is to bonk every 2nd day during this timeframe. I have 3 children and have conceived quite easily by this method. I also notice the change in mucus during ov and funny enough the cuticles around my fingernails peel when I ov. Hope this helps.