Do you get spotting before AF / period? Come and talk to me here

[Whysoserious]

Morning ladies!

I have bleated on about spotting before AF a lot now on these conception boards and have realised that it does seem to happen to a log of people, can be for many different reasons and also people can be fobbed off by the doctors as "nothing to worry about".

My periods were normal until last August when I started getting brown spotting 4 days before AF came in full force.

I have googled and googled and there are lots of threads of women TTC with this mysterious affliction, but they only last about 20 posts so you can never find out what the outcome was. What were they treated for? Did they manage to conceive? And the one that I'm always desperate to know the minute I start spotting every month; did they get the spotting the month they conceived?

So I want this thread I be a place for TTC mumsnetters who spot before AF to come and share their experiences and stories and support. The information out there is so conflicted so it would be so good to keep this one going until we get some answers and some BFPs!!

Hi @EB211 I know the relief to see a page that relates keep in mind it's completely normal to take a year ttc.... Not that I thought I would be in the bracket until I started this ttc journey 😔but it can and is normal keep the spirits up..!
I know some days I'm like I've told numerous GPS and fertility experts I spot and they say its fine so it must be.... Then other days it's like why is no one taking this spotting seriously..!

Welcome @EB211 I too was relived to find this group. I'll also say I know ppl have got pregnant with spotting. I also agree with @Michelle122 some days I feel ok with gp's etc saying it's fine. Then other days I feel quite down that it won't happen and I'm a medical mystery. Look at hypothyroid symptoms if u have any it's a good idea to get tested as this is a common cause of spotting although treating mine did not stop my spotting.

@EB211 definitely mention it to your acupuncturist, the 2 courses I've had it's eliminated the spotting. The moment I stop acupuncture it seems to come back, however I know other women who have undergone acupuncture and it hasn't stopped their spotting.

Yes @Michelle122 I’m the same, the GP is so dismissive of it, it makes me feel better for a few days and then it happens again and I get worried! @orangeloo I have had my TSH and a few other things tested and all seems to be fine. My Prolactin levels were quite high the first time I got tested but they have come down a bit now. @Kiza I have an appointment tomorrow morning so will mention it again, she was also not too fussed when I said it at my initial meeting 🥴 x

Let me share my experience.
When I was 26 I spotted for 2 days Bp and tried to conceive a year after and I fairly easily conceived on my first cycle. I did see the brown spotting also on day 33 of cycle and that it’s the beginning of my period but it ended up being implantation bleeding since I saw the same with my second pregnancy .

The spotting stopped after my first child .

Oh thank God I am not alone, thank God for You girls! I was already going crazy. Had 3 consultations with my OBGN since June when it got worse than ever (12 days before AF - immediatly after OV), he atributed it to hormones but I went to private lab and did the testing (3x since then, they seem ok, not in menopause (I am 37), progesterone ABOVE the limit (?) the rest in the limits (estrogen close to lower limit). Nothing seems to match. I dismissed idea of having another child because I am now scared for my life, this looks sooo haunting that I keep thinking they are overlooking something and that I am sick. Please, if someone knows if it is safe to take SOY ISOFAVONE in case of trombophilia (AntiphospholipidSyndrome) since estrogen therapy is not allowed in that case (I was thinking maybe such a discrepancy between estrogen and prog. is causing the spotting, so maybe the natural way of boosting estrogen to make some balance...(?)

Hi, I am so glad I have found this. I have been TTC since September last year never had spotting till October (not sure why). I have had some tests done and other than slightly low oestrogen nothing to be concerned about. I am 39 so I know this is a factor when TTC. I have been taking pregnacare since last month, currently on day 12 of tww and started spotted yesterday this is the same pattern as previous months. If anyone could help I would much appreciate it.

Hi ladies great to see thread still going just an update I posted before (michele112 the site asked me for new username when logged bk on.?! ) ..... After expressing concerns to 3 GPS and 2 fertility experts they didn't bat an eyelid at it but was always bugging me about spotting
I attended a new fertility clinic that takes a different approach to just suggesting ivf straight away which a lot of clinics do??
So he said no way is it normal and will hopefully try and rectify I spot anywhere for 6 to 3 days before af TMI......... Spotting is brown or mucous or stringy
So he works kinda diff that you have to sign up to programme with him so hoping I will get some answers
Ttc since Aug 18 mmc nov19 🙏
Will update

Just found this post. I've started spotting 3/4 days before AF and now it's happened even earliar the last two months. Been ttc for 5 months. Worry that it's a factor that could affect conceiving. It's that time again and I was getting weird achy boobs but then the usual spotting so I think it's another disappointment month again. Very strange. I wonder if it's normal if so many experience it.

Hi ladies just wanted to update as I know how frustrating it is..... As I've said before ttc over 2 years 1 mmc..... No one would listen about spotting before af up to 6 days... so seeing new clinic and wants the spotting gone... So this cycle was on letrozole 5 tabs day 3 5 tabs day 4... I know unusual... Then gonasi trigger hcg then gonasi 3 dpo 5 and 7 dpo....... This month peak plus 7 progesterone was 111 nmol and oestradial 1000 🤯..... Prog was in and around 30 always this clinic likes it to be over 60! I possibly popped 2 eggs as it was so high... And guess what ZERO SPOTTING first time in forever with a 14 day lp.. even with bfp I spotted
It always niggled me about the spotting..... This clinic tells you not to ttc until cycle, hormones are perfectly balanced to reduce any mc and to monitor reactions as they want to avoid multiples where possible
Sending love ♥

Just wanted to share my experiences. I have spotted 4/5 days prior to AF for as long as I can remember. I used to get so upset about it but was dismissed when I brought it up. In 2019, I unexpectedly fell pregnant with my DS (wasn’t trying at the time). I spotted that month like normal too. I’m now almost 20 months post partum and I had no spotting at all post birth, until now, when this cycle I had 7 days spotting. Hoping it doesn’t impact our ttc number 2. Feeling both nervous but positive that it will be ok.

I know this is a really old thread bit I feel like the spotting issue is an age old problem that no one ever seems to have any answers for. So I just wanted to add my story in case it helps anyone else struggling with ttc.

I started ttc my 3rd over 2 years ago, I have always spotted a couple of days before af and again afterwards but it never caused too much of an issue. In my 3 previous pregnancies (1 mmc) I always thought of myself as a 'bleeder' with lots of unexplained spotting in the first trimester and plenty of reassurance scans. After about a year of ttc this time my spotting started to get worse, sometimes for up to a week before af would start and for days afterwards as well. I started to look into why and decided that it must be due to low progesterone. I asked for day 21 blood tests at the doctors and they always came back with low progesterone, implying that I hadn't ovulated. I knew that I was though because of my monthly temperature shift, so looked to see if there were ways of increasing my progesterone naturally.

Long story short I tried all sorts of supplements, accupuncture, lifestyle changes but in the end I finally managed to get progesterone pessaries prescribed. The first month on them I bled for a total of 5 days when I got my period, absolutely no spotting before or afterwards, and the second month I got my bfp!! It's still very early days and I don't know what the outcome will be (praying it sticks) but I just wanted to give hope to any serial spotters that it can happen given the right help. I actually had to ask my fertility specialist to prescribe them to me as he hadn't thought of it as an option! I feel like doctors easily dismiss it as not being a problem but I 100% believe that without my progesterone pessaries I wouldn't be pregnant now, I just wish I'd been prescribed them sooner!

I had this prior to my first child. I'd spot for a week before my period. Gp listened and did all the usual tests, thyroid, day 21, day 3 and everything came back fine. Had internal scans and they didn't find anything. We weren't trying to conceive, I just wanted to make sure everything was healthy.

We were using condoms as we weren't ready for children yet and my research on Dr Google suggested that the spotting would probably make it harder to conceive. Then one month the brown spotting had lasted for 2 weeks and I started feeling really sick. Husband joked I should take a pregnancy test. I took one and left it on the side in the bathroom and forgot about it, only to come back and see a blazing positive. I did spot for 10 weeks and had lots of early scans. They concluded it was excess lining. No other complications and I now have a healthy toddler.

I haven't spotted since having my child though and had two chemical pregnancies before getting pregnant with our second but I was underweightunderweight so don't think this was related.

So just wanted to say sometimes it is just a thing and nothing to be worried about! Good luck everyone!

Just to add my experience to this and hopefully reassurance to others. I have 2 dds already and had no spotting prior to period at the time. This time however at the ripe old age of 38 I have been having spotting from day 22 in a 28/9 day cycle which is regular. When I say spotting I first notice pinkiness to the usual discharge at day 22 which becomes more significant to brown discharge until proper flow starts. Sorry if tmi. I have found this thread really helpful as I was thinking this was stopping me getting pregnant. Some had mentioned low progesterone etc. I have researched it a lot and as the gp and other doctors say I could t find any evidence that it mattered. Anyway this cycle (about month 9/10 of trying) I noticed the usual pink tint at day 22 but it never appeared again after that day. From then on it went back to white and creamy and at day 26 I got a faint positive on a cheap test and then used a cb early test which was clearly positive. So I’m only 4+2 now so early days but fingers crossed.

I hope this reassures all those out there and I’m sooo grateful to those that have posted above for giving hope and encouragement.

Best of luck to those who find this

@Mumsikins congratulations! So good to hear another fellow spotter has conceived! I'm now 11 weeks today and (hopefully) all going well so far 🤞 x

Just wanted to update, we fell pregnancy with our second on the first month TTC #2 and I spotted before my bfp just like my son. Unfortunately it ended in a MC at 5 1/2 weeks, but at least the spotting doesn’t seem to impact my ability to fall pregnant.

Hi all, this is a wonderfully long thread and has been so reassuring for me. A qualified good news story here:

35, ttc #2. Took a while to conceive no. 1 (DD) - short lp and spotted for a day or so before AF. But once my periods returned after DD arrived, I started regularly spotting brown or even red blood from 8DPO for c.4 days before AF. Often I get spotting that stops for a day or two.

Anyway, this month was no different, I've been spotting on and off, but felt different. Tested just now (roughly 12DPO - didn't use OPKs) and blazing BFP.

But... I'm still really crampy and so not sure if this bean can tough it out. Fingers crossed but at ieast the spotting hasn't stopped it sticking a bit!

This is by far the best board I have found. I've been ttc for 9 months. I did have some breakthrough bleeding on the pill but since I got off the pill, I have been spotting after ovulation ever since. Usually it's 6/7 DPO but this cycle I've started on 4dpo. I just had an HSG and ultrasound and ruled out any causes like fibroids or block tubes.

I just switched OB's because I didn't think the first one was listening to me, but she did prescribe me progesterone which didn't help, just gave me an extra two days of no spotting.

Now this new OB doesn't think my 5.1 progesterone level is concerning but is testing me this cycle so I stopped my progesterone, hence the 4dpo spotting.

I've been doing acupuncture which helped me ovulate earlier. My new OB did offer clomid or IUI, so I think next cycle I'm gonna start clomid. It's just clear something is off. Also might ask to continue progesterone if I still spot on it. If she says no, I might find a new OB.

@Cmj18 do you mean your OB isn't concerned with progesterone levels of 5.1 after ovulation? Because that does seem low, think it's supposed to be above 30 which is what I always struggled with! Good idea to keep on the progesterone I think but also have you tried taking your temperature every morning to track ovulation? This was the one thing I found that helped me loads as it proved I was actually ovulating despite the border line progesterone levels. Anyway, something to think about, good luck!x

@burtle4 sorry I'm in the US. The units measured are different. Technically anything above a 2 or 3 means you ovulated. But there is debate with Drs that below 10 means you didn't ovulate well. My old OB thought my progesterone dropped too fast, my new one just doesn't seemed bothered. I do temp, I use ovusense to track and it shows ovulation.

@cmj18 ah I get you! My levels were always borderline and progesterone definitely helped me. Hope you get some answers soon x

We have been ttc for about a year. Used to get one or two days brown spotting before a period but since I had a late period in March I now have a week of brown spotting before each period...which also seems to come earlier each month 😔

@Want2bMumof3 I definitely recommend getting your progesterone levels checked, it took us 2 years to conceive our third and I think a lot of time could have been saved had I known about my progesterone earlier x

@burtle4 I had bloods done last month and they said my hormone levels were fine 🤷‍♀️

@Want2bMumof3 was it the day 21 test that tells you if you're ovulating?