TTC with short luteal phase and endometriosis

[Ambermaisie]

Hi, I had my Mirena coil removed in October, and after a chemical pregnancy over christmas, my periods have resumed on a 23 day cycle. I’ve been tracking my ovulation the last few months which suggests I’m ovulating on day 16/17. I know this will be nowhere near long enough for implantation to happen. I suspect I have a progesterone imbalance, as I’m suffering from nausea, headaches, dizziness, acne and also a sore throat/cold in the few days leading up to AF, alongside a couple of days of spotting.

I don’t want to bother my GP with everything else going on, and I don’t think they would want to see me until later in the year anyway when we will have been trying for year but was just wondering if anyone else had any similar symptoms and if there was anything I could try to increase my the length of my luteal phase? I should also say, I was put on the coil for endometriosis. Thanks!

Hi @Ambermaisie i know it’s a while gone, but just wondering how you got on?

I also have a short LP and Short cycle (21 days) and lots of awful Endo symptoms (although not diagnosed yet)

really hoping you managed to get suitable help ! Xxx

Hi @Sapphire27d - Sorry you're going through this too! I did manage to get pregnant shortly after this (found out in May-20), however sadly this turned out to be ectopic, and meant i needed a tube removal. This actually meant we were unable to conceive naturally due to extensive endometriosis on my other side causing ovary / tube damage. I started IVF treatment at the start of this year - which has totally bypassed the progesterone issues. I would try and push for Progesterone supplementation from your GP if you can, as I think had the ectopic not happened it would have really helped me. I've never had any lining issues since I've been on it for IVF.

I did manage to increase my luteal length with acupuncture (by coincidence when prepping for IVF). I also think there are a few people on here who have had success with Vit B complex, although this didn't work for me. I would say that most of the consultants I spoke to prior to IVF reassured me that it shouldn't cause an issue in getting pregnant, in my case the real issue was the endo. I hope you manage to get it sorted, its such a stressful time 💞xxx

Hi @Ambermaisie thank you for sharing that with me and my heart really goes out to you - life can be so unfair and TTC shouldn’t be this painful. Wishing you all the best for the IVF!

i was wondering how long into the TTC journey you went for help ? I’m willing to go private but don’t want to be turned away if they only see people who’ve been TTC for a certain amount of time …

i also wonder if you came across the information from a Dt that short LP and endo can be linked ? I’ve read this online but that’s no excuse for a Dr!

thank you for mentioning acupuncture - would not have thought of that! Xxx

@Sapphire27d We ended up waiting 12 months from we first started trying, so around 5/6 months after the ectopic - it took a while to recover physically and emotionally from it, I think had this not been the case I would have went sooner. The GP we seen was very sympathetic although pushed us back to my endo specialist as he thought it might impact on the fertility centre seeing us. In hindsight I wish we'd went private, as in the end it took around 18 months to start IVF on the NHS, private could have started in 3.

I think there is no harm in reaching out to your GP in first instance to see if there is anything they can do, if that fails private would definitely see you, there is no time limit here as far as i know.

I had seen that research online when i was searching, unfortunately none of my Dr's linked the two. So little is known about the impact of it endo, I definitely felt more informed than some of the Dr's I seen from all the research I done.

On another note - I would really recommend the podcast BFN if you haven't listened already, there are a few episodes which talk about endo, but mostly its just nice to hear about all the guests and their journeys, made me feel less alone, and also gave me a much better understanding of everything. xxx