Anovulatory cycle

[Fizzl]

Has anyone had an anovulation cycle before? I temp and use opk's and neither have detected ovulation this month like normal. I also had some odd mid cycle spotting this month around when I'd normally ovulate and GP seemed to think I was having a cycle where I don't ovulate. I've been reassured this is perfectly normal and everyone has them once in a while (just not so great when your ttc!).

But what I want to know is what will happen to my cycle now?! I'm on CD31 and my longest ever cycle has been 36 days but usually more like 28-30 days.

Googling throws up mixed responses between your normal AF should arrive as a breakthrough bleed to it may be a bit late or early to you won't have a period or bleed for weeks 😱 and then when should I expect to ovulate again?! Does it restart my cycle?

I'm a little confused and anxious about it all. I had a MMC last year and worry that my body and hormones are still a little out of whack as even prior to this cycle my luteal phase was short which makes me think somethings a little off.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Just bumping again incase anyone this evening can help

How long have you been trying for?

Ask your GP for a day 21 progesterone test if it’s been a year of tcc. You will probably need a few cycles worth of tests.

May need drug called clomid to help eggs mature

@Porridgeoat we started trying last jan but we were taking the relaxed approach for 4 months and turns out our timing was a little off when I started using opk's. We took a few months break over the summer and when we started again in sept I fell first attempt. That pregnancy ended in MMC though and surgery. We then took 3 months break to recover and this would be cycle 3 of trying again.

GP has told me to wait another 6 months and they generally seem very unconcerned. I'm pretty sure I've ovulated in previous cycles I've tracked as I've had + opk's and temp rises. This one seems a blip and I just don't know what to expect now. Very frustrating when ttc.

Hi @Fizzl I was wondering how you got on with this anovulatory cycle? Did it end up being a one-off strange cycle or have you had any more problems with ovulating? I'm in exactly the same position now. I've been properly tracking my cycles since April and had four regular 25-28 day cycles with clear signs of ovulation (EWCM and LH surge followed by BBT rise and post-ovulation symptoms like sore breasts etc) but this cycle I've had no CM, no +OPKs, no BBT rise, no sore breasts etc, then I started spotting/lightly bleeding a week earlier than I would usually expect my period. It's pretty clear that I haven't ovulated this cycle, but now I have no idea when I will next ovulate / have a period. Do I count that early bleed as cycle day 1, so I'm now in a new cycle, or do I consider myself still in the same cycle until I ovulate / have a "proper" period? I can't find any guidance about this anywhere!

I think I may have had the same thing back in January/February as I had 4 bleeds in two months which is very unlike me. I wasn't tracking ovulation signs then but I guess I wasn't ovulating then either as the bleeds were only 2-3 weeks apart. My GP referred me for an ultrasound in March but it was postponed because of Covid. I eventually had the ultrasound in July and they said everything looked normal, and because by then I'd had five regular cycles i thought Jan/Feb was just a strange blip and I was feeling positive about my TTC chances. Then immediately I've now had another anovulatory cycle and I'm now freaking out that it wasn't just a one-off and I now have no idea how long it will be before I'll be able to start TTC again :(

Hi @SJ81ttc sorry you're having a rough time! My period finally arrived on cd76 😱 it was horrendous being in limbo for so long. I'm currently on CD33 of my next cycle and I seem to have ovulated fri/sat so really late again but not as late as last time. When I hadn't ovulated by day 21 this cycle I decided to lay off the exercise - I'd upped doing hiit workouts during lockdown to keep myself active and even though it didn't feel massively strenuous or a big increase to what I was doing before, I wondered if it was playing a part. Could be coincidence but not long after I stopped exercising I noticed my body starting to gear up to ovulation.

I was also advised that after going 76 days without a period I shouldn't expect it to go straight back to normal. I'm hoping after this month that my body will finally have sorted itself out.

I also had a scan when my period hadn't arrived by day 60 something and that also confirmed everything was fine and I'd recently ovulated like I'd expected based on opk's and temps. So there wasn't anything obviously wrong physically which would prevent my period or me ovulating.

It's really awful when you're ttc. I feel like I lost 76 days of being able to try which was awful and felt really cruel at the time. We've continued trying again now so keeping everything 🤞

Hi @Fizzl, thank you so much for replying! That sounds like a really horrible 76 days :( Did you have any more spotting/bleeding during that time or was it just months of nothing? Did you keep doing OPK's the whole time? I'm currently on cycle day 23 and have been spotting since day 20. Temps still low.

That's interesting that you think exercise might be a factor. I thought maybe my Jan/Feb irregular cycles might have been due to stress as my partner had to go away for two months and I found that quite stressful. This month though I'm racking my brain for what might have caused it. I don't think I've been stressed that much. I have been trying to exercise more as part of being healthier for ttc, but it's nothing high intensity, just trying to get out for more walks and cycles. I've been trying some supplements I've seen recommended so I wondered if anything I've taken has messed up my cycles. My biggest fear is that it's due to my age (I'm 38) and that it's just going to keep happening.

It is completely horrible isn't it when you don't understand what is happening with your body and you feel like you don't even have a chance to even try to get pregnant. Because of my age every month counts (we're trying for our first child) so it's really upsetting to not know how long before we can try again.

I'm glad that things seem to be a bit better for you this cycle. Fingers crossed you won't have any more problems and will be successful soon! 🤞

@SJ81ttc I had some more spotting days 37 & 38. My first lot of spotting was days 18/19.

I did carry on with opk's. Felt like I was constantly peeing on sticks! Although I did get a bit lax with it until I suspected I was possibly going to ovulate.

I think this process is just so consuming sometimes. I've also thought about and analysed every possible thing which might have caused my periods to disappear because I wanted to know what it was so I could fix it. I hated not being in control of my own body. I don't know for sure it was the exercise, it could have been coincidence but I suspect probably not. It's so frustrating because I also thought I was doing the 'right' thing by trying to be healthy because it's meant to be good for ttc 🙄 serves me right 😂

I also had a brief panic thinking it could be peri menopause related. I'm only 30 tho so although not impossible, it's unlikely. I'd also had a fertility mot earlier this year after my mmc and everything came back well within normal limits so that reassured me. Have you had any tests done? It might help put your mind at rest? And if not the results you would hope for, at least you would know and there's things you can do.

However, saying that I've also been assured it's normal for women to have these occasional blips in their cycle. And when it does happen, apparently (in my doctors words) it can confuse your uterus and it seems to take time to correct itself again. So I would also say try not to worry too much just yet but that would be hypocritical of me!

I really hope your cycle sorts itself out soon 💐

Thank you so much for your kindness @Fizzl! I phoned my GP this morning and she basically told me to stop stressing about it and just see how the next few months play out. She's probably right, but that doesn't make me feel much better! I'll see what happens in the next month and then ask about getting some tests done.

I've now had about three days of "light flow" so I've decided that I'm going to count this as my period, consider myself as being day 3 of a new cycle, and try and trick my body into thinking it would be a good idea to ovulate in about 10-15 days! I know that's probably unlikely but somehow it makes me feel better to start again from day 1 rather than wait an indeterminate amount of time for this cycle to eventually resolve itself. It's weird to think that if I hadn't been tracking ovulation signs I would probably only be slightly puzzled by the early period this time, and getting hopeful about my next cycle, rather than freaking out about anovulation! So really I've brought all this stress on myself 🤦‍♀️