Short luteal phase after implant removal?

[Sunflowers95]

My husband and I are ttc our first - I had the implant removed on 31 Oct and although I seem to catch ovulation using test strips, my period has been arriving after about 7-9 days and has been very irregular in length (first period was 10 days, second was 3).

I also have cervical erosion which has led to a lot of spotting and light bleeding in between so it's been almost impossible to figure out when the right time to ttc is!

Before the implant, I was quite regular so wondered if anyone else has experienced something similar and how long it took to return to a normal cycle?

I had the implant removed in my late 20s (now 34) due to continuous spotting, and think I also had cervical erosion. Ever since then I’ve had luteal phase issues (spotting for 2-5 days pre-period). So not a short luteal phase as such, but I’m assuming some sort of defect. Never had any issues pre implant but I was always on the pill so not sure what my ‘normal’ was.

And I only recently realised my spotting isn’t actually my period. I’d previously thought it was marking the start of my cycle but recently realised it wasn’t. So that’s shifted my whole cycle tracking!

We’ve just started TTC but I don’t want to waste any time so I’ve got a private gynae appt booked this week to discuss my spotting. Will try to remember to update here with any advice I get!

@Sierra26 I spot from 3-4 days before my period and 2 GPs wouldn’t take me seriously. A third did but 3-4 days is deemed normal by the nhs so they will do bloods on day 21 of your cycle (6/7dpo) to check progesterone but won’t do anything else until you’ve been ttc for long enough then they refer to gynae but not because of spotting. I think private they will take you more seriously.

my bloods were fine the 2 times I had them done and I’m now 8 weeks pregnant. I also got pregnant in October and November too but they both ended up being chemicals unfortunately. It was cycle 5 before I got the first bfp but seems they were right that the spotting doesn’t stop me getting pregnant. I don’t know if it had anything to do with my CPs or not (they say unlikely as chemicals are super common happening up to 30% of pregnancies) but I’m hoping this pregnancy will be ok or I’ll be referred to recurrent miscarriages but again the GP made it clear the referral wouldn’t be because of the spotting as falls in their “normal” amount of days to spot.

I just wanted to let you know that the spotting won’t necessarily mean you won’t get pregnant unless there’s other fertility issues. Things like a cervical ectropion (cervical erosion) can also cause spotting before AF which has no affect on fertility. There’s so many things that can cause spotting so don’t worry too much yet. Trust me I worried for months and cried to my GP as I was so worried.

@allgoodthings84 wow thank you so much for taking the time to share all of that! I’m sorry for your losses last year but it’s fantastic to hear you’re pregnant. Hope you’re feeling well ❤️

Reassuring to hear the spotting is in the normal range, although it’s frustrating when you just want a doc to take you seriously! At least you found a GP who was more willing to engage in the end. My private GP didn’t offer any advice, although tbf I had just called to say “refer me please”, and she did. I’m hoping the specialist offers a progesterone test, as I’ve got it in my head that progesterone is the cause/a potential problem. I’ll be CD13 at my appt so good timing to plan a test. Keeping my fingers crossed for this cycle!

xx

@Sierra26 I was so certain that progesterone was the issue with me that I had them let me do the day 21 progesterone bloods twice as I didn’t trust the first result! My results were good and my GP said he very much doubts it would drop much that quickly. I don’t know why I spot and I’m hoping I won’t need to try and push harder to find out