How can I lengthen my luteal phase?

[germanshepforever]

I am ttc #2 however my luteal phase is only 7 days since my periods came back after breastfeeding my daughter 4 months ago. I have had blood tests and they say my prolactin levels are 376 (which dr said is perfect for ttc) however they won’t do anything for a short luteal phase until It has been 12 months, so I was thinking is there anything I can do myself to lengthen it in order to support a pregnancy, I’ve heard some vitamins can be helpful and wondered if anyone had any advice or experiences of this. Thanks :)

I should say, I am still breastfeeding around 2 times in the night and whenever she wants to in the day, so I’m a bit confused how breastfeeding could be affecting luteal phase if my prolactin levels are considered normal for a none pregnant woman? Any advice would be great my dr was very vague and just told me until I’ve been trying for 12 months they won’t do anything else for me

I think you are overthinking it. I don’t know what breastfeeding affects but it can act as a contraceptive. I’d suggest stop worrying, enjoy yourself and it will probably happen. I know that’s easy for someone else to say though.

Vitamin B6 can help, I've been taking it and my cycles got slightly longer but they may also have been impacted by breastfeeding and going on and off the pill. But it's worth a try!

@Sa11yCinnamonhey! Thankyou i
was sure i had read somewhere that b6 can help so i will get some of that and hope for the best! Trying to night ween my lo as well but is proving a lot harder than I expected

@germanshepforever hehe same, I only feed at bedtime now but he is NOT for dropping it! Good luck 😊

Accupuncture helped lengthen mine. It quickly went from 9-10 days to 12 days. Might have been coincidence but mine had been on the shorter side for a very long time before I started accupuncture.

13 months between my older sister and I. Breastfeeding is NOT a contraceptive!

4 months PP is way too soon to gauge the normal return of your luteal phase length. Time is your intervention here. Let it pass.

@Didimumhi sorry I mean I am 16 months pp but my periods came back 4 months ago :)

I’ve noticed the same from taking women’s vitamins with b complex and inositol.

No kids or pill for me but my cycles are quite short so felt like I was always on my period! Taking vits increased my cycle by 3 days

It's not a guarenteed contraceptive, you wouldn't want to rely on it but if you are trying to conceive and aren't its a possibility.

Agnus castus

Quite simply - progesterone is what you need. Give it a while and then if still 7days see the Dr who may need to refer you. I suffered from this too when trying TTC No2 it was the only thing that worked wasted a fortune on acupuncture, reflexology, random pills and concoctions.

Look up agnus castus, AKA Vitex. You’d need to check about taking it whilst BF though

It worked for me too. I don’t think it was a coincidence, cycles were like clockwork and lengthened after a couple of weeks of acupuncture, went back to the same length when I finished the acupuncture. Didn’t help me conceive though unfortunately.