Charting bbt

[Naylor19]

Hello guys,

I started charting my temps this month to try and see if vitex was helping me ovulate. Background history- under fertility clinic due to lack of ovulation. 6 cycle of clomid one pregnancy ended in mmc and now awaiting IUI treatment. Been ttc for nearly 4 years.

So anyway I started taking vitex as we now have months and months until our IUI due to COVID19 and I'm just wondering if anyone can help me make sense of my bbt? Does it looks as though I'm ovulating this month? Cycles usually 32 days, got a positive opk CD17&18 this month.

Should I keep going with vitex or should I give up 🤷🏻‍♀️ just feeling so frustrated with it all!

Thanks in advance for any support!

Do you breathe through your mouth? It doesn't look indicative of ovulation, per say.

If you have a Fitbit, track your resting heart rate. Should see the same pattern: low before ov and higher after.

@physicskate I've been taking my bbt under my armpit rather than in my mouth, is this wrong? On the instructions it said you could do it this way.. 🙈

It's not always at the same time in the morning though as I'm off work at the minute due to covid19 so I've been waking up anytime between 6-8am! Does that make much difference?

Haven't got a Fitbit sadly!

Do you have a diagnosis of the underlying problem?. It seems not. Apart from clomid what other treatment options have been given to you to date?. Has your man here been tested, he certainly should be.

If your cycles are irregular its highly likely that hormonal imbalances are to blame. In this respect a common cause for this is a condition called polycystic ovaries. Have you ever had an internal ultrasound scan done to see what your ovaries look like?.

Personally I would refrain from both OPKs, temp charting now (as you have seen you have ended up with a chart akin to the Rocky Mountains and nigh on impossible to interpret) and the vitex. I say that too as this can make some underlying hormonal problems worse, not better. OPKs are not worth using at all if the menstrual cycle is irregular and they can give false positive results in such circumstances.

I would also ask them about the feasibility of you actually doing IUI at all and question why this has been suggested (well answer is that it is cheap). It's not going to address the problems surrounding ovulation at all.

I would also start looking at other fertility units as well.

You do not need a fitbit either.

@AttilaTheMeerkat I have had various testing as has hubby. My tubes are fine as are ovaries, they diagnosed me as "unexplained infertility" but based my blood work - lack of ovulation due to not seeing an increase when ovulation should of occurred. However only monitored this for two months and my periods used to be all over the place!

The clomid helped regulate my cycles to 28 days and obviously I conceived on it before miscarrying. I was already under Gynaecology as had a cancer scare when I was 19 so been for yearly checks since then. (I'm 26 now)

IUI was suggested as if I went straight for IVF I only get one free round and me and hubby will struggle to self fund treatment if it fails. So they suggested 3 rounds of IUI funded first.

The whole journey has been exhausting so far, and the cancelled IUI last month added to the insult, but I know there's a lot going on with the country at the moment.

Vitex was recommended by lots of others with problems ovulating online, and last month on vitex it regulated my cycle to 32 days and "if" I did ovulate would of lengthened my LP by 4 days.

Unexplained is infact no diagnosis at all; all this means is that they have failed to find out what is wrong. Often it is a diagnosis given to couples when they have not been adequately enough investigated. Do not accept this at all from them.

I would ask them further about having IUI at all because this does not address the problems pertaining to ovulation. Also there does not seem to be male factor issues here so again why is it being suggested?.

What blood tests have you had done to date?. You should have had day 2 (to compare the levels of LH and FSH) and day 21 tests done to measure your progesterone level.

I would ask them a lot of questions re your treatment to date when you next see them. Do not be fobbed off here, you will really need to be persistent in order to get answers.

@AttilaTheMeerkat I did wonder why they didn't monitor whether I was indeed ovulating by myself or not for longer. I had a hsg done and hubby had his sperm tested at the start of investigations. I also had ultrasounds ect to check ovaries and such.

My blood tests were done at the doctors prior to my referral to the fertility clinic. They did have me in twice a month to check progesterone but it was a bit of a 'hit and miss' guess as my cycles then were all over the place so that's why she ended up referring me!

I will defo question this all when I next go in for our appointment. I guess because I was shown to ovulate with clomid (through ultrasound tracking initially the first month) and I managed to conceive the second month that I guessed the lack of ovulation made sense? But thanks for offering another insight into it all!