Thin lining

[XjustagirlX]

Has anyone ever experienced having a thin lining and do you have any advice to help thicken it up?

My doctor basically said there is nothing they can do for a thin lining but I’m hoping that someone has some advice.

A few things I have learnt from my ttc journey

• rest during period and conserve energy, that's when you're body is most deficient
• eat lots of foods that replenish blood during your period - like black pudding, beetroot, pate, shellfish, leafy green veg, red meat
• try yoga inversions or legs up against the wall daily - really good for circulation. Hip opening stretches also good
• try acupuncture for this specifically - they'd be able to help with this

I've gone from light and short (3 days) period with mostly dark blood to 5 days with much more fresh red blood, which is good for lining and doctor said I had a triple layer whatever that means. Of course none of these things might be responsible but I've definitely had major improvement over the last year

Good luck and baby dust x

I believe progesterone supplementation is for thickening endometrium and supporting implantation.

@XjustagirlX how thin is it? Mine was thin during my last IVF cycle (about 5mm) but the doctor wasn't overly concerned because it was triple layer appearance

@TTCIVF it was 3mm at CD10. He said he could see the three layers.

@indub I’ve got progesterone supplements for the next time I’m pregnant so hopefully that will help.

@farfromperfect82 I’ve just started acupuncture so will see. I’ll try the legs up against the wall that sounds quite relaxing actually.

@XjustagirlX I'm having FET next and they're going to use progynova and evorel patches to try and get the lining a bit thicker but if not then he's not too worried - triple layer is more important

@TTCIVF that’s reassuring. I panicking as my consultant said they won’t even do ivf unless lining was 6mm so it made me think that Ivf wasn’t even a possibility. And he said there was nothing to thicken it.

I ovulated 1 week later so hopefully it thickened up a bit in that week.

@XjustagirlX your doctor sounds useless is he/she just a GP? I’ve been diagnosed with thin lining and I’m being treated at a fertility clinic. Can be a number of reasons for it. Have you ever had any surgeries D&C’s or infections? If so it can happen due to scarring. If that’s the case they usually do something called a hysteroscopy I think. Then they can remove any scarring they find with surgery if that’s what’s causing the issue. It can also be a blood flow problem. They can check for this on a scan I think and exercise can help as well as supplements like vitamin E and L’arginin. Raspberry leaf tea. Caster oil packs etc. Usually though it’s down to insufficient levels of estrogen. Have you have a blood test to check your day 2/3 estrogen levels? Estrogen therapy is what they give you to thicken the lining either pills or patches or both. If you do this though you usually need to do IVF to conceive as when the estrogen level is too high you won’t ovulate naturally. I’ve just done my estrogen challenge. My lining did respond it grew from 4mm on day 12 to 6.9mm on day 11 of treatment. So doc is happy to do IVF based on those results. Lots of natural things you can do to improve it I also do acupuncture and use chinese herbs to help but no matter what natural thongs I’ve tried my boxy needed super doses of estrogen to thicken my lining. My estrogen levels were actually in the normal range but for some reason my lining doesn’t respond. I think my issue is due to long term use of the pill although my doctor denies it! Good luck baby dust to you

@Tinkertailor88 it was my consultant at my hycosy appointment. He has booked me in for a hysteroscopy to see if there is any scarring.

I’ve never had and D&Cs or surgeries.

I’ve had my day 2-4 bloods done twice. One last cycle and one in December 2019. My results were within the normal range though.

I’ve just started acupuncture so will see if it helps. I have had three early miscarriages this year at around 6weeks so it is implanting but then for some reason not sticking.

I keep reading online that it might be long term use of the pill. I was on microgynon fit 11 years.

Oh I see. Strange for the consultant to say there’s nothing can be done. Unless they meant nothing that can be done this cycle. Yes only a handful of doctors will agree that long term pill use can cause this problem. My acupuncturist talks about the fact our body is flooded with synthetic estrogen for so long the estrogen receptors end up needing to be overstimulated to respond. Which does seem to be the case for me. I’ve no other reasons for thin lining I conceived my teenage sons no problem and used to have totally normal periods. I’ve no other issues I ovulate I’m regular I have good ovaries apparently but my lining just won’t thicken! Frustrating issue to have. And yes the IVF clinics generally prefer 8mm or above although some will transfer at 7mm occasionally over 6mm in cases of recurrent thin lining. My clinic have just had successful pregnancy with another patient at 6.6mm. Good luck to you hope you get this resolved. So sorry to hear about your miscarriages. I assume you’ve had progesterone levels checked too on day 21? I have spotting in the luteal phase and found I have low progesterone too so generally my hormones aren’t playing. I’ve never got to the implantation stage never had a BFP since coming off the pill this time but I suspect with my progesterone issue and thin lining I would be highly likely to miscarry if I managed it anyway. Hence our decision to go straight to IVF I’m 36 and my DH is 44 so time isn’t on our side really. He doesn’t want to be too much closer to 50 if he can help it!

I have thin lining problems. I had acupuncture in the past but at the moment I'm trying to stay away from people due to Covid so not doing it. I'm being given extra estrogen and progesterone (I'm not sure if it's both or one of them to help with lining). I'm taking vitamin e too. Doctor said sometimes they prescribe viagra as it helps with blood flow to the uterus. I've done fertility yoga before - I should start again as I'm doing an egg collection round at the mo. No idea if any of this actually helps!
I had a FET cycle cancelled in august as my body just didn't respond to the estrogen for unknown reasons. It's so frustrating. I hope you see a more helpful doctor.

@Tinkertailor88 that is so interesting about the receptors. Yes I’ve had two day 21 bloods done. The first result was 34 and the second one was 65. So quite different results.

@seven201 I’m having acupuncture this cycle. I’ve read about viagra but not tried it. Next time I see my doctor I’m going to mention all of these tips and hopefully he will help.

I also have a thin lining. 4.9mm on day 10 scan today. I'm being scanned again on Friday. Worried it's not enough time to thicken. I'm just on progynova, hoping to 4 tablets per day today. I'm hoping it will make the difference. I didn't get over 5 on my last cycle of stims.

@BewilderedBee you may be ok but if not ask if they will give you patches as well

Thanks @TTCIVF. Did you manage to do a transfer after your fresh cycle? X

@BewilderedBee I didn't that time because I was embryo banking xx