TTC LONG IRREGULAR CYCLES

[2022hopeful]

Hi all, I have been ttc for 5 months now since stopping the pill 7 months ago. still no luck.

my cycles are really long up to 42 days and also very irregular. I have started to have blood tests, day 3 days normal but day 21 blood test boarderline so far (21 result and told need 28).

Just wanted to discuss with others who have experienced anything similar as it feels lonely at times. I’m not sure what I can do to help. The uncertainty of not ovulating is scary. I naively thought we would get pregnant straight away. I’m 32 so jusy worried I have left it late :) any of your stories would be really helpful or any tips :) thanks

Do you test for ovulation every month?

I have been yet but never get a positive result. However I have missed some days so going to do it consistently this month . I feels pointless when it’s negative all the time

I also had long and irregular cycles after coming off the pill and somehow managed to conceive quite quickly. I found the Clue app helped quite a lot (but I'm sure you've already looked into apps etc). I only started trying at 32, and was also concerned that it would take ages... But it didn't. Hope that's a bit reassuring for you! Xx

Try temping everyday if it's not working well with the opk strips. You can really get a great idea of your cycle and possible ovulation when you have all your temps plotted onto a chart (Fertility Friend app is imo the best)

Also consider asking this in the Conception area of the forum!

I have irregular/long cycles (I think 78 days was my longest when recording it). I started TTC around the same age and it took two years to conceive DD. I tried all sorts of things to try to conceive but the successful cycle was after accupuncture. Whether that actually made a difference or was just a coincidence who knows but I know others who had similar success with it. After 3 years we decided to try for DC2 and ended up with DTs on the second cycle.

It's demoralising and a fucking hard slog OP, I haven't forgotten how difficult each negative test or stupidly long cycle was

I had long irregular cycles too. I was advised to try and change my diet abit to see if it made a difference, and actually reducing the amount of sugar and carbs I had did make a difference. I started to have 36/37 day cycles which is still longish but they was abit more regular. I also started acupuncture and after a few months I got a very surprising bfp. But it took around a year and the drain it took on my mental health was so hard. Good luck to you. Don't give up. Ttc is so blooming tough!

You definitely haven't left it too late. We started ttc when i was 33. Long cycles were the symptom that actually led to my PCOS diagnosis so if you are having blood tests, hopefully this is one of the things they are looking for? Especially if you aren't having positive OPKs. See if you can also get an internal scan to check for cysts (although you can have the syndrom of PCOS without the cysts).

PCOS is heavily affected by weight gain / blood sugar levels so low carb / low sugar helps in the meantime.

Due to no ovulation, we went down the assisted route (metformin + letrozole so no ivf needed) and conceived DD on the 3rd cycle when i was 35 (now 11 months old). If you can get referred to endocrinology or assisted conception, they will be very used to this exact situation. If you don't want to wait, i think a course of letrozole privately was around £1500ish, including all consultations, when we looked a couple of years ago?

Thanks for taking the time to reply it’s appreciated :)

@2022hopeful hiya! I have long irregular cycles verying 40-110 days! I bought an ovusense and started taking some vitamins! I found the ovusense so helpful and the vitamins (myo Insitol, vitamin B & D) seemed to help regulate them sightly! They still weren’t regular but the ovusense proved I ovulated. I followed SMEP and 2 months in after ttc for 17 months, I got pregnant! It’s very early days, I’ve only just found out I’m so happy! Good luck, wishing you the best of luck! It’s so tough having irregular cycles!

I also have long irregular cycles. I've just had my second baby at 35, after having my first at 33.

As with other PPs, it's as a result of PCOS. Cutting down on carbs did help regulate my cycle, but the real game changer was metformin. That got me to a 32 day cycle. I was also on low dose thyroxine as my TSH, while within "normal" range, was a bit too high for TTC according to the fertility doctor. Ultimately, I still wasn't ovulating, so started Clomid and after just one dose, wound up with DC1.

Once I knew I wanted to TTC DC2, I started straight away on metformin. This time I was also taking myo inositol after hearing good things about it on here. And it worked.... DC1 took the better part of 3 years to conceive. DC2, 5 months. Metformin had only just regulated my cycle! I didn't need the thyroxine this time either.

So my advice: cut down on the carbs, see if your GP will prescribe metformin (without a PCOS diagnosis might be a tough ask), see if GP will run TSH bloods (can't remember what you want TSH to be under sorry), make sure you take your vitamins, and look into inositol. Good luck with it all. ❤