No period after surgery while trying to conceive at 36

[Catmadwatts]

Hi everyone,

I’m 36 (turning 37 soon) and my partner is 38, based in the UK. We started trying to conceive after I had my coil removed in October 2025. Because I didn’t have periods on the coil, I’ve been trying to understand my natural cycles since then.

My cycle lengths after removal were:
• October: 24 days
• November: 26 days
• December: 23 days
• January: 25 days

My last period started on 30th January, and I’m currently on day 65 of this cycle with no period.

Since January, I’ve had a few health issues:
• January: HALO procedure for haemorrhoids
• February: Hospitalised for 8 days
• ERCP procedure for a stuck bile duct stone
• Diagnosed with gallstones
• Gallbladder removal on 26th February

Since then, I haven’t had a period and have no idea if or when I ovulated. We’ve been having sex every 4–5 days. I’ve taken multiple pregnancy tests (both in hospital and at home), all negative.

I was initially taking Centrum Conception vitamins but have recently switched to OvaHer fertility vitamins.

We haven’t quite reached 6 months of trying yet, but I’m starting to worry:
• Is it normal for my cycle to disappear like this after surgery/illness?
• Should I be doing something to kick-start my cycle?
• Is it too early to seek fertility help given my age?
• Would you recommend seeing a gynaecologist now?

I’m also concerned about timing due to my age and whether the NHS would support us if we needed help.

For context, we’ve been together 9 years and only recently decided we’re ready to start a family.

Any advice, similar experiences, or reassurance would be really appreciated. Thank you so much for reading 💛

In December I had a missed/delayed period resulting in a 45 day cycle - I had been through a stressful time due to my Dad having a stroke.

I happened to be going to the GP for something else and raised this, they said stress is a huge factor on our cycles and that this was perfectly normal.

I also said to the GP I was concerned that I now had no idea when my ovulation had been/would be - they told me to completely forget about this and focus on having sex every 2-3 days. This seemed to work for us as we fell pregnant after my February cycle but sadly ended in an ectopic.

It sounds like you’ve been through an awful lot recently so this could be the explanation, but it wouldn’t do any harm making an appointment with your GP. I felt reassured after speaking to mine and they also told me that if we were struggling to conceive after a year to come back to talk about future options and tests, it felt good to know I was “in the system” as such.

Hope this helps xx