Does anyone know if there any correlation between relatively light, but regular menses and female infertility/conception challenges?
sure.
Note, PCOS runs in my family, in various forms and not all of us have been diagnosed.
Maternal aunt: light, regular, many miscarriages and difficulty gettting pregnant.
The rest of us are heavy and/or irregular cycles … not all of us are anovulatory (not ovulating) most of us are ooglovulatory (very irregular ovulation).
Is a temperature drop at the right time (ie around day 13/14) followed by a rise in temperature above ‘coverline’ a few days later, a very good sign that ovulation has occurred?
Preliminary hormone tests by a general practioner seem to indicate that the relevant hormones are okay. (Note that the hormone bloodtests were done without taking day of cycle into account and the one hormone (I forget which one) might have been on the low side but the doctor said that that could be affected by day of the cycle (and I believe that the levels did seem consistent with the day of the cycle which was day 1)
If ovulation is occurring and assuming no problems with fallopian tubes/sperm, I was wondering in a light menses indicates an endometrium that the blastocyst cannot embed into (assuming that a blastocyst exists)
The right time is when they body gets around to it. I generally am a very late ovulator, with my last two cycles having varied ovulation … day 40 something, then day 19 (I caught the day 19 egg). My pregnancy buddy regularly ovulated on day 19 and didn’t realise it till I taught her to chart.
I assume by “temperature” you’re speaking of basal body temperature, taken under the correct (early morning, same time, no getting out of bed first, freshly woken after 3+hours sleep) circumstances, right?
And the levels can vary from woman to woman. My particular PCOS variation is HAIRPN, and my FSH and LSH were swapped when I was tested (I was tested in february and hadn’t mensturated since like May when I’d gone off of the pill) and I have elevated testosterone levels.
Also, you might need to see if your practicioner considers your menses light … and if you are charting to determine ovulation, they can also ultrasound you and measure the thickness of the lining to determine if it’s “thick enough” though the exact meausrements on that are not clear to me (what is acceptable and unacceptable).
Two good sources for you might be Taking Charge of Your Fertility (which teaches you how to chart, so you might not need it, if you buy it used, get the most recent revision) or tcoyf.com where you can buy their charting software, or use the free software at www.fertilityfriend.com (be warned they “archive” aka delete posts after a couple of months so save to your hard drive anything you want to keep).
also, ymmv, but not everyone has a significant temperature drop before ovulation, nor do they all have an elevated temperature above the coverline right away … some of us are low risers.
There are lots of charts at FF.com that might demonstrate that, but I don’t know for certain.
I would suggest you read Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler. It really help clear up any question you might have.
There’s supposed to be an “also” in that post. Sorry about that. 
DeVena, I’ve read it cover to cover a couple of times, and it doesn’t quite cover this far aspect of it. It touches briefly on PCOS and infertilty, but not much. 
It mostly assumes your body is working within certain parameters.
Yup … I mean basal, taken before getting out of bed, etc … and I have the book "taking charge…’. And for about a year I kept up the charts (I made excel spreadsheets based on the book) on my home PC. For the past 6 months, I haven’t bothered with charting because of the regularity of my previous charts and some degree of ‘giving up’
I’ve never been diagnosed as PCOS and I know from an ‘ooops’ when I was 18 I was certainly ovulating then and that things were apparently in working order (but I certainly didn’t go to term … please no moralizing). However, that was 18 years ago.
Oh … and my husband was also ‘proven’ in the past … he has kids from a previous marriage.
Although I’ve heard some anecdotal evidence related to not being able to concieve after an abortion, I’ve seen no hard data one way or another.
I’d take your charts to a Reproductive Endocrinologist or an OB/GYN who deals with fertility problems. You’ve been trying for a year and there is no reason for them to not pursue other avenues, such as a second screening of your hormones, a review of the original test, and to begin uterine lining measurement/observation.
Do you have a short luteal phase? That also might be a problem that can be easily corrected with some progesterone supplements.
Assuming the I have correctly assessed ovulation with the temperature drop and general sliminess (sorry for the grossness), my menses occurs 13 to 14 days later. I have been concerned about the luteal phase though because my temperature takes a few days to get above coverline. I wondered if that had any implication on the luteal phase.
(Also I haven’t seen very significant spinnbarkeit - like in the book where you can stretch the stuff - but there is definite increase in sliminess, breast sensitivity, and shall we say 'more pronounced interest in activities around the temperature drop).
I mentioned my concerns to my GP in the winter when I went in for a pulled back muscle. He sent me for the blood/hormone tests as my annual physical was a couple months away. When I went in for my physical, he said the hormond tests looked normal and I’m very healthy so he suggested I wait for another 6 months (1 year of trying had already past). If nothing happened in 6 months, then go back to see him -
I’m just having a hard time picking up the phone and making an appointment. I think it’s a combination embarrassment and hopefulness that something will happen on its own. Maybe I’m afraid of what the results will be.
The book helped clear up a lot of grey areas that I had. It put things in perspective for me.
If your temps are erratic, charting isn’t going to do any good anyway. If they are regular, small lag then spike, that would be ovulation (or at least an attempt). I’d definately ask your gyn about testing your hormone levels at the temp rise. See if you’re actually ovulating.
Charting did no good for me - and I went through years of various and assundry fertility drugs to no success. (We were using artificial insemination, and had to REALLY schedule when ovulation hit.) The only thing that worked was actually having a blood test to see if I had ovulated.
Now one of my friends had a baby at 16 - she’s now 38 and has found out that she has PCOS. Going on a diabetes drug has helped her ovulate (Starts with a G, can’t remember right now.) She’s on the injections now, and has lost 1 pregnancy, but is still trying.
Good Luck!
Thanks for the advice. Maybe I’ll try one of those Ovulator Predictor Kits while I’m waiting to see a doctor. (I live in Ontario … it can be a long wait to get into your GP for a checkup, let alone a specialist. (My GP is not a gyn so I need a referral).
Can you phone in for a referral?
OPKs … since you are on a regular cycle, you can probably try the five pack pee on a stick you get at a druggists, or order a mess of them from twoweekwait.com (they come without splashguards).
Yeah, if the cervical fluid is stretchy, then it’s possibly safe to assume it’s behaving in other ways correctly as well.
Other thoughts to consider might be that even though he and your fertility were fine back then, it might not be now. Things do change.
I’d say phone for the appointment, just to get one, and go from there … if something happens in the mean time you can always cancel.
And if you don’t want to layout the dough for the OPKs, get a microscope and check your ferns. I bought The Donna but it didn’t do me much good … my fingers are fat and I wasn’t ovulating at all. Took a round or two of Provera to force me along, and some Clomid to get me ovulating.
If my ovulation in Nov didn’t catch, my insane GYN was going to put me on Gloucophage/Metaformin (which is DUMB because that’s for if you aren’t ovulating … which I obviously was … ) … it’s a diabetes drug that helps with insulin resistance (I’m insulin resistant as well, very mild, it’s part of the PCOS and weight problem … they all are tied together and feed off of each other).
Are you sure you’d have to wait and see him for a checkup? You don’t have a cold or maybe some itching that might be an undiagnosed female problem you need to see him for sooner? And get the referral then?
I probably don’t need to wait for a checkup but since it would be a non-emergency appointment, I’m sure there would be a wait. So I better call soon (or pull another muscle to get in quicker).
I can’t remember reading about ferns in the Toni W book - what are they? Is the Donna a Microscope?
sorry, I meant about the ferning patterns in your saliva. Look in the index for “ferning”.
I think there are some herbs I’ve heard of women taking to do this or that, but I’ve always been leery of self-medicating with highly unregulated medicines.
Oh, and the donna is just a lipstick tube with a teeny microscope and slides. I bought a kid’s microscope intending to just do it that way once I started taking the fertility drugs but we never got around to it (I caught on my second cycle, about nine months after we started trying)