# Help! What's happened to my cycle?



## fiorella69 (Mar 23, 2011)

Morning all!

I'm wondering whether any of you can help? I guess I'm after a bit of hand-holding. Am currently TTC #2 naturally at the age of 44 and am absolutely paranoid about the menopause suddenly hitting me. 

Have been using the ClearBlue Fertility Monitor (CBFM) for years. Suddenly this month I have got to day 10 and no sign of high fertility, and I don't have any of the normal physical signs either. Normally AF finishes and when I do my first test on CD6 or 7 it's showing high fertility. I didn't think this was anything special until this cycle when it's just staying at 'low'. 

I feel pretty hollow at the moment. I'd always thought my cycle was irregular (how little did I know back then!!), but actually varied little between 24-26 days. In case you don't have any experience of the CBFM (though it's not entirely relevant to my problem is just highlighting it), you tend to get a 'high' reading for about 4-5 days before 2 peak ovulation days.

I've recently started AngelBump's protocol again. Don't know if it's that. Also still BF a two year old.  Also taking Acai. Don't suppose it's that? I feel rather pre-menstrual as well as hollow. Any ideas? Really looking for some support!

FF


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## yoyobella (Oct 13, 2012)

Dear fiorella69,

I have been exactly in the same position as you on and off this year. I am also 44 and have been using the cbfm for almost 2 years.

I always look at the lines on the cbfm stick. If you hold the "wet" end (with cap on, of course!) in your right hand, the first line on the left tests your E2 (estroidal?) and will get LIGHTER as your E2 rises . The second line tests your LH and will get darker when this rises and peaks.

These lines are what the monitor reads and tracks your cycle. Maybe you can have a look at your sticks and see if they can tell you anything.

I have had months where I have no E2 rise (so the line on left stays dark) or LH surge but my temperature says I have ovulated. And I have had months where even my temps are all over the place.

I have had a month of thrush (sorry tmi!) which I have put down to an imbalance of progesterone (not enough estrogen to counter it)

Like you I have been very worried that this could be the end of the road.... I have talked to my consultant about my concerns and he says not to worry as my menopause is a long way off yet. I am not sure how he knows this, but I am hoping that someone with his experience knows what he is talking about. In the past when things have been not normal for me, he has said that it is likely a temporary thing.

I do not have answers for you, but I wanted you to know that you are not alone and to keep your hope.

I recently had my first round of medicated IVF. I was meant to have a 2nd go at natural ivf, but my baseline scan and blood tests were the best they have been for two years so we decided to go for it. This was after all the worry and hormonal wackiness from the previous months. I responded very well and we have managed to bank 2 blasts and will have another go at a medicated cycle before we transfer (if my body cooperates!)

So I think my doctor is right that things can be so different from month to month. So don't lose hope.

I read this somewhere, and it has, in a way, comforted me when I start to feel really down.

"Everything will be OK in the end. If it's not OK, it's not the end!"

Please look after yourself and let us know how you are doing.

Big hugs

yo


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## fiorella69 (Mar 23, 2011)

Hi Yoyo

Thank you so much for replying. I really appreciate it as I was getting pretty upset watching the numbers of views of my thread increase and the replies staying at zero. I'd had a long, tiring day yesterday so it was great to finally collapse on the sofa and read your message. Not only a reply, but a very helpful one too!

So I tested this morning and the reading is still low, which is a disappointment because I finally had some CM (there's been a complete lack of itso far this month), so I’d been hoping to see a ‘high’ reading. I checked the stick too as you suggested, but it seems to tally with the monitor. I will get some ov sticks as well though just to back up the CBFM readings if I am in any doubt. Will also start temping. Never really felt the need before. My husband had wondered whether the batteries needed changing in the monitor, but again, I think it’s not that. 

It's great to hear your consultant says you're a long way off menopause yet. Must be very reassuring. Also interesting that things can vary so much from month to month. I feel a little sad that we didn't manage to make more of some of my better cycles this year, but I do feel much better already from reading your post and have something to hope for still.

I am wondering what this cycle will end up like. Do you find your cycle stays the same length when you don’t get ‘high’ or ‘peak’ readings? My cycles is normally 24/25 days and it’s CD14 now. Just wonder if it’s all downhill from now??!!  I feel utterly exhausted and somewhat pre-menstrual too. Has that been the same for you?

It looks like you are on quite a TTC journey. Where are you being treated? I am trying to figure out what my next best move is.  I wonder if Clomid might be the answer, but will have to wean DS first. 

Good luck and thank you! I hope you’ll let me know a bit more about how you’re doing.

F xx


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## fiorella69 (Mar 23, 2011)

Just a little post from me again. CBFM says it's a peak today| Hooray| Very strange to go straight from low to peak, but there you go| Is better than lots of high readings and no ovulation. I should have trusted my instincts yesterday. Was having ov pains, which I thought were early AF pains.


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## yoyobella (Oct 13, 2012)

Dear fiorella69,

That's great news! I am so glad things seem to have come back to normal for you. It's so hard not worry especially when all of this can be so confusing and stressful. I have read from others using the cbfm that going from low straight to peak is not that unusual. I am so relieved for you and hope this was just a little blip.

I would recommend trying BBT (temping). It's a way for you to know for sure if you are ovulating or not. It's a little bit of nuisance remembering to take your temperature before getting out of bed every morning, and sometimes it's really hard to read/understand the charts. But for me it helped and made me feel like I was a little more in control and understood my body better. If you're interested have a look at www.fertilityfriend.com. There's loads of info and you can set up an account that let's you chart online.

My cycles are similar in length to yours, around 25-26 days normally with my usual peak on the cbfm around day 10. But things this year have been a little less than the usual.

I had a go at natural IVF in April and although the whole experience was a disaster, it was really interesting to have all the testing and scans done while I was not on any drugs. It was good to see what my body did naturally. During that cycle my body was very sluggish to start. Which worried me. Normally, not long after my AF finishes, my body is all ready showing signs of increasing fertility. My consultant told me this was pretty common in older women. We have all ready started follicle development early (during the end of the luteal phase). Almost like overlapping of cycles. This is why we tend to have shorter cycles overall, as the luteal phase usually remains constant (12-14 days).

In your second post you mentioned you wanted to try clomid but you are still breast-feeding.

My first ever IUI was with clomid and although it is very cheap and very effective for a lot of women, it did nothing for me. I only managed 1 follicle with it, and I think I could have done this with out the drug. But it is worth a try. It may work for you.

Another thing.... after your post, I was doing a little research into reasons for delayed ovulation. Stress was a common factor, as well as hormone imbalances. But one that I thought I should mention to you, is breast feeding. I came across a few websites that even recommended it as a way of NOT getting pregnant. But I think if your periods have returned that maybe it's ok?

I totally understand how you feel about all of this. I am healthy, look and feel young and before I started this fertility journey I thought all of this would be a cakewalk. I never thought it would be this hard and I feel like such an idiot for taking my youth for granted and waiting so long. It is scary when these changes are happening and I am forever fearing the worst. So full of regret.

I am at the CRGH clinic. And yes, things have been a roller coaster, but nothing compared to some of the ladies here.

I hope you and DH are feeling more relaxed now and wish you baby dust!!!!

take care,

yo

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## fiorella69 (Mar 23, 2011)

Hi Yoyo

How are you doing? I just wanted to thank you for your thoughtful and helpful posts. Especially helpful is the info about the luteal phase. Bearing that in mind I won't even bother to do a test until I am well past the 26/28 day mark, so I still have a few days to go. Am honestly not that optimistic now, though I had been a bit earlier this week. Feeling crampy and PMT-ey, so I don't think it's our month. Never mind, I will keep taking the supps. I know someone who thinks it takes about 3 months before they really kick in. 

Interesting to consider how the cycles overlap at our age. Perhaps I should ditch that consoling glass of wine when AF turns up!

BF has been a constant frustration. DS has a cows milk allergy which took a while to diagnose. He was weaning well onto formula past 6 months, but while the allergy was sorted out he became utterly addicted to BF!! And remains that way even now!! But, he's doing well, so I try to go with what's best for him. I think he's slowly cutting down some more... It's meant that any more IVF is out of the question for the time being. Honestly though, I don't fancy doing IVF again if I can avoid it.

I have definitely chilled out a lot now, so thank you for the hand-holding as I had a few dark days until you answered. 

How's it all going for you? Wishing you all the best and lots of sticky baby dust.

F xx


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## yoyobella (Oct 13, 2012)

Dear fiorella69,

I'm glad to hear that I could help in some small way....

I have heard too that it takes around 3 months for the benefit to be felt with supplements, etc. I hope all the vitamins etc help! I have been taking them for years and spent a fortune, so I have to believe they are helping!

Regarding BF, I can see your dilemma. You need to put the needs of your DS above all. I am sorry to hear that he has a cow's milk allergy. Is it something he will grow out of? It must have been very stressful and upsetting before they found the cause. Can he drink other milk, like goats milk?  I've seen it in the supermarkets occasionally.

I definitely have my dark days, too! I have been through a few treatments now, as well as, many months of trying naturally. Time is slipping away and the horrible irony is everything on the fertility front takes so much longer at our age. I sometimes feel so hopeless.

I have a wonderful friend who has been a great support to me. She is a little older than us and years back went through her own fertility journey, which sadly was unsuccessful. I sometimes feel so guilty and selfish talking to her about my problems, as I'm sure it brings back painful memories and regret for her. But she has been an amazing friend and I think I would have gone mad if it wasn't for her.

She tells me I am braver and stronger than she was going through all of this. I guess I don't see it that way. I often believe I am just a hard headed idiot who would prefer to ignore the facts and statistics that let go of my desperate hope.

And the report this month for me is another strange one. The first week this month I started my second go of medicated ivf treatment. But my body this round has decided not to play ball. I was not responding very well to the drugs so we decided to cancel. I had a rough time last weekend after the disappointment, but I know I need to let my body rest a little more.

BTW I have been using the cbfm and this month, guess what, my readings went from low straight to peak, too! It's funny how this just happened to you, too and we were just talking about it!!! A little spooky maybe?

Just read back and what an epic! Sorry for babbling so much!!!!

I hope you are well!!

big hug

yo


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## fiorella69 (Mar 23, 2011)

Hi Yoyobella

Been meaning to reply for a while, but have been caught up with some family business.

Tell me about how much the supps cost!! I dread to think how much mine would have been without the 'buy one, get one half price' at Holland and Barrett.

I do agree with you that DS's needs come first, but I have just about had enough of BF now and he's not going to give up on it willingly!! He can drink Oat Milk. I tried goats milk and soy but he reacted to those too. 

It's good to have someone you can share the fertility journey with. My friends with children the same age as DS who I talk to about trying for number 2 can be good to talk to about it, but they're all about 7 years younger, and I don't tell them how old I am. It makes me laugh when they tell me that they think time is running out now they're in their later 30s!!

I am sorry to hear you had to cancel the IVF treatment. I hope you've bounced back some more?

I thought I'd get some back-up OP sticks this cycle. I stupidly got the most fancy digital CB ones instead of the cheaper, simpler tests. So I got a smiley face on the back-up stick on CD7 and a low on the CBFM. I forgot to test yest, but this morning I got another high on the back-up stick and the CBFM wouldn't let me test at all but said fertility was low. I guess I need to get a new CBFM as this one is years old.

Anyway, am tired, so bed for me. I will be mulling over my ideas to cut sugar from diet. I've heard from so many sources now that insulin can muck up fertility hormones.

TTFN

FF xx


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## fiorella69 (Mar 23, 2011)

An update from yest, as I now realise I have been a bit stupid!!! I suppose you need to read the instructions more carefully than I did!! I thought the spare stick reader was broken, then I read that the smiley face stays on the screen for two days when you're at peak fertility. So now I know!! Am hoping the CBFM is just malfunctioning due to user error this month too!! Hey ho!!


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## yoyobella (Oct 13, 2012)

dear fiorella69,

i am sorry to hear you are still having trouble with your cbfm. whenever i have had a question about the machine, i call the helpline. the ladies are usually pretty helpful and can maybe you talk you through figuring out why you monitor is not working. if you don't have your little booklet anymore i can maybe hunt mine out and get the phone number for you.

sometimes all this technology that is meant to help just makes us more crazy!!!

afm, i went in yesterday for my baseline scan and also had my fsh and e2 tested. i was hoping to get a call from my dr to discuss if we are good to go, but i never got a call. I did leave the clinic with the meds, just in case, but out of insecurity and nervousness of another cancelled cycle, i did not do the injections last night. and now today i am worried that maybe i should have, just in case, and now i have ruined my chances this cycle. i feel so lost a lot of the time with all this and just wish we all had a crystal ball!!

well, let me know how you are and if you would like me to get the cbfm helpline number....

i agree it is so so so good to have people that know how you feel to chat to.

big hugs...

yo

x


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