Feeling so defeated

[Anonymous]

We've only been trying for about 2 months now but I'm currently on day 56 of my cycle and just feeling overwhelmed and defeated. I've always had irregular cycles but normally along the lines of having a period and then spotting again 2-3 weeks later. I've NEVER gone this long without one. My last period was July 19-25 and I still have not gotten it. I've had no spotting...nothing. I've taken more tests then I can even count and ever single one has been negative. I did have one that I thought had a faint line but every one since then has been negative. I went in for a blood test two weeks ago and that came back negate too. The nurse told me to re test again at the end of this month if I still haven't gotten my period. I took one this morning and still negative so I have no idea what's going on. I've been having weird symptoms on and off. For about 3 days, I had the worst lower back pain and my boobs were so sore. I also was having weird twinges in my lower abdomen and headaches. Most of those have gone away now but my boobs still are a bit sore. Any advice or opinions or whatever would be appreciated because I just don't even know what to think right now.

[Anonymous]

If your cycles are that irregular I would look into Clomid and/or see a reproductive endocrinologist.

Also, you should definitely start tracking using ovulation predictors, if you haven't already. I too have irregular cycles and for me, symptoms for a delayed ovulation (like 2-3 weeks delayed) mirror those of bad PMS or early pregnancy. Very frustrating. But OPKs and temping will tell the truth!

[Anonymous]

Have you had any testing done? Check your thyroid and vitamin D levels. Both of those can mess with your cycles.

[Anonymous]

Go to an RE. My friend had that and she has pcos and other issues. Now oregnant through IVF and going strong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you had any testing done? Check your thyroid and vitamin D levels. Both of those can mess with your cycles.

Op here- last time I had them checked was about 9 months ago. I originally had both checked in October 2015 and my vitamin d was a 13 and my doctor said normal was 30-100. She had me on 1 pill once a week for 12 weeks and then re checked and it was fine.

My thyroid was 5.85 and she told me normal was .35-5. Had me on a pill for 6 weeks and then re checked and was normal.

I guess I can go in and have them re checked again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go to an RE. My friend had that and she has pcos and other issues. Now oregnant through IVF and going strong.

OP here- I was checked for PCOS when I was having crazy bleeding back in the spring and everything came back fine. Had an ultrasound done and everything looked fine. Would an RE help? I was under the impression that no one will really do anything unless you've been trying unsuccessfully for a year. We are also both in our late 20s so still young.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your cycles are that irregular I would look into Clomid and/or see a reproductive endocrinologist.

Also, you should definitely start tracking using ovulation predictors, if you haven't already. I too have irregular cycles and for me, symptoms for a delayed ovulation (like 2-3 weeks delayed) mirror those of bad PMS or early pregnancy. Very frustrating. But OPKs and temping will tell the truth!

Op here- do you think those symptoms could have been a late ovulation? That would have been really late if it was happening around cycle day 50...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your cycles are that irregular I would look into Clomid and/or see a reproductive endocrinologist.

Also, you should definitely start tracking using ovulation predictors, if you haven't already. I too have irregular cycles and for me, symptoms for a delayed ovulation (like 2-3 weeks delayed) mirror those of bad PMS or early pregnancy. Very frustrating. But OPKs and temping will tell the truth!

Op here- do you think those symptoms could have been a late ovulation? That would have been really late if it was happening around cycle day 50...

It's hard to say but the body is crazy, and the only way to know for sure is to temp. Have you read Taking Charge of Your Fertility? If not, get it from the library or order it off Amazon tonight. It explains how to chart so you know what's going on, and how to pinpoint problems that show up in charting.

The latest I have ever ovulated was day 35, and I got pregnant and miscarried. I was eventually diagnosed with various issues, including thyroid, and the RE thought the issues were contributing to late ovulation and related poor egg quality causing multiple miscarriages.

In your case, given that you've had vitamin D and thryoid issues in the past and now apparently have wildly irregular and possibly anovulatory cycles, you should see an RE. It's not true that they won't see you because you are young. You should be ovulating and have reasonably regular cycles regardless of age, and you don't -- that indicates a problem. Insurance may not cover it, but if your issue is something simple like not ovulating, that can be fixed with Clomid or Femara for not very much money. The testing will be expensive if insurance doesn't cover it, however. It's possible your OB can do this testing and prescribe drugs to make you ovulate, too, and perhaps that would be covered. However, if it's anything more complicated than just not ovulating, your OB won't be able to help much. It's a start though.

[Anonymous]

Go see your OB. Probably an RE is a good thought too but start with your OB. The first step would be to see if you are ovulating. Then you can go from there. You can use ovulation predictor kits and start doing them daily to see if you are getting close to ovulation, but with a cycle that long and with TTC, it's probably worth an initial OB trip just to check everything out.

If you have always had irregular cycles, something must be going on. How long are your cycles usually ranging? Having a period and then spotting mid-cycle shouldn't be a common occurrence so it sounds like maybe this has been going on for awhile. Talk to your OB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Go see your OB. Probably an RE is a good thought too but start with your OB. The first step would be to see if you are ovulating. Then you can go from there. You can use ovulation predictor kits and start doing them daily to see if you are getting close to ovulation, but with a cycle that long and with TTC, it's probably worth an initial OB trip just to check everything out.

If you have always had irregular cycles, something must be going on. How long are your cycles usually ranging? Having a period and then spotting mid-cycle shouldn't be a common occurrence so it sounds like maybe this has been going on for awhile. Talk to your OB.

Op here- my cycles were normal up until I was probably 21 and went off the birth control shot. Ever since I went off of that, my cycles were very very sporadic and hard to track. 2 years ago, I went through a period that lasted for SIX months. It would be heavy and then just spotting or light and then back to heavy and that lasted for 6 months. My doctor put me on a progesterone pill (I believe) which stopped it and ever since then it hasn't been as crazy but still not normal. I normally get my period every 4-6 weeks probably. However, sometimes I'll have it for 5-6 days and then it will randomly start again about a week later for a few days. Then it'll start again in 3-4 weeks. They are normally 7 days long, occasionally I've had some last 8-10 days. However, I've never not had a period for THIS long. It's more common for me to get it twice in a 4-6 week period then to not get one for almost 2 months now so I have no idea what's going on. I'm definitely going to get into see my OB to see if she can help with this at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your cycles are that irregular I would look into Clomid and/or see a reproductive endocrinologist.

Also, you should definitely start tracking using ovulation predictors, if you haven't already. I too have irregular cycles and for me, symptoms for a delayed ovulation (like 2-3 weeks delayed) mirror those of bad PMS or early pregnancy. Very frustrating. But OPKs and temping will tell the truth!

Op here- do you think those symptoms could have been a late ovulation? That would have been really late if it was happening around cycle day 50...

It's hard to say but the body is crazy, and the only way to know for sure is to temp. Have you read Taking Charge of Your Fertility? If not, get it from the library or order it off Amazon tonight. It explains how to chart so you know what's going on, and how to pinpoint problems that show up in charting.

The latest I have ever ovulated was day 35, and I got pregnant and miscarried. I was eventually diagnosed with various issues, including thyroid, and the RE thought the issues were contributing to late ovulation and related poor egg quality causing multiple miscarriages.

In your case, given that you've had vitamin D and thryoid issues in the past and now apparently have wildly irregular and possibly anovulatory cycles, you should see an RE. It's not true that they won't see you because you are young. You should be ovulating and have reasonably regular cycles regardless of age, and you don't -- that indicates a problem. Insurance may not cover it, but if your issue is something simple like not ovulating, that can be fixed with Clomid or Femara for not very much money. The testing will be expensive if insurance doesn't cover it, however. It's possible your OB can do this testing and prescribe drugs to make you ovulate, too, and perhaps that would be covered. However, if it's anything more complicated than just not ovulating, your OB won't be able to help much. It's a start though.

Op here- thank you, I'm definitely going to look into that book.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go see your OB. Probably an RE is a good thought too but start with your OB. The first step would be to see if you are ovulating. Then you can go from there. You can use ovulation predictor kits and start doing them daily to see if you are getting close to ovulation, but with a cycle that long and with TTC, it's probably worth an initial OB trip just to check everything out.

If you have always had irregular cycles, something must be going on. How long are your cycles usually ranging? Having a period and then spotting mid-cycle shouldn't be a common occurrence so it sounds like maybe this has been going on for awhile. Talk to your OB.

Op here- my cycles were normal up until I was probably 21 and went off the birth control shot. Ever since I went off of that, my cycles were very very sporadic and hard to track. 2 years ago, I went through a period that lasted for SIX months. It would be heavy and then just spotting or light and then back to heavy and that lasted for 6 months. My doctor put me on a progesterone pill (I believe) which stopped it and ever since then it hasn't been as crazy but still not normal. I normally get my period every 4-6 weeks probably. However, sometimes I'll have it for 5-6 days and then it will randomly start again about a week later for a few days. Then it'll start again in 3-4 weeks. They are normally 7 days long, occasionally I've had some last 8-10 days. However, I've never not had a period for THIS long. It's more common for me to get it twice in a 4-6 week period then to not get one for almost 2 months now so I have no idea what's going on. I'm definitely going to get into see my OB to see if she can help with this at all.

Yes, if your cycles were/are that irregular then you should see your OB and ask her/him about what strategy to use now that you are TTC. It will make trying to conceive tricky without knowing when to expect you would ovulate. If you have a period twice in a 4 to 6 week timeframe it's unlikely that you actually ovulated twice, so it would be important to figure out how often you are ovulating to then figure out when you could get pregnant. When you were on the birth control shot, your periods weren't "real" in the sense that the shot was keeping you from ovulating, so nothing that happened while you were on birth control can be considered your normal. It sounds like you have always had irregular periods. But of course many of us do, so there should be some kind of solution, it just seems like your OB should be looped in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you had any testing done? Check your thyroid and vitamin D levels. Both of those can mess with your cycles.

Op here- last time I had them checked was about 9 months ago. I originally had both checked in October 2015 and my vitamin d was a 13 and my doctor said normal was 30-100. She had me on 1 pill once a week for 12 weeks and then re checked and it was fine.

My thyroid was 5.85 and she told me normal was .35-5. Had me on a pill for 6 weeks and then re checked and was normal.

I guess I can go in and have them re checked again.

The thyroid isn't a take a pill for six weeks and then stop; you'll need to keep taking it. reproductive endrocrinologists like to see TSH between 1 and 2 for TTC, and it shouldn't go over 2.5 in pregnancy. One problem is that pregnancy tends to spike TSH, so that's why you want it under 2 beforehand. Vitamin D also has likely tanked if you are no longer supplementing.

The long cycle with abdomen pain sounds like you might have a functional cyst putting out hormones. They can be uncomfortable/painful, and the hormones completely mess up your cycles. It would be best to see an RE, they can do a sono and other bloodwork such as FSH/LH/E2/Progesterone to try and see where you are in your cycle.