No LH surge?

[Anonymous]

We lost a pregnancy around 21 weeks about 3 months ago. Afterward, I got my period about 7 weeks later. I’ve been tracking my cycle with premom LH strips, which I’ve used successfully previously, testing LH levels daily in the late afternoon as you’re supposed to. It seems that I did not have an LH surge this past cycle. I did have fertile CM, though. I am wondering if anyone knows some reasons for not having an LH surge, or if this has happened to anyone else. I do not have a history of PCOS.

[Anonymous]

Are you testing your entire cycle?

[Anonymous]

I'm so sorry for your loss. It's entirely possible your hormones are still getting back to normal and you're not ovulating consistently yet. Anovulatory cycles are pretty common in general, and much more common after birth or a late loss like yours. You could also have false surges, where the hormones start going up for ovulation, but then drop before ovulation happens and rise again later. No way to know unless you're being monitored.

You can get bloodwork (progesterone specifically) and an ultrasound to confirm ovulation if you're curious, or maybe just give it a few more months to see if things get back on track on their own. You can also get over the counter progesterone test strips that are supposed to be able to confirm ovulation. Last I heard they were expensive and not as reliable as LH or HCG strips, but that may have changed in the last few years. https://www.amazon.com/Proov-PdG-Progesterone-Metabolite-FDA-Cleared/dp/B08B698TDW/ref=pd_lpo_121_t_0/140-6105554-5776155?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B08B698TDW&pd_rd_r=c60fb306-4caa-444a-99f6-51715d0271aa&pd_rd_w=thlAb&pd_rd_wg=ls94L&pf_rd_p=7b36d496-f366-4631-94d3-61b87b52511b&pf_rd_r=Q21Z7ZZ3AEWZ8JFTGQFE&psc=1&refRID=Q21Z7ZZ3AEWZ8JFTGQFE

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you testing your entire cycle?

OP here- yes, testing entire cycle, mainly to have as much data as possible for if my OB wants to bring me in for workup

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm so sorry for your loss. It's entirely possible your hormones are still getting back to normal and you're not ovulating consistently yet. Anovulatory cycles are pretty common in general, and much more common after birth or a late loss like yours. You could also have false surges, where the hormones start going up for ovulation, but then drop before ovulation happens and rise again later. No way to know unless you're being monitored.

You can get bloodwork (progesterone specifically) and an ultrasound to confirm ovulation if you're curious, or maybe just give it a few more months to see if things get back on track on their own. You can also get over the counter progesterone test strips that are supposed to be able to confirm ovulation. Last I heard they were expensive and not as reliable as LH or HCG strips, but that may have changed in the last few years. https://www.amazon.com/Proov-PdG-Progesterone-Metabolite-FDA-Cleared/dp/B08B698TDW/ref=pd_lpo_121_t_0/140-6105554-5776155?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B08B698TDW&pd_rd_r=c60fb306-4caa-444a-99f6-51715d0271aa&pd_rd_w=thlAb&pd_rd_wg=ls94L&pf_rd_p=7b36d496-f366-4631-94d3-61b87b52511b&pf_rd_r=Q21Z7ZZ3AEWZ8JFTGQFE&psc=1&refRID=Q21Z7ZZ3AEWZ8JFTGQFE

Thank you, I didn’t realize it can be common to have anovulatory cycles after a loss. That makes sense. I’ll read some more about the progesterone strips and might try these