Short LP

[shaolin2010]

Hi there. Has anyone been in this situation? I've been ttc for over a year and in that time my luteal phase has never been longer than 10 / 11 days. I'm pretty sure I am ovulating as I've been using clear blue opks and tracking temps via ovusense. I met with a consultant recently who looked at my day 21 bloods and decided that I should go on Clomid to to help me ovulate (as progesterone was on the low side 7 dpo). I questioned if the issue was progesterone and not that I wasnt actually ovulating but he more or less dismissed a short LP as even being a 'thing'. This seems contrary to what I've read. I'm concerned that I'm now taking clomid whereas I think my issue is low progesterone. Has anyone been prescribed progesterone or had issues dealing with a short LP?

[Hidden]

I was charting as contraception for a while before trying to conceive and knew my leutal phase was on the shorter side. I managed to get it up a couple of days with acupuncture . I was also told I wasnt ovulating every month as my progesterone was but on the low side , which I wasn't convinced about. The Clomid cycles, however, did give me a boost overall with the progesterone levels. My issue was that my FSH was high and my AFC & AMH was low and the consultant at the IVF clinic said Clomid was the wrong drug for me. It can work though. So it might be worth considering . Good luck

[shaolin2010 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for responding perhaps I should see how this cycle goes with clomid. I guess its impossible to know what the 'right' approach is as everyones situation is unique. I did see another consultant through the NHS last week, after seeing the first consultant privately, who said clomid was not the approach she'd recommend! Confusing!

[LCharlton]

I have a short luteal phase, 10 days, though my progesterone isn't low - I spent the first year ttc stressing out about it, but when we finally got tested it turned out my husband has huge fertility issues that meant we were never going to be able to conceive without ICSI. Whereas I seem to be basically fine. In retrospect I think I stressed way too much about my short luteal phase and in my case it's just how my body is and not actually a problem. Everyone's different though x

[shaolin2010 in reply to LCharlton]

Thanks LCharlton. I think there is an element of going down a rabbit hole googling short LP and working myself up about it! My husband's results have all come back as being quite good so I think the issue is with me. I have another appointment with my consultant next week so that gives me an opportunity to raise any concerns x

[Sunshine92]

I have a short luteal ohase and tried both letrozole (to stimulate ovulation earlier to try and lengthen luteal phase) and progesterone after confirmed ovulation from follicle tracking scans. Neither worked for me in isolation but i didnt try them together. We were otherwised unexplained infertility because like you, hubbys results were spot on.

We got pregnant via our second round of ivf in the end. I’m still hopeful that I may one day conceive naturally though.

I tried acupuncture, herbs, reflexology and womb massage to lengthen my luteal phase, nothing worked.

No fertility Dr I ever spoke to seem bothered about it! But it used to stress me out so much x

[shaolin2010]

Thats great to hear that you were successful in your second round of ivf I did think about trying acupuncture but am a bit dubious about its ability to lengthen my LP. Doctors haven't seemed that bothered about the length of my luteal phase - sometimes I feel like a crazy woman going on about it! x

[Rain415]

Hi, I went down the short LP rabbit hole for about a year mine is also 10-11 days but my progesterone came back high at 70 so they wouldn’t prescribe me Clomid due to this. My consultant said my LP shouldn’t be the problem, and we do have a male factor problem. Unfortunately I don’t think consultants listen to concerns about short LP I tried B6 etc but didn’t do anything for me. The research I’ve done seems to suggest that under 10 might be a problem. I hope Clomid helps for you!

[shaolin2010]

Thanks Rain415. When I originally started tracking my LP was only about 7/8 days so I started taking B6, Vit C and D so I think they may have helped to bring my LP up to being consistently 10 /11 days. Perhaps I shouldn't focus so much on it ..I'll see what Clomid does this cycle x

[Millbanks]

Hi lovely, I also had the same thing, short LP and early spotting which meant low progesterone. My consultant put me on clomid which I hated but also I knew I was ovulating so seemed a bit moot. He wasn’t really willing to explore the issue and referred us for ivf (nhs).

Turns out I had blocked tubes so it was irrelevant in regards to the LP. But when doing ivf I now have double the progesterone as it’s really low.... go figure! I think sometimes it’s “one size fits all” so I would definitely push for answers is there’s nothing else causing you problems... xx

[shaolin2010]

Hi there I do find it strange that doctors don't seem interested in talking about progesterone / short LP and the possible correlation. I have an appointment with the doc next week to discuss my Day 21 blood test on this Clomid cycle so I'll see what the results say. I think I will bring up the 'progesterone' issue again if my progesterone is still low.

A hycosy is next on the list of tests to get done so we'll see if that sheds any light on the situation. Hope you're doing ok xxx

[Doglover5]

Hi,

Always had a short luteal phase 10 days started spotting. I had PCOS but no symptoms. Have very high AMH. Nothing seemed to fix it, tried Letrozole. The only time I’ve had a cycle without spotting was my IVF cycle when I was lucky enough to fall pregnant and have a healthy birth. No idea what the spotting was. I also used to get positive OPK but my fertility consultant thought I probably wasn’t ovulating a lot of the time. Don’t know if it was the progesterone on the IVF or the pregnancy itself that stopped the spotting. It’s very frustrating though isn’t it. Push for IVF if you don’t get anywhere soon xx

[shaolin2010]

Thanks for the advice I am definitely going to ask more questions at my next consultation. I really don't feel like I have a lot of time to waste. Have already pretty much resigned myself to the fact that I'll have to do down the IVF route xx