Spotting early and slow slow periods

[Here4ivfinfo]

Hi,

I’ve been trying to conceive for a few years now and have done a couple of unsuccessful ivf cycles. I have tons of eggs and respond very well to treatment. However, I don’t think I am “normal”. We’ve identified quite severe male factor issues and so went for ICSI and we ought to be having another try soon. I used to have very heavy periods prior to using the Mirena for a decade and since coming off it my periods have been very slow and slightly irregular although I do ovulate consistently. This month I felt like I may have early ovulated and then on day 24 of my cycle I spotted a tiny bit of pale blood. I hoped it might be implantation bleeding but I have spotted every day since. This is not that unusual. I tend to have periods that start with a few days of spotting (usually brown) and then eventually it kicks in enough to count as day one of my cycle. This time it has been a week. My cycles are usually 30-37 days long and it’s day 30 now so I imagine it will kick in soon. I just wonder if anyone else has really low moving periods like this? I know many people just start their period and it flows out and that’s that. I just wonder why on earth I am spotting so early and what this means if anything at all for my chances of getting pregnant. I also wonder hormonally what is going on. Although I have had tons of tests I cannot help but think “what if it’s me too and we are missing something?” Does anyone relate?

[Backagain987]

hi, my cycles used to be like this. It’s hard to say for sure because I finally got lucky with donor eggs, but I think sometimes it indicates a lack of progesterone. I had six failed cycles where I was given low progesterone (just cyclogest twice a day). Then I moved clinics to do DE and they put me on insane amounts of progesterone (3x different types) and it was our lucky round. It could have been DE but in my gut I often wonder if it was low progesterone - which brown spotting pre cycle is often a symptom of x

[Here4ivfinfo in reply to Backagain987]

Hi,

Thanks for getting back to me. I have had my progesterone checked before because I wondered if it was this but it was normal. I am going to bring this up at my next appointment. Not that I haven’t before. My lining at transfer was a touch thinner than they would have liked and I had to take extra estrogen to build it. On one of my transfers I started to spot a few days post transfer and it was a very bright bleed. So I wonder if my lining isn’t stable enough. At the moment they just think I probably had chromosomally abnormal embryos due to my age. Most of my blastocysts died between day 3-5 which makes them think it’s still my partner that is the issue. I just wish I had all the answers. Congratulations on your eventual success!

[MrsOrangejuice]

I had spotting for years and it was dismissed variously as 'old blood', normal, everyone's different, endometriosis, PCOS... It happened anything between a couple to 10 days before my actual bleed, normally around 5, then my cycles were also quite long. I went for NHS and private treatment for that which later turned into treatment for infertility and when I asked repeatedly about progesterone a private gyane consultant reluctantly tested and said my levels were high. He also said it was just they way my womb responded to the drop in progesterone. That was probably correct but what it missed was that the progesterone levels can be good/high on day 21 but drop a lot quickly after, meaning the womb lining sheds/breaks down too quickly and makes implantation difficult. When I finally got to IVF I had early losses and got spotting before OTD and it was only when they added masses and different forms of progesterone that we had success. Since then I've never spotted, normal cycles and have gone on to have a successful natural pregnancy. There's probably not a test for it but ask you clinic to prescribe more progesterone and differnet types to use in combination to cover all bases, and it's also worth seeing if they or your GP will prescribe so you can use it TTC naturally in the second half of your cycle. It won't solve other issues but just based on my experience it can be a big red flag that's often overlooked and actually not that difficult to sort.

[Here4ivfinfo in reply to MrsOrangejuice]

Thanks so much for this! I spotted early after one of my transfers too. It wasn’t my period because it then stopped. I will definitely be bringing this up because I just don’t think it’s “normal” x

[MrsOrangejuice in reply to Here4ivfinfo]

My consultant said you shouldn't spot or bleed before OTD if the progesterone is doing its job. When that happened he agreed to put me on utrogestan and lubion for my next transfer and that worked. But I probably had 20 years of the spotting and none of the doctors took any notice as my progesterone levels were always fine at day 21 and I was told some women just spot or start their periods slowly. I now really don't think it is normal or that it should be dismissed.