Irregular menstrual cycle

[Beamer15]

I am wondering if anyone may have some insights on what could be going on here. For the past few years I have been having an abnormal menstural cycle. I am a 31 year old female who started BC in my early 20’s. Then in 2017 when I was about 27 I decided to discontinue the BC. Throughout my twenties I was an avid runner. I know I was running too much because I lost a significant amount of weight. Ever since stopping the BC I now have two weeks of no bleeding. Then on day 14 of my cycle I start a light bleed, and then after 10 days of this light bleeding I get my actual period with cramps for about 4-5 days. I was working with an OBGYN to figure out what the issue is. I was diagnosed as having low progesterone. My LH to FSH ratio was also off. She checked my thyroid and all my thyroid levels are in range. Over the course of the years from 2017 up until now I have significantly cut back on the exercising and running and have incorporated eating healthy fats. I now only exercise 4 days a week with minimal cardio. I have been able to get my weight back up as well. Recently I have had my progesterone checked after 5-8 days of my LH surge and it is 12. My estrogen was about 76 at the time of checking my progesterone as well. I have also had a transvaginal ultra sound, Pap smears, std testing and everything comes back normal. I am really struggling to try to figure out what this. I thought it was due to the low progesterone but that seems to be ok now. My obgyn just has not been super helpful in me figuring this out as she just throws pills and hormones at me without doing a lot of blood testing. I have had to go out on my own and get these blood test. Any insight is greatly appreciated! Thank you.

[Cooper27]

I had a very irregular cycle for years after stopping the pill (I'm talking 10+ years), but absolutely no problems on my hormone blood tests (and a spell on oestrogen also didn't help). It eventually turned regular again when I went to see a nutritionist for something else. When we dealt with a few nutrient deficiencies (B12, folate, vitamin D, magnesium and B-vitamins) they basically sorted themselves out again.

I've heard a few hormone gurus suggest that a pre-natal vitamin might be worth trying when you come off the pill. The logic is that you're trying to get your body to an optimal state for pregnancy (even if pregnancy isn't your end goal here), and a pre-natal vitamin supports that. Could be worth a try. It contains most of the things I was deficient in, so if I had my time over, I think it's what I would have done.

[Beamer15 in reply to Cooper27]

Thanks for the insight! I do not seem to be deficient in any vitamins as I have have folate, b vitamins, magnesium, and vitamin d checked and they all come back fine. I’m sure it wouldn’t hurt to try the prenatal. I am hoping things will sort themselves out as I work on adding more healthy fats.

[Cooper27 in reply to Beamer15]

I think it can help to get copies of your results to see if anything is low in the range too, as you can feel much better for topping low levels up. For example, I had a vitamin D test and had a result of 25.3. GP considers it a deficiency if it's below 25, but a healthy person would have a number between 70-100. I felt a lot better for topping my levels up to about 60.

I should say not to take one with iron in it, unless you test first and know you're low/deficient. Too many supplements just assume women need iron all the time 🙄

[Bidgie]

I would not worry too much unless you want to get pregnant. I always had irregular heavy painful periods. I was told it could be polycystic ovaries. I was not prepared to have invasive procedures to find out. I accepted that I probably would never be able to have children. Imagine my surprise when getting married in my 40s to a 54yr old, I got pregnant 10mths later and had a healthy son! His only child, too. Periods regular after that and menopause at 51yrs.Human nature can do unusual things! All the Best.

[Beamer15 in reply to Bidgie]

Wow what an incredible story I do want to get things figured out because Of the possibility of wanting to have children. I would say the most frustrating part of it is I am literally bleeding 14 days straight which can get annoying and I go through panty liners like crazy (and womanly hygiene products are not cheap here!) I was told it could possibly be PCOS from the BC but I have had so much testing like transvaginal ultra sounds and my androgens checked and everything has come back fine. I guess I will hope things get figured out or at least work themselves out. Thanks for sharing you story and insight