Anyone else a 35+ day cycler?

iheartsippycups · April 2014

My cycle since stopping bc ranges from 40-60 days long. This cycle before starting the fertility med, I was given provera to bring on my cycle because there were no signs of it coming (i started provera on cd38 & got my period on cd53). Anyway, my question is, I am on my period now cd 5, currently taking letrozole/femara cd 3-7. With having long, who knows how long each month periods, will I have a normal cd14-16 (roughly) ovulation? Thoughts? Experiences?

annibes · April 2014

A long cycle like that would usually indicate late or absent ovulation- the luteal phase doesn't really change much but the follicular phase can vary a lot. It's really hard to tell when you will ovulate- much easier to go back and say, "oh, I O'd on day --."

I think in your case charting might be a good option. You can at least see if your body is working on any discernible patterns which can help take away some of the guesswork. I would pair that with OPKs, too. FF steered me wrong a few times when I was just charting. When I added in OPKs, I realized that our timing was actually off several months and that my luteal phase wasn't actually as varied as FF made it out to be. Not that better timing fixed our troubles, but that's another story for another day!

tortuga47 · April 2014

Well, Fertility Friend just made me start a new chart because I hit the max of 180 days so I can sympathize with long cycles

I will say, when TTC my first child, I had wacky cycles. My second cycle was over 60 days I believe. I geared up to O several times which I knew from checking my cervix, CM, using OPK's and temping, but it didn't happen until much later. The cycle after, when I conceived him, I O'd early on CD12. I think it's a crap shoot, but just make sure to BD anytime you think you are fertile so you don't miss the window.

tortuga47 · April 2014

annibes said:

A long cycle like that would usually indicate late or absent ovulation- the luteal phase doesn't really change much but the follicular phase can vary a lot. It's really hard to tell when you will ovulate- much easier to go back and say, "oh, I O'd on day --." I think in your case charting might be a good option. You can at least see if your body is working on any discernible patterns which can help take away some of the guesswork. I would pair that with OPKs, too. FF steered me wrong a few times when I was just charting. When I added in OPKs, I realized that our timing was actually off several months and that my luteal phase wasn't actually as varied as FF made it out to be. Not that better timing fixed our troubles, but that's another story for another day!

Just curious (sorry to veer the thread) but was FF only basing it off your temps to get the inaccurate readings? I only ask because mine is obviously wrong with them right now. I think I'm only 2 or 4DPO (if I in fact O'd this time). Obviously, I won't know for sure for another few weeks, but just curious your experience and if it aligns for you now with the OPKs and temps.

annibes · April 2014

tortuga47 said:

annibes said:

A long cycle like that would usually indicate late or absent ovulation- the luteal phase doesn't really change much but the follicular phase can vary a lot. It's really hard to tell when you will ovulate- much easier to go back and say, "oh, I O'd on day --."

I think in your case charting might be a good option. You can at least see if your body is working on any discernible patterns which can help take away some of the guesswork. I would pair that with OPKs, too. FF steered me wrong a few times when I was just charting. When I added in OPKs, I realized that our timing was actually off several months and that my luteal phase wasn't actually as varied as FF made it out to be. Not that better timing fixed our troubles, but that's another story for another day!

Just curious (sorry to veer the thread) but was FF only basing it off your temps to get the inaccurate readings? I only ask because mine is obviously wrong with them right now. I think I'm only 2 or 4DPO (if I in fact O'd this time). Obviously, I won't know for sure for another few weeks, but just curious your experience and if it aligns for you now with the OPKs and temps.

Yes- that was based on temps only. My fertile CM was almost always a little later than FF's O day. My temps were always a little jagged, too. FF was calling my luteal phase crazy- with a range of 7-14 days. When I started using OPKs only, it turned out that my luteal phase is almost always 11 days, and my EWCM usually falls right around O (not after). I could even go back and check old temp-only charts and count an 11 day luteal phase and see that a temp dip was almost always there for O, but because my temp sometimes crashed a few days after O (it looked liked my body was trying to over-achieve with a triphasic pattern but couldn't get it right), FF waited until after that dip to give me crosshairs.

annibes · April 2014

^^ quote fail on my part, too lazy to fix it. Call it my FWP for the day.

GraceyandTroy · April 2014

@iheartsippycups, I have long cycles, too. As everyone already said, charting and using opk's are a great resource. If you are doing a medicated cycle right now, you will probably ovulate around day 14-18, assuming the meds work for you. If you aren't already charting this cycles, start now. CD5 isn't too late for your chart to show a temp shift when you o. But you can expect it around a week and a half or so after you start your meds. I o'ed on day 17 w/ clomid and my dr felt like that was too late considering I was taking meds for it. When I conceived my son, I had o'ed on cd25, though. So later than day 14 isn't a complete loss.

Good luck!

iheartsippycups · April 2014

I am charting- started taking my bbt cd2. This is my first time ever charting- Last go around with my son, I went to an RE- they did all the work for me with ultrasounds. This time is with my ob. Now, I do remember that when I was on clomid the first 2 months, I didn't ovulate until like cd 17-20. The third month I was put on letrozole I ovulated around cd16 & got pregnant that cycle. We tried on our own this go around, but my cycles just kept getting longer & longer, so my ob put me on letrozole. I also have to start progestrone, but I need to ask when- I think he said cd14, but I think you can't start it until you ovulate, right? If I haven't ovulated by then, then who knows. Anyone know?!

GraceyandTroy · April 2014

I always start progesterone about two or three days past ovulation because I want to be sure I o'ed and I need to see a sustained shift in my temp. If you're charting, you should be able to see when you ovulate, and start taking progesterone after that.

iheartsippycups · April 2014

GraceyandTroy said:

I always start progesterone about two or three days past ovulation because I want to be sure I o'ed and I need to see a sustained shift in my temp. If you're charting, you should be able to see when you ovulate, and start taking progesterone after that.

Ok, thanks!

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