Are you trying to conceive but not pregnant yet? Maybe it’s time to look to your monthly period for clues about why those two pink lines haven’t showed up yet on your pregnancy test.
Every woman knows the common issues with having a monthly period. They can be inconvenient but the surprising thing that many women don’t realize is that the period is actually a window into fertility—helping to track cycles, know (approximately) when you’re most fertile, and providing clues as to your chances of getting pregnant.
Things like cycle length, how heavy your flow is, and how regularly you’re getting your period are all affected by hormones in your body that regulate your cycle, help you get pregnant, and maintain a healthy pregnancy.
So when hormone levels become off balance, sometimes due to underlying medical conditions, stress, or extreme changes in diet, there’s a good chance your menstrual cycle will get thrown off.
If you’re trying to conceive, there’s nothing worse than missing a period for the wrong reason. If your monthly visitor isn’t showing up, and you’re not seeing those two pink lines you’re hoping for, it’s a good idea to consult the doctor to get to the bottom of the issue.
An irregular cycle has a two-pronged effect on your fertility: One, it’ll be much harder to pinpoint those key ovulation dates where getting pregnant is most likely; two, repeatedly missing periods often indicates underlying issues that can affect your fertility; some are serious, while others are relatively simple to solve.
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, or PCOS, a condition where women produce higher than average male hormones, is one of the leading causes of hormonal infertility in women today.
But with proper medical treatment it is possible for PCOS sufferers to have a healthy pregnancy and carry a baby to term. PCOS is probably the best known cause of irregular cycles. Hypothyroidism can sometimes cause amenorrhea too, as can high prolactin levels, extreme dieting or weight loss, or very intense exercise.
Many of these causes can easily be fixed or reversed with the help of your physician, who can refer you to a fertility specialist if it becomes necessary.
If you’re getting your period every month, you’re definitely ahead of the game when it comes to your chances of getting pregnant. However, if you’re not seeing a positive pregnancy test month after a month despite a relatively predictable cycle length, your flow could provide a hint as to the cause.
Abnormally heavy or light periods can sometimes mean there are issues that need to be solved before conception can occur, so read on to see if any of these might apply to you.
At first glance, having an unusually heavy period may not seem like something that could affect your fertility, especially if your period is still regular. In reality though, it’s not normal to have a super heavy period every month.
Most of the underlying causes of very heavy periods are things that also lead to an inability to get pregnant or sustain a healthy pregnancy: things like uterine fibroids or polyps, endometriosis, or a hormone imbalance.
So how do you know if your heavy flow is too heavy? An extremely heavy menstrual flow, called menorrhagia, is characterized by features such as bleeding through a pad or tampon in less than an hour, suffering from dizziness, fainting, anemia or shortness of breath during your period. This bleeding is usually absolved with the passage of blood clots.
In most cases, having a light period isn’t anything to be too concerned about. If you’ve always had a light period, or if it’s always been on the short side, no problems.
This certainly shouldn’t affect your chances of getting pregnant. But if the scanty flow is a sudden change that can’t be explained by increased stress or dramatic weight loss, you may want to look into what’s causing such a light period.
A picture-perfect cycle length is 28 days. But women are all different, so there will always be some variation in cycle length. Often, one person’s cycle can be off by a day or so, and that’s just fine. But drastic differences in cycle lengths can signal issues like hormonal imbalance or other underlying medical issues that can affect fertility.
The length of your cycle, while not on any form of birth control, can be a key indicator to hormonal imbalances and whether or not ovulation is occurring in a regular manner. Hormonal imbalances can affect if and when ovulation occurs during your cycle.
When you’re trying to get pregnant, even a 30-day cycle can feel like an eternity. Occasional cycles that are longer than usual are normal; minor things like travel, stress or even illness can delay your period by a few days or so. But if you’re going on 45 days or more, or if longer-than-average cycles are becoming the norm for you, it’s time to figure out what’s going on.
Long cycles can mean you aren’t ovulating regularly. In fact, they’re often indicative of an anovulatory cycle—that’s a cycle where your body doesn’t release an egg at all. Things that cause missed periods include hormone imbalance in the thyroid and adrenal glands, PCOS or obesity.
If you’ve noticed that you’re getting your period more than once each month, especially if the number of days between your periods are less than 21 days, there’s a good chance your cycle length may be abnormally short. If you’re thinking this equates to even more chances to try to conceive, sadly, that’s not always the case. An abnormally short cycle isn’t a good sign for pregnancy.
Like all other oddities that can occur with your cycle, spotting is just something that can happen from time to time, especially during the first few years after your period starts and as you approach menopause. But if you’re experiencing regular spotting before your period starts every month, or if you’re having lots of breakthrough bleeding between cycles, your hormone levels may be slightly out of balance.
Spotting usually occurs when progesterone levels are too low to keep the endometrium in place. Or alternatively, if estrogen levels are too high.
Abayomi Ajayi
MD/CEO Nordica Fertility
[email protected],
