Do short cycles make a difference to conceiving?

[camembertlover]

Hi
I am fairly new here and we have started trying for our 1st baby after being married 1 year. I came off Cerazette in March and have been plotting my periods each month, I am fairly regular but seem to have short cycles - the average is supposed to be 28 days but mine at 19-22 days - do you know if this will make it harder for us to get pregnant? Sorry if its a stupid question but only just starting out and lots to learn!
Any advice/tips/info would be gratefully received :)

[Treesandbees]

Hi,

It depends when you ovulate. Do you know? Ideally you should have 10 days + from ovulation to you period (luteal phase). If it's less than yes it can be harder but not impossible! I ovulate late so my luteal phase is 9/10 days but I have had DS without help. You can take vitamin b6 and Angus cactus to help lengthen it. But until you go for it you won't know. Good luck!!

[Sarahg1]

I'm interested to hear the answer here too - I have quite short cycles (about 25 days) and ovulate on day 9-10 after a 5 day period.

This would make my luteal phase 14-15 days but what about the gap between AF ending and ov - does that gap make a difference??

[camembertlover]

no clue sarahg1 how do I know if Im ovulating? I know there's sticks you can pee on and check that you are but its quite expensive so not sure if they're worth it? Anyone know? TIA

[Treesandbees]

You can get v cheap opks off eBay. I'd definitely give them ago. You can also take you basal body temperature and plug them into an app like Fertility Friend. This will then give you a clearer idea when your ovulating. It will also help you time 'the deed' for maximum chance!

[camembertlover]

Thanks treesandbees will get some tonight :)

[Sarahg1]

I use the cheap opks and they are pretty good but they can only tell you when the hormone surge to prompt ov happens and apparently things like stress can delay the time between the positive opk and actual ov. temping will tell you when actual ov happens... but I really can't be bothered with that yet!!

[littleomar]

My cycle is 24 days and we never had any problems. I don't know the terminology but I recall that it's the first half of your cycle that's shorter - the bit between ovulation and period is similar for everyone. Don't know how reliable that is. I get ovulation pain so I had a good idea what was happening.

[Sarahg1]

thanks littleomar that's really reassuring to know! Fingers crossed that all our short cycles mean we have more opportunities then

[CustardFromATin]

Luteal phase defect is something you can read about online but afaik medical opinion is less sure that this is always a real thing. Fwiw my cycle is about 21 and we've been very lucky with conceiving, 4 pregnancies within 4 months of trying each time, 3 carried to term.

[aliasjoey]

I had a short luteal phase, took agnus castus which did help and conceived once. (this was a few years ago)

I've never managed to conceive again and I think my luteal phase is definitely too short - about 8-10 days from ovulating [thicker cervical mucus] to period.

Maybe it was just co-incidence with the agnus castus, who knows?

[farfallarocks]

I have read that anything less than 21 days should be investigated as it can mean a reduced ovarian reserve.
Daft question but are you counting day 1 as your first day of your period?
I would go and get checked out.
A short luteal phase does divide opinion, b vitamins can help. I also took progesterone on BFP after 2 early MCs.

Good luck!

[BigBoobiedBertha]

I have a 23 day cycle and got pregnant on the first attempt with DS1 and very quickly with DS2. Short cycles mean more chances but I don't know at what point short cycles become too short and you run out of eggs. Anyway, it doesn't necessarily mean you will have more trouble just because your cycle is short

As I understand it, ovulation is pretty much always 14 days before the first day of your period, not matter how long your cycle is.

Good luck.

[doobeedee]

I had a very short luteal phase (7 days). GP didn't have a clue so I researched it myself and when I eventually saw the fertility expertly he agreed with me. I conceived first time using Clomid after over a year TTC naturally and 4 chemical pregnancies (which can occur due to luteal phase defect)

[ThrowAChickenInTheAir]

I remember having this - a 19 day cycle. But no problems conceiving and have 3dc.