hmmm.. don't know what to do.. Birth control pills, ovulation, charting...

acchickpea · #1 May 26th, 2011, 12:31 PM

Not sure if you guys heard my story but here's a quick summary....
I miscarried on March 3rd of this year... What I thought was the start of my first cycle ended up being spotting for about 6 weeks... So the Dr gave me Birth Control Pills on May 20th and the spotting stopped on may 24th... (just what the dr said)... hmmm... who would have thought!
So it leaves me with this question..... When on birth control would you still be able to ovulate? Would it make sense to chart still?

ShawnaCAN · #2 May 26th, 2011, 12:45 PM

Yes, you can still ovulate on birth control. But the BC will keep the lining of your uterus thin to prevent implantation if you conceive. Charting probably won't let you know when you're ovulating though, because the BC interferes with your signs of fertility. It thickens the CM, so even if you are fertile - you may not notice any CM changes to tell you that. Progesterone after ovulation is what makes your temps rise, but with BC you get a steady does of synthetic progesterone every day. So you won't necessarily see a shift when ovulation occurs because of that.

So you can chart, but it may not tell you much.

acchickpea · #3 May 26th, 2011, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShawnaCAN

Yes, you can still ovulate on birth control. But the BC will keep the lining of your uterus thin to prevent implantation if you conceive. Charting probably won't let you know when you're ovulating though, because the BC interferes with your signs of fertility. It thickens the CM, so even if you are fertile - you may not notice any CM changes to tell you that. Progesterone after ovulation is what makes your temps rise, but with BC you get a steady does of synthetic progesterone every day. So you won't necessarily see a shift when ovulation occurs because of that.

So you can chart, but it may not tell you much.

Wow... Thanks Shawna! That helps a whole lot! My dr told me to go on BCP for two months to try to regulate me and then hopefully I can start to TTC.

ShawnaCAN · #4 May 26th, 2011, 01:07 PM

It's a big misconception among some doctors that BC will regulate hormones. The BC won't actually regulate anything. It just puts synthetic hormones on top of what's already going on with your natural hormones. If something is wrong, the BC will cover up the problem for awhile, but the problem will still be there when you come off. Once you go off, your body will have to recover from the effects of the synthetic hormones and sort itself out. That can take time.

LifesGood · #5 May 27th, 2011, 04:22 AM

Shawna knows much more than I do. I would wait it out naturally and chart rather than take BC but that is me personally

acchickpea · #6 May 27th, 2011, 06:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShawnaCAN

It's a big misconception among some doctors that BC will regulate hormones. The BC won't actually regulate anything. It just puts synthetic hormones on top of what's already going on with your natural hormones. If something is wrong, the BC will cover up the problem for awhile, but the problem will still be there when you come off. Once you go off, your body will have to recover from the effects of the synthetic hormones and sort itself out. That can take time.

WOW... Lost for words......
I was spotting for a long time and something just didn't feel right... I'm a week into the BCP and that actually made me stop spotting which was (I thought) a good thing because I wouldn't know if I would ever stop spotting. Weeks upon weeks while I was spotting I would say ... "just another week"... which led me to 6 weeks.... I hate the fact knowing now it may take me longer to TTC after I get off the BCP....

But again... my cycles were never normal and letting things go naturally was not an option since I've been TTC for almost 3 years....

ShawnaCAN · #7 May 27th, 2011, 07:05 AM

Stopping the spotting is important, and the BC can do that. But it doesn't do anything to treat the underlying cause of all that spotting. Have you ever considered seeing a NaPro doctor? They investigate really thoroughly to find out why your cycles are abnormal, and then fix the problem so you can conceive on your own.

- Welcome to FertilityCare? Centers of America

Servilia · #8 May 28th, 2011, 05:17 PM

I agree totally with Shawna. I think I replied something like that to a very similar question on TTCAL, I think it may have been you. I think I said that BCP won't treat the underlying problem that's causing you to spot and you should make sure the spotting is not caused by leftover tissue or some other underlying issue. I had spotting for a long time after my D&C for my m/c and it turned out I had left over tissue that the D&C didn't get rid of. If my doc had just put me on pills to stop the spotting and didn't investigate the true cause of spotting, I could have gotten a serious infection that could have ruined my fertility or even worse.

The BCP did stop your spotting, but only because it introduced hormones into your system so it's just hiding whatever is causing your spotting.

It's highly unlikely you will ovulate on BCP but like Shawna said even if you do ovulate the other effects of pills (effects on CM and lining) would probably prevent pregnancy. It won't make sense to chart or temp as Shawna has said.