11 Dec Can Irregular Cycles Cause Infertility?
Let’s focus in on irregular cycles and infertility/trying to conceive! If you missed our last article/podcast episode on irregular cycle causes, check it out here! Irregular cycles can make getting pregnant difficult and if ovulation isn’t happening, irregular cycles cause infertility.
I’m answering the top questions today on this topic!! Let’s do it!
Can miscarriages cause irregular cycles?
After a miscarriage, irregular cycles can happen due to the hormone changes that happen with a miscarriage. After a couple of months, cycles should resume back to normal and regular. If someone struggled with irregular cycles before a miscarriage, then these random cycles can keep happening. If you haven’t figured out your root cause of what is causing the irregular cycle, I highly recommend figuring it out before trying to get pregnant again to see if it’s something you can improve before you start trying to conceive again and increase the chances of a successful pregnancy! I also want to note that make sure that you are keeping in touch with your OB/GYN to ensure that the miscarriage was complete.
Just like with a miscarriage, after an ectopic pregnancy, regular cycles should resume a couple months after. Some women do experience irregular cycles for a long amount of time after an ectopic pregnancy. Testing your hormones would be super beneficial in this case!
With both miscarriages and ectopic pregnancy, your first cycle back may feel different (heavier, lighter, stronger, etc), but should return to normal afterwards. Please make sure that you are staying in constant communication with your OB/GYN!
How to track irregular cycles?
If you have irregular cycles, tracking ovulation can be pretty tricky! When is ovulation? Depending on how long your cycle is, ovulation has a big range, and sometimes you might not even ovulate, which is called an anovulatory cycle. Here are some tips on how to indicate when ovulation is happening…
Tracking Ovulation
- Discharge is getting to a raw egg white consistency
- Higher libido {hellooo mother nature!}
- Ovulation pain {dull ache in your ovaries for a day or two}
- Slightly higher basal body temperature {have to keep track of your basal body temperature every day though before you get out of bed}
The ovulation tracker app that you may be using on your phone doesn’t come in handy if you have irregular cycles because it just takes an average of the past + you could be ovulating at different times in each cycle. This can build frustration, so those tracker apps aren’t always super handy for tracking ovulation, but are great for tracking your overall irregular cycle patterns.
Figuring out what your overall hormones are doing, including adrenal hormones, sex hormones, and thyroid hormones, is needed to understand why you might be struggling with irregular cycles and having issues with trying to conceive. One of our favorite labs to do with women who have wonky cycles is the DUTCH cycle mapping. This is a hormone test that is done peeing on strips throughout the month + gives the rundown of (sex + adrenal) hormone levels, hormone metabolism, and helps understand when you are ovulating and how long your follicular phase (first half of your cycle) and how long your luteal phase is (second half of your cycle).
If you want to run this test + get a consult on it, go fill out the form on our Services page to request a free phone call to get the process started.
Can you get pregnant? Do irregular cycles cause infertility?
Even with irregular cycles, pregnancy is possible! It can be a bit more challenging due to ovulation dates changing and not being predictable. But, it’s possible, sister!
If you are ready to grab some pregnancy tests, you might be asking “when to test for pregnancy with my crazy cycle?” You might be spending a tad more on pregnancy tests, but ideally testing 15-20 days after you had sex is a good time to test with an irregular cycle! Pair that with the ovulation tracking tips above to get a good idea of when you are ovulating and use that sexual encounter as the sex you will start counting from.
If you are having issues and are not getting pregnant, it’s time to test those hormones and figure out what may be happening behind the scenes that you can’t see! It’s really important to ensure that you are ovulating + that you have a proper luteal phase, as this is a time to have high progesterone levels and develop the uterine lining. Reach out to us to get the best testing!
Irregular cycles after pregnancy
Irregular cycles after pregnancy are normal since hormones are bouncing back from being pregnant for 9 months! If you are breastfeeding, this can also impact cycles because prolactin (which is normally high when lactating and decreases the further along you are in postpartum) affects estrogen + progesterone by reducing the amount you ovulate. When you have a reduction in ovulation, irregular cycles can happen! This is where the idea came from that “you can’t get pregnant while breastfeeding” – but you definitely CAN get pregnant while breastfeeding!
How to fix irregular cycles?
The way to fix irregular cycles to promote fertility is going to be looking into YOUR root cause. Irregular cycles happen for a variety of reasons + figuring this out will ultimately lead you to fixing your cycles for good!
If you need help, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team to get that individualized approach utilizing diet and lifestyle changes {+ YES, we’ve helped hundreds of women do this!}
