luteal phase

Is It Normal To Spot Before Your Period?

Is It Normal To Spot Before Your Period?

The answer to this question is both "yes" and "no."

If you tend to spot right before getting your period, you are not alone. Doctors say that as long as your spotting occurs after 10 or more days of elevated temperatures, you shouldn’t worry.

However, if this isn’t the case, you may want to check in with your doctor. When you visit, he/she will first want to rule out any thyroid issues, fibroids, endometriosis, or endometrial polyps. All of these conditions can wreak havoc with your cycle and also impact your ability to get pregnant.

If the spotting doesn’t seem to be because of any of the medical reasons above, your doctor will probably talk to you about the luteal phase of your cycle.

Your luteal phase is counted from the day after ovulation until the first day of your period. It is also often referred to as DPO (days past ovulation). Your luteal phase generally stays consistent in length but can vary for a handful of reasons including illness, medication, heavy exercise and extreme stress.

Typically when a woman spots for more than a few days right before their period, a shortened luteal phase is to blame. For a healthy pregnancy doctors like the luteal phase to be between 12-16 days in length. Doctors also agree that most of the time, a luteal phase that is less than 9 days long becomes problematic in terms of being able to get pregnant.

This is because in order for an egg to have the opportunity to implant itself into the uterus, the uterine lining has to be primed and ready. And, for the uterus to be fertility friendly, the body has to have enough time produce progesterone to support a pregnancy before the capillaries of the uterine lining start to shed (menstruation). When spotting occurs, it is often a sign that the uterine wall has started to shed before the ovaries were able to successfully produce the needed amounts of progesterone. Sadly, when this happens, it is often hard to get pregnant.

The good thing here is that your doctor has many options at his/her fingertips to help lengthen your luteal phase. Among those include herbs and specialty nutrients (for example Vitex and myo-inositol), progesterone cream, HCG injections to stimulate the ovaries, and/or drugs such as Clomid.

So if your cycle seems normal and you find that you are spotting before your period, doctors say not to worry about it………. unless of course you have been trying unsuccessfully to become pregnant for a long time.

However, if you think your luteal phase may be on the shorter end, you will want to check with your doctor about your TTC (trying to conceive) treatment options.

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