Short Luteal Phase

Preparing For Your Next Pregnancy
1

Hello everyone, I’m new here and this is my first post!

I found out November 20, 2017 that I was pregnant after TTC for several months. I was working with a naturopathic doctor (and my GP) at the time who was concerned that we may have difficulties TTC because my luteal phase was short (around 6-7 days). On the night of Nov 20th ended up in the hospital due to bleeding. They thought it was a possible miscarriage and sent me for blood work and ultrasound where they couldn’t see anything in my uterus. They sent me back November 24 for follow-up blood work and ultrasound where they found the pregnancy was ectopic in the left fallopian tube. I received methotrexate that day.

The following week my HCG was not dropping as quickly as gynaecologist would have liked (although it was dropping) and he figured I may need a second injection of methotrexate. I had follow-up blood work December 7, 2017 and was waiting on results December 8th when I had massive pain high up in my left rib area and ended up in hospital. My HCG had increased and had to have emergency surgery due to internal bleeding and lost my fallopian tube.

My partner and I are starting to think about conceiving again (we have to wait until March 2018 to try due to the methotrexate). I just had a positive OPK today so I am expecting my period in the next week or two.

My question is this: can a short luteal phase be a contributing factor to the ectopic pregnancy? I am worried about trying again in March if my luteal phase is still short. I am terrified that I will end up with another ectopic in my remaining right tube if my luteal phase is a problem…I am seeing my naturopathic doctor next week and will discuss it in more detail there (I had been taking vitex and some other supplements to try to regulate my cycle when I got pregnant).

Any thoughts or insights about luteal phase and ectopic and trying again would be welcome! Thanks!

2

I also had a short luteral phase. My gyno thought this may have contributed to my ectopic. I was about to take progesterone to get pregnant again but conceived naturally. I am now 8 weeks and it’s in the right place. I have to go back to work now. But any questions and I’ll write a proper response later.

3

Dear cmo88,

I am so sorry to hear of your ectopic pregnancy and loss,

It is normal to feel anxious about the future. We generally feel a mix of emotions from wanting to try again to being petrified of what may lie ahead. We never forget, but we learn to accept what happened. It is a slow process that might be weeks or months ahead.

In time, we can get to a place where we feel comfortable trying again. When this is, is individual for each person. There is no timeframe for recovery, take each day as it comes.

Importantly early scans avail. As soon as you know you are pregnant, contact your local EPU to inform them and book in for an early scan at around six weeks. Remind them of your previous ectopic pregnancy. This self refer route is the best route in our view. Hopefully you will have some comfort to know you are under the radar of medical professionals right away.

Although there are known risk factors for ectopic pregnancy, I am not aware of a short luteal phase being one. I know that when I had my ectopic pregnancy I also looked for a reason but sadly for the majority of us, a reason is never identified.

The chances of a further ectopic after a first in UK is 10%. So that’s 90% chance of the embryo being in right place next time.

While generally it is possible to conceive after an ectopic pregnancy, the amount of time it takes varies from couple to couple. Factors include age, general health, reproductive health and how often you have sex, among other things. It may be comforting to know that 65% of women are successfully pregnant within 18 months of experiencing an ectopic pregnancy and some studies suggest this rises to around 85% after two years.

I know you mentioned you were working with you doctor I hope you don’t mind my mentioning exercising caution with any alternative therapies and drugs.

The EPT is a charity that has the backing of many medical specialists and prides itself in providing accurate, research based medical information… We therefore remind you that, should you wish to make use of these therapies, you exercise caution and also avoid recommending them to other users of the EPT forums. Many complementary medicines are quite powerful and can have harmful side effects if misused. They may also interact with medicines that you may already be taking, or intend to take. Please remember that “natural” does not always mean safe – indeed some of the medicines that are prescribed today (including some controlled drugs) are derived from natural products. Many “natural” or “herbal” preparations can interfere with prescribed medicines or even make an existing condition or illness worse.

Please check all medications with you doctor.

Sending much love,

Karen x

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4

Thank you Karen and Marmoannie, I really appreciate the replies (and sorry for the late response!). It is so comforting to know that you are pregnant at 8 weeks and it’s in the right place! Congratulations! Thank you for sharing as well, because it gives me hope that even with a short luteal phase it is possible. It is so hard not to worry about the future and try to come up with answers or reasons why it happened in the first place.

5

Hiya… I always wondered whether mine was caused by a short LP… I wondered whether due to a massive bleed that the egg implanted in my tube as it had nowhere else to go (that may sound silly but that’s how I feel)…

Last month I took vitamin B6 after ovulation, along with using a natural progesterone cream that I bought from online (I know people say dont) and it lengthened my LP from 10 days to 13…

It’s our first month TTC again this month. I ovulated yesterday and had really bad ovulation pains on my ectopic side so am worried now but I think it’s all in my brain!

I hope everything works for us!! I keep telling myself “it’s a 9 in 10 chance of being okay” rather that “there’s a 10% chance of it happening again!!” As that sounds worse lol… xx

6

My gyno said that because of the LPD that perhaps the pregnancy reached my uterus but my uterine lining was too thin and it didn’t feel safe implanting there so it jumped right back into that tube.

After when I did fall pregnant naturally I ovulated from my bad side and I had pain from ovulation for about four weeks. They said there was a perfectly harmless cyst on my ovary that was producing the hormones and nothing to worry about. But still make sure you check out any pain if you have some. It was only 1/10 as painful as the ectopic- if that.

My gyno did cycle tracking (bloods and scans) the month before I conceived and my luteal phase was only six days (the shortest it ever was) she was surprised when I fell pregnant and surprised when she tested my progesterone levels and they were quite high.

7

I am bumping this because I am convinced short luteal phase likely contributed to my ectopic (although I don’t know the exact mechanism - there could be a few options such as out of phase endometrium or insufficient progesterone). There seems to be only one piece of research on this which is fairly old https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7805920/

Certainly there is evidence of its relationship to miscarriage and in some people progestagen supplements help prevent this.

But it could be a coincidence and me just looking for a reason.

Anyway, unfortunately my luteal phase is still very short post-ectopic and I am too scared to try again until (unless?) it normalises. It has been several months and no luck. I have the option of using progestagen supplements but not sure I want to try that either.