Why does this happen????
12 Replies
Karen - September 1

I was wondering why you still have a period even if you don't ovulate? My doc has ordered blood work on me to check my progesterin level which will show if I have ovulated or not. I thought if you are able to have a period then you have ovulated???? I have also bought an ovulation predictor kit to help me figure this out.

 

D. - September 1

If you haven't ovulated you don't get a period because a period is actually what you get when all is normal. That means that you ovulated, your progesterone peaked then decreased enough to trigger your period to start. HOWEVER...you can have breakthrough bleeding which means that your lining kept building up waiting for the trigger from the p4 which never happened. The lining then became too heavy and collapsed under the weight. It is completely like a period, but docs don't view it that way. Good for your doc to start testing to make sure you are ovulating. Good Luck. Here's a really good read on it: -----http://www.goaskalice.col
umbia.edu/2604.html-----

D.

 

Molly - September 2

Hi D. - are you sure about the period/ovulation answer? I have a fairly regular period but don't ovulate, so I am a bit confused as to what you mean. I am now just starting Clomid to help.

 

D. - September 2

It's different for each woman who experiences it. Many women who have what seems like regular cycles are anovulatory (they don't ovulate). There is another possibility (I think it was covered under that link): Estrogen Withdrawal Bleeding. the estrogen builds up slowly and then will drop, and the bleeding starts. You're still anov but you will bleed. Again, it's not when you bleed but what is causing the bleeding. A period is considered a period because of the drop in progesterone during an ovulatory cycle. But the other two are considered either Breakthrough Bleeding (where the uterine lining can't sustain it'self anymore) or Estrogen Withdrawal Bleeding as I just explained. I hope the clomid fixes it for you.

 

Karen - September 2

hi D, thanks for the link to the website- it provided a good explanation. I have been trying to also determine if I am having this anovulatory bleeding because I was on the pill for 8 years and just got off at the begining of March. I have only had 4 cycles since then- very long cycles 35-52 days. Hopefully if I go on clomid I'll my body straightened out!

 

Molly - September 2

Thanks for your message D. - Wow I never knew any of that!

 

[email protected] - September 3

I had the same problem. My doctor said I did not ovulated, but I had periods regularly (every 5 to 6 weeks for me). I have been trying to get pregnant for 1 year and six months without success. I went o the fertility specialist, but their prices were just too high for me ($3,000 per month, no guarantees). I decided to do some research and took the following herbs:
1. FEM RESTORE (herbs in liquid form. Dark brown bottle with green letters. Found in any good health food store). Nasty taste, but worth the suffering.
2. Crystal Start Female Harmony: 4 pills per day.
3. Deluxe Evening Primrose Oil: 4 pills per day.

I took these herbs for about 1 1/2 months. I started with the beginning of my period and took until the next periods (irregular periods). Then I took VITEX just for a few weeks and now I am 2 months pregnant! I just saw my baby’s heartbeat yesterday. Please write me to [email protected] if you have any questions. I wish you the best of luck. Put a little of God on this mix too and you will have a winning bet. Regards, Ana Claudia.

 

Lena - September 3

I have to strongly disagree with the statement that "If you haven't ovulated you don't get a period because a period is actually what you get when all is normal." This statement is completely false!! It is very, very possible for a woman to consistently have her period without ovulating. Hormonally-speaking, ovulation is not a trigger for menstruation. Menstruation is triggered by the rapid decrease in progesterone and estrogen. In an anovulatory cycle, menstruation is triggered exclusively by the rapid decrease of estrogens. Many, many woman reabsorb follicles without any ovulation and still menstruate endometrium and not just uterine vascularities. The uterus retones and progesterone levels are restored to pre-ovluatory levels. For more information about this, I recommend googling "Anovulatory Cycles"

 

To Lena - September 6

Lena,

It's semantics. But it's still how it's medically defined. A period is an ovulatory cycle ending in the sloughing of the lining after a decline in progesterone. I believe what I provided explained that. But do google it. Except for a couple of "non peer reviewed" sites, you'll see that most medically supported sites will say the same: If you have anovulatory bleeding (notice it's not called an anovulatory PERIOD), it's just that---bleeding---not a period.

 

Lena - September 7

Drew, If I understand you correctly, you're saying that only blood is shed, which would not be considered a true estrous. I disagree. In an anovulatory cycle either LH isn't tiggered or the follicle/cyst doesn't respond to the trigger. The follicle/cyst continues to grow until it involutes, which triggers menses - a mix of blood and endometrium. The biological function is the same and that is to cleanse and retone the uterus, and restart follicular development. Is there an absense of a luteal phase? Yes. But in humans, unlike other mammals, we measure an estrous cycle from menses to menses and this includes anovlatory cycles.

 

D. - September 7

Lena, you're being silly. You are getting caught up on what a label entails rather than what it means. No, it does not serve the same biological function. If it did, then we would not need to worry since the bleed has happened, and we are therefore "prepping for another cycle". This is abnormal and needs to be addressed. A bleed is because the lining is abnormally being released. again, here is another doc that does not call it a period -----http://www.drspock.co
m/faq/0,1511,12928,00.html
----- Most of my journals can't be viewed without a subscription but they too follow this definition. You are welcome to believe what you will. But as long as the majority of professionals are saying it's not, I'm not going to argue. Their reasoning is sound. You are welcome to call it what you like, but until you become a doc and author peer reviewed articles of your own supporting your statements, please allow me to follow the dictates of real MDs and scientists who've been working at this far longer than either of us have.

 

Lena - September 7

Drew, Talk about splitting hairs!! Karen simply wanted to know if a period was indicitive of ovulation. Call it whatever you want, but I'm sure if Karen is using a tampon or pad, she's assuming that is a period and she has ovulated.

I've been a theriologist for 20 yrs and have spent over half of that in research. The other half of my career has been spent monitoring and regulating cycles, and performing ICSI, IVF, and embryo transfer on a daily basis. I know my job. I'm not an MD but I am a member of the AVMA and AAEP. My education has been simliar to that of an RE including a post doctorate masters degree in reproductive physiology. My research includes the first practical ICSI in the US and the techniques we defined in that study have been used by human doctors for commercial purposes. I have published several papers that have been well-received by both PhDs and MDs. One thing I've learned working with clients and students is that you need to throw your education aside and speak to your student's or client's perspective. They don't have the knowledge base behind them to understand the fine details or mechanical processes of the functions. I hope that you can learn to do this too.

 

D. - September 7

Yes, I know. You work on horses. I'll stick to what is discovered from actual work on humans. Again, let's just agree to disagree and leave it at that.

 

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