am i running too much to conceive?

[sahabds]

@stephenmendes i haven’t been on the pill in over two years. that sounds similar to what happened with my mom when she got pregnant with her first. she’s always been a runner too, and had no luck getting pregnant, then she was out for about a month or so from an injury and bam! pregnant

 

[biblicalscholar]

@sahabds Lily Nichols has amazing resources on fueling for fertility, especially if you’re anemic.

 

[snickler]

@sahabds Talk to your doctor if you’re concerned. That being said, 4 cycles is barely any time, so it’s not indicative of anything yet.

 

[travellersolo]

@sahabds Hi friend, as others have said, I would consult a doctor and get some tests done to make sure your hormone levels are okay and there isn’t something else going on not related to the running. I will tell you that I suffered through horrible orthorexia and over exercising (I was exercising for at least 2 hours every day for almost a year) and didn’t get my period for a year after stopping birth control. My husband and I went through all the fertility treatments up to IUI (all failed) and got all the tests done to make sure there wasn’t something else going on, and all came back good. The doctors never mentioned it could be my weight, and honestly I think it’s because the BMI system is very outdated. Technically I was a “healthy” weight according to my BMI, but I was only 115 pounds at 5’5”. It took me a long time to come to terms with the fact it was my over exercising and under eating that was causing my problems, not some other underlying issue. I finally stopped fertility treatments because we couldn’t afford it anymore after 5 cycles, but I got my period on my own shortly after because I had cut back my working out by a lot and was getting a better relationship with food, so had put on 20 pounds of (healthy) weight. I am currently 7 weeks and 5 days with a healthy baby after almost a year of trying naturally after that.

All this to say, I would look at the other factors in your life, like your weight, calorie intake, and stress levels (keep in mind excessive cardio and working out releases cortisol in your body which can make it stressed) and also speak with a doctor to see if they can give you advice. Just be honest with them, because I lied a lot when I knew my eating and exercising wasn’t healthy, but didn’t want to admit it. Sending you lots of love and luck, try not to stress and just know you’re still young and this will get worked out

 

[sahabds]

@travellersolo i’m sorry you had to go through all that! i actually saw a fertility dr yesterday and he ordered a bunch of tests including a metabolic panel, CBC, progesterone, LH, and a ton of other hormones. he also wants to do some ultrasounds to see if my uterine lining is thick enough and if my egg follicles are mature enough. he did mention the possibility of going straight to IUI in the next couple months it still no luck due to my vaginismus so that’s promising!

 

[anth987]

@sahabds The chance of conception on any given month is only 15% so it can take a while to get pregnant and stay pregnant. Check out Lucky Sekhon on insta and her blog. She’s a IVF Doctor and has a TON of great content abt getting pregnant without assistance

 

[that1starfish]

@anth987 Her blog btw is https://theluckyegg.com

 

[herring]

@sahabds I would check with your Doctor to be sure.
If you're getting your period you should be okay as that says your body fat isn't too low to menstrate but best to ask them.

I was training for a marathon before I got pregnant, and even ran a marathon unknowingly pregnant. My doctor told me there's no harm in running. My baby is now a very healthy and busy 8 month old
I was also pescatarian, and got my blood tested every so often to make sure I wasn't anemic.

 

[roky23]

@sahabds Have you had your husband’s sperm checked? If rule out the more likely causes first, like possible issues with his sperm or your anemia, before blaming your running which sounds reasonable.

 

[sahabds]

@roky23 we’re gonna check his just to be safe, but i doubt it’s him

 

[psalm92]

@sahabds Exact same history as you except I’m older and in a same sex relationship. Several rounds of IUIs did not work for me and I had to move up to IVF. My periods are 36 days long and I ovulate on CD 19. When I was running a lot, my body seemed to feel stressed and I got issues such as thin lining and ovarian cysts. If you’re not getting enough iron and are slightly anemic, your body definitely does not have optimal conditions for conception because baby is going to draw from your blood volume as well anything else. You absolutely need to get that anemia under control and cool it on the exercise. Sorry to ask this but I think it’s relevant because of our ED history. Are you on the low end of body weight or have low body fat? This affects our sex hormones a lot too. My fertility specialist actually suggested I gain some weight in order to prepare for my IVF treatments. My first round went well after gaining some weight and I’m currently awaiting results.

 

[sahabds]

@psalm92 i’m not sure what my body fat percentage is but i know my BMI is like 20-21 so it’s perfect and where it should be. but yeah you’re absolutely right and i’m trying my best to improve things with my running and diet. i saw a fertility specialist yesterday and he ordered a bunch of labs so that’ll help give mw
some insight

 

[sylivesteralmas]

@sahabds I am 38, runner and conceived last year at 37 on second cycle. While I didn’t run the distances you do, around 25 miles per week , I did peloton bike and strength workouts. The doctors don’t discourage endurance activities when TTC but you do need to have a healthy body fat % for periods to be regular and hormones to be working to conceive.

 

[paul500]

@sahabds My sister struggled to conceive and had to eventually resort to IVF. They could never pin point what the issue was but she did have a very low BFP. Incredibly fit. Too fit.

I am not a medical professional but I don’t think it’s accidental that when you are too thin or lacking enough body fat, you can experience amenorrhea. The body requires some fat in order to be a better environment to grow and nourish baby and yourself.

 

[creexpl]

@sahabds Why such high mileage? If you’re not training for anything, why? That can so serious damage and the likelihood of your ED feeding off that is pretty high. Go see a doc to make sure this is healthy for you, the food you might be needing or missing, hormone level, etc

 

[christmyonlyhope]

@sahabds Running higher mileage alone is not a cause for infertility, but underfueling to support that mileage is. I became pregnant 2 weeks after competing in the Olympic trials marathon (after a sustained period of high mileage, 70-90 mpw, leading up to that race). And I had a lifetime of high mileage during collegiate and post racing prior to that. I’ve have two pregnancies since then and didn’t drop mileage considerably in preparation for either, but my fertility profile didn’t indicate that it was needed. Many professional runners conceive relatively easily, but despite their mileage, they are usually fueling properly if they’re able to stay injury free.

A day 3 test should help you understand your fertility profile better. There could be hypothalamic dysfunction even if you have regular periods. If you feel like your personal reasons for running high mileage are unhealthy or that there may still be disordered fueling behaviors, that could absolutely impact your fertility. It seems great that you’re asking these questions and self reflecting, and that you describe willingness to change if needed!

 

[loganjansen]

@sahabds For a slight different perspective, sometimes you do the right things and fertility can just be really wonky. I had disordered eating for years and amenorrhea for at least 10 years. It took some time, but I was able to regain a healthy period again while also running higher mileage weeks (around 50 miles a week pre-pregnancy). It sounds like you’re seeing signs of ovulation? Is that with test strips? I beat myself up every time I didn’t have a successful conception after a cycle, but I think in the end it was just some luck around the right timing for sex around ovulation that finally clicked. However, I know folks who do everything right who still have struggles. It’s so hard, and I think those of us who have had EDs tend to want to blame things that go wrong on ourselves as a way of still having “control.” But human bodies can just be messy! That being said, checking in with a good RD might be helpful, and I hope you give yourself some grace .

 

[dnick]

@sahabds I got pregnant in the peak of marathon season. I ran peak week and my marathon just as soon as I found out I was pregnant.

 

[paulacs]

@sahabds How about try a little break from running after 5 days of your intercourse?

I've been cycling a lot before getting pregant, and after failing at my first attempt with IVF (I was even riding the date I was getting embryo transfer. Lol), I took a break for 6 days from riding with the 2nd IVF attempt.

During this time, after transfer I just went for a gentle walk instead, keep my heart rate under zone 2. – And it worked!

After seeing 2 lines on the pregnancy test, I went straight back to cycling again. Now I'm 39 wks pregnant and everything is good!

So, just invest 6-7 days without running and see how it goes. Wish you all the best.

 

[perez1001]

@sahabds My husband and I started trying right after I completed my first Ironman and we struggled. I had anorexia as a teenager and never had a normal period in my life. Even when I got to a healthy weight and was eating enough it did not come back. I ended up with a stress fracture and saw a sports doc who specializes in women's health. She put me on progesterone and my period came back and we also did testing and found out I have PCOS. Long story short, I got pregnant 5 months after the stress fracture happened. Is it because I was working out less? Not entirely sure but a lot of folks say it was. I was still swimming and cyclign but was limited to 90 minutes and wasn't training for anything.
Also someitmes you just need a break. My husband and I had been stressing and trying to have sex at the right time all the time, finally I started losing it and needed to stop. We gave up for a while and we had sex randomly during that time and that is when we conceived our now 5 week old daughter.