Can luteal phase defect be a sign of bad eggs?

W

want2bsober

New member
Tw mention of miscarriage / living child

In Feb 2023 I had a baby, we started trying again in June 2023, and had no luck. During this time I also realized at first my luteal phase was only 7-8 days, then extending to 10 days by September. Sometimes I’d still spot for a day before. December I started using progesterone cream OTC, got pregnant but had a chemical. Used progesterone oil that same cycle and got pregnant again in January.
Everything looked great. But then had a MMC. Found out it was T21. I’ve had one cycle already with a 7 day LP. I just got my period again today and this was a 9 day LP. Prior to my LC I also had a 9-10 day LP and used progesterone cream the month she was conceived. She does have a rare genetic condition that spontaneously occurred, so I can’t even really say that I’ve had a successful healthy pregnancy.

I’ve been taking coq10 and vitamin e for around 1.5 months. I’m thinking of adding in vitamin b6 and vitamin c to help with the LP. But I’m wondering if based on my track record of 0 healthy pregnancies, if the LP defect is more likely a result of me just having really bad eggs. My 7dpo progesterone was 12.4 this cycle. I thought that was pretty good so o was shocked to get my cycle today at 10dpo.

Not sure what I’m looking for exactly with this post. If anyone has experienced similar? Or has any thoughts? I really was feeling hopeful about my Cycle regulating this month as I’ve also been doing acupuncture and now I just feel defeated again.
 
@want2bsober You say you had a baby in Feb 2023 and started trying in June 2023? Your short luteal phases may be because your prolactin is still high from giving birth… I’m trying to conceive my first with a prolactinoma. My RE said my high prolactin can result in low progesterone and a luteal phase defect which would make sense because in the 15 cycles I’ve been trying, I had never had a luteal phase longer than 7 days. I just started taking meds to lower my prolactin and had a 12 day luteal phase my last cycle. Just a thought!
 
@bucky88 Yes we started trying so fast, I wanted a close age gap (which has since long sailed). I’m not sure if my luteal phase once again being so short post MMC/d&c is possibly hormone related again. My progesterone at 7dpo was technically appropriate (12.4), so I’m not sure if the prolactin theory would totally work but I’m definitely going to ask. Does it matter which cycle day the prolactin is checked?
 
@want2bsober Just so you know, it is not medically recommended to begin another pregnancy so quickly - less than 6 months is considered high risk, and the WHO’s recommendation for spacing between pregnancies (birth to pregnancy) is 12-18 months for best outcomes for mother and baby. It’s very common to have wonky cycles postpartum, including luteal phase defect, so I would put a bit of an asterisk by much of your time trying. Most women are not fertile that soon postpartum, which is your body protecting you from overtaxing it. And I’d also add that while luteal phase defect can delay time to pregnancy a bit, it is not actually a cause of infertility (e.g. women with LPs 10 days). It’s likely you have just been unlucky so far.

I’m sorry for your losses and hope you conceive a successful pregnancy soon.
 
@sisi Thank you for the info!! I am actually quite grateful I didn’t get pregnant right away, and I do believe it was my body being aware that it was not ready for another pregnancy. I’m just now feeling more like myself at 14 months PP, even after my two losses and 2 d&c’s. I’m also taking time to focus on myself and getting lidocaine injections in my back for herniated discs and I also started doing fertility acupuncture.

If I had gotten pregnant in June I’d have a one month old and a 14 month old right now. I cannot even imagine. I would’ve still been forever grateful if it had happened though too, but my daughter is so high needs due to her medical needs that it sadly worked out for the best in this case. I appreciate all the info and I definitely realize now it wasn’t even the safest option for us when we started trying. I was just so desperate for that gap at the time.

I hope my body has some plan and that it includes creating a healthy baby lol. Thank you again🤍
 
@want2bsober I don’t think it matters… I’ve had it checked on random days in my cycle. You just have to fast that day and don’t have intercourse, an orgasm, or nipple stimulation for 24 hours(?) before the test. It’s definitely worth checking out! It’s an easy fix if that’s the case. Good luck!
 
@want2bsober No. Luteal phase defect usually means that you might have low progesterone but that is not linked to egg quality. Egg quality is mostly determined by age and whether you have certain conditions that can cause inflammation in the ovaries or cause eggs to be immature (e.g PCOS and Endo).

Sorry for your loss. Do you know whether the T21 is maternal or paternal? Sperm quality can affect embryos too. I know they say that eggs can “correct” minor issues with sperm but if the issue is significant, it can’t be corrected (high DNA fragmentation). If you go to the IVF boards, there are plenty of stories about women with decent egg quality (lots of mature eggs retrieved and many Day 3 embryos) having difficulty creating day 5 blasts due to sperm issues.

It’s easy for women to blame themselves whenever a miscarriage happens but miscarriages are common even in younger women and sperm quality issues can affect development of embryos too, there’s always 2 sides of the equation.
 
@michaelwayne57 They didn’t do ANORA testing so we cannot find out if it was maternal or paternal. That would’ve definitely helped to know. My husband actually just collected his semen analysis today, so I’m hoping to have those results in a few days. But per our RE she literally was making it seem like 0% chance this is a sperm issue and is all an egg issue. I’m now pending day 3 labs to check FSH to really get a feel for my egg reserve, but I’m 30 and my AMH was 2.35 (which based on my research seems quite low)
 
@want2bsober I’m sorry your RE is being dismissive about the possibility of it being a sperm issue. What a shame because as a woman she really should know better.

Your AMH is great (I’m assuming this is Ng/ml?)! It is completely average (I think pretty much bang on 50th percentile according to this chart which is good, too high can also be an issue!). AMH doesn’t determine egg quality but more quantity remaining (although really low AMH (like 0.3) can suggest other issues like severe endo that can impact egg quality and chances are there are more bad eggs left if AMH is low).
 
@michaelwayne57 Yeah I liked her willingness to test everything, but was certainly dismissive and made me feel really bad about my body by more or less telling me based on my history (of 1 LC with rare disease that wasn’t inherited, and now 2 miscarriages one being from t21 and one being a chemical) that my chances of having a successful healthy pregnancy is like 5%. I didn’t realize the circumstances were that dire and she made it seem like it’s IVF or bust when it comes to my options. We just don’t have the funds right now for it (0% insurance coverage) so we are going to try again naturally one more time but my short luteal phase is giving me panic that it means the egg wasn’t good or strong and that’s why the corpus luteum doesn’t continue to create enough progesterone.
 
@want2bsober It's very normal to have a shorter LP after giving birth for actually a long time +-a year - also depending on type of feeding longer. If you're breastfeeding in any capacity that's most likely the culprit. But also your body might just take a little longer to regulate than a year if you're not.
 
@s3anreilly I only breastfed a month. My daughter is on a special keto formula for her condition. I had a short luteal phase prior to pregnancy. Prior to her I tracked and it was around 8 days and then lengthened to 9 days the cycle before I conceived and the cycle I conceived I used progesterone cream. Even as a teenager (before going on birth control) I had 21 day cycles, I didn’t track ovulation but if I had to guess my luteal phase was probably short even then
 
@want2bsober You said in your post your LP before was about +-10 days. Which is normal. Not short.
It really takes at least a year for your body to regulate. And luteal phase on its own does not cause infertility, but for people who deal with infertility (aka trying for a year which you're not there yet) it might be good to investigate underlying reasons/other conditions that affect it.
But like your barely over a year pp. So it's most likely it's just the supression from the hormones that are still regulating making your LP shorter than it was before. It's similar as regulation coming off birth control, but even more pronounced/longer.
It's impossible to actually know your exact ovulation date with home tracking. It's always +-1-2 days.
It's good you're getting workup for the recurrent loss though!
 
@hintofasian I’m seeing doctor Thursday for this! Hopefully I get answers… it’s been hard to get into the doctor because my insurance doesn’t cover fertility so they won’t see me for that. But I emphasized it’s for my cycle issue.
 
@lachar The oil/cream? On Amazon! I did the proov balancing oil 3x daily from 2dpo on (if not pregnant stop at 12dpo). It’s expensive but as stated above; I think it’s the only reason I even got a positive test, despite the issue clearly being bad eggs.

As far as the actually progesterone supplement have gotten that from my RE but won’t try that until next cycle.
 
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