Possibly dumb ? about spotting & tracking your cycle

[anon-musings.livejournal.com]

I've had a copper IUD for about 10 months now and when I get my period, I spot for a day or two and then the heavy flow begins. I've been tracking my monthly cycles for a while now and have always marked the first day of spotting as day 1 of my period and thus, day 1 of my cycle. But I just read somewhere that you're only supposed to begin counting from the first full day of bleeding. Is this correct? 

Comments

[niki28.livejournal.com]

The first day of your cycle is the the first sight of red blood.

[sprtwrid.livejournal.com]

when i was tracking everything, i would put an S for spotting, B for bleeding, hb for heavy bleeding, c for cramps and also had a system for tracking my bowel habits.

After a few month of that i saw a definite pattern and counted from the first day of heavier spotting (right before my heavy bleeding). I wish i would start having periods again, i miss my calender :P

in same situation as you

[sand-woman.livejournal.com]

I mark the spotting as spotting, and day one as the heavy flow. It seems to work out fine and matches up with symptoms of ovulation etc.

[arularia.livejournal.com]

Figuring out day 1 of your cycle can be kind of hard. Most of the sources out there will tell you that spotting does not count as the start of your cycle, but I have yet to see a good, clear definition of what is spotting and what is an actual period flow. Some places will tell you that it counts as long as its bright red, but I'm in the same boat as you--most of my spotting IS bright red.

I tend to go by amount rather than color. If I can get by with just a pantiliner, it's spotting. If it's heavier than that, I'll count it as the start of my period. I also record all my days of spotting in addition to when I have my period. First day of actual bleeding gets circled and subsequent period days get the little slash mark. For spotting, I write "s/" in the corner on my calendar.