Ovulation/period question

[skay210.livejournal.com]

I *cannot* believe I'm about to say this lol but, I'm watching the Kardashians show on E! right now, and have a question about one of their situations. Apparently Khloe has been trying to get pregnant for like a year, which I'm assuming means she is not on any BC and is not using condoms. She just went to a gynecologist and found out that she isn't/hasn't been ovulating and that's why she can't get pregnant.

This got me thinking...if she isn't ovulating, doesn't that mean she's also NOT having a period? I just wondered because you would think, if you hadn't gotten a period for a year (give or take) while you were off BC, and you weren't getting pregnant, you would figure out something was wrong well before an entire year went by. Or is it possible that you can still have a period without ovulating? Don't think so, but I'm not exactly sure. Is it possible that some BC a person was on BEFORE they started trying to get pregnant could keep them from having a period for a year while the hormones re-balanced themselves?

Comments

[slinkslowdown.livejournal.com]

I... have no idea, but this is a really interesting question!

I'm totally completely not at all sure this even works, but could it be possible that any HBC she was on in the past led her to keep spotting for a long period of time after she went off of it?

[lizziey.livejournal.com]

No. Her uterus still grows lining each month, and then sheds that lining. Her ovaries just don't drop their egg like they're supposed to is all. Your egg is microscopic at that point, all that blood and tissue is NOT your egg coming up, just uterine lining.

[faithful-summer.livejournal.com]

This is what I was thinking. The uterus forms lining to prepare for an egg so that if it is fertilized, it will have a suitable environment to implant and grow. I imagine that if someone is not ovulating, it works the same as someone who is but doesn't have the egg fertilized-- when nothing has implanted by a certain point, the uterus basically says "No baby this time" and sheds the lining to start over.

[knittinggoddess.livejournal.com]

However, that whole cycle--including buildup of the endometrium--relies on feedback from the ovaries. If the ovum doesn't mature properly, the cycle gets borked. http://www.fwhc.org/health/moon.htm

[archangelbeth]

There are such things as anovulatory cycles, where there's bleeding without an egg (though in my singular anecdotal experience, they caused me to have early "periods" -- 4 in about 2 months!). However, having monthly periods for a year, regularly, without ovulation... Um. There might be something that could do that, but it'd be right up there with the various "if you are pregnant from this, suspect shapechanging Greek gods" chains of circumstances that can make people worry.

There are other things that they probably should have considered: someone with a very short luteal phase (the amount of time the luteus corpus survives after releasing the egg; the LC produces progesterone, which keeps the uterus from bleeding) might start shedding uterine lining before even a fertilized egg would have a good chance of implanting. Someone with an undiagnosed thyroid condition might well be ovulating irregularly (and thus having irregular periods), and there's at least anecdotal suggestions that hypothyroidism can cause early miscarriages to be more common. PCOS is another "nope, not ovulating; nope, no periods, or at least very irregular ones" condition.

Some people do have very lazy ovaries, which don't get back in the groove of producing their own hormones for months after being on HBC. In that case, though... Still no or few periods.

Mind, if someone is ovulating infrequently, it can be hard to time when the sex in question should be had for best chances. If someone is focusing on "7 days after the period" (day 14), and they're really having a cycle of 50+ days... Even if they know that their cycle is "long," they may not realize that ovulation usually occurs about 2 weeks before a period. (Or, rather, the hormone surges happen, and if the egg isn't fertilized, to make hCG and keep the progesterone levels high, a bleed happens shortly after the hormone drop.) And "oh, my periods are just irregular" is something that kept me from recognizing that it was a hypothyroid symptom (one of many minor ones) for frickin' years.

TL:DR: There's stuff that could match what she's being told ("you're not ovulating regularly" isn't the same as not-ovulating, but it's the sort of simplistic thing some people come away with), but no, she would almost certainly not be having regular periods. Still, she might not realize what those irregular periods signified.

[encircleme.livejournal.com]

I replied to you, but I screwed it up, check out the comment I left below =)

[encircleme.livejournal.com]

Just a heads up, turns out I am having anovulatory, incredibly regular cycles. I've only been testing for one month and I'm going to test for four just to be sure, but I did not ovulate this month and I think it could be related to my hypothyroidism-which I don't personally think is up there with shapeshifting gods. =P

[encircleme.livejournal.com]

Oh whoops, this should have been a reply to Beth.

[nakedfaery.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's possible. I bleed regularly each month but only ovulate roughly once every 3 months. I have PCOS though.

(frozen)

[korppi_ravn.livejournal.com]

They're.. reproducing. There'll be more Kardashians.

(frozen) Maintainer Note

[barrelofrain.livejournal.com]

Hi korppi_ravn,

I'm writing as a VP maintainer to remind you that VP is a safe space, and that your comment, "They're.. reproducing. There'll be more Kardashians" is inappropriate in VP.

As easy as it is to see reality TV stars as characters, not real people, VP is not the place to judge other people's reproductive choices, even the choices of people we do not know personally. This includes the choices of people who you may not like, and it includes the choice to have children as well as to abstain from having children.

Further, even if you feel strongly about a person's character, we'd like to highlight that children are not inevitably similar to or following the same path as their parents.

We realize you can't edit comments, so we simply ask that you keep this note in mind for the future.

This is a friendly reminder to please review VP's policies to help us make VP a nicer place for everyone. You can follow these links for more information:

--What are VP's rules? (http://wiki.vaginapagina.com/index.php?title=VaginaPagina_FAQ#What_are_the_rules.3F)
--What is "safe space"? What does "empowerment" mean? What does "accountability" look like? (http://wiki.vaginapagina.com/index.php?title=VaginaPagina_FAQ#Safe_Space)

Please don't think we're scolding you or don't want you here. We issue safe space reminders to help our members acknowledge and include everyone, and to help keep VP a safe space for all. We hope you'll continue to participate in VP with this in mind. Safe space means a lot to many of our members, and it's amazing how much we can help just by being a little more careful with what we say.

If you'd like to talk more, your thoughts are welcome in contact_vp or via email (vpteam@vaginapagina.com). However, we just ask that you not discuss your reminder in this VP thread, since it would draw attention away from the original post.

Thanks for understanding.

--cat
for the VP Team (http://www.vaginapagina.com/contact.php)
contact_vp

[misspaigeb.livejournal.com]

"Is it possible that some BC a person was on BEFORE they started trying to get pregnant could keep them from having a period for a year while the hormones re-balanced themselves?"

The longest range for "normal" I've heard for adjustment like that is 6 months, but I guess it could be possible. I thought the same thing too when I was watching, but if she's been off HBC for a whole year that's probably not the case.

[sans-patrie.livejournal.com]

I have anovulatory cycles, which is why I needed fertility treatments to get pregnant. My cycles were also irregular generally, which made it even harder. But it is certainly possible to have regular but anovulatory cycles.

[sans-patrie.livejournal.com]

Also, typically, "trying" for up to a year to get pregnant after going off birth control is considered within the normal range. My fertility doctor, for instance, would not treat someone who hadn't been off birth control and trying for a year (unless, of course, they also had a medical reason why conception wasn't going to happen).