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Questions About My Cycle : Irregular Cycles Last Updated: Jan 3rd, 2010 - 00:09:53


Irregular Return to Fertility After Childbirth
Answered by: Angie Frausto
Feb 18, 2008, 21:36

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Question

I am 16 weeks post partum and not breast feeding. I still have not gotten my period and have been to my OB/GYN who sent me for FSH/LH/prolactin tests which were all normal. He told me to go back on the pill. I then went to an endocrinologist who ran a bunch of tests and they were all normal. She said I may have a problem with progesterone and this is common. Before I was pregnant I was on the pill for 10 years. I am 30 years old and when I went off the pill last year I only got 1 normal period and then had to take provera to get my period which came on day 3 of taking it. I got pregnant 3 months later using ovulation strips.

I really don't want to start the pill if there is something wrong. I want to know what is going on with my body???

Help! Thanks a lot!!!!

Inna

Answer

Dear Inna,

Given your history, the fact that you have not ovulated and therefore have not menstruated is not unusual. Since you are concerned about not having a period the OB/GYN advised the pill so your period will be artificially regulated. To really know what is going on with your body, you may want to observe and chart your natural signs of fertility without taking any medication. In this way the tests that are run could be timed properly and yield true progesterone levels, then if there is a hormone deficiency supplementation can be given.

To learn how to chart your natural menstrual cycle you need to make an appointment with a Natural Family Planning teacher for instructions. Teachers in California are listed on this web site. You will be relieved to understand your symptoms of fertility (which may be stress related) and understand how artificial contraceptives may confuse cycles or even be a cause of temporary infertility. Observing your natural patterns of fertility will give you peace of mind.

Angie Frausto


Angie Fraust

Angie Frausto as a certified teacher of the Billings Ovulation Method has been teaching this method of natural family planning for 20 years in Whittier, California. She is the Director and Teacher Trainer of WOOMB Bilingual-Bicultural. Her laboratory research at University of Southern California School of Medicine studies the cellular interactions causing osteoporosis.


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