Mid-cycle bleeding that follows a pattern

[elettaria]

I've been charting for a year now, and noticed that my cycles form rather an odd pattern. I get lots of eggwhite, often all the way through my cycle, which I've been told here is normal with a copper IUD. I also get mid-cycle spotting (though today, CD15 which is far too early for a period, it was more like light bleeding - it it had occurred a

Comments

[recuntulous]

With my copper IUD, I had just a little bit of blood in my EWCM (that yes, came the entire time the IUD was in) around midcycle that I figured was ovulation spotting. It happened a couple of months.

I wouldn't be surprised if the spotting around ovulation is becaues of the IUD, and that they call it random because most women don't know when they should be ovulating, and because in some women, it is random? There's my 2 cents of speculation anyway.

[elettaria]

The bit about most women not knowing when they're ovulating makes sense, but I still can't see why an IUD would cause a week of spotting during the fertile period. If an IUD is going to cause spotting, surely it would do so throughout the cycle, or completely at random, rather than in line with certain hormonal shifts?

[starryeyedreams]

You know, I was going to say the same thing, that most people call the spotting random because they really don't know where they are in their cycle.

[th3_unicorn]

I'm kind of confused: why are people charting with an IUD inserted?
It's supposed to create an inflammatory response in the uterine lining that most likely affects body temperature, similar to what illness and fevers do.

Devices like LadyComp (fertility monitor) clearly state in their instructions that IUDs have to be removed before starting to collect temperatures.

[elettaria]

IUD: contraception

[th3_unicorn]

I'm using LadyComp and I know about over 30 other women who do and not one of them is the least unhappy about it

[elettaria]

Nope, I was using ladycomp.com, though thanks for the link, I'll have a look at that too

[elettaria]

COPPER IUDS DO NOT INTERFERE WITH HORMONES. Sorry to shout, but I'm getting a bit fed up with having to reiterate this. The copper IUD is for contraception that doesn't interfere with my hormones, and the herbs are to regulate my hormones. The IUD will not affect my luteal phase, and the herbs aren't going to override the contraceptive effect of the IUD. Previously my gynaecologist, who inserted my IUD, put me on hormonal contraception for exactly the same reason. How is this a problem? As for pointless, FAM doesn't suit me for contraception and a copper IUD does, so why is it pointless to use the best method for contraception for me and treat the hormonal problems separately? I have no idea where you're getting this "inflammation" business from either, but if it's the nonsense that Weschler puts in TCOYF about IUDs, I'd suggest ignoring that and looking at the actual research on IUDs, not the myths spouted by people who don't like rivalry in their contraceptive field.

[elettaria]

You told me it was "pointless" to combine contraception with hormonal treatment, and you don't think that's rude? I'm not knocking anything Weschler says about FAM, I'm quoting her all over the place in the rest of the post, but she has inaccurate information about other methods of contraception, and she's not an expert on those methods, she's an expert on FAM. Sadly this is true of a number of books on contraception, they all seem to have biases one way or the other, it's incredibly politicised. Do you have any sources for your claims that IUDs change luteal phase length? And could you explain why you think that there's a problem with using herbs while using a non-hormonal method of contraception?

[recuntulous]

Hey! I still don't have any ideas about why the IUD would cause spotting around ovulation, and I'm not exactly sure what physically the IUD's doing that's causing the spotting and I'm afraid to make assumptions and imagine things, but I wanted to say that I appreciate the Lady-Comp discussion that you ladies had here! I'd also be really interested to see if they send you an email that explains themselves. th3 unicorn had given me some links about the LC before, and I was intrigued, and it would be something I'd love to try, in addition to the paper charting I'm doing now, and if it cost maybe $50 or less. :) I had similar doubts as you did, but didn't have the time or energy to think about them that in-depth, and I'm glad that you've debated it here where i could read it later! It's really interesting!

[elettaria]

I think it's about $500. If it were $50, I'd see the point too, if I ever had to give up using an IUD that is (don't mind the charting, wouldn't like the abstinence). I'll post the reply if I get it, I made myself look like an interested customer who is doing FAM charting with the obvious concerns.

[recuntulous]

Yeah, before I saw the price, I got pretty excited about trying it out. My last cycle, which was after the IUD expelled, actually made a lot more sense, and I'm hoping that my charts start to look better. Having the IUD shouldn't have been making my cycle irregular, but maybe it was in a funky place, or maybe just that little extra stress on me, combined with everything else in my life, was having some effect

Cyclotest

[cherrytwilight1]

Hey, I've been using the Cyclotest Plus 2, which is similar to the ladycomp. Ive been using for around 6 months as i stopped taking the pop pill as it just didnt disagree with me and i didnt like messing with my hormones. I have been learning and reading up on using fam at the same time and have loved this method so far. I have just ordered the new Cyclotest control which has a usb connection and software so that you can transfer your data to pc and so have a visual chart that can be printed out. I think this is a great idea and feature which ladycomp doesnt have.They are also a fraction of the cost of a Lady Comp. I ordered mine from Germany and it cost me 86 GBP. I agree that tho these computers are a great fam aid you still need to know about fam and they are not just a quick fix.I also agree that it's not wise to rely on barrier methods on 'red' days or 'flashing babies' days in cyclotests case.