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

[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

[th3_unicorn]

About pre-ovulatory pattern: it may not be that random. I myself have noticed something in charts that even FF doesn't mention, and that's "baseline" temperatures that come before the fertile window. It's not always the case for everyone, but I've noticed that many charts show certain temperatures in the first week of the cycle. Then temperatures start to drop to a lower zone, and that's also the time CM begins to show, so those two signs would both mean a steady increase in estrogen. Then temperatures sometimes rise back up to meet baseline, before rising due to ovulation. The ovulation dip may occur somewhere within this pattern

[elettaria]

Oops, sorry for not realising you already knew all about FAM. You know what it's like, we do sometimes get women who don't know much about it. I'm glad to see you're doing both and with a proper knowledge of FAM. Do keep us posted and let us know how the charts compare

[th3_unicorn]

I think they're playing being overly cautious with CM observation, just to underline the advantage of taking human interpretation out of the picture with LC. It is one of the most adressed issues I guess, I have myself asked them about how it compares with the sympto-thermal method, and the reps have explained to me that CM changes during the different stages of life, so that it can't quite be relied upon on a lifelong basis. Plus, it's true that charting can be a challenge, especially when you don't get a nice clear shift, and you have to be very lucky to get a non-ambiguous chart. It can be too risky for contraception purposes.

In the numbers you posted, I think you can quite see a pattern! I had always only thought of the phases in a graphic fashion, but with numbers it can get interesting! That was really clever, I think I'll keep track of that too in my charts!

[elettaria]

I'm not really keeping track of it, I just went back and counted the numbers above and below the red line. I don't have CF for backup because of the IUD (though by now it seems that spotting is functioning as eggwhite normally would, which helps a bit), but I have clear enough thermal shifts that I'm not too bothered about that, it's not as if I'm using this for contraception. Anyway, I'm interested to hear that you think there's a pattern, could you explain more? In particular, what do you make of that long cycle? I don't have paid membership of FAM so I can only show two charts at once, but if you want to look at any I'm happy to show you them, it can be any two

[cheyinka]

Hopping in to suggest that the reason why IUDs and FAM have the most myths about them might be because anything that doesn't involve chemicals or devices can't possibly do anything for real, and since the Dalkon Shield was poorly designed and caused lots of problems, surely all IUDs must be equally dangerous, or at least equally suspect. Meanwhile, if a doctor prescribes them, pills, implants, and patches must be safe, since they come from a doctor!

:rolleyes: