Cycle 38 (CD1-25)... Stress, anyone?

Since last cycle, I have:

• moved to a different country
• started a new job, which I am at for 10-12 hrs/day five days a week
• completely changed my sleeping schedule
• started exercising regularly (cardio 5-6x/wk)
• changed my diet
• had two family members pass away

So, I'm not particularly surprised that it's now CD25 and my temps are still sub-97.0. I tried triggering ovulation last week, with no luck... though now I have had a few days with lots of cervical mucus, so I'm going to be trying again starting tonight. Our new home is in the country, so natural lighting streaming in from the open window is not really an option -- it's pretty dark out. I'm going to be trying out a night light and seeing how that goes. Hopefully I'll also be able to spend time outdoors these next few days, which I've not gotten a chance to do in awhile. So... we'll see how this goes.

Day 77 (CD22) - An example of how travel can mess up your temperatures!

So who wants to take some bets about when/if I've ovulated?

CD20 - woke up at 3am (EST) after getting about 4.5 hours of sleep
CD21 - woke up at 6am (CST)
CD22 - woke up at 4am (CST)

All three of these nights were following very long, stressful days, and I've had lots and lots of EWCM throughout, including today (CD22).

Option 1: Completely unadjusted temperatures, no ovulation yet... might have to mark CD21 as disturbed later to get an accurate shift
Option 2: Adjusted temperatures, showing a shift, but no ovulation because of my continuous ewcm
Option 3: Adjusted temperatures & put on "temperatures only" setting, shows ovulation on CD19

#1 #2 #3

Put your votes in now! ;)

Day 46 (CD35 - 3DPO)

I got my third high temp, which verified ovulation on CD32. Interesting things to note:

- This was my latest ever recorded ovulation. It seems that the extra melatonin produced by sleeping in dark conditions was enough to suppress ovulation.
- This was my lowest ever recorded coverline. It seems that the extra melatonin also lowered my core body temperature.
- Ovulation occurred on the day after my first light night. That, combined with extra sunlight during the daytime seemed to have triggered my ovulation, or at least balanced out my melatonin/seratonin levels enough that I was finally able to ovulate.

Day 45 (CD34)

Finally! My temp this morning was a 97.6, the highest I've seen in quite a long time. Between that and less-fertile mucus and cervix position, I'm fairly confident in a third high temp tomorrow, verifying that I ovulated on CD32, officially my latest ovulation ever.

Last night I did sleep with my eye mask on again, and was glad that I did; I felt quite well-rested in the morning. My plan during this luteal phase is to be sure to get sun every day to hopefully balance out my seratonin/melatonin levels before beginning the next cycle. I'm hoping for a fourteen day luteal phase again, which would put my next menstruation on Friday, July 4th.

Day 44 (CD33 - third night of light)

Though I did sleep a bit better last night, and though I do now have one temperature above the coverline, I do have a few concerns...

• Perhaps this temp shift is just an even-ing out of my temperatures now that my melatonin levels are getting back to normal (and excess melatonin is not causing them to be lowered). If so, how will I distinguish that from ovulation?
• My temp for this morning was barely above the coverline, and -- in fact -- at the same level as the previous days which I had attributed to too much sun. Knowing I didn't get sunburned yesterday, I want to think that this is really an ovulatory shift, but I'm still skeptical.
• My cervical mucus signs today were a bit difficult to interpret. I marked them as creamy, since it was very lotion-like, but it was unlike any creamy mucus I've had before, and in some parts seemed globby like post-ovulatory mucus, but also seemed a bit elastic like fertile-time ewcm. Overall, since it was definitely of less fertile quality than yesterday, I marked it as creamy.
  
• With it being cycle day 33, I don't know what my chances are of ovulating anytime after this if I did not actually ovulate yesterday.
• Since last night was my last light night, and I did not have a temp shift that screamed "Congrats! You ovulated!" I'm a bit uncertain as to what to do tonight -- go without the eye mask for one more night? Or return to my "dark side"?

One reassurance, however, is that either ovulation has happened, or it hasn't. Since it's not a lengthy process (taking as little as 15 minutes - see it here!), it either happened yesterday or it didn't, and nothing I do today can change that. If I do use the eye mask tonight (which is what I'm leaning towards) then I should still get a high temp tomorrow. And that way I'll know if it was a raise induced by a decrease in melatonin, or if it was a genuine shift... well, that along with the mucus dry up and cervical position returning to the infertile stage. So, we're still waiting, but we're remaining optimistic!

Day 43 (CD32 - second night of light)

Last night: Second night with no eye mask. Falling asleep with the additional light was not any easier last night than the night before, and I slept quite restlessly. I'll be very glad to use the eye mask again on Friday night.
This morning: Still no temperature shift. I spent a few hours this morning (between rain showers) out on my balcony trying to soak in as much sun as possible.


I think that I've been producing too much melatonin to ovulate. Perhaps going from our normally-light bedroom to the complete darkness of the eyemask was too drastic of a transition? So, of course, I had to do a bit of research:

The effect of melatonin on reproductive systems can be summarized by saying that it is anti-gonadotropic. In other words, melatonin inhibits the secretion of the gonadotropic hormones luteinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone from the anterior pituitary. Much of this inhibitory effect seems due to inhibition of gonadotropin-releasing hormone from the hypothalamus, which is necessary for secretion of the anterior pituitary hormones. (link)

That same article states:

In various species including humans, administration of melatonin has been shown to decrease motor activity, induce fatigue and lower body temperature, particularly at high doses.

In my research, I found a couple of other articles as well that also explained that melatonin is probably the cause of my drastic decrease in BBT this cycle (my average coverline is 97.7 - this cycle it is 97.2) (link, link)

So... what I'm going to do about this? Besides trying to get as much daytime sun as possible, I have no idea.

Day 42 (CD31 - first night of light)

Today marks CD31, which has, up until this point, been my latest recorded ovulation ever. With that in mind, last night I experienced my first "light" night of my Lunaception journey.

Going to bed without my eye mask on was a bit weird. I hadn't realized how much I had gotten used to it, and I had to consciously keep my eyes from opening every five seconds to look around. We get a lot of light into our apartment at night, since we are city-dwellers, and since we have so many large windows. Even without a single light bulb on, after my eyes adjusted to the lack of light I could fairly clearly make out everything in the room. With a combination of moonlight and streetlights shining in from the large window beside the bed, I hoped that would be enough to trigger ovulation.

I didn't sleep well at all, which I guess was to be expected. I know I tossed and turned quite a bit, even after I fell asleep (which took longer than usual). In the morning after I took my temperature I was so tired that I rolled back over and slept another two hours... not a very restful sleep. I don't remember having any dreams, either.

Just in case that wasn't enough light, I sat out on our balcony this morning for nearly an hour before it started raining and I had to come in. All day, I've been trying to get as much light as possible -- at least, as is possible while still getting stuff done around the house and while it's raining outside.

Tonight is the full moon, so I'm really hoping for ovulation today or tomorrow. I had all of the classic ovulation signs today -- eggwhite mucus, a wet vaginal sensation, an open, high, and soft cervix, and even a dip in temperatures. This afternoon I thought I may have even felt a twinge from my left ovary (which would be VERY odd, since I never have ovulation pains)... of course, maybe that was just wishful thinking.

I'll keep you updated.

Day 41 (CD30)

It is now CD30 and I still have not ovulated. This does somewhat concern me, since my latest ovulation ever is CD31. So, I just did a bit of quick research about melatonin and delayed or anovulatory cycles. Apparently too much melatonin can cause anovulation. (Great, NOW you tell me)

Melatonin receptors have been found in all male and female sexually responsive tissues, indicating that melatonin has a significant role in normal reproductive capacity. Exogenous melatonin can suppress the release of gonadotropin releasing hormone and lutenizing hormone, leading to anovulation and changes in steroid responsive tissues, especially in higher doses (link)

Abnormally high or pharmacologic concentrations of melatonin in women are associated with altered ovarian function and anovulation. It is believed that the hormone also has antigonadal or antiovulatory effects in humans, as it does in some seasonal and nonseasonal mammalian breeders. (link)

As much as I enjoy the better sleep, I may be getting just a bit too much melatonin, which is suppressing ovulation. So... not wanting an anovulatory cycle, I'm going to go with light for the next few nights... as much light as DH can stand!

Day 40 (CD29)

No ovulation yesterday. I think that if I don't have a definite temp shift tomorrow that I'm going to go without my eye mask for the next three nights to try to trigger ovulation... CD31 was my latest ever ovulation, so I'm getting a bit sick of waiting and anxious about inadvertently turning this into an anovulatory cycle.


Also, I've been talking with some other Lunaceptors recently and one very unexpected side effect that we've all been noticing is very vivid dreams, so I did a bit of research about the link between dreams and darkened sleeping quarters.

As we know, the light/dark during the night effects the production of melatonin (link). It's been noted by others that people who take melatonin pills to help them sleep very often also experience very vivid, bizarre dreams (link). We also know that our most vivid, easily-remembered dreams take place during the REM cycle of sleep, which is enhanced by melatonin (link). So basically, it all comes back to the effects of melatonin on our sleep. I find it so interesting that I think I'm going to include in my chart next cycle the nights that I have vivid dreams.

Day 39 (CD28)

No ovulation yesterday, but things are looking up for today!

CM - I had the mother lode of EWCM today! I'll spare you the graphic details, but let me tell you, I experienced a lot of fertile mucus today -- hoorah! This (along with a lower BBT today - more about that later) has pretty much killed any idea that I ovulated earlier this cycle, but hey -- it may be coming soon!
CP - More fertile than yesterday!
BBT - At first, I was disappointed at my 97.0 this morning. Then, as I started looking at my last week's temps, I'm considering marking both CD23 AND CD27 as disturbed -- both were higher-than-usual temps that took place immediately after a day in the sun where I ended up getting somewhat burnt. I'm not entirely sure of this theory, since I ended up more burnt on CD24 than 22, but had no disturbance in temps that day.

Thoughts? Have you noticed a sunburn/higher BBT correlation?

In other, related news... I was considering trying to go without my eye mask tomorrow night to try to trigger ovulation on the full moon (Wednesday). But with my increased EWCM today, my body may be ovulating on its own anyways, in which case I'll probably just let it do its thing.

Day 38 (CD27)

I might have ovulated yesterday(?)

With a BBT of 97.5 this morning (though it was 1 hr later than usual, so it could be adjusted to 97.3), that puts me for sure over the ridiculously low coverline of 97.0. So, we'll see what tomorrow brings. And, in the world of cervical mucus, I'm still experiencing the same creamy mucus with internal checks, nothing with external.

Which brings me to my next point... after commenting about my lack of mucus to a Lunafriend (since increased ewcm seems to be common among Lunaceptors), I decided to do some digging and found similar lack of mucus on more of my previous cycles than I had expected:

c14 - only one day of ewcm; 3 total wet or lubricative days
c15 - no days of ewcm; 3 total W or L days
c19 - 1 day ewcm; 4 W or L days
c22 - 1 day ewcm; 2 W or L days
c24 - 1 day ewcm; 3 W or L days
c28 - 0 days ewcm; 1 W or L day
c34 - 1 day ewcm; 5 W or L days
c36 (so far) - 0 days ewcm; 4 W or L days

I'm still trying to determine if any conclusions can be drawn from this data. C14-15 were summer of '06, C22 and 24 were spring of '07, and C34 was spring of '08, so perhaps an increase or change in heat/humidity may be the cause? My other theory has to do with diet/water intake, but I really don't have any personal data to back that up. I am, however, going to cut back on my soft drink intake and see if that helps; I know I've been drinking far too much this cycle, and it's very possible there's a correlation there.

Day 36 (CD25)

This is both confusing and annoying. My body is acting as if it's already ovulated -- with a low, firm cervix and drying-up mucus patterns (it was creamy this morning, but some drier sticky/gummy mucus this evening), but my temps are saying "nope, you haven't ovulated yet!"

So, we'll assume that my body tried to ovulate, but then did not, due to:

• travel
• stress
• heat exhaustion
• any combination or all of the above

Day 35 (CD24)

And now I'm just confused.

My cervical mucus and cervix position are both looking quite infertile, but my temp this morning was another super-low one. Possible interpretations:

1. I did not really ovulate on CD22. The high temp on CD23 was brought on by sunburn from the day before.
2. I did ovulate on CD22. The low temp on CD24 was a weird fluke of sorts or part of a very drastic fall-back rise.

And it looks like we'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out.

Day 34 (CD23)

I might have ovulated yesterday! What excitement!

CM - I had creamy mucus again today, even with an external check!
CP - It went WAY back down to pre-o position... low, firm, and slightly open
BBT - One temp above coverline and counting!

Lunaception

Here's the thing... I have long cycles. I always have. My average ovulation is on cycle day 21, and overall, the cycle lasts about 34 days. And when we're TTA, I don't mind at all! But once we TTC, I'm going to go nuts waiting three weeks for ovulation every cycle... I just know it. So, why not try to encourage an earlier ovulation through Lunaception!?

Lunaception is the regulation of light and darkness while sleeping in order to naturally encourage changes in the menstrual cycle. In general, women have found that decreasing the amount of light while sleeping does a number of things:
1. Women with early or late ovulation notice it conforming more with the average ovulation on cycle day 14
2. Women with short luteal phases find that they are lengthened
3. Women with erratic or scant cervical mucus find that it is increased and becomes of greater quality
4. Women find that their basal body temperatures become more even and hormones more steady
5. People find that they get a better night's sleep and are more awake and alert throughout the day.

Right now our lighting situation is less than ideal. And now that I think about it... that could be why I haven't been sleeping well lately (like... for the past month or so... right when it would be getting lighter earlier). With a studio apartment with lots of windows, we get lots of natural light and blacking it out with heavier curtains would be impractical, expensive, and probably not very effective, either. So, plan B... eye mask. Now to find one that I like.

The last two cycles, my mucus pattern has been driving me nuts (too little... only distinguishable by internal checks), and over the past year I've gone from consistently 13-day LPs to consistently 12-day LPs with a 10-day one thrown in there... too much light?

Another note about our sleeping arrangements... last year our bedroom was in a loft apartment which was QUITE dark (esp. at night)... and from cycle 16-26 (the time that we lived there) I had consistently longer LPs and consistently earlier ovulation... coincidence?

So, my plan right now is to start wearing an eye mask as soon as AF arrives (around 5/17). Cycles 36-38 (May-Aug) I'll wear it consistently throughout my cycle. Then, from cycles 39 if they are still long (with ovulation after CD20), I'm going to try removing it for CD12-14 to try to encourage an earlier ovulation.