Love fushigi_na_chou
1:08 pm - 01/17/2013

Spiky BBT temperatures
I asked this over in fam but I've only gotten response, and that was "wait until your period comes and then try to figure out what was going on," which I can do, but I'm sort of really curious to understand what might be happening now.

I know not all vagpaggers are familiar with FAM, but for those of you that are, do you think you could lend a hand? My chart this month looks like a mountain range. I thought at first I was having a slow rise after ovulating this month (which has literally never happened to me in the history of my charting), but this morning my temperature was a little lower than my previous spike upwards from two days ago (and I don't know if that can happen during a slow rise in temperature -- the internet is actually very useless on getting me information for this, and I don't have access to a copy of TCOYF at the moment).

Here's a link to my chart.

I know that having been tracking my CM and cervix would be helpful to me now, but usually I have a very clear and dramatic thermal shift and have no trouble telling when I've ovulated, and since I'm only using it to avoid, I just wait five days after ovulation to put myself in the clear when it comes to condomless sex. So yeah. Sorry all there is are my temperatures to go by.

I have a few theories myself of what could be happening, and I'm just wondering if any of them are more likely than the others, or if there's something else I haven't thought of:

1. I'm having a very delayed ovulation this month.
2. I have already ovulated and my temperature is just rising very slowly.
3. My temperatures are weird because I was sick a month ago and have a lingering cough that may possibly be interfering with my sleep/I may be getting sick again.
4. HBC has ruined my ovaries forever and they just do whatever the heck they want.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions or help. :)
Lend a hand
kaberett 17th-Jan-2013 06:30 pm (UTC)
(Quick heads-up that I've tagged this post because I think comments are likely to be super-interesting and relevant in future - hope that's okay? :-) --alex)
fushigi_na_chou 17th-Jan-2013 08:09 pm (UTC)
Yeah, that's fine. :) Thanks. :D
nynaeve_sedai 17th-Jan-2013 06:50 pm (UTC)
I can't tell if you've ovulated or not. I'd say it's possible either way as you do have a drop right around the only cm that you tracked. Have you even noted it in your head how your cm has been? Also all the open circles leaves me skittish to make a guess - were they taken earlier or later? If they were taken later, I'd be sure to adjust them or discard them since that could be throwing everything off.

One of the things I do with FF if it gives me dotted lines (like your November chart) is to change the method from Advanced to FAM. Sometimes FAM can get a clearer read than Advanced - not always, but it doesn't hurt to look at it, you can switch it back if it clarifies nothing.

IF you ovulated, then I'd guess cd13 or 14, however, if you're using this for preventative measures, I'd definitely be super careful and use condoms until you can see clearly. If you're having a gradual thermal shift (that happens to me sometimes) you'll need more days of data to confirm.
fushigi_na_chou 17th-Jan-2013 08:16 pm (UTC)
HBC has really messed up my CM. I used to have very clear changes in it before I went on birth control, but ever since, I only ever notice two types: tacky, thick, white CM that sort of collects on my underwear, but that I can't always get when checking my cervix, even when I swish my finger around up there, or just sort of clear, wet CM that's never really been stretchy. The thicker CM tends to vary in amount, but I haven't really noticed any cohesive pattern. :/ As for the time differences, it's only been two hours off at most, unfortunately due in part to me sometimes being overly sensitive to sounds and our walls and floor our paper thin, so I can hear our neighbors when they decide to talk like they're on opposite ends of their apartment. :x But also because one day a week I have to get up several hours earlier for work than through the rest of the week (I've set my temping time back because of that, to lessen the discrepancy).

Right now I have my FF settings for FAM, but it's not really very different from the Advanced Settings for me. My guess was also that I ovulated around CD12 or 13, but since this month is so unclear, we've definitely been keeping with the party hats. I'm not about to give us an unexpected surprise just now. XD
nynaeve_sedai 18th-Jan-2013 02:32 am (UTC)
Waking earlier shouldn't be too much of a problem unless you're getting less than three hours of sleep - if you wake later, you have to adjust it (although personally, if I take my temp outside of an hour from my usual time, I discard it unless it fits my usual pattern). If you have less than three hours, just remember to definitely discard those because they aren't considered accurate.

As for the cm, HBC can cause your body to hiccup, but it should start to sort itself out over the course of a few months. It drives some women batty because they're wanting to conceive and they have to wait and wait for their body to even out, but it does :)
fushigi_na_chou 18th-Jan-2013 07:18 am (UTC)
Well, it's been about five months now and my CM still isn't what it used to be. ^^;
katefinn 17th-Jan-2013 06:54 pm (UTC)
I don't think you have O'd yet or maybe it's an anovulatory cycle. Even though you did have a temp rise, it's hard to pinpoint the coverline and the O because of some inconsistent temps.

Have you tried TCOYF chart? It shows your fertile phase better than FF (that only defines it to you when it's way done), so it might be more helpful as you're using it as avoiding method.
fushigi_na_chou 17th-Jan-2013 08:18 pm (UTC)
I haven't, and honestly, it's partly because I'm so bad at reading textbook-like books unless it's for school. :x I tried reading the first couple of chapters and just got sort of ... bored with it (and then I had to return it to my library).
katefinn 17th-Jan-2013 10:02 pm (UTC)
Oh no. I meant the website www.tcoyf.com you can track your period there too. It's a very basic app - you can install it to your computer (an option I don't rec because it isn't online) or you can create an account and chart directly into the site. FertilityFriend is more modern and updated, but tcoyf has a broader view on the fertile phase.
fushigi_na_chou 18th-Jan-2013 06:06 am (UTC)
Ohh~~~ I had no idea there was a website! Thanks so much for this, I might start using this instead. :D
stacyinthecity 17th-Jan-2013 06:57 pm (UTC)
It does not look like you have ovulated yet.

It doesn't look like a slow rise because you haven't had even a series of low temps either.

Waking in the middle of the night, mouth breathing, coughing, etc can all affect your temps. For me it affects it in smaller ways. I can lie awake for an hour but as long as I don't toss and turn or get up, my temps won't be affected. But being sick definitely does affect my temps because I almost always run a small fever. So I can't tell you if your illness/sleepless nights is affecting your temps and perhaps you O'd but just can't tell because of wonky illness temps. Only you can say that because of past patterns you already know. If you aren't aware of any patterns yet, then yeah, wait til your period and then count backwards your typical LP length and see if anything around that date makes sense in retrospect.

Probably HBC has not ruined your ovaries forever, even though I panic and think that all the time for me. :) It can make your first few cycles kind of wonky - even a year later I've heard.

It is not unusual for a healthy woman of childbearing age to have an anovulatory cycle about once a year or so.
fushigi_na_chou 17th-Jan-2013 08:20 pm (UTC)
Thanks for this comment. I really do suspect either an anovulatory cycle or coughing messing with my sleep and therefore my temps. It's just so annoying not knowing for sure. 8DD
patchworkorange 17th-Jan-2013 10:53 pm (UTC)
I don't think you WILL know for sure with this month. :) So, just wait till period and start again...

Sometimes you just have months where your temps are just like this. I temped on and off for five years and had probably one of these months a yr...
fushigi_na_chou 18th-Jan-2013 06:06 am (UTC)
It's good to know it's not entirely unusual to happen. :)
chispita_666 18th-Jan-2013 04:37 am (UTC)
It looks like an anovulatory cycle so far.

How long have you been off the HBC? It can take your body a while to recover - when I went off the pill it took me about 6 months to get a period (I freaked out at month 4 and went to the Dr., who only prescribed progesterone to induce a withdrawal bleed, after which I just decided to wait it out)
fushigi_na_chou 18th-Jan-2013 06:08 am (UTC)
About 5 months now? Possibly 6. So this is another possibility.
Lend a hand
This page was loaded May 26th 2013, 4:58 am GMT.