Fertility and running

this is a question for women out there, need some perspective. I've run about 30 miles a week for about ten years and have been on the contraceptive pill for 8 years. my husband and I have decided to start trying for a baby so I came off the pill but have had no period since. 5 weeks now. Does anyone think I'm over exercising? or has any experience with this? I'm a normal weight and bmi and eat a heathy balanced diet. Thank you I'm worried! 

Comments

  • Go to your doctor and get them to refer you to a specialist.  You'll need to say you've been trying for over a year, or they'll just make you wait.  Don't waste time, sort it out. I'm sure you'll get pregnant, but it can take time if there's 'stuff' to fix first.  

    You'll get there and it'll all be ok.

    I'm not a woman.  Hope that's ok image

  • Thanku, of course it's fine ur not a woman image. I've got an appointment booked in a couple if weeks with the doc. I'm not sure whether to cut back on my running though, don't want to but unsure whether it's damaging my fertility. 

  • I don't know anything about fertility (although I am a woman) but 30 miles a week isn't really that much, especially not if you have been doing it for ten years. On the other hand, 8 years is a long time to be on the pill, it seems much more plausible that it's taking your body a while to adjust to not being on it.

  • RicFRicF ✭✭✭

    I doubt if running is damaging your fertility. 

    Yesterday I ran with a women who has been an international runner/tri-athlete for years and has become pregnant again at the age of 43.

    As an aside, despite being due in December, she could easily chat at 8 minute miling. 

    Have the 'old man' checked out. It isn't always a women problem - fertility.

    🙂

  • Thanku all, it's so nice to get a little bit of reassurance. I don't think 30 miles is that much but when u look on the internet u start to wonder. the thing I'm worried about is no period but let's hope it will come soon

  • Perhaps you are already pregnant.

  • 30 miles a week isn't excessive. It will probably take your body a while to sort itself out after being on the pill for so long. Give yourself a few months for your hormones to sort themselves out. It definitely isn't worth bothering your doctor yet. When your periods are back to normal it may still take a while to get pregnant. This is normal.

    Keep running because it is important for yourself and the baby to stay fit and healthy.

    Good luck

  • CindersCinders ✭✭✭

    +1 mathschick, it will take time for your periods to return after coming off the pill.  Give it a bit longer before you see the Dr.

  • Thanku I'm beginning to feel a bit better. Not pregnant though, did a test. Gonna keep running, keep fingers crossed period will come

  • It definitely takes more than 5 weeks for your periods to return to normal after coming off the pill. When I stopped taking the mini pill I think it was about 7 weeks before I had one.

    I think it also takes a few months for normal fetility to return.

    You don't need to see your doctor just yet. 

  • Took me a while to have a normal period after coming off the pill. 5 weeks isn't long at all. Give it some time. It also took my sister a year to conceive after coming off the pill and she was told that is normal... anything longer they may have looked into. Took about the same time with 2nd kid, then with 3rd she was pregnant when the wee one was just 5 months... I'd say nothing to worry about, certainly not yet!!! 

  • Mrs NoelMrs Noel ✭✭✭
    Not been there myself but know plenty of people who've had to wait a couple of months to settle down after the pill. 30 mi isn't a great deal of miles to worry about.
  • PG3PG3 ✭✭✭

    I really wouldn't stop running. being fit is probably an advantage. Its much easier to say than do, but you need to relax and it should happen, it may take a while though. It took 8 months for my first and after six, it started to feel like a long time and I was a bit worried it wouldn't happen. Once your period comes back, it might be worth using a fertility monitor? I used a clear blue one. You can get them at a reasonable price on eBay. Good luck!

  • Thanku! Trying to relax! Still running. 

  • ... running good for fertility. Can take 3 months or more. Stay away from grains and dairy. Eat more fresh veg and meat fat. Our original evolutionary sources of fuel. Grains are just another sugar rush that throws Insuline level out of place. Insuline controls all other hormones in body.... #Paleo #LCHF
    (6 weeks of meat, nuts and fresh veg only, to reset hormone levels to evolutionary standards)

  • It's taken 5 months since coming off the depo for my periods to start, so at 5 weeks, you're being a bit hard on your body, it has 8 years of hormone shit to get through and sort out.  Give it some time, relax, continue running and eat well.

    Good luck.

  • On the pill for 8 years.

    Not been on the pill for 5 weeks.

    Worried your not fertile after 5 weeks !!!

    Have a word with yourself. People can try for years and years before they get pregnant. If your stressing now jeez.

    Sorry to be blunt but i would have thought it is common knowledge amongst adults that pregnancy doesnt always occur after day 1. Indeed you do need some perspective.

    However good luck and hope you get pregnant soon.

  • I haven't been there but it's something I will need to think about within the next year!



    And also John kenning, if you read, she is not asking why she isn't pregnant. Shes concerned that she hasn't had a period yet. After being able to control periods for the past 8 years I'm sure it feels weird and uneasy not knowing.



    Im sure it's just a timing thing. Like others have said- keep fit and stay healthy. You body needs to readjust
  • Every time I would run a hard workout, I would think to myself: am I harming my chances of getting pregnant by doing this?” says Jennifer Fox, a marathoner from Virginia who was 27 when she first started trying to conceive. “There weren’t any good guidelines on what was the rule. Is 25 miles a week okay? 50 miles? I wasn’t sure.


    The reason for the lack of specific mileage guidelines is that every woman is different. Some get pregnant in the middle of marathon training; for others 20-mile weeks may be too much. But, to start with, “The number one recommendation is to assume you’re fertile unless proven otherwise,” says Alice Domar, director of the Domar Center at Boston IVF and author of Conquering Infertility. “If you are a runner and you have regular menstrual cycles, I wouldn’t worry about changing your routine unless you can’t get pregnant,” which means a year of trying for women under 35. (Doctors agree age is a bigger issue than exercise habits or mileage. Because the chance of conceiving decreases with age, older women may have less time to spare. Women 35 to 40 should consult a doctor after trying for six months; for women over 40, it’s just three months.) Sarah Crane, an OB/GYN and professor at Boston University School of Medicine, says women are so used to micromanaging their fertility to not get pregnant that they expect to conceive right away, but it’s perfectly normal to take months.
    Cheer's,
    Nav
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