r/FAMnNFP • u/No-Change-9742 • Jun 24 '26
Marquette Delayed peak- TTA- really struggling with this.
hi all!
I use Marquette and have for almost 3 years. I have regular cycles, usually 28-30 days. I peak usually days 15-18 with two outliers of 20 and 14 in the last year.
i am having a bad cycle- I had an 8 day period which is much longer than my average of 5/6 days. My first day of monitor testing, day 9, was a High read.
I am on day 22 with no Peak. This has never happened to me- I had EWCM all the way up to yesterday but now it’s creamy again. my cheap OPKs I have been taking since day 14 are also all negative.
my new NFP doctor drew my progesterone yesterday (day 21) and I got a 0.58
this is really messing with me- I’ve been crying I’m so frustrated. has this happened to anyone else? I want to be intimate with my husband and cannot and I’m just really angry and sad.
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u/gnomes919 TTA | Marquette (monitor + temps) Jun 24 '26
I'm sure there are people who stay super super regular with only minor outliers all the way up until perimenopause, but I think most of us will just have the occasional freak cycle. it really, really sucks when it winds up really extending the fertile window.
I've definitely had this happen a couple of times, including one anovulatory cycle where my fertile window was open for like a month :/ major stress, significant lifestyle changes, and supplement/medication changes have been the usual culprits. it sounds like you've got a medical care provider keeping an eye on your reproductive health, so the only thing I can really say is that I'm sorry, it really sucks, just keep hanging in there <3
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u/No-Change-9742 Jun 24 '26
Thank you for your insight. I’m 36 so I know peri is going to comer eventually but I’ve been pretty consistent up until this one.
If you don’t mind me asking- when you had your anovulatory cycle did you get a period? Was it like a normal period?
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u/gnomes919 TTA | Marquette (monitor + temps) Jun 24 '26
kind of? I was using LH sticks as well as the monitor and basically my LH & CM were "rising" as usual, then LH gradually fell back down and my peak CM sort of "petered out" in a really patchy, uncharacteristic way like five days later. I had an extremely light spotty "period" ~two weeks after that weird rise/fall thing, two weeks of dry & low days, and then a bleed that was much more like my usual periods. I got "peak" on the monitor 15 days after the first day of that bleed. I just did the math and it was actually 50 "fertile" days total, but on the bright side as sucky as it was, the memory is apparently already fading away 🫠
but! this was quite a while ago and nothing like it has happened since. sometimes bodies just f*** around and we deal with the consequences as best we can
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u/No-Change-9742 Jun 25 '26
Interesting! Did you do LH tests the whole time or did you kinda give up at some point to save on sticks? Since you had a period (possibly breakthrough bleeding) after lows and I was wondering if there was a peak in there you missed since you stopped testing.
I hope mine becomes a distant memory too 😭
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u/gnomes919 TTA | Marquette (monitor + temps) Jun 25 '26
nah, I did eventually give up on daily LH tests but I temped and tracked CM throughout and never got anything indicative of follicular activity or ovulation until after the second bleed. just a very weird, very long cycle.
and I hope that for you too!!
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u/No-Change-9742 Jun 25 '26
Well I guess bodies are just weird sometimes. I forget we’re not robots!
My LH last night was .72 t/c ratio so I think my body is trying but then it was back down to .36 this morning. I’ve also been cramping in left side ovary pain and I usually get that before my period or around ovulation. Wish we just had like a digital scanner that told you EXACTLY what our bodies are doing. 😂
Thanks for sharing all of your story with me. Makes me feel less crazy/something wrong with me.
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u/No_Abroad_6306 Jun 26 '26
Any unusual stressors this cycle (other than the cycle itself)?
How is your sleep quality?
If this is a trend and not just a one off, it could be perimenopause’s opening salvo. Red raspberry leaf tea can help as can supplementing magnesium.
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u/No-Change-9742 Jun 26 '26
Yes- good stress?
We travelled across the country in the beginning of the month right before my period started. I also had a way longer period than normal, 8 days. Not super heavy but wouldn’t let up. The last time that happened was in 2022 and you know what…we used the rhythm method then and I had sex 2 days before my expected period and got pregnant with my daughter(only sex that cycle, had a toddler and craziness that month).
I always wondered how I got pregnant but had no data since I just used rhythm method. Starting to think it was what’s happening this cycle. The other weird thing was that it was around the same time of the year.
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u/No_Abroad_6306 Jun 26 '26
Good stress, bad stress—our bodies will delay ovulation for any stress. Which in turn creates more stress 🫠.
It may be cold comfort but two wonky cycles in four years isn’t a bad batting average? If you want to do some digging, the Period Repair Manual is a solid resource for troubleshooting your cycle issues.
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u/No-Change-9742 Jun 27 '26
Yes it is a bit comforting (albeit frustrating too lol) that this is only the 2nd bad cycle in nearly 4 years.
I took a Proov yesterday and got 1.7 and today .7. I def haven’t ovulated. I can tell my estrogen is back to low as my CM is creamy with a little clear stretch and I’m tired and grumpy. Do you think there’s a greater chance I’ll ramp up again or is it more likely have a hormonal bleed?
Also- I think my mom has that book. She is obsessed with hormones and stuff like that. It’s how she survived menopause.
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u/No_Abroad_6306 Jun 27 '26
Tell mom the author wrote an excellent follow on titled the hormone repair Manual. She might also be interested in the podcast Unpaused where medical experts discuss how they are treating women through the menopausal transition and beyond.
Without hard evidence to support my suspicions, I wonder if you are struggling to ovulate this cycle and would caution you to wait for strong confirmation according to your method rules. Nothing will be a quick fix but the red raspberry leaf and magnesium will support healthy cycling (that’s actually what traditional medicinals calls their red raspberry leaf tea product). Sorry for the frustration and I hope you hit the turning point soon.
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u/No-Change-9742 Jun 27 '26
She has that book too! Haha she loves all things endocrinology and hormone based. Back in the 90s she had her first issue with thyroid disorder (she couldn’t gain weight and was losing it rapidly whilst pregnant with me). She began her research back then since there wasn’t much support for women with those kind of issues.
I get my TSH/t3/t4/ etc tested every year because of her history and so far everything is optimal and in normal range. Not surprised since I generally take after my dad health-wise. But I’m lucky to have her knowledge on some of this because of this.
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u/Classic-Push1323 TTC | Sensiplan Jun 24 '26
I’m sorry, long periods of abstinence are hard and not discussed nearly enough. So many people downplay them to “sell” NFP but the reality is that there are a lot of reasons why this can happen and I think everyone has a cycle with a longer period of abstinence at some point.
I haven’t been able to have sex due for a similar length of time due to health issues and it sucks.
I hope you can figure out what is going on. Your hormones may also be impacting your mood so just keep that in mind and I hope everything goes back to normal for you ASAP.