Is 23-24 days too short of a cycle?

[laohaire]

I know cycle lengths vary widely within the norm, but I actually only ever hear about long cycles as examples of normal but unusual cycles. Longer than 28 days, that is.

My cycle is short. Is this within the norm? Or is this some defiency or other issue?

I also only hear about shorter post-ovulation phases (sorry, I don't remember the word for it), which I understand is a fertility problem. My cycle is shortest on the pre-ovulation side. My post-ovulation is 12-14 days it seems, which I'm pretty sure is spot-on. But on the other side it seems it's only 10-11 days. Is that weird?

I'm not worried about fertility per se (not TTC) but just health overall.

[JamieCatheryn]

I think that's within the range of normal, and not a problem for TTC either so long as you have more than 10 days of luteal (post-O) phase. Some cultures abstain from sex a certain number of days after menstruation, if you did that you would miss the egg, otherwise it's normal. If 28 is an average, and my 30-34 day cycles were within normal on the long side (I say were because they're not back after the last baby yet), your 23-24 day cycles must be within normal on the short side. How else would one get an average, right?

[laohaire]

Originally Posted by JamieCatheryn

If 28 is an average, and my 30-34 day cycles were within normal on the long side (I say were because they're not back after the last baby yet), your 23-24 day cycles must be within normal on the short side. How else would one get an average, right?

Thanks for your reply. Yeah, maybe it's still normal - though it's also a bit annoying, I woke up bleeding and said "AGAIN?????" (At first I thought it had only been 2 weeks! But then counted the days).

On the above quote, I would not necessarily say that a 30-34 day cycle being normal means a 23-24 day cycle is. I mean, maybe it is, but 28 days may be a "mode" average rather than a "mean" average (that is, that the most common cycle length is, perhaps, 28 days - rather than adding up all the cycle lengths and dividing them by the number of women).

If that were the case then we'd have as many women with 3 day cycles as with 51 day cycles, and while I know 51 day cycles are not common, they are not unheard of - but a 3 day cycle is a physical impossibility.

Anyway, sorry, I'm not trying to argue, maybe just overstating my case here. But I do see that 23 days is only 5 days shorter than the "golden standard" so I guess it's not so crazy.

[Juliacat]

I always had 25-26 day cycles, which were headed down to 24 days just before conceiving DD2. I don't think it's a health problem, but if you're using FAM for pregnancy prevention you should shorten the first 5 days rule to the first 3 days, just to be on the safe side. Ask me how I know

[scottishmommy]

It's only a problem if the second half of your cycle is short. But for you that isn't the case!

[Mother Cake]

I have "short" cycles, too, and always have had. They very between 20 and 28 days, usually 24-26. I agree with all the pp's that it's normal and not a problem unless you have a short LP. But I also think that anything less than about 20 days would be really unusual, and maybe a concern if it happened most cycles.

[carfreemama]

My cycles range between 19 and 23 days. They are very light, 2-3 days of light bleeding. I have been having periods since age 9 and they have always been like this. I actually worried I might not be able to conceive; but I did, easily, at age 35. I know that's not your main concern; but it showed me that everything I was reading about what was "normal" just wasn't necessarily normal for me.

However, I did see a naturopath recently for anxiety/OCD. She said that combined with my low blood pressure, tendency to lose weight and even sensitivity to sunlight, I did have cortisol depletion. Meaning, I had secreted so much cortisol through anxiety that I barely had enough left to maintain basic body functions. It made sense, but then I'm not sure how that fits with how easily I conceived, since I've always been this way (on all counts). Outwardly at least, I'm really healthy; rarely sick and good energy.