What is up with my shorter cycles?!

[MamaRuga]

I'm nearly 40 and DH and I have been TTC #2 since late last fall.  My cycles have always been pretty standard, 28 days, give or take a day or two.  Sometimes, due to stress, they might be longer but rarely shorter.  In my 7 years of charting I've only had one cycle that was shorter than 26 days.  But suddenly this year they have gotten consistently short.  The first one came in April and totally threw me off.  I O'd on day 11.  Since then I've had one month that I O'd on day 14, the rest have been around day 10 or 11.

Now, on my new cycle I'm on day 6 and already have EWCM.  Typically I O about 2 days after the first appearance of EW.  This is just so strange!  I can't imagine ovulating on day 8.  I'm temping and using OPK so that I can be sure that we are getting close to the right time.  But I wonder if a shorter cycle is something to worry about.

I know that shorter cycles can signal the first phase into menopause.  But my mother didn't begin her change until mid to late 50s.  

I am wondering if I need to be concerned with the sudden change while ttc.  What could it mean?

[mamaforever]

Well, I've heard it's very normal for cycles to get shorter as we get older.  I think they call them perimenopausal symptoms... which can happen many many years before menopause (like 10-12 years before).  I don't know much about this though... just what I've heard.  Are you able to speak to your dr. about this?

[MamaRuga]

I thought of seeing my doctor, but I realized that AF has been much brighter red than usual too.  So I did a google search on both symptoms together. Turns out that shorter cycles and bright red flow in traditional chinese medicine is a classic symptom of chi deficiency.  I've been under extra stress this year, so maybe that is it.  Hopefully it isn't perimenopause.  It just came on so suddenly and I would expect perimenopause to be a bit more gradual (I would hope).  Anyway, I've decided to see an acupuncturist since they seem to have a grasp on this sort of thing.  

Still not sure how it might effect TTC, though.  Here I am o'ing on day 10 again.  

[MamaRuga]

I thought I would just give an update in case it might be helpful to someone searching this out in the future.  I started to see the acupuncturist last month.  She confirmed that my symptoms were classic in TCM. I saw her weekly for a month, immediately my cycles shifted back to normal and today I got a bfp.  

So, yay for acupuncture!   

[mamaforever]

Congrats!

[Jaimee]

Congrats!! 

[Ncat]

wow that's amazing!! Congratulations!!!