http://www.inciid.org/lpdefect.html

1. Ovulation usually occurs on Day 14 of the cycle.

Probably the most widely held fertility myth is the notion that women always ovulate on Day 14 of their cycle. If this were indeed true, there would be virtually no need for birth control, since couples could simply avoid that one day. And scores of couples desiring a child would simply have intercourse on Day 14, and Bingo, get pregnant.

There are several serious consequences to the Day 14 fallacy: Many unplanned pregnancies occur because couples think they are safe for unprotected intercourse on any day but Day 14.

Many couples who desire to get pregnant actually impede pregnancy by timing intercourse on Day 14, when, in reality, the woman may ovulate either much earlier or later than that one particular day.

Many diagnostic tests and therapies are performed at an inappropriate time in the woman's cycle. These include infertility procedures such as post-coital tests and endometrial biopsies, as well as general health procedures such as mammograms and diaphragm fittings.

If a woman does get pregnant, the doctor's office will usually utilise a "pregnancy wheel" to determine her due date. But this device assumes that women ovulate on Day 14, and therefore could be off by several weeks, leading physicians to perform diagnostic tests at inappropriate times (e.g. amniocentesis) or even induce labour before the baby is fully developed.

2. A normal menstrual cycle is 28 days.

Actually, a normal menstrual cycle can vary from about 24-36 days. And not only do cycles vary substantially among women, they often vary within each individual woman.

One of the most unfortunate results of this myth is the needless anxiety that it causes women desiring to avoid pregnancy, who are led to believe over and over again that they may be pregnant because their periods are "late."

The perpetuation of this belief is related, in part, to people's perception of the perfect Pill cycle.

What people often do not understand is that oral contraceptives, by definition, hormonally manipulate the woman's cycle to be a perfect 28 days.

This belief in the perfect cycle is probably less widely accepted among women who have never been on the Pill.

3. A woman can get pregnant only one day per cycle.

While it is true that a human egg is only viable for 12 to 24 hours, a woman can actually get pregnant from an act of intercourse occurring anytime from about five days prior to ovulation to even occasionally two days after, for a total of about seven days.

The reason for this is that the sperm can survive up to five days inside the woman's reproductive tract, and a woman can release two or more eggs within a 24 hour period.

Hence, for all intents and purposes, a women can get pregnant for about one week per cycle.

4. A woman can spontaneously ovulate at any time in the cycle.

This is simply not true. Even though the timing of ovulation can vary from cycle to cycle, once a woman ovulates, it is virtually impossible for her to ovulate again until the following cycle.

This is because once ovulation occurs, the hormone progesterone will suppresses the release of all other eggs until the following cycle. Even in the case of a multiple ovulation, the eggs are released within 24 hours of each other.

During those 24 hours, one or more eggs will be released, and then no more until the next cycle.

5. Women are fertile all the time. Not true!

Women are only fertile the few days around ovulation. In fact, a human egg can only survive 12-24 hours after being released from the ovary, and thus the only reason women are considered fertile for longer than 24 hours (or 48 hours in the case of a multiple ovulation) is because sperm can live for up to five days if fertile quality cervical fluid is present.

Interestingly enough, it is men who are always fertile!

6. Orgasms cause women to release eggs.

This is an especially intriguing myth - that orgasm can lead to spontaneous ovulation. In fact the process that leads to ovulation is the gradual increase of estrogen over a period of several days, not a sudden surge.

7. Women cannot get pregnant from intercourse during their period.

This is tricky, because there is potential ambiguity in the phrasing of the assertion. In other words, whether or not a woman can get pregnant during her period depends on the precise question asked. "Can a woman get pregnant during her period?" is quite different from, "Can a woman get pregnant from intercourse during her period?"

A woman can NOT get pregnant during her period because the hormonal levels that trigger ovulation are completely opposite during menstruation.

However, a woman CAN get pregnant from intercourse during her period if she has an early ovulation and has sex on Day 5 or later of her cycle.

8. Ovulation occurs on the day of the drop or the day of the rise in BBT.

This is one of the most common myths perpetuated by the medical community. In reality, the exact day of ovulation cannot be determined by the basal body temperature.

Only about 10% of women even have a drop in basal temperature. And once the temperature has risen, it is virtually certain that the egg is already gone (assuming conception hadn't occurred beforehand.)

This is because an egg only lives 12-14 hours, and by the time the temperature has risen, the egg is no longer viable. Therefore, if a couple wants to achieve a pregnancy, the sign to focus on is not the basal temperature, but the cervical fluid.

9. Worrying about a late period may only delay it.

This myth is often perpetuated by the most well-meaning friends. But the reason it's not true is that stress does not delay one's menstrual period; it can only delay ovulation.

Once ovulation has occurred, the woman's body has already determined when she will menstruate. In other words, the time from ovulation to menstruation varies little from cycle to cycle.

10. Vaginal secretions usually indicate an infection.

Perhaps the most prevalent undiscussed biological phenomenon that women experience is their vaginal fluids. Their natural and healthy secretions are no doubt something that virtually all women occasionally notice on their underwear.

Yet because they are not taught what this is, they often assume it is infectious "discharge" needing to be treated or douched away. Women are not unhealthy or dirty, just uninformed.

11. Conception occurs in the uterus.

Conception actually occurs in the outer third of the fallopian tubes, and not in the uterus, as many people think. The reason for this is that an egg can only live 12-24 hours, so by the time 24 hours have passed, the egg has only travelled as far as the outer third of the tubes. Implantation on the other hand, does occur in the uterus.

12. Sperm can only live up to three days.

Actually, sperm can survive up to five days in the woman's reproductive tract. This is the reason why even though a woman's egg can only live for 12-24 hours, she is potentially fertile for about one week per cycle five days for sperm viability, plus two days for the possibility of two eggs being released in any given cycle.

13. A woman's cycle is such a mystery that there is no way to understand it. Wrong!

We've all been led to believe that the menstrual cycle is so confusing that it is best left to medical professionals to interpret our cycles. In reality, a woman can easily take control of her fertility by understanding her cycle on a day-to-day basis.

14. Stress causes infertility.

Actually, the role that stress plays on one's fertility is fairly complex. Stress, per se, does not prevent conception. However, it can delay ovulation by suppressing the hormones necessary for it to occur.

If a couple adheres to the myth of ovulation always occurring on Day 14, they then may inadvertently prevent pregnancy by timing intercourse at the wrong time, thus triggering a vicious circle of misperceived infertility causing more stress.

Charting her cycle would allow the couple to regain control by correctly identifying the woman?s fertile phase.

15. Infertility is primarily a female problem.

In reality, it is about 40% female, 40% male, 20% both.

16. A woman is more likely to become pregnant if the couple adopts a child.

This is simply not true. For one thing, stress does not necessarily stop once a couple adopts! The other point is that a woman is not statistically more likely to conceive after adopting. People tend to hear about those cases and not all the cases where women did not get pregnant following adoption.

17. Infertility is a reflection of a person's sexuality.

In reality, fertility and sexuality are totally unrelated. Fertility refers to a person's ability to procreate. Sexuality is completely independent of that ability.

18. Women run out of eggs at menopause.

Wrong. Women are born with over 400,000 eggs, but have nowhere near that many periods in their life, thank God!

Instead, at menopause, the woman's body stops responding to the hormones that cause the eggs to mature in the ovary before being released at ovulation.

Possible Ovulation Sensations

Dull achiness:
This is thought to be caused by swelling of numerous follicles in the ovaries as the eggs race for dominance and ultimate ovulation. It is typically felt as a general abdominal achiness, since both ovaries swell with growing follicles as the woman approaches ovulation.

A sharp pain:
This could be the actual moment that the egg bursts through the ovarian wall and is usually felt on only one side.

Crampiness:
This is probably the result of irriataion of the abdominal lining caused by leakage of blood or follicular fluid released from the ruptured egg follicle. It could also be due to contractions of the fallopian tubes around ovulation.

Below gives a lot of info on hormone levels etc. Great site:
http://www.fertilityplus.org/faq/hormonelevels.html

The February 2003 issue of Consumer Reports rates both Home Pregnancy Tests and Ovulation Prediction Kits.

The top rated pregnancy test is FIRST RESPONSE EARLY RESULT PREGNANCY TEST. Which was rated "excellent" for both HCG Sensitivity and 10-Minute HCG Sensitivity and was rated "good" fore ease of reading (no HPT was rated better than "good" for ease of reading).

HPT rated "excellent"
FIRST RESPONSE EARLY RESULT PREGNANCY TEST

HPTs which were rated "very good" were:
ANSWER QUICK & SIMPLE ONE-STEP PREGNANCY TEST
ANSWER PREGNANCY TEST
CLEARBLUE EASY ONE MINUTE PREGNANCY TEST

HPTs rated "good" include:
CLEAR CHOICE AT HOME PREGNANCY TEST
E.P.T. PREGNANCY TEST
CLEARPLAN EASY PREGNANCY TEST PACK
INVERNESS MEDICAL EARLY PREGNANCY TEST
AMERICAN FARE (KMART) EASY TO READ PREGNANCY TEST

HPTs rated "fair":
CVS PREGNANCY TEST
SAV-ON OSCO (ALBERTSON'S) PREGNANCY TEST
RITE AID ONE STEP PREGNANCY TEST
ECKERD ONE STEP PREGNANCY TEST
EQUATE (WAL MART) PREGNANCY TEST

HPT rated "poor"
CONFIRM PREGNANCY TEST

The Consumer Report only compared store brands of HPT's and OPK's. There are many excellent brands not sold in stores but which can be obtained on-line. For example, Lifesign1 is the one which reports ability to detect as low as 5 beta hCG levels at up to 7 minutes in controlled studies (See HPT section footnotes on Fertility Plus).

And now the Ovulation Tests...

OPK rated "Very Good/Excellent"
CLEARPLAN EASY OVULATION TEST PACK

OPKs rated "Good"
CLEARPLAN EASY FERTILITY MONITOR
CVS ONE STEP OVULATION PREDICTOR
ECKERD ONE STEP OVULATION PREDICTOR
INVERNESS MEDICAL EARLY OVULATION PREDICTOR
RITE AID ONE STEP OVULATION PREDICTOR
TARGET BRAND ONE STEP OVULATION PREDICTOR
WALGREENS ONE STEP OVULATION PREDICTOR

OPK rated "Fair"
FIRST RESPONSE PREGNANCY PLANNING KIT

OPK rated "Poor"
ANSWER QUICK & SIMPLE ONE-STEP OVULATION TEST

The article was actually pretty informative, discussing such alternative ovulation predictors as BBT, salivary ferning and cervical mucus. It also brought up the caveat that following the directions on the packaging may not always be effective due to variables in a woman's cycle.

Here are some FAQ regarding Robitussin/Guaifenesen:

At first most people wonder what on earth a cough syrup has to do with fertility, but the logic is easily found in the fact that it is an expectorant and is being used to loosen and thin mucus - just in a different place than the lungs!

The name Robitussin was used in the title of this FAQ as it is a common brand of cough syrup in the United States. It is used on the fertility boards and newsgroups in the same manner as saying Band-Aid for an adhesive strip used to cover a cut. Any expectorant that contains guaifenesin as the only active ingredient is fine to use.



What kind of Robitussin is used to improve cervical mucus?

One should buy the plain kind with no letters after it. The only active ingredient is guaifenesin, and it contains 100 mg per teaspoon. It is very important to avoid the versions that contain decongestants as those may dry up cervical mucus. Also, there is some conflicting information about whether dextromethorphan, the DM in some cough medicine names, may be linked to birth defects such as neural tube defects and cleft palate.

Do I need to use the brand Robitussin?

No. Robitussin is the most common brand name, at least in the U.S., that carries a guaifenesin-only expectorant, but there are other brands and generics available. As long as the only active ingredient is guaifenesin, you can use any variety you find. For those with diabetes or otherwise concerned about sugar intake, there is the brand Diabetic Tussin available.

What is the recommended dose of guaifenesin?

The recommended dose for improving cervical mucus, based on a 1982 article in Fertility and Sterility, is two teaspoons (200 mg) taken orally three times per day. If mucus still appears thick and doesn't have good spinnbarkeit (ability to stretch), one can take as much as four teaspoons (400 mg) four times per day (the maximum dose on this over the counter medication). Each dose should be taken with a full glass of water, and attention should be given to drinking plenty of fluids throughout the day -- one needs water to produce mucus.

What cycle days should one take guaifenesin?

Just as the dose can vary a bit, so can the days. The article linked above had patients starting the guaifenesin on cycle day 5 - five days after the start of menses. This seems rather early as mucus is not an issue until about five days before ovulation - based on the fact that sperm can only live five days at best, and most pregnancies are the result of intercourse in the five days leading up to ovulation. Because of this information, it is now more common for doctors to suggest starting guaifenesin about five days before expected ovulation and continuing through ovulation day (six days total, for those with regular cycles). For those with irregular cycles, one should start taking guaifenesin about five days before the earliest day ovulation might be expected. For those taking Clomid (clomiphene citrate, Serophene) in a 5-day protocol, one can probably wait until the day after the last Clomid pill before starting the expectorant.

Is guaifenesin available in pill form?

Yes, but in most cases a prescription is needed. In the U.S., one can get a 600 mg time released caplet as the generic Guaifenesin CR, or brands Humibid LA, and Fenesin. This is often less expensive than the liquid. Another brand that is available OTC is Mucinex, though it probably is not a cost savings.

How does one diagnose cervical factor/hostile mucus?

Many women try taking guaifenesin after noting little or no egg white (stretchy) cervical mucus while charting their fertility signals, but clinically it is diagnosed when a doctor checks mucus one or two days before ovulation in what is usually referred to as a post-coital test. The doctor does a vaginal exam and takes a sample of mucus to immediately analyze under a microscope to check for live sperm and for a ferning pattern. It is also checked for signs of infection. Quality mucus will be stretchy, fern, lack cellularity, and have live sperm swimming in it.

Why do so many women take guaifenesin while on Clomid?

Clomid (clomiphene citrate, Serophene) can cause hostile mucus in 30 percent or more of women using it. Higher doses tend to be more associated with less cervical fluid and a thinner uterine lining, than the 50 mg dose.

Will guaifenesin help if there is little or no mucus present?

Guaifenesin doesn't actually create mucus, it only thins what is already there. One would need to look into why there is no mucus (infection, not really ovulating), or bypass the mucus issue by doing intrauterine insemination.

Does one need to take guaifenesin when doing intrauterine insemination (IUI)?

It would only make sense to take guaifenesin if one is planning to have intercourse in addition to doing IUI. Those doing donor insemination, for example, wouldn't benefit.


Will taking guaifenesin cause any problems if it isn't needed?

Probably not. Since fertile mucus can be watery, there is probably no harm in taking guaifenesin and thinning it out.

What are some other possible ways to improve cervical mucus?

Drinking plenty of water should always be considered in addition to any other therapies one might try. Estrogen is sometimes given to help mucus production, though doctors have mixed opinions of its benefit, especially when used with Clomid (and some suggest using Tamoxifen instead of Clomid). Injectable gonadotropins used for controlled ovarian hyperstimulation often have a positive effect on cervical mucus as well. Some home/natural remedies include eating salty foods such as popcorn (mucus is very salty), taking evening primrose oil, avoiding dairy products (they can thicken mucus), eating lots of baby carrots, and also avoiding antihistamines, including high doses of vitamin C. Another suggestion that is increasing in popularity is to drink grapefruit juice in order to improve or increase the amount of cervical mucus. If one is on prescription medications, it is a good idea to look for warning about grapefruit juice consumption (it isn't recommended with several medications for hypertension, for example).

Can lubricants be used in place of CM?

Lubricants aid in intercourse, but not in sperm travel through the cervix. Most over the counter lubricants are not "sperm friendly" -- meaning that using them is likely to kill off some sperm. In most cases, one needs to weigh the benefits against the risks . . . it may well be worth losing a few sperm to make it possible to complete intercourse. That said, there are some friendlier options out there. One is FemGlide, a lubricant you can get from your doctor. You can buy the same product marketed as Slippery Stuff (apparently more available at stores that sell sexual aids than at pharmacies and such). There is also a more recently introduced product called Pre-Seed from Bio-Origyn. Another option discussed on many fertility boards is using raw egg whites at room temperature. There may be some risk of salmonella exposure with egg whites, so some suggest using pasteurized egg whites available in the grocery store. With any lubricant, it is generally best to use as little as possible.

Does guaifenesin do anything for male factor infertility?

It is possible that men with thick semen may benefit from guaifenesin in the same manner it helps with cervical mucus in women. The suggested doses on the newsgroups and fertility boards range from two teaspoons twice per day to four teaspoons four times per day.

------First day of cycle - ovulation
*Evening Primrose oil (EPO) - one capsule with each meal.
*Red Raspberry (RR) - 2 with breakfast, 2 with dinner
*Royal Jelly (RJ) - breakfast & dinner
*False unicorn root/Helonias root (FUR) - 40 drops (in water) 3 times a day between meals
*prenatal vitamin with lunch
-----cd#7-cd#15 (cd =cycle day)
*all listed above plus one (deglycyrrhizinated)licorice root
extract before each meal
------After Ovulation - end of cycle or + pregnancy!
*royal jelly
*flax seed oil with breakfast and dinner

Dosages and what they do:
* EPO (500mg capsule)- estrogen promotor; helps with ewcm (do not take after
ovulation)

*FUR/Helonias root - known as the fertility herb. Detoxifies
and promotes hormonal balance

*Red Raspberry (400mg)- lenghtens luteal phase (time from ovulation until the beginning of your period) and builds up uterine lining

* licorice (400mg)- may raise blood pressure so only take for 7
days leading to Ovulation, make sure it is "deglycyrrhized", boosts
cm (cervical mucus) & essential ewcm (egg white cervical mucus) This one makes a big difference.

*Flax seed oil (1000mg) - good source of fatty acids

*Royal Jelly - full of B vitamins, it is the food that worker bees
feed the queen bee to nourish her and make her fertile

I got all of these at a local health food store.
The first half of the routine was hard to do, a lot to remember and take to work
(the FUR drops and licorice tasted awful, but the royal jelly
tasted great. Always ended with that).
Haven't taken anything but prenatal vitamin since pg---don't
want to take any chances --EPO and RR are known to cause
contractions...so don't take these after ovulation.
This herbal set up cost me about $65 but it was
worth it. I had no bad side effects at all, actually gave me
more energy.
I found a web site that had a lot of info on the type of herbs
and what they do and kind of went from there. I did not
order on line, wanted them right away and they weren't hard
to find.
www.tryingtoconceive.com
They list what they suggest and what each one does.
My main problem was with cm. I never got ewcm.
I don't know if this will work for you, but it can't hurt anything. I got pregnant the first cycle that I used this routine. After that, I wanted to share this info. with anyone who was trying to conceive and wanted an alternative approach. Try to take everything, don't leave something out.
The FUR tastes awful. Put the drops in a very tiny bit of water and just toss it back. Always have some juice or something to chase it with.
The licorice also tastes bad. Chew it quick and have something tasty on hand to get the bad taste out of your mouth.
Also, you may want to read the book "Taking Charge of Your Fertility". It is very informative. Has a lot of straight forward explanations, etc. Tells all about charting your temperature, etc. I found it at Barns & Nobles for about $20.
I charted my temps, used ovulation predictor sticks to have the best timing and used the herbal routine.
I hope this will work for you. Let me know if it does!
Best wishes to you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Terry (Spottedkricket)