What does a brown and spotty period mean? (Especially if You Are TTC)

Does your period begin with some spotting? Is it brownish initially? Your body is telling you something….

Today we are going to be talking about how the quality of your period can be a fertility sign and what it means. Being fertile and optimizing your fertility begins with a healthy menstrual cycle. Without a regular and healthy menstrual flow your fertility is compromised.

What is a NORMAL Menstrual Cycle ?

Let’s talk about what the ideal cycle looks like… The ideal cycle is 5-7 days, starts and ends with a bright red color (not too thin, not too thick) and occurs every 28-30 days. I want you to observe your cycle every month as a gauge of how well your diet and lifestyle are supporting your hormones. Begin tracking the details of how your menstruation looks and If your cycle isn’t turning out as it should then you have to do something about it if you want to increase your chance of getting pregnant.

What does a spotty cycle mean ?

Spotting to start (usually brown in color, but really any spotting) could mean that you have “old” blood from past periods building up. Many times you don’t know if you should count that day as day 1 of your cycle,… What does this mean anyway and why is it important?

This is old oxidized blood that didn’t make it out of your uterus last cycle. This can be caused by low levels of progesterone. Additionally, this also shows that the blood in uterus and reproductive organs is not moving as freely as it should. When this occurs the blood stagnates and builds up. There are many reasons why this can occur and that is one of the things I figure out for patients so that we can correct this and get your cycles back on track.

What can you do to optimize your cycle ?

When I see spotting at the beginning of a cycle I also want to make sure I rule out Endometriosis.
I encourage you to speak to a specialist like myself to see if this is something you should be concerned about.

I see a lot of patients coming to me to get pregnant fast who have progesterone problems. If you suspect you have low progesterone and you are trying to get pregnant, you need to address the issue now. You could start adding vitamin B6, supplement with natural progesterone from a compound pharmacy,… but messing with progesterone can be tricky. I suggest you talk with a fertility specialist because low progesterone can be linked with recurrent miscarriage.