Luteal Phase Defect

How LPD Affects Fertility

By Gwen Morrison

The luteal phase refers to the span of time in the menstrual cycle between ovulation and the onset of the next menses. Most women have a luteal phase that lasts 10-14 days. If the luteal phase lasts less than 10 days or greater than 14 days, you may have a luteal phase defect (LPD).

Information gathered by the InterNational Council on Infertility Information Dissemination, Inc. (INCIID) in Arlington, Va. describes LPD as a commonly misunderstood condition that frequently affects fertility.

In a normal cycle, your body creates a hormone called FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) which causes the formation of a mature, egg-containing follicle in one of the ovaries. The follicle bursts and turns into what is called the corpus luteum, which secretes the hormone progesterone. The elevated progesterone causes the uterine lining to thicken and gives the embryo a place to attach. When a luteal phase is less than 10 days, a pregnancy cannot be sustained because there is not enough progesterone being produced.

There are several places where a normal menstrual cycle can be interrupted. Poor follicle production, premature demise of the corpus luteum and failure of the uterine lining to respond to normal levels of progesterone are some of the causes. These can be separate problems, or they can overlap each other in causing disruption to the normal cycle.

Information obtained from INCIID says that women who monitor their basal body temperature on a daily basis fertility charting) will often notice that the elevated temperature does not stay elevated for the average 12 days during the luteal phase. Also noted is that many women who monitor the time of ovulation will notice that their next cycle begins sooner than the normal 12-14 day time span.

Trina Lambert of Englewood, Colo., started taking her basal body temperature every morning and charting it. "I was consistently ovulating but doing so just 10 days before my period. I had been charting for about four months when I found a book that gave possible reasons for a particular pattern," she says. "I found one like mine that discussed possible reasons for the short luteal phase."

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