What The Cycle's Biomarkers Tell Us
Dear clients & friends,
Welcome to my nineteenth issue of "The Good Fruit" newsletter by Natural Fruit FertilityCare Services.
In a previous newsletter, I mentioned many of the discharges that a woman can have and what they mean. This week I am going to talk about some of the possible causes of extra mucus, including cervical inflammation, as well as what other biomarkers seen in a cycle can tell us about the woman's health.
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A client who is just beginning to chart might come in with a chart full of extra mucus days and wonder "why do I have so much mucus?" There are many possibilities, one being that the discharges might not all be cervical mucus. This is one reason why I made the Discharges Sheet, which I shared in a previous newsletter. However, I have now created another sheet to add onto the above sheet, which lists some of the known causes of extra (or prolonged) mucus. The example chart's biomarkers in the photo above meets the criteria of a cervical inflammation. This and others are listed in my Biomarkers Sheet, which is used in Follow Up #5 and beyond and recorded in the Follow Up Form. All of these PDFs will be on the Resources page of my website and are below.
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A change that I am making to the Discharges Sheet from the previous newsletter includes changing the name of discharge #2 in the list from "Dry sensation vaginal discharges" to "Non-lubricative vaginal discharges." I feel like this is a more accurate term to describe this type of dry observation discharge.
And I am going to add the following text on to the end of the existing paragraph of discharge #2 in the list (renamed above): 2W observations around the time of ovulation may be the "transudation of fluid" through the walls of the vagina. On the other hand, "frequent 2W" observations at other times of the cycle (in the early pre-Peak phase and after P+3) may be associated with a low-grade cervical infection. Frequent 2Ws during pregnancy can be Group B Strep.
This type of unique discharge was missing and is one that is worth mentioning.
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Some Causes of Extra Mucus
- Cervical Inflammation – Continuous mucus; Post-Peak (Peak & non-Peak-type mucus); Mucus cycle > 8 days
- Increased pasty, cloudy
- Stress – Double Peak
- Patient lack of understanding – Overreading lubrication
- Ovulation-related/estrogen-induced or variable return of Peak-type mucus (VRPM) – Mucus cycle > 8 days; anovulation or oligo-ovulation; persistent follicular cysts; PCOS (long cycles); when the body is trying to start cycles again (e.g. breastfeeding/weaning, post-Pill); pre-menopause (irregular/anovulatory cycles, irregular/patches of mucus)
- Endometrial – Premenstrual mucus
Definitions:
Continuous mucus – discharge is seen both pre-Peak (> 8 days) and post-Peak on most or all days during the cycle. Pre-Peak and Post-Peak yellow stamps would be needed in this case. Or it can refer to a mucus patch (of non-Peak-type mucus) that is > 7 days in duration.
Variable return of Peak-type mucus (VRPM) – a condition in which Peak-type mucus tends to come and go due to rising and falling levels of estrogen, most commonly observed in the breastfeeding woman who is in the weaning process and in women who are either anovulatory or oligoovulatory. Only the last Peak Day is considered the true Peak Day.
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Biomarkers Sheet
Biomarkers meet the criteria for:
- ⬆ Risk of cervical inflammation
- Any mucus (sticky, tacky, or stretchy) post-Peak, after P+3, including gummy, but not pasty and not premenstrual mucus (which occurs 1-3 days before menses)
- Any sticky, tacky, or gummy in early pre-Peak phase (> 6 days before Peak Day)
- Discharge can be yellowish (or pale yellow) in color, but it doesn’t have to be
- ⬆ Risk of low progesterone
- Short post-Peak phase, premenstrual spotting (3 or more days of L, VL, B before a M or H menstrual flow), or TEBB (2 or more days of B at the end of the period)
- ⬆ Miscarriage risk
- Short post-Peak phase (≤ 8 days)
- ⬆ Subfertility risk
- ⬆ Risk for PCOD
- ⬆ Risk for hypothalamic amenorrhea
- ⬆ Risk for ovarian cyst (persistent follicular cysts and persistent luteal cysts)
- Abdominal pain, delayed Peak Day with more Peak-type mucus for follicular cyst, long post-Peak phase (≥ 16 days) for luteal cyst (LUFS)
- ⬆ Risk for endometriosis
- Limited mucus cycle, abdominal pain, infertility
- Unusual bleeding (L, VL, or B seen during the cycle that is not the menstrual period)
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As I have needed to analyze and report on many cycles' biomarkers over time, creating these simple PDF reference sheets with all of the information here has helped me considerably in the identification of many women's health issues.
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Have a fruitful day!
Patricia Deshane, FCP
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