Why lh surge before period

There are several ways to track monthly LH surges. In this article, we describe methods of tracking, how long surges last, and how to use them to increase the odds of pregnancy.

The LH surge signals that ovulation is about to start. Ovulation is the medical term for an ovary releasing a mature egg.

Levels of LH are low for most of the monthly menstrual cycle. However, around the middle of the cycle, when the developing egg reaches a certain size, LH levels surge to become very high. A woman is most fertile around this time. People refer to this interval as the fertile window or fertile period. If there are no complications affecting fertility, having sex several times within the fertile period may be enough to conceive.

The LH surge begins around 36 hours before ovulation. Once the egg is released, it survives for about 24 hours, after which time the fertile window is over.

Because the period of fertility is so short, it is important to keep track of it when trying to conceive, and noting the timing of the LH surge can help. It is best to start testing levels when the fertile window is drawing near, or a handful of days before ovulation. Most people ovulate between 7 and 19 days before their next period begins. Types of LH surge A study looked at the characteristics of urinary LH and found that not all women are the same.

The onset of the LH surge can be one of two types: Rapid onset , when it occurs within 1 day There are three types of configurations of LH surges: spike, in which all values after the LH peak were less than that of the LH peak Send to a friend.

What's right for me? Improve your chances of natural conception with PCOS. Identifying your fertile window. What is PCOS? So it hasn't happened — what's next? An overview of medical intervention and assistance options. What causes irregular periods?

When is it time to talk about IVF and other medical help? How to track ovulation if you have irregular periods. Because LH is released in pulses or short bursts, the LH surge is not always found by a single blood or urine test.

Increased progesterone levels in the blood a week before the menstrual period usually indicates ovulation has occurred but cannot predict when it will occur. For women with irregular periods, urine testing should be timed according to the earliest and latest possible dates one is expected to ovulate. Urine testing for LH surge should begin at least 2 days before the expected day of ovulation and continue until the LH surge or through day Once an LH surge is documented, it is no longer necessary to continue testing during that cycle.

Occasionally, ovulation may not occur in a cycle despite an LH surge. If ovulation is not detected in 2 or more cycles in a row, there may be a problem with ovulation and you should discuss this with your healthcare provider. Some fertility test kits check for both LH and estrogen in the urine.

Below were their results. As you can see, all three tests did pick up hCG. Unfortunately, this study did not cover LH strip tests. We hope this has cleared up some of your questions, but if you have more, feel free to drop us a comment. What is LH, and what does it do? Why can LH surge before a period? Can you have an LH surge before your period and still be pregnant? Can I use an ovulation test to detect pregnancy?