Basal Body Temperature Charting – 008

Basal body temperature charting can help women understand many aspects of hormonal balance including fertility.

How to Record Your Temperature

• Take temperature upon waking after at least 3-4 hours.
• Take your temperature before any movement out of bed.
• Try to take temperature at the same time each day.
• You may use any thermometer as long as it goes to .10 of a degree and it’s consistent.

Phases of the Chart

1. Follicular Phase begins the first day of your period (day 1) and is when the follicles develop.
2. Temperatures should be low and steady (below approximately 98 degrees)
3. Estrogen is the dominant hormone during this phase.

During the midcycle, this is when ovulation occurs.  You should see a rise of about 1 degree.  The day before the temperature rises is the day of ovulation.

1.  Luteal phase occurs when the egg travels down to fallopian tube and implantation may occur.
2. Progesterone is the dominant hormone during this phase.
3. This phase should be approximately 14 days.

What Does This All Mean?

When the follicular phase is too long, short, temperatures are too high or low or temperatures are unstable, this signifies conditions that can vary from thyroid conditions to stress.

When stress is high, the temperatures can show a sawtooth pattern (there is up and down movement daily).

The follicular phase tends to shorts as the ovarian reserves decrease as follicles go through premature recruitment.  If your chart shows this consistently for 2-3 months, have your FSH and AMH hormones checked.

Thyroid disorders can show as abnormally high or low temperatures.

In the luteal phase, your temperature should increase by approximately one degree.  This occurs midcycle during ovulation when progesterone is secreted.

If you temperature doesn’t stay steady, your progesterone levels may not be enough to implant and maintain pregnancy.

If this phase is too long or short (14 days being ideal), there could be problems with your corpus luteum, which is the outer part of the follicle left after ovulation which continue to secrete progesterone.

If your temperatures start declining earlier than 12 days after ovulation, progesterone may be low.

 

If you think you are having hormonal issues, this can be used as a great diagnostic tool to determine which hormones are out of balance in your body.

 

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