Is Stress Stopping Making It Harder To Conceive? Well, it could be but it is not as easy at just that.
If you’ve been trying six months or more to get pregnant I expect you have been told by well-meaning friends and family that:
“You’re just trying too hard.”
“Chill out and it will happen.”
“You’ve got to calm down and let nature take its course.”
You ask yourself – why should something so natural and easy for so many couples be so hard for us?
It is so unfair we are doing everything right but it is just not enough.
Then the guilt kicks in and you start blaming yourself if you were not so stressed you would be able to conceive which in turn stress you more.
Plus, your sex drive takes a dive which is not helping at all, a catch 22 and vicious cycle.
Research shows that trying too hard may play a part in a third of people trying to conceive.
You see stress can quickly run your body down, it’s used to everyday stresses and it’s completely natural and expected but too much stress will cause the body to go into survival mode so that your system can continue to function.
Part of this survival mode is making sure you do not become pregnant.
So yes, learning how to manage your stress is vital.
The path between stress and fertility is not clear but scientists found that those women with high levels of stress hormones can stop ovulating this is called “stress-induced anovulation” where your ovaries do not release an oocyte during a menstrual cycle. Therefore, ovulation does not take place and therefore you are unable to conceive.
The Adrenaline stops you from utilising the hormone progesterone, which is essential for fertility. It also causes the pituitary gland to release higher levels of prolactin, which also causes infertility to occur.
Also, note, if you’re stressed, your cervical mucus may indicate that something’s not right. Rather than noticing increased cervical wetness as you approach ovulation, you might find patches of wetness scattered with dry days. It’s as if your body is trying to ovulate but the stress continues to delay it.
It’s also possible that reducing stress may help enhance proteins in your uterine lining that are involved in implantation and it may increase blood flow to the uterus, which also affects conception.
Of course, then there is Stress Induced Reproductive Dysfunction – chronic stress causing lack of libido as well as a decrease in general fertility.
Simply put too much stress puts you off sex.
So, you see too much stress really does not help.
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