Regular Periods & Still Infertile: The Missing Piece During Unexplained Infertility & IVF

Regular periods. Clockwork timing. Textbook.

It felt like the only thing going for me.

On paper I looked fine. In reality my body was struggling in ways I did not yet understand.

Eight years later I got pregnant naturally at thirty six. I am now forty four and I can say this without hesitation.

I am more fertile at forty four than I was at twenty seven.

Not because I am trying. Not because I want another baby. I do not. I am deeply content with my two boys.

But because fertility is not just about age or ovulation. It is about overall health.

And my body is healthier now than it was back then.

The Symptoms I Used to Call Normal

At twenty seven I had IBS. The constant flip flop between constipation and diarrhea. Bloating after almost every meal. Brain fog that made me feel like I was walking through syrup.

Joint pain. Dry skin. Brittle nails. Hair that looked tired.

PMS that knocked me sideways. Sore breasts. Cramping. Irritability. Mood swings. Breakouts along my jawline.

Cold hands and feet. Energy crashes at seven thirty at night because my thyroid was underactive.

A burning ulcer feeling at the top of my stomach that started when I was sixteen and only got worse through my twenties.

Tonsillitis every year even though my tonsils were long gone.

I had regular periods and a body full of red flags.

No one connected those dots to infertility.

I did not connect those dots to infertility.

But they were connected.

Cellular health does not only show up in your ovaries. It shows up in digestion. In your skin. In your mood. In your resilience to stress. In how well you sleep. In how your immune system behaves.

Fertility is not isolated from the rest of you.

What Changed

Those symptoms are gone.

I do not live with bloating. I do not live with brain fog. I do not cycle through PMS drama every month. My hands and feet are warm. My energy is steady. My skin is clear. My digestion works.

Sometimes a symptom will whisper back in.

If I under eat. If I stack stress too high. If I skip sleep.

And I do not panic anymore.

I listen.

Those small flares are not punishment. They are communication.

They tell me I have drifted.

That is the difference between who I was at twenty seven and who I am now.

Back then I was reacting. Now I take radical responsibility.

Not from shame. Not from fear.

From awareness.

Fertility as a Mirror of Longevity

When I say I am more fertile at forty four than I was at twenty seven I am not making a biological claim about egg count.

I am talking about internal environment.

Inflammation is lower. Gut health is stable. My nervous system is regulated. My thyroid is supported. My immune system is not constantly fighting.

My body is not braced.

Fertility is not a separate compartment. It is an expression of overall vitality. The same systems that support conception support longevity.

If your digestion is inflamed your hormones will feel it. If your stress is chronic your mitochondria will feel it. If your cellular health is compromised your cycle may still come on time but it will not necessarily mean you are thriving.

Regular periods do not equal optimal fertility.

That was a hard truth for me.

Because I clung to those regular cycles as proof that everything was fine.

It was the only metric I had.

But the body is more nuanced than that.

The Shift From Passive to Responsible

There is a difference between managing symptoms and understanding patterns.

In my twenties I managed. I accepted IBS as normal. I accepted PMS as part of being a woman. I accepted fatigue as busy life.

In my thirties and forties I stopped normalizing dysfunction.

When symptoms flare now I do not look for a quick fix. I look at my inputs.

Am I eating enough nutrient dense food. Am I sleeping. Am I overextending. Am I holding stress in my body. Am I slipping back into old mindset loops.

That level of awareness changes everything.

Fertility burnout often comes from feeling like your body is betraying you. But sometimes the body is waving flags we have ignored for years.

It is not dramatic. It is steady.

Cold hands. Brain fog. Skin changes. Mood volatility. Digestive chaos.

These are not random inconveniences. They are signals about the terrain your eggs live in.

Beyond Age

We are conditioned to believe that fertility is a countdown clock.

And yes age matters. Biology matters. Time matters.

But internal health matters too.

At twenty seven I was young and inflamed.

At forty four I am older and regulated.

I would choose regulation every time.

Because fertility is not only about creating a baby. It is about the quality of the body you live in for decades.

When I see women obsess over ovulation strips and cycle apps while living with daily bloating and exhaustion I recognize my younger self.

Focused on the visible metric. Ignoring the quieter truths.

Fertility is a reflection.

If your body is constantly compensating it will show up somewhere. In your cycle. In your energy. In your mood. In your ability to conceive.

When those systems are supported conception is not forced. It is allowed.

No Drama. Just Truth.

I am not trying to get pregnant at forty four.

But I care deeply about staying fertile in the broader sense. Staying resilient. Warm. Clear minded. Stable.

Because fertility is life force.

It is how well your cells communicate. How well your gut absorbs. How calmly your nervous system responds. How efficiently your mitochondria produce energy.

I did not lose infertility because I aged into it.

I lost infertility when I stopped accepting dysfunction as normal.

Regular periods were not enough.

Vitality is different.

And when you feel the difference in your own body you do not need anyone to convince you.

You just know.