Factors Influence Your Basal Body Temperature
It is very important to take your basal body temperature (or BBT) first thing in the morning so that you won’t have many variables that can influence it. This makes your measurement more accurate and more reliable for identifying your fertile phase. Here are some factors that could affect your BBT readings.
Occasional high temperature - If your temperature is artificially high because of fever, a restless night’s sleep or alcohol consumption the night before, you may want to cover the outlying temperature with your thumb when you are interpreting your chart. Write the lowest possible temperature (the part that lies on the edge of your thumb) as well as your highest temperature at that moment so that it doesn’t interfere with your ability to decipher your chart.
Any physical activity - Even the slightest shaking of the thermometer before taking your temperature is enough physical activity to slightly increase your BBT. Remember that you are monitoring your temperature up to the tenth decimal point, so a little difference in the temperature can be interpreted differently. With that in mind, take your BBT upon awakening, about the same time of day, after at least three hours of consecutive sleep, and before doing anything such as talking on the phone, drinking water, and getting up to urinate.
Smoking - Never smoke a cigarette if you are trying to get pregnant, or are already pregnant. This is also considered a physical activity that should be avoided before taking your BBT.
Checking the coverline - One way of properly interpreting your BBT chart is to be able to draw a “coverline.” To do so, you need to remember that you are checking your last six temperatures at a time. Once you see a temperature of at least two degrees higher than the highest of the last six days, you assume that you’ve had a thermal shift. After which, count back six temperatures, highlight them and draw the coverline, which is one-tenth of a degree above the highest of those temperature. Once your temperatures have been above the coverline for at least three days, you can be virtually positive that you are fertile.
Understanding Basal Body Temperature
Basal body temperature or BBT is the measure of a person’s body temperature at the point of waking up and before any type of physical activity has been taken up. This is usually taken up in women as a gauge for fertility. It can help determine when the ovulation has taken place. In women, ovulation can cause an increase of one half to one degree Fahrenheit in basal body temperature. This fluctuation or difference, if monitored for a certain period of time, can help women in trying to estimate the day of ovulation and plan the best time for conception.
Charting the basal body temperature is just one way of trying to monitor a woman’s fertility period. Women have a tendency to experience lower temperatures before ovulation and higher temperatures after. This tendency is known as a biphasic pattern. This pattern is known to be caused by the changes in the hormone levels in women before, during and after ovulation.
There are also other factors that may cause certain variations in a woman’s basal body temperature. Sleep may affect a woman’s body temperature. The body is only able to reach its basal body temperature if one has rested or slept for four hours or more. Disturbances in sleep are known to offer a slight variance in the body reaching its BBT. In order to get the body’s BBT, bear in mind that the body should at least get four hours of sleep.
Alcohol consumption is also another factor that might affect one’s BBT. If a woman has drunk alcohol the previous night, she might experience a higher basal body temperature which can be mistaken for the mid-cycle rise that happens during menstruation. If one is in the process of charting her BBT for several days, one might be better off in avoiding alcohol consumption to prevent getting some confusing temperature readings.
Aside from sleep and alcohol consumption, other factors that may affect BBT readings include stress, anxiety, certain infections and illnesses. Such conditions may also cause the body’s basal body temperature to temporarily rise. Some types of drugs may also cause the body’s BBT to rise up. Another factor that might affect BBT readings is jet lag which can have an effect on the body’s temperature cycle for the whole day.
Such factors should be considered if one is too make sure that accurate patterns of BBT that correspond to a woman’s fertility cycle is charted. A sudden rise in BBT should not necessarily mean changes occurring in the body brought about by ovulation. Women should have an idea of such factors in order to better assess if that rise in their BBT in the morning may have a role in their fertility cycle or just an effect of other factors such as those mentioned above.
Basal Body Temperature (BBT) Information
For the male species, the basal body temperature is not too much of a concern. However, for those who have their monthly visitor disturb them regularly (and some irregularly), measuring their BBT or basal body temperature is one of the surefire ways to determine ovulation.
When a woman ovulates, their basal body temperature increases to one-half to a full degree in Fahrenheit and one-quarter to one-half degree Celsius. This is because women are inclined to have lower temperatures just before ovulation and higher temperatures afterwards. This is known as a biphasic pattern.
In this article, we provide you with some basic questions that people ask about BBT. If this is the first time that you’re reading about basal body temperature, then sit back and read along to learn about this unique way to measure your ovulation period.
Question: What does the BBT chart tell me?
This chart tells you if you are ovulating and will be able to help you time intercourse. If you observe a definite biphasic chart, this is a good sign as it will give you clear signals on the rise and dips of your basal body temperature.
Question: How long does my temperature stay up after I ovulate?
The ovulation period essentially stays up after 14 days. There are doctors who say that anything over 10 days is quite conventional however it makes sense to test for one’s luteal phase defect if one shows a temperature spike for 12 days. Most doctors would want to observe around two cycles of low progesterone or out of phase biopsies before they conclude that a person’s luteal phase before making a diagnosis.
Question: My temperature went down for a day in the luteal phase. Does this mean that the cycle is a bust?
You need not be concerned if it changes after that. If it stays down, then that could be a definite cycle bust but typically, people have a short drop that may go a bit below the coverline that is an overflow of secondary estrogen accompanied with some mucus.
Question: How long should I continue using a BBT chart before I decide to see a doctor when I suspect infertility?
This is a very good question. If you notice that your cycles are a bit irregular, you should not waste any time on BBTs alone. Go out and schedule an appointment with your doctor so you could get to the root of the problem.
Question: What are average BBTs for women?
The average values for a woman’s BBT is essentially between 97.0-97.7 before ovulation and 97.7-99.0 after ovulation. It is quite predictable that a woman’s temperature shall never bounce around more than 0.5 degrees in the follicular phase and it will definitely remain constant above the coverline during the luteal phase.
Fertility Awareness Method: Basal Body Temperature Charting
Basal body temperature (BBT) is the body temperature at rest. It is measured immediately after awakening and before any physical activity has been undertaken. This measurement is very important for fertility awareness among women. How? Let’s find out.
How BBT estimates the day of ovulation - Monitoring BBT is one way of estimating the day of ovulation as it causes an increase of one-half to one degree Fahrenheit (or one-quarter to one-half degree Celsius). Charting a women’s BBT is a useful tool for couples trying to conceive because of its ability to confirm ovulation. This also helps the couple understand more fully the physiological processes surrounding ovulation. For one, not all women ovulate 14 days before their next menstruation period. In fact, for a lot of women, the time between ovulation and their period (or luteal phase) is shorter, around 10 days.
What causes changes in BBT - The higher levels of estrogen present during the pre-ovulatory phase of the menstrual cycle lower BBTs. Meanwhile, the higher levels of progesterone released by the corpus luteum (a temporary endocrine structure in the ovary that secretes progesterone and estrogen) and after ovulation raise BBTs. The rise in temperatures can most commonly be seen the day after ovulation, but this varies and BBTs can only be used to estimate ovulation within a three day range. If pregnancy does not occur, the disintegration of the corpus luteum causes a drop in BBTs that roughly coincides with the onset of the next menstruation. However if pregnancy does occur, the corpus luteum continues to function and maintain high BBTs for the first trimester of the pregnancy.
How to monitor BBT - A woman’s BBT is taken orally with a special BBT thermometer, or any thermometer that displays the one-tenth degree increments. The BBT must be taken before any activity, first thing in the morning, after at least three hours of consecutive sleep. The thermometer must be shaken down the night before, because even this simple activity before measuring your BBT could actually raise her temperature. Once she have read her temperature, mark it on a special BBT chart to monitor her progress.
Is BBT charting enough - Not exactly, as it would only tell you when ovulation has already occurred. This means that is the egg can only live about 12 to 24 hours, and by the time her temperatures rise a day or two after ovulation, the eggs will already be gone. When charting a woman’s fertility signs in order to time the couple’s intercourse, it is most useful to also chart her cervical fluid to determine when she is in her most fertile phase.
Basal Body Temperature Method of Family Planning
The changes in basal body temperature have been linked with determining the time of ovulation in women. Charting the changes in the basal body temperature can be effective in knowing when a woman can find herself at her most fertile. And in the same case, charting the changes in basal body temperature can also be used as a means of natural family planning.
The basal body temperature is the body temperature that can be measured immediately after waking up, before any physical activity has been undertaken. In women, monitoring the basal body temperature is one way of estimating the day of ovulation. Women may have the tendency to have lower temperatures before ovulation and experience an increase right afterwards. Being able to chart this pattern is usually used to help women be more aware of their fertility periods.
And just as charting the basal body temperature can help estimate a woman’s fertile period, it can also be used to determine when she is past her fertility period as a natural contraceptive method. Also known as symptom-thermal method, this type of birth control method makes use of charting the basal body temperature throughout the woman’s menstrual cycle. Since a woman experiences a slight rise in her body temperature during the time of ovulation, being able to find that sustained rise in temperature may help determine the time wherein the woman is at her most fertile during her monthly cycle.
In order for this natural birth control method to work, a woman must be able to take her temperature daily first thing every morning before she gets out of bed. It is important that the temperature be taken before any activity has been undertaken. The temperature reading should then be recorded on a chart so that the differences can be followed from day to day.
Usually, the temperature readings may be between 97.2 and 97.4 degrees Fahrenheit under normal conditions and may either go up or down from day to day. But at the time of ovulation the basal body temperature may increase somewhere to a half and even to a full degree. The BBT will remain at its elevated levels due to the increased production of progesterone in the body during ovulation.
The sustained elevated temperature readings can last for up to three days may indicate that ovulation has taken place. After ovulation has taken place, the woman can assume that having sex during the rest of the remaining menstrual cycle will not result in pregnancy.
For couples who may not be able to wait a long time in order to have sex without conception, it can also be possible to examine the patterns of temperature changes from previous menstrual cycles and determine the likely time that a woman ovulates. The safest time to have sex without conception is said to be up to one week before a woman’s earliest recorded day of sustained temperature rise.
In order to record the changes in basal body temperature from day to day, one might need a special type of thermometer that is able to determine minute changes or differences of basal body temperature readings. One can be purchased at a local pharmacy and may be available in either the glass thermometer style or as a digital model.
