A reader asks, “I’ve been trying to check for egg white cervical mucus so I can time sex for pregnancy, but I never find any. My cervical mucus always seems to be sticky or just slightly watery. Why is that? Can this prevent me from becoming pregnant?”
Because cervical mucus helps sperm survive and travel from the cervix up to the uterus and fallopian tubes, a lack of quality fertile cervical mucus can make getting pregnant difficult. It may also be a symptom of another problem that may be causing infertility.
There are a number of potential causes of little or no fertile cervical mucus.
Medication Side Effects
Some medications can dry up or decrease the quality of your cervical mucus. Those drugs may include:
- Anti-histamines or allergy medications
- Cough suppressants
- Cold and sinus medications, especially if they include a cough suppressant or anti-histamines
- Some sleep aids
- Atropine
- Propantheline
- Clomid
- Some anti-depressants and epilepsy drugs
If you're taking any of the above medications, and you suspect they are preventing you from having fertile quality cervical mucus, talk to your doctor about your options for switching medications. If that's not possible, ask about potential ways to get around the medication's side effects.
Note: Never discontinue or change the dosage of a medication without first consulting with your doctor.
Clomid and Cervical Mucus
You may have noticed the fertility drug Clomid on the above list. It's ironic that a drug meant to help you get pregnant may at the same time lead to problems with getting the sperm to the right place for pregnancy!
Not every woman who takes Clomid will experience problems with low quality cervical mucus, and it's more common to have this problem when Clomid is taken at higher dosages.
If you do notice vaginal dryness or a lack of fertile cervical mucus when taking Clomid, you should mention this to your doctor. Your doctor may prescribe an estrogen medication to help counteract the side effect, or if pregnancy doesn't occur after a few cycles, your doctor may want to try a different fertility drug or use IUI treatment in combination with Clomid or another drug.
Age
As you get older, you may have fewer days of cervical mucus. You already know that your fertility decreases as you age, and changes in the quality and quantity of cervical mucus is one way your fertility is affected.
In your 20s, you may have had up to five days of quality cervical mucus, but in your 30s and 40s, that may slowly decrease to just one or two days. Or the cervical mucus remain at the more watery stage and may never become like raw egg whites.
While it's true that the more days of high quality cervical mucus you have, the better your chances will be of getting pregnant, it's still possible to get pregnant when you have just one or two days of fertile cervical mucus.
That being said, if you're over 35, and you've been trying for six months to get pregnant without success, you should see your doctor for a fertility evaluation.
Douching and Cervical Mucus
Vaginal douching can wash away the valuable cervical mucus you need to get pregnant. Douching can also wash away good bacteria, leading to an increased risk of vaginal infection.
If you're trying to get pregnant, it's best to skip vaginal douching or products meant as "feminine deodorants." Even if you're not trying to get pregnant, it's best to skip them.
If you're using them because of an unpleasant vaginal odor, or you're trying to wash away unusual vaginal secretions, you may be unintentionally masking a symptom of a vaginal infection. In this case, be sure to see your doctor for a check-up.
Being Underweight
The hormone estrogen is responsible for the increase in cervical mucus that precedes ovulation. If you're underweight, if you exercise excessively, or if you're a professional athlete, your levels of estrogen may be low.
This may not only lead to less fertile cervical mucus, but also to problems with ovulation. Gaining weight or cutting back on your exercise routine may help.
Infection or Previous Surgery of the Cervix
Another potential reason for lacking fertile cervical mucus is a cervical infection, like one caused by a sexually transmitted disease (STD). STDs can also lead to other fertility problems, including infection of the uterus and fallopian tubes, so it's very important this is diagnosed and treated right away.
Also, previous injury or surgery on the cervix can lead to a problem with producing cervical mucus. If you've ever had a cervical conization, or cervical cone biopsy, you may not produce as much cervical mucus as before.
Hormonal Imbalance or Anovulation
A hormonal imbalance can also lead to a lack of cervical mucus. Also, if you're not ovulating, you may not get fertile cervical mucus. (It's also possible to have an excess amount of fertile cervical mucus and not be ovulating, depending on what's causing the problems with ovulation.)
As always, speak to your doctor about any concerns.
Treating a Lack of Cervical Mucus
Treatment depends on what's causing the lack of fertile cervical mucus. It may be a simple matter of switching or discontinuing a medication that is causing the problem. If you have a vaginal or cervical infection, treating the infection may help. If it's a hormonal imbalance, treating the imbalance or having fertility treatments to stimulate ovulation may be what's needed.
In some cases, your doctor may suggest taking a cough expectorant (but not a cough suppressant) with the active ingredient guaifenesin. Just as guaifenesin helps thin the secretions in your lungs when you have a cough, it also may help thin or increase vaginal and cervical secretions. Speak to your doctor before trying this.
Another possibility is treatment with the estrogen supplements Estrace or Premarin. This usually also requires the combined use of fertility drugs to help stimulate ovulation.
IUI treatment is another possible option for treatment. IUI treatment involves taking specially washed sperm and transferring it past the cervix directly into the uterus. It bypasses the need for fertile cervical mucus.
More on how to get pregnant:
- All About Cervical Mucus
- Signs of Ovulation
- How to Get Pregnant: For Beginners
- How to Have a Baby When You've Been Trying for Awhile
- How to Get Pregnant Faster
- A Complete Guide to Baby Making Sex
- How to Cope When Trying to Conceive Overwhelms You
- Take a Fertility Quiz
Would you like to receive trying to conceive tips and fertility information every week? Sign up for a free fertility newsletter here.
Sources:
Speroff, Leon; Fritz, Marc A. (2005) Clinical Gynecologic Endocrinology & Infertility, 7th Edition. United States of America: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Weschler, T. (2002). Taking Charge of Your Fertility (Revised Edition) . United States of America: HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
