Yes, you can. Some customers use Tempdrop to still track their hormones and potential ovulation.
If you still have your ovaries then your body will continue to go through hormonal changes, including ovulation, even though you no longer bleed/get a period.
Normally, we track and confirm ovulation by charting two bio markers (such as cervical fluid and basal body temperature). With a hysterectomy, the uterus is always removed but the cervix and ovaries are sometimes left in place depending on the circumstances. If the cervix is removed, you can no longer track cervical fluid. However, you can still track basal body temperature as a potential sign of ovulation. If you have a sustained temperature rise (typically 10-16 days) followed by a drop in temperatures, this can be a potential sign of ovulation.
How do you chart when there is no period post-hysterectomy, and when do you start a new cycle in the Tempdrop app without bleeding?
A new cycle begins after confirmed ovulation. Without tracking two biomarkers you can not confirm ovulation. However, you can use temperatures as a likely sign of ovulation if monitoring your basal body temperatures, particularly if you were tracking and having regular ovulation prior to your hysterectomy.
The luteal phase (the time between ovulation and the end of the cycle) typically only varies by a day or two from cycle to cycle. So, if you were charting pre hysterectomy and already know your luteal phase length, you can use this time period and basal body temperature tracking to determine when the start of a new cycle would be. For example, if you have a 12 day luteal phase, you would be looking for this same sustained temperature rise post-hysterecomy and when your temperatures drop you would enter the first day of lower temperatures as cycle day 1 in the app.
If you are new to charting, you’ll need at least 2-3 cycles worth of data before you can confidently identify basal body temperature patterns and potential luteal phase length. As a starting point, look out for a sustained temperature shift. Once you start to see your temperatures dropping, you can mark a new cycle with the first significant drop close to or below the cover line.
You will need to enter at least one day of bleeding in the Tempdrop app to start a new cycle, even though you will no longer experience this bleed you would say yes to this question in the app to start a new cycle.