How discharge changes through your cycle
Hormones change your discharge across the month. It’s often clearer and wetter around ovulation, between periods. Around that time it can become thin and stretchy, like raw egg white. Many people notice thicker, stickier discharge at other times.
Read more about discharge before a period.
Basal body temperature
Your morning temperature rises slightly after ovulation and stays higher until your next period. It confirms ovulation after the event, so it can’t predict it. Logged over several cycles in the tracker, alongside discharge, it can help you learn your own pattern.
A quick guide to what you might notice
| What you notice | What it can mean |
|---|---|
| Clear or white, with little smell | Usually normal |
| Thin, clear and stretchy | Often around ovulation |
| Fishy smell | Can be bacterial vaginosis |
| Thick and white, like cottage cheese | Can be thrush |
| Green, yellow or frothy | Can be trichomoniasis |
| With pelvic pain or bleeding | Can be chlamydia or gonorrhoea |
| With blisters or sores | Can be genital herpes |
These are possibilities rather than diagnoses, and most are easily treated once identified. The decoder doesn’t tell you which one you have. It helps you describe what you’re seeing and decide whether to get it checked.
When to get advice
Speak to a GP, a medical helpline or a sexual health clinic about any change in the colour, smell or texture of your discharge, more discharge than usual, itching or soreness, bleeding between periods or after sex, pain when peeing, or pelvic pain.