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Confusing Progesterone Results

Megg33k

Going with the flow!
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Hey girls! I don't know who else to turn to. I figure you all would have the most experience with test results and whatnot.

I had my progesterone tested on CD35, which was supposedly 7dpo. It came back at 0.9. My chart (linked in my siggy) shows a clear thermal shift. I got my normal post-O things... sore boobs at 1dpo, gassy, etc. But, 0.9 doesn't indicate ovulation. I don't know what to do, think, feel, etc. I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around this cycle being anovulatory. It seems SO unlikely.

Has anyone had similar issues? How were they resolved? Keep in mind, my doctor right now is a GP and it could take me months to get in to a new OB/GYN. I need direction. Thank you in advance! xxx
 
Hi there, not sure if it is any help but I had a very similar situation last month. I had EVERY sign of ovulation and my prog levels came out stupidly low.

I have PCOS and the nurse told me that my body did everything to gear up for ovulation but the egg just didn't pop. And it is the popped follicle that triggers the rise in progesterone.

I can sympathise as I was so full of hope last month with those signs then the blood tests just burst my bubble.

Of course it may not be the same for you but I know the feelings you are going through and I'm sorry to read of your experience this month xxx
 
Thanks, hun! I'm sorry about your results. Its not only that I had every sign of ovulation coming, but I got my normal AFTER O signs too. I don't see how its possible.

My current train of thought is that either it was super weak and my levels fell too quickly... making for one hell of an LP defect. Or, I actually ovulated on CD25 (which FF was more certain of, but didn't look quite right) and my level had gone to complete shite by 10dpo when I thought I was only 7dpo. Am I fooling myself? Or does that make sense?
 
I can totally see where you are coming from.

Because I have such lazy and intermittent ovulation my nurse has told me to stop trying to figure out exactly when ovulation is and go for cycle day 21 bloods regardless of my ov signs and long cycles. Then follow it with day 28 and if necessary (on several of my long and winding cycles) day 35 etc until AF arrives. She says this will give a clearer picture of my prog levels rather than me deciding when 7dpo is. And the lovin just has to happen as often as possible all month hehehe.

To be honest it was kinda a relief because I am scrutinising every twitch my freakin body makes these days, it is driving me crazy (over 2 yrs ttc, one ectopic) and I am usually absolutely WRONG about ovulation anyway.

I guess testing across the cycle on pre-determined days would solve your worry about rapidly dropping prog levels after ov? you would have a broader look at prog levels across your cycle?
 
Hey Megg, thats a bummer.
Any chance they mixed up the samples with someone elses?
Love fluffy x
 
I can't see it being likely that it was a mix up. The hospital wasn't extremely busy... and I can't imagine that there were hoards of women getting progesterone tested the same day. I wish though!

The multiple tests would be good... but she generally tells me that she would prefer that sort of thing happen once I'm under a FS. She's just a GP. Well, I'm having trouble getting in to the FS. She's referred me and sent my file to be accepted or denied, but the FS wants to see a proper progesterone test on an ovulatory cycle before deciding. I'm sure you can see how that presents a problem? LOL
 
The multiple tests would be good... but she generally tells me that she would prefer that sort of thing happen once I'm under a FS. She's just a GP. Well, I'm having trouble getting in to the FS. She's referred me and sent my file to be accepted or denied, but the FS wants to see a proper progesterone test on an ovulatory cycle before deciding. I'm sure you can see how that presents a problem? LOL

If Kafka had written a novel about LTTC women, this situation would be in it :flower:

Hope the situation resolves itself soon, Megg!
 
The multiple tests would be good... but she generally tells me that she would prefer that sort of thing happen once I'm under a FS. She's just a GP. Well, I'm having trouble getting in to the FS. She's referred me and sent my file to be accepted or denied, but the FS wants to see a proper progesterone test on an ovulatory cycle before deciding. I'm sure you can see how that presents a problem? LOL

If Kafka had written a novel about LTTC women, this situation would be in it :flower:

Hope the situation resolves itself soon, Megg!

That's the best line I've seen on here from anyone in ages! I love Kafka... but not when its to do with my real life! :rofl: Thanks, honey!
 
megg soon as ive got answers from my fertility specialist next wed i will let u no what i find out as im boggled with my 7dpo blood test too! could understand if no thermal shift was detected .....i thinks its a rotten trick the body plays sometimes! xxx
 
Well, I'm back with answers of my own actually!!!

I'm re-posting from my journal so you don't have to track down what happened. Putting it behind the spoiler because its SO long!
Okay... I got there at 10:25am. There were 2 guys and one woman with 2 children who she didn't seem to need to have any control over waiting already. I really thought I'd never get to see her, as I figured I'd already be in prison for slaying the stupid woman and her obnoxious kids. They were jumping on the chairs, running around, trying to climb the wall while holding on to the receptionist's ledge, panting like dogs, flipping over chairs, playing some "game" where they would hold their hands up to their eyes like binoculars and ask each other "Are you in 1 piece or 2 pieces?" and whatever the other one said was always the wrong answer... This game is very loud, and it went on forever. One of them proceeded to go to the parking lot alone (at maybe 7?) and came back in spilling an entire McDonald's breakfast platter on the floor... pancakes, hashbrown, eggs, etc. Some poor girl came in right after me who had a 10:30am appointment and sat through all of this too. The 2 guys got called in, but I got called in before the woman with the kids or the girl with an appointment... odd, but okay. It was 11:30am I think? So, not ages, but felt like ages.

Anyway, the nurse comes in to do blood pressure and temp and says to me "Do you not have a gynecologist set up yet?" I told her that I didn't have one I liked at the moment. Keep in mind, my paperwork stated my reason for the visit was "discuss lab results" because that was part of it. Anyway, she then says, "Well, you need to get that done, because she can't keep doing this. It isn't her job." She's referring to my doctor, in case you wondered. Odd... Its not my doctor's job to discuss my test results with me? Because, I think it might be!

Well, my blood pressure was 149/84. I wonder why! I was annoyed with the kids, fuming about what the nurse said... OF COURSE IT WAS HIGH!

My doctor comes in and is perfectly nice. I keep my thoughts about the nurse to myself, because I didn't want to taint the appointment with that at the very beginning. First, I explain that I've been eating better and trying to be more active to no avail (my 10lb loss seems to fluctuate on the day... some days its 10lbs, some days its 1lb... I think my scale sucks). Anyway, we talked about that for a bit. She said that she thinks I might be gaining some muscle mass, which I doubt... but it was nice to hear. Then, she said that she also thought I might be retaining some water because of the weather, so I had probably lost even if the scale wasn't showing it. We moved on from there for the moment.

Then, I asked about the 2nd fertility clinic referral. She said they won't even return her calls anymore. So, that's out. She said that some specialty places here (fertility clinics, child psychologists, etc) only accept referrals from ONE of the 3 hospitals. So, they're probably ignoring her because she's not with their "preferred" hospital. What a bunch of shit. Anyway, I told her about the FS I hated leaving the clinic I'd been to and some new guy taking over. She asked me to call right then and get a consult scheduled, so I did. I have an appointment on Aug 28 @ 10:30am.

I asked her about my progesterone level and showed her my chart. She said that she actually wondered if it had been done on the wrong day, because my level was almost double what it had been every other time it was checked. After seeing my chart, she said without question that I had it done 3 days too late. She agrees 100% that I did ovulate and my level barely rises afterward. She confirmed that it could have caused everything, because it probably didn't ever rise enough to sustain an embryo past the very, very beginning stage and never got high enough to have the sharp drop required to instigate the bleed. She all but said "mystery solved." She also agreed with me splitting my chart and calling this CD4, even though there was no bleed other than the super light spotting. Apparently, there wouldn't be much to shed since I probably didn't form much of a lining anyway. So, I really did have it all figured out! :thumbup: Maybe I should just get the degree to make my life easier. :winkwink: Although, she wants to wait for the FS to prescribe the progesterone supplements, because she said they would know more about the dosage and whatnot.

Anyway, we touched back on the weight thing, and she asked if I'd consider not trying this cycle and going back on Phentermine. Well, with the FS appointment coming up, I didn't really want to try this cycle anyway, because I don't have my post-O progesterone supplements... So, it would just end in heartbreak again anyway. Obviously, I agreed right away. Phentermine is how I lost the weight before, so I'm more than happy to do it that way again. She stressed that I absolutely couldn't TTC while taking it, but the paperwork tells a different story and my old OB/GYN who prescribed it said it would be fine. So, I'm not quite convinced, even though I'm perfectly happy with not trying this cycle.

So, I do feel like I got somewhere. I feel like I have the answer I needed. Knowing that I wasn't talking nonsense about the test being done the wrong day and whatnot feels really good. I'm also glad she isn't so closed-minded that the number on the paper is the end-all-be-all of things... That she wasn't so high and mighty (like so many doctors are) to admit that there are flaws in blood tests because of human error. She was absolutely certain that I had it right though... She said she absolutely didn't believe I hadn't ovulated. So, I did ovulate on CD25... and I had a fairly normal cycle... other than terrible freaking progesterone levels.

I mentioned the estrogen dominance thing, and she doesn't think that's what I'm dealing with. So, we didn't go any further into that option.

All in all, I came away very happy. I didn't quite get what I hoped for, but I got something better! I got my freaking answer! I'm quite certain as to why I've lost my babies... and I think we can now prevent it from happening again for the same reason! Obviously, something can always go wrong that's not within our control, but I will NEVER allow another to be lost due to insufficient progesterone levels! I feel so free, vindicated, hopeful... but I do feel a bit sad that I didn't have a chance to prove it before losing the 2nd one, as I was pretty sure that this was the problem even back then... even before losing the first one! It was just that no one would listen to me! :growlmad:

Either way... I have my answer now... I can't live in the past! Apparently I needed to live through what I've lived through to be allowed to find my answer. So, that's the way it is and I can move forward... ONWARD AND UPWARD!

Sorry that this was a novel... but it is! LOL Thanks for the love and support! I couldn't do it without all of you! :hugs:
 
Megg, thanks for sharing this -- you got some valuable information, and it sounds like the dr was really nice, too. There is something so empowering about understanding our bodies (as much as we're able to). It is a shame that the drs didn't know this before you had to suffer loss -- BUT the next time will work! and stick!!

Also, your description of those wretched children cracked me up. :rofl:
 
Thanks! I just hope it helps someone! :)

I'm so happy that my murderous attitude toward some people's children doesn't offend anyone... or it hasn't yet! LOL
 
im realy glad u got anwers hun u needed and when i read ur journal update its gave me more questions to ask my fertility specialist incase i have low prgestrone too.........

hope u get ur sticky bean soon u so deserve it hun xx
 
As do you, my lovely! :hugs: Hopefully you'll get your answers too!
 
A bit off topic, but I just got a call from my doctor's office... My MTHFR & Factor V Leiden results both came in today! :shock: I was told it would take WEEKS! Anyway, both are...





:wohoo: NEGATIVE!!! :wohoo:


So, looks like its probably just my progesterone that keeping me from a healthy baby! I'm so happy I could cry!
 

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