Progesterone Testing Woes (& a question)

[alikat27]

So after several cycles of my luteal phase ranging from 7-9 days, I called up my ob/gyn and scheduled an appointment to tell her (not ask) that I needed progesterone tests done. The earliest they could get me in was cd 19, but that was actually okay since I ovulate after that. I go in for my appointment, and miracle of miracles, the doc agrees with me that we need to run some hormone tests.

Hooray! A doctor who listens! Maybe she actually knows her stuff! Although the fact that she didn't know what Vitex was had me a little dubious. Aaaanyway...

So she then goes on to schedule me for a day-21 progesterone test. At this point I hadn't even had a +OPK yet (I was expecting one later that day), so I was all "Are you sure you want me in for day 21? I might not even ovulate until day 22..." But yep they scheduled it and so I duly went in and had my bloods drawn. Unsurprisingly I got the call today (cd22): "So we got your progesterone results back, and it seems like you didn't ovulate this cycle."

Umm yeah duh the numbers were low. I HADN'T OVULATED YET.

So now they want me back in tomorrow to draw more bloods. It looks like I'm having a slow temp rise this cycle so based on temps I'm guessing I either ovulated cd 21 or cd 22, and they're wanting to do the progesterone draw on cd 23 (1 or 2dpo).

So my question is: Is that even going to be long enough for the progesterone to have risen? I know ideally you should have it drawn 7dpo, but with a 7-day LP that's not exactly possible. Am I right in thinking that my progesterone on 1/2 dpo is going to be low? Should I insist that I go back in again on Tuesday (which will be 5 dpo and probably somewhere around the peak of my progesterone with my LP being as short as it is)?

I'm pretty comfortable being outspoken with my doctors about my care, so I'm happy to tell them what they need to do. I'd just like some reinforcement! If someone has feedback, I'd love to hear from you!

 

[coucou11]

Hi there - so sorry you are going through this! Unfortunately I have no advice but I also have a 9 day LP and have just spoken to my doctor about it. She prescribed Crinone which I am supposed to start taking at 72 hours after a +opk, or about 2-3 days after I ovulate. So anyway, long way of saying I am just curious to hear about your experience and what your doctor says, and also what other answers you get on these boards.

Good luck!

 

[alikat27]

Update: FF fixed my ovulation date as Wednesday, which means when I went in this morning for blood draws, I was 3 dpo. Progesterone came back at 10.1

Im so happy I could at least get proof of ovulation. 10.1 is low but okay progesterone, right? From what I've heard, it should be above 10 with a non-medicated cycle and above 15 with a medicated. Plus this isn't even my peak day, so I'm hoping it'll go up even further.

Buut... now I'm not really sure what the next step is!my aim in testing was to see how to fix my dumb 7-9 day LP, and if progesterone isn't the issue... what is?