The chicken or the egg? Progesterone

[kdmalk]

I have a 13-14 day LP and 31-32 day cycle like clockwork. Had a mmc in Oct/Nov and got pregnant again during Dec/Jan cycle. I felt like my tests weren't getting darker, but my doctor wouldn't do bloodwork until after I missed AF (even though I had a positive test at 9dpo). She thought I was being paranoid/crazy. As a result, I had some red spotting at 16dpo and went immediately for my blood draw. Progesterone was at 3 at that point. She gave me the pills and put me on 3 a day, but it was too late by then.

Chicken or the egg? Was my progesterone so low that it caused the mc, or was my body trying to flush a bad baby and progesterone was low because it needed to come out? Obviously I will never know.

But now I am between doctors (because I hate that I always felt that she thought I was nuts) and DH and I won't give ttc our very best shot this month, but we will probably dtd during the fertile window and see what happens. Now that I have the progesterone, should I be taking it after O or should I wait until the bfp? The reason I ask is because I had told myself I was going to quit dealing with the stress of early testing. If my progesterone is likely okay because of a normal LP length, then I don't want to take it when I don't need it and end up delaying AF at the end of the cycle... but taking it only after a bfp means early testing because I want to give baby the best chance possible. I can't decide if I want to deal with the stress of early testing or annoy myself by waiting until testing at 14dpo and then stopping the progesterone at that point if it is a bfn and having a late AF.

I know we are not a group of doctors, but does it seem like my progesterone is probably okay with a regular LP length and that this last pregnancy was just a bad sperm/egg combo that my body was trying to flush? Or should I be cautious and assume the progesterone caused the problem and take it after O and stop at a bfn?

I recognize that the smartest thing to do is to wait and have a progesterone test, but to schedule appointments and time the testing, it will end up causing us to skip several cycles before knowing the results. I hate to waste so much time (I hope you guys feel the same on this, or I look nuts). Could I have just had horrible luck twice in a row and everything is fine? Advice?

This was very rambly. Hope you can make sense of it.

 

[Dia0624]

Hi there! Believe it or not I am in the same exact position as you, I could have written your post!! In October when I mc at 5 weeks my progesterone was also very low but I don't if it's the "chicken or the egg" like you said!! Anyways, after that mc I saw a new doctor who has been wonderful so far. She told me to get my bloodwork done as soon as I know I'm pregnant and take progesterone if needed. Last month I asked her to give me the progesterone regardless and I took it after confirmed ovulation. I did get a faint bfp from 12-14 dpo which didn't get any darker. I went in for blood work and my tests were negative so I got off the progesterone and got my periods 3 days later-- i believe I had a chemical. Basically the progesterone did not help me and only delayed my cycle and cause unnecessary stress about whether to stop it or not because I was so confused if I am truly pregnant or not. I also had a miscarriage earlier in the year, I was able to carry the baby until 10 weeks but lost it because of abnormalities, so I think I don't have a progesterone issue just very bad luck. Honestly I am going to try my best to take it easy this cycle. I'm not going to take the progesterone unless I get a good positive on a pregnancy test on 14dpo. I'll take it regardless if I need it or not but I won't start until I know I'm pregnant because I don't want to delay my cycles for no reason. If this method doesn't work or if I miscarry again then I'll take the progesterone after ovulation.. I'm just going to see what happens I guess. All I know is that the added stress will not help.
I have read many stories that progesterone did help women have a baby but for me it didn't seem to work. Even my doc doesn't believe it works but she doesn't mind me taking it because it won't cause me any harm.

 

[kdmalk]

Thanks for your input! I like your plan. Take it if I get a bfp, but test at 14dpo so I don't have to deal with the stress of early testing. My first pregnancy was a mmc, so probably not a progesterone problem if I was able to carry for over 9 weeks with no bleeding.

 

[mera.mera]

I guess taking it after confirming ovulation then test at 12 dpo if it bfn then stop it your LP then would be 15 or 16 days so its not a big deal

 

[Dia0624]

I thought I would stop at 12 but then there's always a posibility of a late bfp and just gets too hard to decide.