Progesterone question

[tkyes]

I'm talking about progesterone use as related to pregnancy, not as a hormonal suppliment for menopause.

I know there are quite a few women who have had their progesterone checked for miscarriages here on the DIS.


Is it a blood test?

When in your cycle should you get checked?


Thanks


tamie

 

[mickeyboat]

I had a miscarriage and an ectopic pregnancy, so with my third pregnancy, my doctor checked my HCG and Progesterone levels as soon as I found out I was pregnant. My HCG was normal but my Progesterone was low. I was also spotting at the time. So they put me on Progesterone suppositories. The levels still were not satisfactory so they doubled my dosage. After they were able to see a heartbeat on an ultrasound, they told me I could discontinue the dosage. Ended up with a premie, but perfectly healthy now DD.

In my fourth pregnancy (surprise!, just 4 months after I delivered #1) I didn't find out I was pregnant until about 7 weeks. They tested HCG and Progesterone and levels were fine.

If you have had previous miscarriages, you should definitely make sure your doctor tests your Progesterone levels. It is a simple blood test.

Denae

 

[tkyes]

You got yours checked after you were already pregnant? Hmm, I think my Dr. said something about coming in right away, before we even know. We aren' sure I even implanted correctly on my last miscarriage.

any more thoughts?

 

[preshi]

I had a blood test for it every Tuesday and an IM progesterone shot every Friday until I was 12 weeks along.

I was also 2 or 3 weeks pregnant before they tested me for it because of my background (2 mc's and a molar pregnancy). I'm sure if I had told my OB/GYN I was trying to have a baby they would have monitored me from the get go.

 

[bananiem]

A friend of mine had a few miscarriages and they started her on Progesterone shots (I'm pretty sure that's what she said it was.) before she tried getting pregnant again. They took blood to check levels and then told her when to "do it" and she is now the mother of a healthy set of twins! Twins run on both sides of the family and were not attributed to the progesterone.
I hope everything works out well for you.

 

[MosMom]

recurrentmiscarriages.com is a good source for information on what causes miscarriage. There is a good article about progesterone. The article is called Miscarriage and Low Progesterone. In order to determine whether or not your progesterone levels are low, you would have to be pregnant again. If they are low at that point, they will put you on progesterone.

Luteal Phase Defect is another common cause for miscarriage. Generally, when you ovulate does it take more than 10 days for your period to start? If you are running less than 10 days, then that could mean you have a LPD and will suffer an early miscarriage. I believe that progesterone is a treatment of this and if he wants to put you on progresterone BEFORE you get pregnant then he might suspect you have LPD.

Just ask him if he thinks you have a hormone deficiency or LPD.

Hope this helps a bit!

 

[Minnesota!]

Tamie - I had to go in 7 days after ovulation (or mid cycle of my luteal phase) to have my blood drawn for a progesterone check. They would call me back the next day with results. I believe they want to see around 15 as a level. Mine varied from 5 - 8 or so. So, for my next cycle, they had me start progesterone (cream and pills) at 1 day past ovulation. It can delay your period a little, so I would take a pregnancy test to ensure no pg, and if neg, stop the prog.

Best of luck, Tamie!! I know you will be a wonderful mommy, and never ever ever ever give up hope!!!

 

[buzzlady]

My 1st pregnancy I didn't have any problems. We tried for a 2nd and had 2 miscarriages. I went to a high risk dr. and she wanted me to get my levels checked before we tried again. I was supposed to go on a certain day of my cycle to have the blood test (or as close as possible if it was a weekend ~ I don't remember what day of the cycle). My level was fine. Dr. gave me a RX for progesterone to start using the very next morning after "trying" again. I was supposed to use it each day until I found out if I was indeed pregnant or not. If I was not, I would stop using it until we "tried" again. Turned out that the 1st time we tried, I was pregnant. I continued using the progesterone and continued to get my level checked. I was doing fine for the 1st 8 weeks, but then my level started to fall. Dr. increased the strength of the progesterone and the levels were fine. I continued using the progesterone until about the 11th - 12th week when the placenta is completely formed and takes over. I now have a healthy, soon to be (on Sun.) 8yr old.

Best of luck, don't give up hope.

 

[lil mermaid]

Hi Tamie,

The others have given you some great information. I just want to add a few things!

Make sure they test you for the clotting disorders. This can be done with a simple blood test. The sad part is....many doctors will not test you until you have had THREE miscarriages. These include antiphospholipid antibody syndrome, lupus anticoagulant - I am not sure what else, but make them test you for all of them .If you have one of these disorders, it can often be treated by taking a BABY ASPIRIN every day during the early part of your pregnancy, or with heparin injections.

Also, have your TSH (thyroid hormone) checked as this can be another cause of early recurrent miscarriage.

It makes me sad that there are so many "experts" on miscarriage on the DIS...

 

[tkyes]

I know 'lil mermaid, way too many experts - very sad

Dr. did mention they don't do a lot until miscarriage #3, but he did say we could try at least checking my progesterone to see if that's ok.

So some of you got tested "before" you ovulated?

I didn't get to talk to the Dr. when I made the appt, so I'm just kind of guessing on when I should go in.

My appt. is Tuesday - that would be 6 days post ovulation, if my calculations are correct.

 

[jel0511]

Tamie - You've gotten great advice here, and the usual time to test is around 7 days past ovulation. By then if you've gotten pregnant, implantation should have occured. Your levels should be above 15, and if below, it's not too late to start progesterone supplements. They are usually suppositories, but sometimes can be given orally. I took oral ones, by reproductative endocronoligist preferred those. Also, have you've had any blood check before or after ovulation? If not, you should see if these levels can be checked. Sometimes it's not a lutal phast defect, it's not a good ovulation. Sometimes 50mgs of Clomid will fix the lutal phase, since it will produce a good ovulation, and thus a good lutual phase. If that's not the problem, then also get checked for the clotting disorders listed above. If that is the problem, it is fixed by the baby aspirin. My friend had both the clotting and a lutal phase defect. She'd take the baby aspirin, and start the progesterone around 7 DPO(days past ovulation) and she can get pregnant with ease now!! Believe it or not sometimes it's just something so simple that needs to be fixed and you're off and running!

 

[buzzlady]

Originally posted by tkyes
I know 'lil mermaid, way too many experts - very sad

Dr. did mention they don't do a lot until miscarriage #3, but he did say we could try at least checking my progesterone to see if that's ok.

So some of you got tested "before" you ovulated?

I didn't get to talk to the Dr. when I made the appt, so I'm just kind of guessing on when I should go in.

My appt. is Tuesday - that would be 6 days post ovulation, if my calculations are correct.

Are you seeing a high risk Dr.? I'm sorry, there is no reason you should have to go through a 3rd miscarriage(1 is hard enough). You didn't say if you have had more than 1. If I were you, and had 2 miscarriages already, I would insist that they do all of the testing now. There were a bunch of things that I was tested for (all through 1 blood test)before we tried. The progesterone level test was seperate, like I said on a specific day in the cycle.

Also checking your progesterone now may not show low levels. When I was tested my levels were fine. Even after I became pregnant they were fine for about 8 weeks. I also forgot, I did have to take 1 baby asprin per day for the duration of my pregnancy.

 

[preshi]

No one else has had the injections? I wonder why my doctor did it that way rather than give me the cream or suppositories.

 

[tar heel]

I had the injections when I was pregnant with my second child. I had had a miscarriage and was having lots of bleeding. My doc didn't start the injections immediately -- I had ultrasounds every two weeks until he was convinced the pregnancy had a chance. I think I had the injections for about three months.

The rest of the pregnancy was fine -- the "baby" is upstairs practicing with his rock band right now!

 

[tkyes]

No, just a regular OB Dr. I'm not "high risk" yet. Only 2 miscarriages and 28 years old.

I had a bunch of blood drawn with my first pregnancy, I have no idea what was checked though.

It seems I can't get past the 5 week mark. My first pregnancy lasted longer, but they think the baby stopped growing at 5 weeks. I miscarried the 2nd at 5 weeks.

I think my luteal phase is fine, based on the description others have given anyway.

I guess we'll just see what happens on Tuesday!

 

[lil mermaid]

Originally posted by buzzlady
Are you seeing a high risk Dr.? I'm sorry, there is no reason you should have to go through a 3rd miscarriage(1 is hard enough). You didn't say if you have had more than 1. If I were you, and had 2 miscarriages already, I would insist that they do all of the testing now. There were a bunch of things that I was tested for (all through 1 blood test)before we tried. The progesterone level test was seperate, like I said on a specific day in the cycle.

Also checking your progesterone now may not show low levels. When I was tested my levels were fine. Even after I became pregnant they were fine for about 8 weeks. I also forgot, I did have to take 1 baby asprin per day for the duration of my pregnancy.

I agree - make them test you now. If your doctor won't do it, then find one who will.

 

[jel0511]

Tamie - This might sound like a strange question, but are you charting your temps? If you are, are you seeing at least a .5 degree jump when you ovulate? If you're not, it is possible that you might not be having "good" ovulations which meals that your hormones don't jump into action quickly and then your lutal phase isn't good. The lutual phase should last 12 - 14 days WITHOUT a pregnancy, but if they are lasting long enough, that doesn't mean that you're producing enough progesterone. If you are charting, bring them with you t othe dr's. They can analyze them and if something is wrong, sometimes it can be shown in the chart.

 

[tkyes]

yes, I'm charting my temperature. The chart is at home, so I can't tell you how much it jumps. I'll take a look at that though, thanks for the heads up.


Tamie

 

[mickeyboat]

Call your doctor back and discuss this information with you. Make sure you are coming in at the right time. You should not have to go through another miscarriage before something so simple can be checked.

When I was going through infertility treatments, I felt like I was being pushed and pressured into different treatments, blindly following what the doctor told me to do. Once I educated myself a bit, and learned to be an active participant in my care, I felt more confident and in control of my situation. As a matter of fact, I basically diagnosed myself. And after years of treatment, it took only 1 week to ovulate and conceive once I was on the proper medication (for PCOS).

Good luck to you.

Denae

 

[dianeschlicht]

Sounds like you have gotten good advice here already. I just wanted to say my prayers of support and hoping are with you! Hope it all works out this time.