Progesterone bloods came back boarder line so doctor can't confirm if I have ovulated or not - has anybody experienced similar?

[FebruaryJuly]

Hi!

We have been struggling to conscience and I have just had progesterone bloods back to see if I am ovulating. Doctor said that the results came back boarder line so she can't confirm if I have or haven't ovulated, the bloods may have been taken too late or I may not have actually ovulated.

Has anybody else had this? She said to be put on clomid I have to go back to gyne and go through many more tests before they can do that. I have more bloods today and also a pelvic scan in 2 weeks time, then she will talk to me again about the way forwards.

I am prone to ovarian cysts but never had to have any removed and they do also suspect endometriosis. We have a 4 year old already so expecting it to be difficult to get help for a second child.

[Juno231]

Do you track ovulation in any way? The test should be done 7-9 days after (expected) ovulation as that's when your progesterone levels peak. So if you went in for a generic day 21 test on the assumption that you ovulate on day 14 but actually ovulated earlier or later then the test might be inaccurate.

[FebruaryJuly]

@Juno231 that's a possibility.... it was exactly 7 days after expected based on other months opks but I have stopped buying opks because I was spending too much on them.

When doing opks other months, I have also never had a line get as dark as the control line (only almost as dark) so just assumed I was missing my peak. I am worried now that thinking about both of these circumstances, it means that there is a possibility that my body is preparing to but failing to ovulate... I'm not sure if that is a possibility. X

[NoCallerID]

Hi OP,

Have you considered temping? It's the only reliable form of confirming ovulation (other than ultrasound) and can be done at home. Once you know you've ovulated you can repeat your blood test on the correct days to see if you do have enough progesterone?

[FebruaryJuly]

@NoCallerID how is the best way to do temping? I don't have a working thermometer at home, does it have to be a pricey one?

I have always assumed temping would be a faff, do you need to have a chart to mark etc.?

Also, my surgery will only let me book the blood test 1-2 weeks in advance so there's no way I can call and ask for my bloods to be done on that day or even the day after.. I have to choose the date at least a week in advance :/ x

[NoCallerID]

It takes a bit to learn the rules but once you've got the hang it it's really easy.
I use an app called kindara (free version, there's a great community to ask questions too)and you just put the temps in and can track other things too. It really depends whether you're willing to take the time to learn it or not. I found the book "taking charge of your fertility" by Toni Weschler really helpful, it's very well written and easy to re-read the bits you need reminding of. Thermometer wise a cheap one from the chemist or amazon will do, only requirement is that it has 2 digits after the decimal.
Then you just temp every morning at the same time (roughly same time works for me since I'm TTC and not TTA) and it'll give you a ton of information.

[FebruaryJuly]

@NoCallerID that's great! Thank you!

[Juno231]

I agree with the previous poster. My thermometer cost less than £10 (femometer one from amazon) and I use fertility friend to just put in the temp and time I took each day. The only faff is that you need to take the temp pretty much at the same time every day (within a 30 min window works for me) after minimum 3-4 h sleep and you aren't meant to move/get out of bed/wee or anything at all before taking the temp.

It's a life saver for me though not having to worry about having misunderstood my opk or missed the peak or getting a peak but then wondering if I even ovulated? Make sure not to use the femometer app for temping though as their graphs are pretty useless for tracking.

[Juno231]

What was your progesterone result btw?

[FebruaryJuly]

@Juno231 she didn't tell me the number but I can call and ask... all she said was that it was borderline. X

[Moominmiss]

Do you have a phlebotomy walk in clinic at your local hospital at all?

Only my gp surgery is the same as yours, with the need to book in for blood tests we’ll in advance which is useless for timing 21 day bloods.

I don’t have super regular cycles, I just know I ovulate usually between cd13 and cd22 and then I know I have a 13 day luteal phase so once I got my peak opk reading I could then work out when I needed my ‘21’ day bloods (for me I had them on day 23).

But I already had the blood test paperwork from the fertility clinic so all I had to do was turn up at the local hospital phlebotomy clinic (that I didn’t know existed until someone at the gp surgery told me about it), and took a ticket number, sat in the waiting room to be called and had it done there and then. They took my paperwork and I had the results come back via my gp within a few days.

Might be worth seeing if your local hospital has a similar service!

[FebruaryJuly]

@Moominmiss we usually do have one but because of covid they aren't doing it so I have to book. X

[Moominmiss]

@FebruaryJuly oh no, that’s a real pain. I’d have found it literally impossible to pre book an appointment for any of my tests. There’s no way for me to know when ovulation or af is going to happen.

I hope you’re able to sort it!

[BabyE8]

Hi, sorry I’m not any help but I am in the same position. I had my bloods done on day 22 of my cycle and was told my result was borderline, however it was only 19.7. From reading other posts on here and online it seems anything over 30 is considered normal so I’m not sure how my 19 is borderline?