Progesterone

So glad you got the progesterone privately! Or will do.

Me again!

I just wanted to say that I tried B6 for 3 or 4 months & it made no difference at all. It can also have dangerous side effects if you take it long term, so please be careful, ladies.

Hi all, I am in a similar situation. I have a 9 day LP & had to go privately in order to get progesterone pessaries. You can't just go to a GP, it needs to be a gynaecologist or fertility specialist.

Doctors employed by the NHS, even fertility specialists won't prescribe them as they are not licensed for LP use in this country, only for PMT, and they are not allowed to prescribe medication for 'off licence' use.

They worked amazingly well for me & I had 14 day LPs for the first time ever. I am convinced that if I had been on them last year I wouldn't have had my early MC.

I have run out now. The Dr has left the practice, and we have moved to a different area, so am trying to find somewhere new to get them from. ??

I think it is ridiculous the way doctors try to fob us off & say low progesterone isn't an issue. We know our bodies!

Although I am far from an expert, I would be very wary of using pg cream. I looked into it before & found lots of people saying it had completely messed up their cycles & that they wish they had never gone near it.

I hope you all manage to get your BFPs soon. X

Yes, Kleptronic I agree it's good that you have an honest consultant who doesnt let you do unnecessary testing. I didn't know that Progesterone is only given for that amount of time. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks I'm trying to decide whether to have another cycle, I am old and this would be my last shot.

He's a pragmatic clinician basically, for example doesn't do a battery of tests if there's no indication that he should - I was asking for anti-mullerian level test and he said, well you can have it, but with your FSH/LH levels where they are that tells me you have ovarian reserve, so if you have the test and it comes back low I'd still recommend you can have treatment, because the AM is not definitive, so do you want to spend the money, ultimately would it affect your decision? And the answer for me was no, it wouldn't, and so I saved myself £90.

I know that wouldn't suit everyone because many want as much information as possible, but for me, it's how to interpret it, I don't know how to weigh it up properly. I like his logic and pragmatism. He is very experienced and in the end I can google as much as I like but he's the expert.

He explains his decision making well which I don't think other clinicians can be doing, otherwise people wouldn't be so worried and in the dark about it all. It's hard! I hope we all get what we want

I saw my consultant on Monday (private failed IVF cycle) and asked about progesterone. I was on pessaries and tablets and still bled at what would have been day 28. I was under the impression the the progesterone would hold it back. He said that there's no conclusive proof progesterone helps and the jury's out, but they prescribe it anyway because it won't do any harm, and that it won't hold back a bleed. My clinic (Hewitt) don't prescribe for 12 weeks either, just for long enough to get a BFP, and about a week after.

Thank you Mascara. I started taking that every day after ovulation this cycle.

I am in the same situation. I have given up with my GP having told them several times in the past year that I feel my progesterone is low due to having all the signs including temps going down after ovulation. They do nothing. I bought some natural progesterone cream but was too scared to take it as I dont know when to start/stop or how much to put on.

I just started yesterday taking 100mg of vit B6 as well as the 10mg in my Pregnacare multivitamin and I will do it every month from ovulation onwards. I am on 14dpo today so too late for this cycle where my temperature has been going down since day 8 and period is due! Argh!

Yes trying for my first. He is redoing the FSH blood test on my next cycle and says that the levels can sometimes fluctuate and as mine wasn't massively over the threshold it might come down enough to get treatment. If it doesn't he is giving me 6 months of Clomid. He felt sorry for me and said he thought the guidelines were pants! I am only 28 so it shouldn't be at this level really. Fingers crossed the level comes down enough!

I did actually try progesterone cream for 3 months up until last month but it made absolutely no difference to my spotting. Looking around on the internet lots of people have success with it though!

Teakind I have just had another progesterone test and my next follow up appointment is in November, have not had the results back yet!! hope your appointment goes well

ibelieve I can't believe they won't fund you, i am so sorry, did they say they could review this if you don't get pregnant in a certain time frame?
I too don't think it can possibly right to spot every month before AF, the specialist told me that in some cases that it was normal, i believe its my lining coming away to early, I have read that there is progesterone cream you can buy online,only thing is you have to keep using it right to 12 weeks as if you stop before hand it can cause miscarriage , maybe that is another route to try!!

Just thought I would update after my appointment today.

Saw a lovely, lovely Consultant at the hospital who said that the best course of action for us would be IVF. However, my FSH level is too high and so the NHS won't fund it. To say i'm shocked is an understatement. I thought I would be going in there to fight for him to refer me but it seems he would have been more than happy to do so but I won't get funded for treatment.

I did ask about the spotting and low progesterone but he said it wasn't an issue. I think a lot of the medical profession feel this way but we know our bodies, I'm sure you can't spot for days before af and everything be ok! Surely it's your lining coming away too early? It makes perfect sense to me!

I also spotted before my miscarriage and saw the heartbeat twice. It is very frustrating that it's so difficult to get hold of and being left with the 'what if' is heartbreaking.

Is there a private clinic near you where you can have another progesterone test? Before i had the second miscarriage i paid for a private blood test as my NHS fertility Dr wouldn't test for it. It only cost £45 and put my mind at rest that low progesterone at least didnt cause the second one.

I've got a follow up appointment with a private fertility specialist shortly so will let you know if I'm told anything useful regarding progesterone.

I almost feel like i am telling them how to do there job, I'm scared in case i keep going on and they think sod this and don't bother as they might think I'm a miss know it all, but when you have had this problem for over a year and read up on it , it shouts out low progesterone!!

My progesterone came back on day 21 (27) I am referred at fertility I spot up to a week before af starts, I'm sure my progesterone lowers and this is why I can't get pregnant , the fertility specialist has sent me to have another day 21 done , but she thinks there is nothing wrong with my progesterone I'm sure it is so frustrating

A private fertility specialist is basically a Dr who treats infertility - so Midlands Fertility, Care, Nurture are names I know of in Midlands(ish) area. Dr Quenby runs in Coventry a clinic for people who have repeat miscarriages - costs there are reasonable and progesterone is prescribed from reading threads on MN. My only concern is they are businesses ( not Quenby as such) so sell perhaps IUI, IVF rather than pregnancy support? just a thought.

I get progesterone from my gp to support pregnancy but this was due to a hospital consultant ( private IVF for first pregnancy) saying I needed it and due to an NHS obstetrician saying I needed it for this one ( have lost pregnancies without).

So I hope a gynae/specialist will prescribe it for you.