Progesterone while ttc

[mamabear05]

Hi all. After two early losses I have an appointment booked with my GP this coming week. I know they won't do many investigations since I haven't had the holy grail 3 miscarriages but I am hoping to ask her for some basic blood tests to check my thyroid and progesterone levels.

I'm just wondering if anyone else has had this support from their GP or whether it's a case of waiting until the 3rd miscarriage then a fertility clinic running those tests.

Surely blood tests can't be too difficult to arrange???

Also if I do get told to go away does anyone know of any natural progesterone supplements they would recommend? I have no idea whether this is the problem or not but I was already on baby aspirin having been advised by the go after my first loss and that's not worked so I'm interested in hearing more about any of these 'may not do any good but unlikely to do any harm' ideas.

I've had very faint bfps both times that haven't got any darker so I'm thinking low hcg which is why I'm querying my progesterone levels after ovulation. My excema has also kicked off both times a few days before by bfps hence why I'm also querying thyroid/immunes lines.

Clutching at straws basically lol but I'm just trying to avoid loosing again x

Hi,

I think it sometimes depends on how sympathetic your GP is. Mine agreed to do the day 2/3 and day 21 tests. My progesterone came back at 21 and it needed to be 30 to show I was ovulating.

We'd already decided we were going to have some private testing done due to other reasons. A scan at the private clinic showed I was ovulating so whilst my progesterone wasn't where it needed to be I was still ovulating. I mentioned my progesterone levels and the consultant prescribed cyclogest suppositories to take from day 15 through to AF. I fell pregnant second month on the cyclogest and took it through the first 12 weeks.

I'm convinced it helped me. Good luck

Thank you @WelshMammy123 that's so refreshing to hear.

I know I must be ovulating as I've had two bfps but my hcg has been low both times. The first confirmed with bloods. Wondering if low progesterone could cause this. Will definitely ask her the question and see what she says x

Are you near Coventry by any chance? There is a miscarriage research place you can self refer to there. You pay but not like you would if you go private. Good luck x

@Yogafire oooo no im not, I'm up north but I would be more than willing to travel! Do you know the name of the place?

Hi- after one miscarriage I had trouble conceiving agin because of low progesterone which meant my period started too soon and my luteal phase was to short which didn't allow implantation to happen. I was prescribed provera to take the day after ovulation for 14 days which allowed any fertilised egg a chance to implant.

Additionally, and this may be more what you meant, after I conceived my doctor prescribed me cyclogest ( a progesterone suppository) that I took until 13 weeks to prevent miscarriage. Also- she suggested a take a low dose aspirin in case blood clotting was an issue-

This was not my GP but a ob/gyn consultant that I saw privately. Good luck!

Sorry for all the typos- tired!

@babyboots thank you for your reply. I was on baby aspirin after my GP said it could hurt but might help following my miscarriage at 6 weeks in December.

I have an appointment booked with her again on Wednesday so will ask about the progesterone medication you mentioned. If she refuses to test DH have already enquiries about a private consultation. They reply almost immediately today saying it will cost £230 plus any investigation plus meds so we might just go for that.

My local EPU don't want to know until I've had 3 miscarriages and since this last one is only going to be about 4.4/5 weeks (I'm still only spotting a tiny bit but got a bfn today) they won't even log it as my second. I just have a feeling in myself that 2 in a row must surely be more than just bad luck when I've had children previously so would rather get checked out than go through this heartache (or worse if it happened later) again x

@babyboots sorry that should say baby aspirin couldn't hurt but might help - view of my GP anyway

Good luck for your appointment- the suppository aspect isn't fun, but entirely worth it!

Hi OP, I'm sorry for your losses. 
I'm no expert, but I was under the impression that low progesterone levels meant that if you ovulated, the egg may struggle to implant due to a luteal phase issue, like @babyboots said.

In saying that, it sounds like you're going down the right path in requesting day 3 and day 21 blood tests to find out if there are any issues you need to be aware of.

When you say that your last loss was 4/4.5 weeks, do you mean it was 4 weeks between the first day of your previous period and the day your mc started?

I'm so sorry about your losses. I had bloods and an internal scan after a year ttc and no miscarriages. That includes progesterone and FSH. Good luck!

Thank you for your replies. My first was at 6 weeks, this was a confirmed pregnancy with blood tests etc in December. The one I'm having now is a chemical pregnancy. It has been 4.5 weeks since my last period/bleeding from miscarriage. I got a bfp last Thursday, Friday, sat then it got very faint on Sunday and I have been spotting for the last two days so expecting AF anytime soon. These bfps were not a result of hcg left over from the earlier loss as I had negative tests if the same brand in between. I obviously therefore have no problem getting pregnant which I'm happy about as have had bfps in two cycles now back to back but the fertilised eggs seem to be struggling to implant hence me wanting to ask for bloods. It is quite soul destroying to get a positive to then lose it a few days or weeks later. Yes I test early but I was still getting positives after AF is due to even if I waited the outcome would be the same. I am totally aware that chemical pregnancies are so very common but I just want to double check any basic avenues of investigation since two in a row is a bit of crap luck x

Hi,

Sorry to hear what you are going through. I have just had my first miscarriage and was also worried that it may be related to progesterone levels. Like you I had hoped the doctor may test for prog levels and prescribe supplements if necessary. My EPU were adamant this wasn't necessary, they may be right but who wants to risk it eh? I have ordered a forth with life progesterone home testing kit that you send off yourself to the lab. Hoping this will give me some ammo with the doc if the level does come back low. As I am only 2 week after MC I'm hoping to use it when I get a BFP so I can act fast on getting supplements if necessary.

Let me know how you get on- where are you based btw?

@Liverpoolishome I'm in liverpool believe it or not! I've been considering one of those tests myself but going to ask the gp tomorrow and see what she says. If the results would persuade her to prescribe then I'll deffo go for it. Hoping to try again next cycle but after 2 early losses in a row I'm expecting the same to happen again so would like to see if there's anything I can do to prevent it x

@Hotdoggity thank you for the info. I hope you get your bfp soon! Xx

Oh sorry mama - I should've said, I actually got it the month after we had investigations. My progesterone was a bit low and I had short luteal phase but it didn't matter in the end. My DD is 17 months now. Best of luck!

@Hotdoggity congratulations!!!! So were you not using progesterone supplements and got pregnant anyway? That gives me great hope! X

Once I knew about the progesterone, I did some stuff to lengthen it. I took B6 and used natural progesterone cream and it did lengthen by a couple of days. I alao had PCO but just the cysts, none of the other symptoms, which oddly I don't seem to have now.

I do think my short LP was down to progesterone and it accounted for other things too like terrible PMT and stuff. Think I'm a bit too estrogeny and apart from anything else, I felt much better using progesterone cream. It seemed to even me out a bit! But no nothing else (unless you have an inverted uterus too, in which case get back to me!)

Hi I think this is it
warwick.ac.uk/fac/med/research/biomedical/tem/bru/clinic
It's prof Quenby and Brosens who run it, or did three years ago. Good luck

@HotdoggityHotdoggity Hello,

I was googling about progesterone and came u p your post. I had an early bleeding MMC so was thinking I have low progesterone but doctor would not test.

Did you use the cream when you were pregnant? I want to self-prescribe the cream as it's not too strong and doesn't seem to harm anyways.

Just wanted to know if you had used the cream when you were pregnant or just a few cycles before that.

Thanks

@hathu88 hey! I'm not sure if this is helpful but I have low progesterone, I've had 2 chemicals and I have a short luteal phase. I've had bloods done but my gp didn't seem to think progesterone head a huge issue. I have used the wellsprings progesterone cream and it did nothing for me but some people swear by it.

It might be worth a try? Good luck x

@babyboots what clinic did you go to?