Day 3 results are in - can anyone give me a guide on how good/bad they are, before I make it to the doctor?

[FredAdair]

I now have a copy of my Day 3 results, as well as my baseline scan details, as requested by the Reproductive unit. I won't be seen by them until the autumn, so before I hotfoot it to my (non-specialist) gp to go over them, can anyone shed some light on whether they look normal or not? If someone says YES I'll type them up (there seem to be a lot of them!)

I've also just asked for help decoding my husband's sperm test, so thanks to Attila and 1wish for their help on that! Sorry to try and use you guys as a mini medical team but I've tried searching on the internet but keep getting wildly differing info and thought experience might be helpful.

I know I said I'd wait until someone answered but can't do it! I'm feeling as though I'm at a half way house of laughter and tears about how difficult it is to find out what the problem is and who can actually help. (I've lurked outside the Hut of Gloom a number of times but never feel like I've got anything glamourous enough to wear).

I know that you're not specialists (although having gone through quite a few searches on this it looks like attila is pretty close to one?) and this might be too much info to wade through but if anyone has anything to say on the matter I'd love to hear it.

Right, some of my results are as follows

Baseline scan shows, amongst other things, ovarian morphology appears borderline for PCO with and AFC of 11 on the right and 10 on the left (assume this is talking about the largest follicle seen on each ovary, as 11.0mm and 10.0mm

Day 3
FSH 8.0 IU/L
(note: follicular 3.5 ? 12.5/mid-cycle 4.7 ? 21.5/luteal 1.7- 7.7/post meno 25.8 134.8)

LH 9.4 IU/L
(note: follicular 2.4 ? 12.6/mid-cycle 14.0 ? 95.6/luteal 1.0- 11.4/post meno 7.7 ? 58.5)

Oestradiol 266 pmol/L
(note: follicular 46 ? 607/mid-cycle 315 1828/luteal 161 ? 774 / post-meno

Hi Fredadair afraid i can't shed any light on these results, Attila should definatly be able to explain them for you though, she's brilliant at explaining test results.

Just wanted to bump this for you and let you know i'm thinking of you, hope you get some answers soon

Hi 1wish that's very sweet of you.

i know what its like, waiting for appointments and trying to secound guess test results. Your right about finding info elsewhere on the net, almost impossible to get a decent answer.
Try not to worry to much, and if you need to chat about anything i'm always about ( a tiny bit mumsnet obbsessed at mo )

crumbs 1wish, I seem to have this amazing knack of starting very shortlived threads! I can only thank you for interest in me!

Can't help you either, but thought I would bump up your thread and wish you luck

www.fertilityplus.org/faq/hormonelevels.html

The above may help with further deciphering of the results but I would say that there is an indicator of PCO due to the LH/FSH imbalance (LH being higher than FSH).

Would strongly suggest you not use OPK's if you are still using them, they are particularly useless if PCO/S is an issue as these measure the excess of LH being produced (the kits work on the misleading principles that women only have one rise in LH every month and that such a rise is immediately followed by ovulation).

Your Day 21 is indicative of non ovulation (should be at least 30) but this is not unfortunately surprising due to the underlying PCO.

Would think that if an internal ultrasound scan was done on your ovaries these would be seen to be polycystic (multiple follicles). The cystic follicles associated with PCO do disappear - only though to be replaced with further cystic follicles. Some of these are dormant, others contain an egg, yet more release hormones.

PCO can be treated but there is no one therapy or treatment that will completely eradicate it.

Any other questions just ask

AttilaTheMeerkat (sorry to have shortened before), thanks so much for the info. Can you give me any steer on the Oestradiol - am I right to think this is perhaps Estradiol by another name?

The link you kindly gave me talks about a high estradiol result on day 3 possibly indicating the existence of a functional cyst or diminished ovarian reserve. The range they give is 25-75 pg/ml, which is a different measuring unit than the 266 pmol/L my own result was given in. Is this result 'good' or is it also a bit poor?

Thanks also re: the OPK - pretty unhappy with anyone who has advised us before because they've always known we've been reliant on OPK to give us a 'heads up' as it were. I sometimes do get a pain at around the time the OPKs say that I am having a surge - do you think this could be a more reliable indicator of impending/possible ovulation (I'm clutching at straws here!)

And thanks Thinking for bumping for me.

Hi FredAdair,

Please do not worry about shortening my nickname!.

Estradial/oestradial are one and the same.

In the female, estradiol acts as a growth hormone for tissue of the reproductive organs, supporting the lining of the vagina, the cervical glands, the endometrium and the lining of the fallopian tubes. It enhances growth of the myometrium. Estradiol appears necessary to maintain oocytes in the ovary. During the menstrual cycle, estradiol that is produced by the growing follicle triggers, via a positive feedback system, the hypothalamic-pituitary events that lead to the luteinizing hormone surge, inducing ovulation. In the luteal phase estradiol , in conjunction with progesterone, prepares the endometrium for implantation. During pregnancy estradiol increases due to placental production.

Some women with PCO do ovulate occasionally but more often than not they will require some additional help in order to conceive.
The surest way of knwoing whether you are ovulating or not is to have blood tests done.

Thanks for the info (I feeling ridiculously ill informed about me own body) on the estradiol - in terms of my result, does it look okay or nearer the 'abnormal' end (I'm not scientific enough to know how to convert the pmol/L to pg/ml.