Not ovulating

[poupou]

Hello,
I ve been to my GP as we are TTC for over six months and no luck iam
37. My periods are a bit erratic and as i thought i am not ovulating.
My progesterone is low but the rest of my tests are fine with FSH and LH and estradiol good. I would be referred to fertility clinic but they lost my scans and this takes ages and i dont want to wait any longer. Do you have any suggestions of how to proceed with this? Maybe how to increase progesterone or private clinics to go to? I would
Really appreciate any advice.

I'm sorry to hear you are struggling. This may be irrelevant for you, but....I was in contact with a doctor in the US after getting thrown from pillar to post in the UK and feeling desperate. The doctor told me I needed to up my progesterone levels and the easiest way was using cream. I bought some progesterone cream online , normally given to women going through menopause apparently, and I got a couple of months after, I was instructed to continue the cream (which I put on my abdomen twice a day). Just a thought. I was very disappointed by the infertility clinic I was seeing in the UK.

Are you temping? It's the only way (except scans) to confirm ovulation. I've had very erratic cycles too and taking Angus castus has massively helped me to shorten the length and make them more regular.

Thank you! Yes i need to increase the progesterone levels and i will see whether the cream will work. How did it work for you with the cream?

Thank you @Peanutty86 as well! No i am
Not temping but i will start. Scans are all fine but i am using the strips and despite the lines showing an increase in intensity they are never showing ovulation. And my progesterone levels are below 2.
I am very anxious as NSH referrals take ages and i dont think i can wait or should
Wait for that long.

@poupou they won't ever show that you're actually ovulating. They show that the hormone is there and you're likely to be about to ovulate but if you miss it by a couple of hours it won't show the bottom line stronger. I used to do several tests a day and only one would come back positive.
We have fertility issues in my mums side of the family (my mum herself and one of my sisters) so I was worried it would take me forever. Even before ttc my sister (who is also a midwife) said to take Angus castus, it really helped her to get her hormones on track and she recommends it to everyone. I'm sure that's what helped me too, plus knowing my cycle through temping. There's a great book called Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler and it helped me understand everything so much better.
I hope you don't have to wait too long for your referrals, it must be agonising to wait so long.

How erratic? It might be your cd21 tests was the wrong day, it needs to be 7 days before your period arrives. Might be hard to do if you're not regular. Temping might be a good start.

You may have a short surge so easy to miss if you're only using opks once a day. Do you track your cervical mucus too?

@Peanutty86! Thanks so much for the advice and support! Angus cactus has been shown to restore progesterone levels in a study and it might help! I take vitamin b6 and zing and magnesium! I know that next step should be clomid but i will check out angus cactus whether it might help while i am
Waiting for referrals!

@VenusStarr my periods in the last year are between 24 days to 38 days! I am overworked and very stressed and that might have also contributed but in the last three months that i am doing the ovulation strips i never got a positive one and hence i wanted to do the blood tests. I know that the 21 day test is not reliable but my progesterone is below 2 despite 21 day testing and that is very low either way. I start tempting now and my mucus is changing through the cycle but again a lot later than 21 days. Iam
On my 26 th day today and i just started getting the differences in mucus! Fingers crossed it might be just delayed! Thanksss for the support i really need it!

@poupou my cycles are 25 days so got the cd21 test done on cd19. If you're cycles are out of sync it really could be that you had your bloods on the wrong day. Great news that you're noticing changes in your cervical mucus, that's what I tend to go by now. It could be you're gearing up to ovulate now and you're on a longer cycle this month 🤞get dtd!

Ttc is so hard, even harder when you're a bit older (I'm 35), we've got our first fertility clinic appointment next week. Good luck, keep posting, there's loads of helpful support on here :)

Thank you @VenusStarr ! Can i ask why you were referred to the fertility clinic? Was it a similar issue with progesterone? And how long did it take from the GP referral to the appointment?
Wishing you best of luck for the appointment! Hoping for the best

We've been trying for 16 cycles @poupou and due to our ages (35/37) we're keen not to hang about. My cycles are short but my luteal phase is OK so don't think we have a progesterone issue.

We actually conceived the month we were referred but that ended in a missed miscarriage earlier this month at 9 weeks. Have been advised to keep our appointment but expecting to be sent away to try a bit longer.

From seeing the GP, getting the tests done etc to our appointment letter it's been 6 months. The referral went in February and the appointment is next week so not too bad. The GP made us have all the test results back before he'd send us though which was frustrating as I had fibroids show up on my scan.

We're in West Midlands but I know each area does things slightly differently.

Thanks for the luck, feeling quite low about it all at the moment.

@VenusStarr I am so so sorry for the miscarriage! And try to be positive as There are solutions and dont worry about the age.
Since you can conceive and that is good the early miscarriage it might be a one off thing as early miscarriages sometimes do happen unfortunately . Did they suggest and did you receive treatment for the fibroids? I know its difficult but be positive and there is help available and you are seen by the right doctors! again i am
So sorry for what you been through. Let us know of how your appointment will
Go!

@VenusStarr also have they tested you for any risk factors like thrombophilia? Such as antiphospholipid antibodies or SLE associated antibodies? They are not testing until 3 miscarriage for these but if there is an unexplained reason for the failed pregnancy maybe it will be worth to request the tests or do them privately. I dont know all youe background so maybe the above would be completely unrelated!

Thank you @poupou. I've seen a gynecologist and she doesn't want to mess with the fibroids, I don't really have any symptoms with them and they didn't cause the miscarriage.

We've had no follow up support, didn't even get a leafket from the epu. Will see what the clinic say next week at our appointment and take it from there.

How you getting on?

@VenusStarr I am so sorry again for the lack of support. Its so sad.
Dont worry i am sure things will
Work out and wait to see how it will
Go at your appointment. The reason that i mentioned thrombophilia testing is because it can have an averse effect on pregnancy but NHS does not test until after multiple miscarriages and sometimes only when a haematologist thinks of it. Try to distress and go to your appointment and enquire about this to see what they might say.
I am handling it for now and focusing on work! All my scans are fine hence a positive thing at least and waiting for GP Appointment in two weeks for the referral. And will KEEP trying nothing to lose! Taking b6 and magnesium to increase progesterone! I think i had a positive ovulation strip
Test today but not sure so will
Try tmr again! Keep us posted!

Keep dtd @poupou I'm not sure but when I got the bfp we'd also dtd the day after ovulation as well as 2 days before. Always need to keep trying :)

I've just started taking ubiquinol (reading it starts with the egg). It's interesting about the thrombophilia, thanks for sharing.

Good your scans are OK. I'll let you know about the appointment :)