Female hormone test results

[MimiArm]

Hello - hoping someone might be able to offer advice.

I am almost 39 and TTC first child - this is cycle 5. I was on minipill until December 2019 and had been off and on that for about 10 years.

According to CB OPK, I get LH surge around CD16 and my cycles have been around 26 days. My periods have been very light, and only lasting 2.5-3 days.

I decided to buy an online female hormone test and sent the blood sample back last week on CD3 (they advise that blood must be taken on that cycle day).

Just got results back and have attached a pic. The nurse rang me and said all scores were perfect except for the Oestrodiol test, which was low. Apparently the "normal" range is 96-571.

My question is, has anyone experience of similar and, if so, is it possible to "fix" this yourself or is fertility treatment required? Is this a serious problem?

My BMI is high and I've been trying to lose weight - not sure if that will help.

Any thoughts would be welcomed!

Thanks for reading.

Hi not too sure what that test is, day 21 progesterone which confirms ovulation and AMH which checks egg reserve are the ones most doctors are interested in.
The best advice I could give you is to lose weight, as a healthy weight plays a key role in female fertility. Good luck!

Hm I'm not sure about the oestradiol but your luteal phase is quite short at 9 days and it might be worth taking supplements to try and lengthen it. Agnus castus and vit b6 should help and maybe look into progesterone creams if that doesn't help.

I believe flax seeds are meant to boost oestradiol but not sure what else to suggest other than trying to lose weight as it does seem to impact it!

Baby dust to you x

Thanks both. I have already ordered the day 21 test so just waiting for the time to come to take the test.

I was going to hold fire on the other test for now - but am leaning towards just getting it checked too.

Whilst my BMI is high, I'm not crazy overweight. I'm short at 5ft 1 and my "healthy weight range" is around 8.5/9.5 stone. At that weight, I look anorexic and completely sunken in. So my weight now is 11 stone 4 and at a size 12, I find it crazy that I'm technically bordering on "obese".

You're tempting me to do more of these tests - I got the AMH one from that website last year and have been contemplating getting the day 3 one you did. Bear in mind that the day 21 only really checks if you've ovulated (per my understanding) so might not be super helpful if you're already fairly confident that you are. I think at your age you can go to the NHS after 6 months of TTC to start enquiries so that might be something to look into?

FWIW I'm 5ft 7 and am 11st 6 which is overweight and I'm trying to lose 1,5st ideally as I'm not at all comfortable at this weight 🤷‍♀️. Funny how it works!

It's so funny how it works!

My doctors surgery are taking phone call appointments for non urgent queries so I think I will have a chat with them and see what they say. I "think" I ovulate but will still be interested to see what the 21 day test says.

I've almost purchased the egg count test a few times today and talked myself out of it at the point of paying each time haha. Don't want to waste money prematurely, you know?

@MimiArm can I ask where you got the test from? I'm interested in doing one.

I've never heard of that either?! But a chat with the GP definitely sounds a good idea if you can?

@Paintfairy Hey, hope you're doing well.

I got the test from LetsGetChecked. I bought the female hormone test and the progesterone test.

The female hormone test must be done on CD3. The progesterone one on CD21 (or earlier if you have short cycles, which I do). There is 25% off at the minute, and there was further discount on buying two tests (I'm not advertising for them haha, I swear!).

I'll give doctors a call tomorrow and report back what they said 😊

I did the egg count one and tbh they don't add much value unless it's so low as to indicate menopause. Otherwise it's the quality and not quantity that matters as you still only release one egg per month!

@MimiArm ah ok. I did have an early cycle test done at the dr which was apparently ok. But I didn't see the results or even know what they tested for! I am tempted to do a progesterone test though.

Yes, let us know what they say! Hopefully they might be helpful. Seems hit and miss mind. Especially atm! I really wanted to go with my issues but can't see them caring right now. It's frustrating.

I will surely let you know what they say. I'll do the progesterone test later in my cycle and see how that goes before spending money on the egg count test.

Ah, better get myself on a better diet in the meantime to reduce the BMI. I've lost 6 pounds in the last 4 weeks but it's at a standstill now.

I live in the countryside so my doctors tend to be more helpful than other surgeries I've been with before moving here. Though, they may well tell me to bog off tomorrow!

Are either of you taking pre conception vitamins? I've been using the pregnacare for past month to see if that helps any.

I've been on the boots one. I've also been trying vitex, ubiquinol and b vits. We actually had this month off, but it's a good job because my cycle has gone loopy. So I've stopped taking the other stuff again.

It's all so complicated - must google those ones and see what they are about :-)

My cycles have been 25/26 days, except the month I did acupuncture, it was 31. Coincidence maybe - maybe not! Had to stop the acupuncture just as I was really getting into it due to covid-19.

I think I read somewhere that if you lose 10% of your body weight it really boasts fertility. I would also recommend vital dha and coq10 supplements. Reflexology is supposed to have benefits too!

Thanks for the recommendations, much appreciated 😊

I had the call with my doctor this morning. She was really helpful. She said that whilst the tests I've bought are the correct ones, she can't rely on them as she needs tests to be carried out in NHS approved labs. So she has booked me in for the day21 test, and the day3 test again.

She also said something about a Rubella test and she will also book in for a semen sample to be left in.

May be some delay as my cycle day 21 falls on bank holiday but other than that, I'm really reassured by how willing to investigate she was!

That's great news! I haven't bothered ringing as I assumed they wouldn't care. I was going to push for the 21 day one. I've had the early one. I was just reading another thread where her dr isn't interested on her missed period for 2 months. It's ridiculous how it varies so much! So you are lucky yours is a good one. Fingers crossed for you.

Deffo call up and push for the 21 day test. You will hopefully be pleasantly surprised!

I'd be raging if I was the other poster. Yes, I get there is a crisis at the minute, but why should being stressed over fertility and missed periods be any less important than if you had a sinus infection and needed an anti-biotic for example.

I am very lucky - I think what has helped is that my doctor herself just came back from maternity leave. If I were to guess, I would guess that she herself is in her late 30's so she probably is more sympathetic.

Fingers crossed for your phone call 🤞