High Prolactin - infertility?

[Pregh]

Hi ladies,
Does anyone have experience with high prolactin results and how to lower it?
I'm not breastfeeding, never been pregnant, and my blood tests confirmed high prolactin and low oestradiol. Looks like my cycle has been getting longer because this imbalance is delaying my ovulation. We've been TTC for a long time so I'm interested to understand if this is 'an easy fix' or what experience do others have with high prolactin and TTC.
Thanks

I've just been reading some articles which suggest that Covid could cause higher prolactin levels! I had Covid at Christmas and my cycles since then have been longer. The initial research suggests that infections (like covid) and obstructions to the chest (coughing with covid) and antibiotics (due to pneumonia caused by covid) can all have impact on fertility. So maybe that's what is going on with me.. hard to say!

Did you find out much more? I've just had a similar test back, to my knowledge I've not had COVID.

How high is your prolactin? Slightly elevated can be even just due to stress - if it's in the thousands you'd need meds and an MRI to exclude the possibility of it being a tumour.

It's 643 mIU/L so just over expected levels for my age.17-Beta Oestradiol is also low but still within range. And I hats interesting as things are quite stressful atm

I'm not having issues as I'm not trying, I'm just mid 30s and got tested in the hope of gauging my fertility chances of I were to wait a while longer.

My prolactin was over 950!
The fertility nurse got the results too and said she'd call me next week about next steps.

Unrelatedly, i also have an ear infection and headache this week. That mentioning of tumor sounds scary!!! I'll ask for the MRI if possible.

@Pregh don't worry too much about the tumour! they're benign and not uncommon. It could also be a sign of hypothyroidism so make sure they check for that too :)

@floofycroissant yeah odds are it would drop back down once things calm down? I'd also suggest having your thyroid checked just in case as that would affect TTC also.

I tested high for prolactin, but it's not high where they will do an MRI but higher than where it should be so I am taking bromocriptine. I was not told it is the reason for infertility, but that apparently women with multiple miscarriages have been noticed to have elevated levels of prolactin. The meds I am taking lowers it and supposedly many have gotten pregnant while taking it.

Evening ladies, just did a search to see if there were any chats about Prolactin levels, just been told mine were high, over 1000.

Have to repeat bloods in 3 weeks, anyone got any decent links or experience with this?

Sorry @02Carol , i didn't get anywhere with my levels over 900. My fertility nurse thought it was ok, which is surprising...i hope your second test go well!

@mamikH

Didn't get anywhere as in couldn't concieve or it wasn't considered an issue and looked into further.
I googled. Why oh why did I Google. I. Now convinced I have a growth on my gland and am infertile! 🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

@02Carol didnt get investigated further as it was considered an issue...and I'm still not pregnant... going to start taking Letrozole next month, because my cycles are getting slightly longer, this might help with pinpointing ovulation.

And yes, Google is a horror story! I'm sure it'll be fine, Google is rarely right when it comes to medical advice :D it's all the extremes showing up

I’ve had this issue, slightly high prolactin levels detected just before I actually got pregnant (during some fertility investigations), after I had the baby my period did not return. Blood tests revealed higher levels again. I had a brain MRI and it slowed a microprolactinoma on my pituitary gland, when I say it’s small it’s only about 1mm big although it’s got the potential to mess with you fertility. I was seeing an endocrinologist at this point and I went on something called quinagolide (which didn’t work for me) and then something called caborgoline when did work when the dose was right. I conceived my second child the first month after period came back. High prolactin does effect fertility but both of the endocrinologist I’ve seen have said it’s really common and it’s easily fixed with medication x

Hi @Pregh - I have a little bit of experience with this. Last year I was also diagnosed with slightly raised prolactin - around 850. I was referred on to endocrinology who did a cannulated blood test - which basically means they collect the blood through a cannula at the hospital and you have to lay there for 30mins before they take it which is supposed to take the 'stress' factor out of it (ha!). It was still raised so I had an MRI scan which showed a very small prolactinoma. Because my tumour was only very small and the prolactin not that high I was given the option of whether to treat or not. I decided to go ahead with treatment as we've been ttc for 2 years with no success and I'm keen to try anything which might help!

I'm taking cabergoline. I have to say there are some horror stories about this medication online - so much so that I almost didn't take it. I'm so glad I did though! I've not had any of the bad side effects and today (one month after starting to take the pills) my prolactin is down to 150. I also ovulated much earlier in my cycle this month (usually around day 19, but this month on day 12) so it appears to be having some effect.

So I would say - don't worry! It sounds awful when they talk about tumours, but they are almost always totally benign and treatable.

@Parsleyrose and @Kudostoyou Thanks both for the encouragement!
I've ask the GP to repeat my blood tests to check the prolactin levels two months on from the first tests. It's also my first cycle of Letrozole now.
The prolactin was over 1000 again, this is the third result i got so high! They referred me to an endocrinologist, hopefully I'll get an appointment soon. Might get an MRI scan too.

I'm a bit surprised that the fertility nurse wasn't bothered and didn't want to investigate further...she now focuses on a polyp they found in my uterus - which I think is caused by Letrozole that raises my hormones quickly because it wasn't there before. I'll have more scans done to see what's happening.

Anyway, I hope I can get talking to the endocrinologist soon, sort out the prolactine first - sounds like it could be what's causing my ovulation delays and infertility. Fingers crossed!

Hi been ttc for just over 2 years. High prolactin, no tumour after mri scan, no pcos after tests. Still unknown why. My prolactin is in its 1000s so I have been recently started on quinagolide by my endocrinologist. Has anyone had any experience with this drug? Dr. Has said if no pregnancy by March I will be referred to fertility clinic. Would love to know if there has been any positive pregnancy stories with this drug? Thank you

@Kudostoyou @Parsleyrose @peaches02 Hi currently in the same boat , was just wondering when you done your MRI that showed the microprolactinoma was it done with a contrast dye or without ? And did the MRI only look at the pituary gland or was it a MRI of your whole head/ brain .