Progesterone supplements (prescribed) - did they work?

[anotherscroller]

Hi!
I think I have low progesterone after ovulation and booking a GP appointment.
I need some support though. Has anyone been in the same situation?

• bbt doesn’t spike after ovulation, just a small rise


• bbt has a Rocky Mountains shape during luteal phase. No sustained temp rise.


• ttc over half a year always dtd during fertile time, not happening

thanks if anyone has been in this situation 😊

Hi,
I needed a progesterone supplement during my Luteal phase to get pregnant.
You would need a 21 day progesterone blood test (assuming your cycles are 28 days) to test how high your progesterone gets after ovulation.
The other symptoms I had were very short Luteal phases (9 days or less) with confirmed ovulation on day 13/4. Confirmed something called Luteal phase defect.
i went private as NHS support isn’t there for low progesterone as the research evidence differs a lot.

Start with a progesterone blood test and go from there.

Thank you so much for your reply.
That’s good. I have an appointment next week so I’m just happy I’ll be getting tests.
So great that you ended up getting pregnant 😊
My cycles are 32 days average so I don’t tick that box of a short luteal phase.
The other thing is I get really sore breasts during the luteal phase which is apparently caused by progesterone… so maybe it’s something else which is wrong.
Can you remember if you had tender breasts despite having low progesterone @MrsMo21 ?
thank you

@anotherscroller if you’ve got an average length cycle then chances are progesterone isn’t your issue. The reason you get sore boobs at the start of pregnancy for example is because of a rise in progesterone which continues into pregnancy as it is produced from the corpus luteum cyst that is left once a follicle releases an egg during ovulation. Nothing you describe indicates an issue with progesterone.

I wonder what is causing my temperature not to rise steadily then?
Here is my chart. FF says ovulation is not detected. I had a positive OPK on day 17. But FF says my temperature does not confirm ovulation.
BFN of course.
This also happened in previous cycles.
I’m lost!

Hey OP
Do you test at the exact same time every morning after a solid sleep?

Yes! My child sleeps through the night though. Only had a boozy night once in this whole cycle which I marked as temp discarded.
Always test in the same twenty minute window around 6am. Usually ten minute window.

By the way I’m not overweight, no intense exercice, and 32y/o.

Could it be from going on holiday and sleeping in different beds? But then why am I not conceiving if dtd every day during fertile window for 8 months? There got to be something up.

i meant to write ‘sleeps through the night now’ (I.e. I’m not having disturbed sleep)

Do you sleep with your mouth open and closed? You could try temping another way

Hey op, sorry to hear you're not having luck with TTC ATM.

The fact you are not seeing a sustained temp rise could indicate low progesterone, even if you don't have a short luteal phase. There are various symptoms for low progesterone, one of them being a short luteal phase but that's not the only one. Also sore boobs before period can actually be a sign of low progesterone, it depends but that's defo a thing. I read it recently as I've also been looking into all this. I am currently 4+6 pregnant, but have had 3 early miscarriages this year and I'm still breastfeeding my first which can lower progesterone. Estrogen/ other things are also important for good egg quality and to help ovulation occur. You can get positive opk but still not ovulate so it could be that?

Definitely get a blood test to check levels but even if they say it's normal, it's hard to get a full picture from one test on one day.

It could be worth looking into more natural/herbal supplements to help balance hormones. E.g. vitamin b6, vitamin c (750-1000mg per day), maca powder and vitex herb can all really help balance hormones including help you to ovulate and also help progesterone.

I took dim and calcium d-glucarate for a couple of years before having my daughter and again when TTC for no 2. I found these amazing for balancing estrogen and progesterone. Just thought I'd mention a few things that can help while you wait for the tests. There's a great website called natural fertility info, recommend looking at that x

Forgot to say I'm currently taking progesterone pessaries since 11dpo when I got my BFP. I'm obviously still v early on... I'm hoping they make the difference after my losses this year which I think could definitely be as a result of low progesterone... I also did the things I mentioned above while TTC although not vitex, as didn't have a problem with ovulation/ temp rise.

Anyway, best of luck to you!!

One other thing to help egg quality and ovulation... The book it starts with the egg is supposed to be very good and helpful! I think if your temp isn't rising you are most probably not ovulating the months that it doesn't. So it could be that rather than low progesterone (although progesterone should also be lower if you're not ovulating, during your luteal phase).
Stress can inhibt all this too and affect prolactin to rise which can cause issues with fertility. Get them to test all your hormones, including prolactin, testosterone, lh and fs, plus get thyroid and vitamin b12, iron and d checked out too. X

Here's the website. Loads of info on it but you could start here (links to various things if you just scroll down a bit ) natural-fertility-info.com/fertility-herbs

natural-fertility-info.com/progesterone-fertility-guide

Sorry will still spamming you now haha just hope it's helpful! Best of luck x

Oh my god thank you so much. You are all so kind.

Also @Skylark1990 i think I remember you from a previous ttc thread. So many congratulations.

I think open! So you’ve convinced me, I’m going to try vaginal 😯