Is there anybody with knowledge of female hormone tests

[crazedupmom]

Hi
I have been ttc my 2nd dc for 7 months and I am starting to get quite anxious now about it as I am 37 yrs of age.

The problem is that my AF since ttc has been very unpredictable with a long absence,3 months, and then cycles of 23 days and 33 days.
Currently I am on cd 57 with no sign of AF.
I have been diagnosed with a underactive thyroid and my doctor felt this was probably causing my wacky cycles.

However I have been on thyroxine and my tsh levels are now normal at 0.2 so i would have thought that my thyroid cannot be blamed any longer.

I am getting quite frustrated and I contacted a online endo and asked for his opinion.
He told me I need to be under the care of a gyno who specialises in fertility, and that I will need ultrasound scans to check if I am producing eggs, but how can a ultrasound do that unless you have it done when your actually ovulating.
Also he said I need to know what my fsh level, and Lh levels are as well as having a oestradiol measurement and also a check of my prolactin level.
I do sort of have an idea of what fsh means but what does LH mean along with oestradiol and prolactin of what importance is it when ttc.
I have tried googling but I still feel confused.
Can anyone explain to me in simple terms.
I have a doctors appointment tomorrow where I will be asking about a refferal but I would also like some knowledge about these hormone tests so I know what I am talking about.

Hi, no experience I am afraid, bumping for you

Generally speaking gynaes like to see women over the age of 35 if they have been ttc for six months without success.

Your cycles would certainly be seen as irregular.

This site is helpful re hormone levels:-
www.fertilityplus.org/faq/hormonelevels.html

An internal ultrasound scan will assess the state of your uterine cavity and see what your ovaries look like i.e whether or not they are polycystic. About 1 in 5 women have PCO - its very common. Polycystic ovaries can also cause periods to become scant or absent; this along with thyroid imbalances are common causes of such problems.

I would ask your GP to refer you to a gynae as a matter of course.

With regards to blood tests the GP may or may not choose to do these. A blood test can be done early in the cycle (if cycles are awol this can be done on calendar days i.e the 3rd and 21st of the month). The blood test on day 3 will measure LH (luteinising hormone) and FSH (follicle stimulation hormone). LH and FSH are vitally important as these two hormones kickstart ovulation. If these are out of sync then ovulation won't happen.
Both levels will need to be compared against one another as with PCO the level of LH is often higher than FSH.

Prolactin excess can interfere also with ovulation (that problem though can be treated with tablets).

I would go all out to get a diagnosis of the underlying problem and for that you need a gynae's assistance.

HTH, any other questions just ask.

Attila

Thank you

I did see my gp today and asked about a referral but she said that she wants to carry out all possible tests first so that if I am referred we can say what has been checked.

The problem with me atm is that with my cycles being all over the place I have no idea when day 3 or day 21 etc would be making it difficult for my gp to know when to carry out alot of tests.

My hormones were checked back in november and they all came back okay but fsh was high. I am not sure how high never thought to ask it was all new to me at the time.

My doctor said the fsh was probably high due to having a undercative thyroid.

However another blood test in January showed that fsh was normal at 7 I believe LH was 4.7.
Tsh is also now normal at 0.2.
My doctor now wishes to carry out more hormone tests as she says there was one vital hormone that was not checked last time which is estrogen.
I believe through googling it that this is the same as oestradiol as mentioned by the online endo.
She said that the results of this latest test will determine if I am reffered or not.

Tbh I just feel so confused atm.