When would you ask for a progesterone test?

[OneAmber]

I’ve had scans/bloods done by the NHS who were quite dismissive and told me ‘everything is normal’ (despite having some very irregular periods).

I’ve had to fork out a bunch of money for private scans and tests where they’ve said it’s very obvious I have PCOS.

I would like to ask my gp for a progesterone test to check if I’m actually ovulating.

What makes this difficult is, I know they have to be done 7 days before your period/a set number of days after ovulation. I can’t work out when I ovulated this month because I got a positive OPK two days running with EWCM but only a very small rise in BBT. 3 days later, no EWCM and 6 days after initial OPK, I get a big rise in BBT, like I would usually be expecting. I can’t work out if I had a very slow ride BBT or a very early end to EWCM.

I’ve done some tester temperatures over the next couple of days and ovulation is either not detected by FF, or tentatively detected on either the 22nd or the 24th.

I already feel I’m going to have to really convince the doctors for a progesterone test, especially since they believe ‘everything is normal’, so which date do I ask for it to be done on to be the most accurate?

Any advice is very appreciated, I find ttc like a puzzle sometimes!

Additional fertility tests should be discussed with a health professional. Only this professional will be able to tell you whether or not you should have a blood test. Take heart!

PS
Médical Doctors are people who went to university and know how to interpret a test and judge whether or not it is appropriate to carry it out. Especially if they are gynaecology/fertility professionals
:)

Progesterone tests are just a simple blood test, you can pay to have them done at home but it’s free if you ask your gp. You can request to have a progesterone test long before you can get a referral to a gynaecologist. It’s the only way of truely knowing whether you ovulate, but they have to be done on a specific date after ovulation so that was why I was wondering since it’s hard to tell with bbt when I ovulate and my gp appointment may be booked in too late (they didn’t have space). I wasn’t sure whether I should worry about paying to get one before hand so I don’t miss the right date.

I moved to the UK not long ago.
You describe a very strange practice, but every country is different !

@OliviaO it isn't a strange practice at all. You don't need to be a medical specialist to be able to request or interpret basic hormone tests. A progesterone test is pretty standard. Though with PCOS it can be difficult to know when to do it, because it's supposed to be mid luteal and that's often untrackable with long cycles and no clear LH peak.

OP, you may need to request follicle tracking from a specialist but if you get an LH peak try around 7 days later for the blood test, or consider more than one test. If your GP won't help they cost around 40 quid.

It's strange from my point of view of training and culture :)
Good luck, I wish you the best 🍀