CD21 and CD28 progesterone bloods - question!

[sazzapoo21]

Hello,
Background - 6th round of Clomid (only ovulated on round 2), 100mg Clomid this round, PCOS, no cycles whatsoever!

I went for CD21 bloods and despite a temperature spike and sustained temperatures, EWCM and positive OPK my levels were 3. I was gutted. Repeated bloods on CD28 and just had them now - level 34! I am over the moon.

I'm also somewhat confused...looking at my chart I genuinely believe I ovulated around CD14-15. I have a clear temperature spike and the temps have remained up ever since. Between CD21 and CD28 the temps have remained high, but there were no positive OPKs or a temp spike, as they were already elevated. This is why I am confused. On paper it looked like I ovulated CD14-15 yet bloods show sometime between CD21-28.

My question is this...

Could I have ovulated prior to CD21 and if so, would the levels remain low enough making it look like I have not ovulated? At what stage after ovulation would my progesterone begin to rise? e.g. If I DID ovulate CD14, would you expect to see higher progesterone levels on CD21?

Thanks in advance xxxx

Unfortunately you can have a rise in temperature in the second half of your cycle when an egg has not been shed. Those temperature charts and OPKs were wrong and the blood test on day 28 was accurate.

It is not advisable to use OPKs at all if you have PCOS and particularly when you are taking clomid; clomid encourages more LH to be produced and the kit reads that thus giving you a false positive reading. OPKs are crap when you have PCOS anyway; as many PCOSers have an excess of LH the kit simply reads that.

What are they going to do now after six rounds of clomid; are they looking at other treatment options for you?.

Thanks Attilla! Even ignoring the temperatures and OPKs (I get where you are coming from with OPKs) then the hospital are saying that the CD28 bloods are indicating I have ovulated.

My consultant has said he will give me up to 12 rounds of Clomid as I have only ovulated on 1 round. He has also suggested ovarian drilling which is something that I need to give serious thought to!!!!

Clomid is usually only given for around six attempts, after which time other treatments are tried. Also you may well have become clomid resistant. I would ask him directly about whether it is actually worth doing clomid at all for another six months particularly if it has only worked on one cycle. Would the dosage be increased and would you be monitored as before whilst on it?

The ovarian drilling (or to give its proper name laparoscopic ovarian diathermy) is something I would give serious thought to as the cystic follicles on the ovaries will be punctured and that can also kickstart the ovulation process. It is not a cure for PCOS and there is not one but if you do have this surgery, you need to find a highly skilled surgeon.

I've now ovulated twice - round 2 and round 6. Round 6 though was after a 2 stone weight loss and a 3 month break from Clomid. It's possible that the weight loss has massively helped, especially as I dropped my dosage back down from 150mg to 100mg.

Before I had the blood results for this round (round 6) the consultant was keen to put me on metformin for round 7 onwards. It looks like I won't need that now if I have managed to ovulate this round.

I was offered follicle tracking which I only managed for round 1. It was a massive commitment as I had to go every other day for scans and I wasn't able to do this due to having to take my DD to school and travelling to work. The consultant was ok with this and has suggested that I will only require CD21 bloods and a repeat on CD28 if necessary.

My private consultant liked up see levels of at least 40+. Did you drop yourself back to 100mg because it might have been better to stay on 150mg in my opinion. A stronger day 21 progesterone result of 50 or 60 would be better.

I got elongated periods of positive opk' and cervical mucus without clomid and without ovulating along with progesterone results in the 20's.