Irregular periods, infertility and low progesterone

[tropicalfruit]

Hi all,

This is my first post on mum's net and I am hoping someone could give me some advice.

We have been trying to conceive for a eight months now but it has incredibly difficult or almost impossible to find out when I am ovulating due to my irregular periods. I don't know how long my cycles are because it varies each month and it sometimes skip a month or two.

I have sought help from my GP and they did a progesterone test. At the time they took it at day 40 (hoping that I would get my Period the following week) instead of day 21 and they found out that my progesterone levels were on 0.2 which is the follicular phase.

This led them to believe that I am not ovulating. As after ovulation, there will be a surge of progesterone. Despite the low progesterone and irregular periods, they still haven't referred me to fertility clinics as I haven't tried to conceive for a year. Instead, they referred me to gynae to investigate more about my irregular periods.

I just wondered if someone went through something similar? I read here that Agnus Castus helped their irregular periods. Is that something you would recommend? What are your experiences? Help!

Hi
I'm sorry to hear your going through a difficult time. And wish I had some advice for you but seems like I am actually pretty similar to you! Completely irregular periods, infertility and after hormone studies progesterone at 0.1 :(. However I got referred to fertility clinic/gynea as we have tried over the year threshold. My gp did mention that ill probably be good candidate for ivf but to be honest its been a bit of a whirlwind and I'm still confused by it all.

I still don't quite get what could cause low progesterone like this? But I gave up trying to figure out when I'm ovulating and just trying to conceive as much as I can (happy husband). Do keep a diary of your periods as I found it helpful to prove to drs and keep your head straight.

Anyway sorry can't be more help and hope you are doing ok? I know it can be so difficult when trying to conceive and having irregular periods... I always feel that my periods wait long enough to give me hope and then bam! Reality check! Its soul destroying :( x

Ask your GP for a transvaginal scan to check for PCOS, they should be able to sort this out without waiting for your gyne appointment. Your DPs GP will also be able to sort a sperm analysis test out. Then you'll have a clearer view of what's going on.
Your GP could also prescribe Metformin which is known to help regulate periods.
Hopefully this helps you a bit, and good luck x

@0kK4y

Hi I'm sorry to hear your going through a difficult time. And wish I had some advice for you but seems like I am actually pretty similar to you! Completely irregular periods, infertility and after hormone studies progesterone at 0.1 :(. However I got referred to fertility clinic/gynea as we have tried over the year threshold. My gp did mention that ill probably be good candidate for ivf but to be honest its been a bit of a whirlwind and I'm still confused by it all.

I still don't quite get what could cause low progesterone like this? But I gave up trying to figure out when I'm ovulating and just trying to conceive as much as I can (happy husband). Do keep a diary of your periods as I found it helpful to prove to drs and keep your head straight.

Anyway sorry can't be more help and hope you are doing ok? I know it can be so difficult when trying to conceive and having irregular periods... I always feel that my periods wait long enough to give me hope and then bam! Reality check! Its soul destroying :( x

Thank you so much for your response. How long have you been trying and are you receiving treatment for it now?

Apparently low progesterone is when you don't ovulate. It's just annoying that my GP thinks it's not really a problem as I'm still "young". If anything I'm more worried as despite my youth I am struggling very much to conceive it is actually such a daunting experience!

I have an app where I could log my periods and my last period was September. It's crazy!! I wonder if there are any natural remedies to induce ovulation?

@ivfjourney5

Ask your GP for a transvaginal scan to check for PCOS, they should be able to sort this out without waiting for your gyne appointment. Your DPs GP will also be able to sort a sperm analysis test out. Then you'll have a clearer view of what's going on. Your GP could also prescribe Metformin which is known to help regulate periods. Hopefully this helps you a bit, and good luck x

Thanks for this! They've done a scan a while back and they said everything looks normal and my gp basically said to just wait for gynae as it's completely out of their hands now... what's your experience? X

tropicalfruit,

How long ago was this scan?. Any tests done over six months ago should be discounted. I ask this too as the cystic follicles associated with PCO are very small so it can take a highly skilled sonographer to spot them. These follicles do disappear, only to be replaced by further cystic follicles.

A common cause of irregular periods is a condition called polycystic ovaries or its closely related syndrome called PCOS.
The one good thing here is that the GP has referred you to a gynae, you need a diagnosis first and foremost and such issues are outside a GPs general remit. It would not totally surprise me if you were formally diagnosed with something like this by a gynae in future.

Progesterone is only part of the story and really them doing such a test on day 40 was a waste of effort (these tests can all be done according to calendar days if the cycle is irregular). The other blood test that could have been done by now is a day 2 test to measure and compare your LH level against that of FSH. These two levels kickstart the ovulation process so if these levels are out of sync then ovulation will be affected. An excess of LH to FSH can be commonly seen with polycystic ovaries.

Do not use Agnus castus at all because it can make some underlying hormonal imbalances worse.