Progesterone on a natural FET

[amkw]

Hi,

I’m due to have a natural FET cycle in June.

My consultant said that I don’t need any progesterone supplementation from a medical perspective (my periods are regular etc and I’m doing ivf due to male infertility)

He said they wouldn’t be of any added benefit to me but if it makes me feel better and more confident I can use Cylogest pessaries.

Can adding progesterone when you don’t actually need them cause more harm than good? Or is it that added progesterone can only help things even if not necessarily needed?

Amy insights/experience is appreciated!

Thanks!

I don’t know the answer to your question but I’ve done a natural modified FET recently so I had an Ovitrelle trigger shot and from that point until transfer and then test date had progesterone 400mg daily.

I have previously done a medicated FET and I think had double the progesterone.

I will be trying another natural FET with the same 400mg dose of progesterone. I don’t think it could do any harm at those levels. I guess if your consultant thought it would cause harm they would advice against it.

Good luck with your decision.

Hello @daisypizza I am actually in a similar situation. I recently had a natural FET with no progesterone. The cycle prior to the FET they did a ‘test cycle’ which is when you test at home for ovulation, and about a week later you go in for a blood test to check your progesterone levels. My levels came back as very good so they gave me the option of taking the progestone but said it wasn’t necessary, similar to you.

I got pregnant but unfortunately miscarried at 6 weeks. This was then of course one of my main questions in the follow up. The consultant said based on the fact my progesterone levels were good, plus the way the miscarriage occured (generally I think you have spotting and bleeding in the lead up to it if it’s a progesterone issue). She also explained that there have been many robust studies done that show there is certainly no harm in taking it. The jury is out on whether it actually increases success rates in women with no known issues.

As a side to all of this, my DS (result of first ivf fresh cycle with progesterone) was born with a mild birth defect and although not proven there are links to IVF and the associated drugs/hormones you are pumping into your body, hence our hesitancy to take it. If I thought it would improve our chances I would but it doesn’t sound like it would in both our cases.

what I’ve agreed with my consultant is that we will do another ‘test cycle’ before the next FET to recheck my levels, just for peace of mind. And if all okay I probably won’t take it.

I would see if you can do something similar to check your levels prior to the transfer, if they haven’t already and that might help you make a decision. Best of luck

@amkw meant to copy you in the above message sorry!

@Rosie86947 @daisypizza thank you both so much for your reply, it’s really helpful.

I don’t think that my clinic offer progesterone testing as it’s NHS.

His initial thought was for me to have a completely natural FET. It was only after I mentioned that I didn’t have it last time and i had a chemical that he said I could have it this time if it made me feel better.

He said he wanted the experience all round to be good for me so if it put me at ease I could have it. He said that there’s no evidence to suggest it would help me though and that me not having it last time didn’t cause the chemical.

Basically as I’m a worrier he said I could have it, but now I’m thinking should I have it if I don’t actually need it! I wish he would have said no don’t have it - I hate decisions!

@Rosie86947 I’m sorry to hear about your miscarriage.
I hope that the birth defect will not cause significant issues for your DS. It’s so hard to make decisions when it’s impossible to know what is best but hope your next test cycle gives you an indication.

@amkw you could ask about the progesterone test but if they won’t do it could maybe do one privately if it will give you any peace of mind. Good luck with the FET. There are usually threads for each month if you want to be in contact with others going through a FET around the same time as you.