Stopping progesterone at 7w - too early?

[lzn]

My doc is advising that I can stop lubion injections ( progesterone) and oestrogen pills now. This seems very early? Has anyone else had this?

Im doing a modified natural FET where I ovulated myself with an Ovitrelle trigger and then got 2x per day Lubion injections (progesterone) and 2x per day Zumion (oestrogen) plus cyclogest (progesterone pessaries). He’s suggested I stop everything except cyclogest.

I’m 7 weeks exactly, had a healthy scan today with a heartbeat.

To be honest, this does seem early, usually its more around 10 to 14 weeks at the earliest as at around 10 weeks the placenta starts to take over and produces all the hormones needed to continue the pregnancy. Our clinic stops around 12 weeks sometimes to 15 weeks just to give a little extra support.

Perhaps ask is the cyclogest alone is enough? Your Dr will know your history and would advise you the best, try not to worry or question it too much. They've treated many other patients 👍🏻

I agree with @Miraclemuma03 it is too early to stop. Progesterone can fluctuate a lot in early pregnancy, so it's better to have a higher level so that even when it drops, you are still in the safe zone.

My progesterone level was monitored every 2/3 days when I was naturally pregnant in December (ended in miscarriage due to age) and the level of fluctuations was eye opening for me (eg dropping by 100s twice). My previous doctor gave me only one Lubion during FETs and I can now see that was not adequate.

How many cyclogests is he proposing?

@Serendipity24hes proposing staying on 2 cyclogests per day

Hi @lzn , many women are given two cyclogests a day and do just fine. But most of them start with that dose and stay at that. It's the sudden drop that your doctor is suggesting from a combination of six doses to just two doses that I would not be personally comfortable with given my recent experience. In your shoes I would ask him to taper the doses gradually for my peace of mind. Whatever you end up doing, wishing you all the best 🍀

@Serendipity24thank you!! I did actually speak to him since yesterday and he said if I’m more comfortable we can gradually wean off ie do 1 dose a day (instead of 2) of Lubion (= progesterone) and the same for Zumion (=oestrogen) from 8 weeks until 10, along with the cyclogest x2 per day still, and then just stay on cyclogest from 10. Perhaps that’s better if it’s more gradual?

Gradually is a much better compromise.

Hi OP, just to slightly calm your worries. As this was a natural cycle theoretically you shouldn’t need any progesterone support as you have a corpus luteum that produces progesterone until the placenta takes over. This is very different from medicated FETs that don’t have this and therefore need the progesterone until somewhere around weeks 10-14 when the placenta is established.

My friend stopped injections at week 7 and pessaries at week 10 on a natural FET cycle and has healthy 2 year old now while I had to go to week 14 on a medicated FET cycle at the same clinic.

You can also test your progesterone levels privately if you want to keep an eye on them as you come off meds.