Link between progesterone and autism

[TTCJourney321]

I have been on Progesterone since week 5 of my pregnancy and suggested to stay on it until 34 weeks due to high risk of PPROM. I have been reading that there is a higher risk of autism when taking progesterone during pregnancy and I am
completely freaked out and so scared I have caused harm to my baby.

I am on cyclogest which is a natural progesterone and take it twice a day, which is quite a lot but now I am just absolutely beside myself.

Has anyone else heard similar or know anything more

I just googled and there are some studies showing a link with high levels but presumably your levels aren't high? I would speak to your midwife or doctor about it.

However, as an autistic person I would say it's not terrible to be autistic!

There have been a few small studies but they seem to contradict each other. Always worth weighing up risks vs benefit. In your case, it seems benefit of continuing pregnancy to term and not having a PPROM outweighs risk of autism (very muddy evidence for it to begin with). On another note, there is research into preterm babies having higher rates of autism. I think you'll always find negatives no matter what scenario you search online.

Agree, as someone who has to take both cyclogest and prednisone next pregnancy I am just refusing to Google.

As an autistic person I would say it is terrible.

Thank you everyone . The studies do seem quite contradictory and I read somewhere that women have been using progesterone for years so if it was a huge contender in causing autism it would be discovered by now. trying not to overthink it but of course worried me when I first read it.

@Dawevi I was put onto quite a high dose so thats why I was worried, it is due to my high risk of PPROM.

@remaininghopeful23 you are totally right, getting to full term and avoiding any serious issues from early delivery certainly outweighs the risk of progesterone.

Just wondering if there are any mums on here who have been on progesterone throughout your whole pregnancy and have proven wrong by the studies. would be good to hear !

With DD1 I was on 3 x 400mg a day from 23 weeks until 36 weeks, she's 9 and not showing signs of autism, with DD2 I was on 2 x 400mg a day from 14 weeks to 36 weeks, she's not showing signs so far, making it to full term with both of them far outweighs that for me.

I was on progesterone from early pregnancy with DD after having 3 consecutive MCs. I can't remember when I came off it exactly but it wasn't for the whole pregnancy. She's 8 now and absolutely no signs of autism.

Having autism is NOT being harmed. It's just being a person.

I was on progesterone for both my pregnancies and both kids are autistic. If you need the progesterone to keep the baby in then there's not much you can do but take it