What does the progesterone blood work tell you?

[Anonymous]

i'm one week past a medicated IUI (injectibles, IUI was one week ago) and i go in tomorrow for a blood test to assess progesterone levels; what does the progesterone test tell you as i understand it's way too early for a pregnancy test? What kinds of numbers would be considered "good?" thanks!

[Anonymous]

to make sure your body is providing a good amount of progesterone to help support a pregnancy if that happens- i forget hte numbers but remember over 20 being "good"- even if below 20 it's still good- best wishes

[Anonymous]

I have battled low progesterone so I feel confident that I can answer this.

Once you've ovulated, the site on your ovary produces progesterone ... it's the hormone that says don't get your period, there's an egg out there that might be fertilized!! If your body doesn't detect any HCG, the "pregnancy hormone" which is what is produced when a fertilized egg implants in your uterus, the site on your ovary will eventually shut down & stop producting progesterone. Then you will get your period.

Conventional wisdom says that progesterone levels are tested at 7DPO because that is when it's supposed to be at its peak level. After 7DPO, it will slowly start to taper down its production unless HCG is detected. So that's why you're going in now ... it would be too early to detect HCG, but your progesterone level will tell the doctor whether or not you are producing enough progesterone at 7DPO to sustain an eventual pregnancy.

There seems to be differing schools of thought on what is a "good" number at 7DPO. Most physicians seem to think anything over 20 is ideal. Some think anything over 15 is ideal, and that anything between 10 and 15 is good. Anything below 10 is considered "borderline." If you have something at 6 or below, you've got a problem. Some doctors also think that progesterone under 5 indicates no viable ovulation. You may want to check with your doctor to see what his or her school of thought on that is. Mine was happy with anything over 10.

The good thing about low progesterone is that it is easily fixable with progesterone supplements such as Progestin or Prometrium. I am a huge fan of Prometrium as I am 100% convinced it saved my baby's life (I'm now 20 weeks with a healthy baby boy). I had period-like heavy bleeding for the entire first week of my pregnancy and I know I would have miscarried if it were not for the Prometrium. I'm not a doctor, but I know my body.

With my miscarriage in February, my HCG was 25 at 13DPO but my progesterone was only 4.5, and I was already bleeding heavily by the time I was tested. There was nothing that could be done for that baby, even though I started on supplements right away. Subsequent progesterone tests confirmed that yes, I did have problems producing progesterone. I was on 200 mgs Prometrium starting the day after ovulation with this pregnancy, and my levels were still shockingly low for someone on supplements. I was only 10 at 7DPO. 10 at 13DPO with an HCG of 17. I started spotting on 14DPO and at 15DPO was full on bleeding with a progesterone of 8. I got bumped to 600 mgs/day at that point and even though I continued to bleed heavily off & on, I did have a successful outcome.

I'm writing this long novel on progesterone to show you that if your progesterone does come back low, it is fixable, but DO NOT let your doctor say oh, we'll just start you on supplements after you test positive. You should really insist on starting the progesterone as soon as you find out it's low, and in future cycles, start it after O. Hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

PP here (the one with the long response) -- just wanted to say GOOD LUCK and keep us posted!!! I hope you get your BFP!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

PP here again ... sorry forgot to mention that an excessively high progesterone level (think 40s and above) may indicate a multiple ovulation which could result in multiple pregnancy. A lot of people think high HCG is an indicator of a multiple pregnancy, and sometimes it is, but if your progesterone is high, that is a much better indicator.

[Anonymous]

12:40, thank you for this personal, detailed and very thoughtful response.

Could you add anything about morning temperatures when charting, and how that may indicate p is too low? I have read a lot about this, but am still kicking myself after suffering a miscarriage this summer. All was well with HCG numbers but my BT seemed too low to me. (Like you, I know my body after 2 pregnancies and several miscarriages.) My ob did not think it was necessary to put me on the suppositories. I'll never know what would have happened had I insisted on it.....

[Anonymous]

1240 - Very insightful post. Thank you.

Do you also happen to know if hot flashes are an indicator of too high of a level of progest. ?
I heard that progest. is heat inducing so I was wondering.

I have my annual check up with the doc. next month so I was going to ask then, but until then I was just wondering if you (1240 poster or anyone else) had anymore insight.

[Anonymous]

12:40 here. Thanks for the comments! Glad I could help.

22:44, i'm not sure about the hot flashes. I never had high levels of progesterone ... and I also never had hot flashes. I don't know if there is a level of progesterone that is considered "too" high. Hope you get some answers on that though.

17:20 (i think you're the OP?), i'm happy to answer your question about charting since that was the first clue for me that I might have had a progesterone problem. My charts just did not look "right." I knew that I was O'ing since I had +OPKs each month, but my temperatures never really rose appropriately and it was very difficult to see a thermal shift. It was the same in February ... my chart was looking like I had not O'ed but I got pregnant, so obviously I did. My temps were very low in the luteal phase and would have weird spikes every now and then. I also noticed that my LP was only 8, 9 or 10 days, which seemed to be too short. When I first brought my concerns to my RE he blew me off (as doctors tend to do) but then I miscarried because of low progesterone ... then he started taking me a bit more seriously.

I am really sorry to hear about your losses I wouldn't kick yourself as there's nothing really you can do and it's very frustrating that many physicians don't seem to seriously consider progesterone deficiency even though it is such a treatable problem. Had you had progesterone testing before & your doctor thought it was OK? Or did he/she just not draw your blood?

Here are my charts if you want to compare:

http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/1b9ddb

Hope this helps.

[Anonymous]

It's 17:20 and I thank you for this response. No, I'm not the OP, but I can really relate to all of this because I think the whole progesterone issue is so underplayed not only by OB/GYNS, but even by REs at times. In my last successful pregnancy (2 years ago), an RE put me on progesterone "just as a precaution," making it very clear that "we don't even know if this works." It seems like such an afterthought with many in the medical profession -- they really don't take is seriously and have a "you can do it if you want to; it certainly won't hurt" type of attitude.

I did not ask for a blood level progesterone count at this last miscarriage (which happened at about 8 weeks). Do you know if they take that automatically when testing the HCG level? Or is it a special test that you have to request?

[Anonymous]

12:40 here. my doctor happened to have a policy requiring a progesterone test every time an HCG test was taken, which i loved. i don't think that most doctors have that policy though.

i would request special progesterone testing at 7DPO during your next cycle. if your doctor rolls his eyes, INSIST. if he/she still doesn't play ball, find a new doc. mine was dr. sacks at columbia fertility and i absolutely love him.

and yes, i did feel that he did not consider my concerns about progesterone just from my charts, but when i immediately miscarried with a low progesterone level he started taking a much closer look at my levels. he still thinks from a clinical standpoint that that baby would not have made it regardless of the progesterone levels, as my beta never doubled, but progesterone was again a problem with this pregnancy where the betas WERE doubling and he was right on top of the problem then.

[Anonymous]

OP here -- Many thanks to all of you for your insightful and compassionate posts. my progesterone was 22, they said it was fine and that i didn't need supplements but then i got my period a few days later (day 24 of cucle whic his early by about 6 days for me). Next round of testing (bloodwork) and FSH --ovarian reserve -- came back at 10.5. My FSH has always been in the 6's -- how could it have gotten so "bad" in only a month?? Do the meds impact those results in any way? thanks for any insights anyone has on this front....

[Anonymous]

12:40 here -- awesome news, OP!! one less thing to worry about.

[Anonymous]

Cheers and we look forward to your Forum Favourites selections!


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[bradcapo1]

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[Anonymous]

he was right on top of the problem then.
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