Progesterone and the importance of testing is a subject that comes up so often amongst our IVF babble community. In fact just recently, we posted a quote on Instagram from one of our readers:
“We have had 2 failed transfers with our surrogate in the last year. Someone recommended me to ask the clinic for a progesterone-blood test before our next transfer, to which the clinic replied they don’t do. I insisted and had to pay extra and it turned out she, (our surro) was way below the recommended limit, took progesterone-shots (still do). She is now 5 weeks pregnant.”
So many women responded to this post with their own progesterone stories, so we thought we would share some of these with you here, just in case you’re not on Instagram.
These real stories might help you start a conversation with your doctor
Remember, it is so important to not only trust your doctor, but to be your own fertility advocate. Have a conversation, and ask him/her about progesterone testing. If you want to take control yourself, get in touch with the team at *Proov who can support you with progesterone testing in urine.
“PIO shots saved my pregnancy, but I had to fight for them.”
“I am currently almost 12 weeks pregnant (7th fresh IVF/ICSI over 16 years) & this time my progesterone level was checked 6 days after transfer & was very very low. Clinic increased my injections & also on Tinzaparin from after transfer till 6 weeks postnally. All previous cycles have ended in failure & miscarriage. First time having progesterone levels checked after transfer & using blood thinners.”
“I don’t think my clinic tested progesterone as standard, and after doing my own research I felt that this was my issue for not falling pregnant (I’d have a short luteal phase, with spotting for about a week leading up to my period). I pushed to have extra progesterone support, and my doctor’s reply was “well it’s your money, if you want to have it you can”. So glad I pushed for it, I now have a 2.5 year old!! Will definitely be asking for extra progesterone support when we do a FET in a few years.”
“Wow so good you checked!! In the UK our NHS hospital never checked the levels, but going abroad they do.”
“Oh my goodness, my clinic did it as standard I was on progesterone until 16 weeks I had regular bloods to make sure was okay and had it increased when needed otherwise I probably would’ve miscarried because my levels were so low.”
“My clinic wouldn’t allow me to use 3 progesterones a day as they said my levels were fine even after my 3 failed transfers so instead a friend gave me some of her progesterone she had spare from her successful cycle and low and behold I got pregnant that time!”
“I did not have my levels tested in the UK clinic (money grabbing B’s). When i went to a clinic in Spain it was the first thing they did. I took extra and got pregnant (sadly ended in miscarriage!) but it was the game changer for me I feel!”
“I never had my progesterone levels tested, but had to have luteal support before our IVF cycle. And even then, I had to have my progesterone massively increased post transfer to 3 x cyclogest and 2 x lubion a day. It worked though. Would def look into this in the future as we look at a FET.”
“Mine didn’t with my fresh round and when I started to bleed tested them to find they were less than half what they should be, they were then tested for my frozen round which apparently is standard practise for frozen there. I was also put in progesterone injections that time round and had a successful pregnancy.”
“Two failed transfers, blood test day before transfer and now 10+5 as they discovered I had very low progesterone. I was put on double the amount of progesterone and now so far our dream has come true. Fight for what’s right ladies.”
“I have really struggled with this too, I have tried to push my clinic but they refuse point blank to do a blood test. I tested it privately and found it was very low but it was too late by then. I have seen a private Dr for a second opinion and hoping my clinic will now proceed with an increased dose of progesterone
But I don’t know why it’s such an issue.”
“I am having this exact issue. My clinic say they will give me extra progesterone this time following a miscarriage at 6 weeks, BUT they won’t test my levels! They say there is no proven level that they should be and therefore a test would mean nothing to them! I am going to do my own test but wonder – when should I do the test(s)? And what level do we look for? I see the post above re this but I’ve previously been told anything over 30 would be fine – which now makes me think there’s different measurement metrics.”
“Oh wow interesting, I naively thought testing progesterone levels would be standard care! We are looked after by crgh uk and they test before and after transfer, in fact with my first pregnancy they tested a few times after transfer to ensure any change in meds were then at the right levels. I think it’s also important to see how you’ve reacted to the amount of progesterone they’ve given you previously to help inform subsequent rounds. Unfortunately my last transfer ended in miscarriage but testing means that we are going to change the levels and method of delivery – e.g. more injections than suppositories etc.”
Thank you to our wonderful community for their feedback. If you would like to share your thoughts, drop us a line at mystory@ivfbabble.com.
*Proov was invented because women needed a better marker to assess their Progesterone levels during the luteal phase. After 6 miscarriages and lots of research, Dr Amy Beckley, PhD, realized this better marker was PdG, the urinary metabolite of Progesterone. The science and the medical literature were there, but the device was missing, so she created the device. 80.000 women helped so far and over 1000 successful pregnancies later, Proov is a powerful tool that gives women precious insight about their cycle and their hormones, so that they reach out their parenthood goals sooner.
Read more about the founder of the Proov Test:
Progesterone helped an infertile scientist conceive — and it may help you too
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