Progesterone levels?

chele80

On a mission
I know CD can wreak havoc with cycles/hormones etc but was wondering if anyone knew if it affected progesterone levels?

Basically I used to have a Luteal Phase of 14 days. For those of you saying huh?! The luteal phase is the stage after you ovulate and before your period starts. For most people there are 14 days between ovulation and your period starting. for some it can be 15/16 days, for others 12/13 days.

Mine has now reduced to just 9 days.

So why is this a problem?

Well, anything under 10 days can mean that your progesterone levels are not right and therefore a fertilised egg cannot implant in your lining and will break up, in simple terms, anything under 10 days means you miscarry more or less straight away.

As we're TTCing this is a problem for me.

It's happened my last two cycles (both while on CD) so that's the only link I have-that it's the diet.

My CDC says she knows oestrogen can be affected, but the problem here is progesterone.

Luckily I've already begun the process for referral to the fertility clinic (I have PCOS and don't ovulate every cycle, my average cycle length also being 47 days), but was wondering if anyone had any answers, has been through something similar, knows if progesterone levels are affected by CD???

Thanks!! X
 
Firstly good luck with TTC.

Seeing as you know about your luteal phase i take it you are 100% of when you're ovulating? Maybe your ovulation is now a day or two earlier than before.

The first time i did a VLCD (lipotrim) the diet messed up my body a lot. I bled for nearly the whole time i was on lipotrim (just over 6 mths). My cycles went haywire & would be extra long & i didn't always ovulate with each cycle.

I don't know the ins & outs of what a VLCD does in terms of progesterone. I can recommend taking some B vitamins.... i think its B6. I had a short luteal phase of 9-10 days & took vitamin B6 & B12 & my luteal phase went up to 13-14 days which is a big improvement.

B vitamins if low can affect your fertility so it wouldn't do you any harm to take some.
 
Thanks for answering

Yes I've heard lots about b6. I want to try it but also don't want to try anything until I know when my fertility referral date will be through.

I definitely know when I ovulate as I get very intense ovulation pains, use ovulation prediction kits and chart my basal temperature -the things you have to do when you don't have normal cycles lol.

I'm so sorry LT messed you up so much. That must have been so confusing not to mention annoying. Is everything ok now?
When I was on LT I was on the pill and nothing changed for me in that department luckily.

I just hope when I've finished CD my LP will return back to 14 days.
 
I definitely know when I ovulate as I get very intense ovulation pains, use ovulation prediction kits and chart my basal temperature -the things you have to do when you don't have normal cycles lol.

Me too... i do all that too & i also have PCOS. Clomid has been very effective for me.
When i did the lipotrim i think i stopped mid September & i was pregnant in the October ;) :D

My cycles are still messed up from after the birth of my last baby so its hard to tell how the CD is going to effect my cycles this time........ praying i'll be ok this time though.

Good idea to wait a bit before taking any vitamins or anything. I've had loads of test before due to infertility & recurrent miscarriages. Do make sure they do blood tests to check everything as thats a good starting off point for investigating any fertility issues.

I have also found that you need to be pro-active with your fertility. I researched stuff & asked for blood tests for this that & the other to rule them out.

Hope you get your BFP soon.
 
Hi daisy
Yeah am hoping they give me Clomid once I get my appointment. To get the referral I have to have bloods done (had them done this week). DH has to get an SA done and I need to have a smear/chlamydia test - all this just to get the referral!!

When we conceived before it was all very scientific. That's the trouble with PCOS. I had a 113 day cycle the cycle before I fell pregnant, and researched the ins and outs of fertility. This cycle just gone I also took soy isoflavones and did ovulate albeit on CD41. I'd just like to steer clear of anything until all the tests have been done but part of me wants to do something now as time just keeps ticking on......

I'm hoping the weightloss will help but so far things haven't improved. I'm having annovulatory cycles, long cycles, etc etc just like before despite having lost nearly 4 stone.

Oh well, at least with losing the weight, the fertility clinic won't tell me to sod off and come back once I've lost weight
Silver lining and all that! Xx
 
I don't have any idea about TTC but I have had a weird period effect recently! I am on the mini-pill Cerazette, which is progesterone only and I haven't had a period for two years (exactley what shoudl happen), since starting CD in December I have had two periods, that latter one was extremely heavy and I resorted to going to the doctors for help. I got given another progesterone pill that this about 3 times as strong as cerazette and I have to take it 3 times a day. I have noticed that if I miss or am late in taking the next dose, I start to bleed again. Having read about some stuff on the internet I am even more confused as it is the drop in progesterone that causes the bleeding...not sure if this is of any use to you, but at least it shows that something about this diet might be changing progesterone levels or is it the increase in oestrogen that is fooling the body into thinking the progesterone level is dropping??? Madness!
Good luck on the TTC and it would be interesting to see if you get any information about what is going on!
Love Cx
 
Thanks clair that's really interesting

My CDC was going to ask Cambridge about it but I said it didn't matter
I might ask her to ask them though

It's really intriguing hearing how CD is affecting a lot of us in many different ways

I hope you manage to get yours sorted and that it all goes back to normal soon x
 
Here's my bit on periods & CD :D

Off CD my bleed is 2-3 days very very light

On CD my bleed is quite heavy & painful at times and 4-5 days!!!

Still regular but DO bleed more

X
 
i am borderline for PCOS and after scanned was told there were no visible signs of cysts, hormone was on the borderline.
however, i do get many of the symptoms, including the fact that we have been trying unsuccessfully to conceive for almost 12 years now. the problem being my periods.
i was always very regular but after my son was born 17 years ago i had the norplant implant in my arm for 4 years at which point i had it removed in order to conceive again.
when i had the implant in i bled for the first year nonstop, then had no bleed for 2 years and then was spotting and periods were very irregular ever since.
when they removed the implant ( back in the day when there were 6 rods in the arm and they only managed to find 5 on removal so one is still in there somewhere :eek:) i bled again for 8 months, then things just went bizarre.
i would bleed for 8 weeks then nothing for up to 14 months.
in the last 5 years i have had one period which lasted 3 days.
i went to the fertility clinic and was told they wont help me until i lose a lot of weight...... by which point i will probably be classed as too old.
i think this is a battle i am not going to win...... ever. :sigh:
 
I bought soy isoflavones too but my consultant wasn't happy when i mentioned using them so i didn't.

My husband has a SA done at the same time as i had a hysterosalpingogram done.

I used she oak bush flower essence which i found to be good help in getting pregnant. I also used welcome womb tincture when i got pregnant which is brilliant stuff. I don't think either can be used whilst on the CD as they both contain some alcohol. I know a lot of people don't believe in that kinda thing but when you've tried lots of things i always think, its worth a try.

I would like to start TTC again in June or July. As i said before i have PCOS and underactive thyroid & only one tube due to an ectopic so it may take a while but i'm hopeful & praying i get a sticky pregnancy.
 
Thanks for all the answers everyone

Well my dizziness got worse the past few days and if I get up in the night and for the first few hours in the morning I go really dizzy and my eyesight hazes over black and white for about 5 seconds. I don't pass out, but it's like just before you do.

I spoke to my CDC who is going to contact Cambridge about how progesterone is affected and in the meantime she told me to move up to SS+ (I heard her actually say eat a pizza, so I did eeek)
Anyways, I will just have to see what CD say about it

I am going to the dr tomorrow to request CD21 bloods as I want to know what my progesterone is doing, so hopefully I can get those done soon (am CD12 today)
I just hope Cambridge don't tell me to stop. Noooooooo
 
Haven't got any answers on whether Cambridge causes a drop in progesterone though I do know that as we get older, we produce less. Some folks say it's the drop in progesterone, rather than the drop in oestrogen, that causes menopausal symptoms like hot flushes etc. It's highly contentious stuff and in my humble opinion, not enough research is done on this sort of thing.

I think you're wise to wait until you see a specialist before you start adding extra vitamins to your diet etc - but even if your luteal phase stays short, there are ways of supplementing progesterone so that you can get pregnant - and more crucially, stay pregnant - don't panic.

The other thing to keep in mind is that losing weight and reaching a healthy weight can only be a good thing, both for you and your future baby. Cambridge is clearly working for you. There's lots of anecdotal evidence that certain types of PCOS respond well to ketosis-based diets (though sadly, not all).
 
Lily said:
The other thing to keep in mind is that losing weight and reaching a healthy weight can only be a good thing, both for you and your future baby.

That's exactly what I have to keep reminding myself but often forget! Thanks for making me remember that, I really need thoughts like this today to spur me on and keep me going x
 
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