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Post by akcheryl on Dec 28, 2006 22:09:44 GMT -5
I'm currently undergoing some initial bloodwork and other testing before starting IVF. (I have stage 4 endo (lap on Dec 1) and have been trying to get pregnant since late 2005 with no luck.)
I already had my day-3 (of my cycle) FSH and LH levels tested before my surgery to check for PCOS, and those hormone levels were fine.
However, about a week ago I had some other blood work done(day-21 of my cycle) and was found to have increased prolactin levels and decreased progesterone. My OBGYN is also retesting my day-3 FSH and LH, as well as doing another prolactin test, tomorrow.
She said the increased prolactin and decreased progesterone could be indicative that I'm not always ovulating like I should be, and that if that's the case, I should be put on some drug (I forget the name, but it starts with a "g"). Has anyone else been on drugs for this?
She also mentioned that increased prolactin can be due to a pituitary tumor (I looked it up and they're almost always benign, so I'm not worried).
Anyone else experiencing infertility due to the same thing, or undergoing IVF with the same hormone problems?
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Post by ouchy on Dec 28, 2006 22:13:37 GMT -5
Hi, Cheryl. Did your doctor say "Glucophage?" I'm on the generic equivalent of that for ovulation problems.
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Post by akcheryl on Dec 28, 2006 22:16:25 GMT -5
I really don't remember. She's retesting my prolactin tomorrow just to make sure it wasn't a false positive or something, although that still wouldn't explain why my progestrone is low.
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Post by ouchy on Dec 28, 2006 22:22:00 GMT -5
Progesterone is usually low when you don't ovulate. --I think. I think that is how they tell by your blood whether or not you did ovulate.
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apple
Full Member
Posts: 214
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Post by apple on Dec 29, 2006 11:06:07 GMT -5
Yes, testing Progesterone day 21 doctors check if you are ovulating. My doctor order this for me and I just need to go and see her for the results so I'll let you know. He also tested day-3 (of my cycle) FSH and LH levels and they were ok.
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Post by ouchy on Jan 5, 2007 0:27:31 GMT -5
I just found something creepy, which might be why you haven't gotten pregnant yet--or maybe you have, but it's been early pregnancy (chemical pregnancy) failures all along without you knowing it??? Here is a little 2-line blurb I found on a website, while I was researching something else. "Women who miscarry may tend to have higher prolactin and androgen levels during the follicular phase of their menstrual cycle." --taken from www.ovarian-cysts-pcos.com/miscarriage.html on 1/14/07 ...a page about miscarriage If increased prolactin has something to do w/ it miscarriage, and decreased progesterone definitely has something to do w/ miscarriage, you could have gotten pregnant a number of times, only to have it end in chemical pregnancy, before you even knew it!
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Post by akcheryl on Jan 5, 2007 3:31:53 GMT -5
I've read that lots of women with endo don't have real "infertility" but chemical pregnancies, because the immune system makes it so the embryo implants but isn't able to get an adequate "root system" so it miscarries.
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Post by ouchy on Jan 5, 2007 10:34:30 GMT -5
Hum. I'm guessing that a lot of infertile women w/ endo also have something else, mainly hormone imblances, which often go together w/ low progesterone (another hormone imbalance). If the uterine lining doesn't have adequate thickness and blood supply due to insufficient hormones, it would all make sense, then. Maybe that could be attributed to a concomitant syndrome, then, and not endo? Who knows. I've had a chemical pregnancy, but I had luteal phase defect--which goes w/ low progesterone. Now that my hormones are all sorted out from that diabetic medicine--did you ever find out if that med. your doc. recommended either is Glucophage or Metformin?--I have on-time ovulation and a perfect luteal phase, so my appropriate hormones must be in-line now.
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Post by akcheryl on Jan 5, 2007 18:44:15 GMT -5
I had initial blood work done before starting IVF by my OBGYN back home. She's sending a letter to my OBGYN where my husband goes to school (I spend most of my time in Omaha), and she in turn is sending the information to the fertility clinic. When my prolactin came back high and my progesterone low, I was told that the fertility clinic doctor would just sort everything out. I seem to have a variety of problems: I have stage 4 endo, which obviously negatively affects fertility; my thyroid is out of whack (hyper); and my hormone levels are off. So I may have three different conditions that are inhibiting me from getting pregnant, and the fertility doctor is going to go over everything and decide what to do about each issue to give the best chances of IVF working. Also, there's the immune system factor with regards to all these conditions, so we're going to talk about doing immunoglobulin treatments.
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Post by ouchy on Jan 5, 2007 19:02:04 GMT -5
Cheryl, did you ever get the name of that medicine that started w/ a "G?"
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Post by akcheryl on Jan 5, 2007 22:31:51 GMT -5
No. I haven't been back to my OBGYN yet, but I should find out in a couple weeks from the fertility dr.
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Post by ouchy on Jan 5, 2007 22:33:15 GMT -5
Ah...I just re-read. I thought you were given an actual rx for it, but it was just a recommendation. Sorry!
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