Another month and no ovulation :( Low progesterone & estrogen.. any advice?

[YesIcan2020]

Swaying girl and As per heading, I got my results this week and again no ovulation this month :worry:
Very upsetting, tired of having hopes up every month and doing so well with diet etc all for nothing.
My dr said both progesterone and estrogen were low, progesterone 0.5 on the 21 day hormone test.

Any advice or positive words as very disheartened again, sorry for the rant.

Thinking a fertility specialist may be next step.

Xx

[atomic sagebrush]

You will very likely still ovulate. All this test is telling you is that you have not ovulated YET.

Are you making those diet changes we talked about??

[YesIcan2020]

I’m amazed by your memory :)
Sure did, I’ve had steak, eggs and a piece of fish this week. Is fish ok? Had the salmon last week but the family was getting fish and chips this week.

I had the 21 day test on day 24 as I have been tracking using OPKs and hadn’t had a rise yet and my cycle was 34 days last month.
Any advice on how to up progesterone naturally? Always had low and needed suppositories to fall/stay pregnant last time.
I hope you’re right but I just started spotting and cramping today so think my period is about to start :(

[atomic sagebrush]

LOL it's not as good as it used to be, unfortunately. :/

Dairy every day??? And you've dropped fiber?? Are you taking any other herbs?

PLEASE do not start trying to boost progesterone. The vast majority of things said to "boost progesterone" really mess up the cycle in people with low hormones (which is why your cycle is messed up). They are for people with low progesterone due to PCOS, which is the opposite problem you have, and if you used those things it would be throwing gasoline on a fire.

The best thing you can do is eat more food, gain back a bit of weight, and keep getting enough fat, particularly that good animal fat like in dairy, eggs, and meat. Fish is ok, but white fish is not terribly fatty so it ends up being more like a chicken breast - good source of protein but is not going to help much getting ovulation started.

If you do have a bleed, it will not be your period. It will be something called "breakthrough bleeding" which means your estrogen has dropped and this causes your lining to slough off. The good news is this acts like a reset button on the cycle and your body will start over again with a new lining and a new month and will make a new egg hopefully. So you don't do anything any different than what we're already doing - more calories, more fat, and possibly a small weight gain to compensate for having lost a lot.

Can you tell me more about why you think you had low progesterone in the past? Did someone tell you this, or is it based on observations of cycles??

[YesIcan2020]

Thanks for the detailed reply.

Yes dairy everyday (all day lol) I have yoghurt, cheese, ice cream and chocolate each day within my limits.
Currently sitting at 1800 calories and 60-70g protein and fat. I have stopped loosing weight (yay) and just maintaining atm.
I stopped myo inositol last month as per your advice. No other supplements, only folic acid. I take fiber every couple of days as need it to go to toilet (have for years)
As far as I know I don’t have PCOS, it has never been mentioned before by any dr’s.
One thing I do get most nights is night sweats, not sure if it’s food or hormone related? My dr said my insulin and thyroid tests came back fine and has no idea what the cause is.

Regarding low progesterone, my dr has told me this due to blood test results. Last two tests it has been 0.5. With my last baby the levels were low early pregnancy and I was advised to use the pessaries. The pregnancy before that (MC) levels were also low.

[atomic sagebrush]

Ok. I'll explain a bit more about low progesterone. You may know a lot of this already, but enough people don't know that usually it will help someone or another for me to explain this.

Your body has naturally low progesterone prior to ovulation. So at any point if you have your progesterone tested and you haven't ovulated yet (which you hadn't in this month we're talking about) your progesterone will be very low. This is ok and indeed, normal. It doesn't mean you have anything wrong with you. In fact, if your progesterone was high before ovulation (if you were using prog supplements at the wrong time of the month, for instance) then your body would not release the egg. It's the natural way the female body works to be high in estrogen, low in progesterone the first part of the cycle and then progesterone rises after ovulation, because it is the hole that the egg comes out of that makes progesterone.

Then, additionally, in any pregnancy that is not developing normally, lowering progesterone is how the body brings the pregnancy to an end. Many people think that when they had a miscarriage and their progesterone was low, that means that the low progesterone caused the miscarriage. This isn't the case. The body stops making progesterone in pregnancies that are not developing properly in order to end that pregnancy and make way for a healthy one (and I'm so sorry for your loss. :heart:) So again, that was a normal thing that happened and doesn't mean you have any kind of underlying issue.

While I can't say what was going on with your successful pregnancy, studies (some very good studies done by excellent researchers like Harvard) have found that progesterone supplementation in pregnancy does not help anyone get or stay pregnant. The progesterone supplements, we are coming to realize, are a placebo. A normally developing pregnancy will send a signal to the body to make the progesterone needed to sustain it, and sometimes if docs test and think the progesterone is low, it actually means they tested earlier in the pregnancy than they realized. Other times it may be low but the pregnancy would continue to develop and then you'd make more progesterone over time.
It is ok to use progesterone supps if they give you peace of mind, that's completely fine to do, but my point is, none of this stuff indicates to me you have an ongoing problem.

Most of the stuff out there on line that's said to "raise progesterone" is directed at people who have PCOS - which is the opposite problem of what you have. People with PCOS have basically an excess of hormones - they make too many of some hormones, which then means they don't have enough raw materials left over to make progesterone with. For them, interfering with the production of some hormones means they can raise progesterone since they'll have more raw materials to make it with. But for you, you're not making enough of ANY hormones. To then take something that lowers estrogen, for example (which is what the majority of "progesterone raisers" do) would be devastating. Not only would you end up with no progesterone (because you haven't gotten enough raw materials to start with) but you'd end up with low estrogen too. This ends up with people who have delayed or even stopped ovulation and STILL have a short LP and low prog.

The absolute best way to help you get and stay pregnant and make adequate amounts of estrogen and progesterone is by doing what you're doing - eating more fat, getting enough calories, getting enough rest, cutting back some on exercise. You need the raw materials and then enough downtime for your body to do what it already knows how to do - make hormones. So please do not go out and try various herbs and spices and vitamins said to "raise progesterone" because it would be several steps in the wrong direction for you.

[YesIcan2020]

Wow you just explained things better than any Dr ever has! Thank you that all makes sense and I again appreciate you’re detailed response.
On this journey I find drs really unhelpful and none take the time to explain things like that. I’ll keep going through the motions and hope it happens for us soon.

My concern is eating more fat & protein and if I was to put on weight and then swaying boy 😢 But I guess ive got to take that risk to fall pregnant anyway 😞 thank you again x

[atomic sagebrush]

Too many doctors take a "do as I say and don't waste my time" approach to explanations, not understanding that we actually need to know these things because then so many people try to go on to self-medicate with herbs in ways that can be harmful! And all because the doctor did not explain what was really happening.

You don't have to eat MUCH more, just a bit more. Imagine that you're turning a radio dial and you've gone too far one direction, and now you just need to dial it back just a bit in the opposite direction. This will still leave you in the "pink zone" and you're just trying to improve your condition enough to conceive.