I think I've got low progesterone - cant believe it! What causes it?

[Loveychoc]

I've been experimenting with girl sway diet for a few months. I didn't go very strictly and would still eat many things that aren't in the list anyway. All I'm sure about my girl sway diet about is that I've completely turned away from being an all salad leaves eater to pasta and rice eater. I've completely ditched most fruits and vegs on daily basis, I would still eat them but only in smaller amounts or if they are hidden in a dish. But as I go along doing the girl diet I find that my af cycle has gone shorter than before. I now have 25-27 days cycle and I am not even sure if my luteal phase is 14 days anymore. I think it's gone shorter than that. Does the girl sway diet Lower my progresterone? I thought its supposed to make it higher? Also I've been spotting 1-2 days before AF.

Another diet change I made is that I drink instant coffee nearly everyday and drink coke 2-3x/week. Too much caffeine probably?

So should I take vit b6 or progesterone cream or vitex? I am not ttc yet so what to do to increase my progresterone safely?

[rainbowflower]

the spotting could be a sign of low progesterone - have you tried temping to see exactly how long your LP is? I'd do that and you should only need vit B6 if your LP is now 10 days or less

[Indira]

Do you drink peppermint tea? That can rise estrogene and make your cycles shorter.
I agree with rainbow, see if your lp is really short. If it´s 12-14 days you don´t need B6, it might hurt your sway.
I normally have 25-27 days cycles, mine became longer when I started taking Saw Palmetto (for lowering testosterone).

If your lp is normal it isn´t necessarily a bad thing to have short cycles, it´s a good thing when ttc-ing!
I´m not sure how much evidence there is to sustain the idea of high progesterone for a pink sway, there´s more evidence that we want low testosterone.

[Loveychoc]

I don't drink peppermint tea and I think the cause of Low progesterone is that my diet is completely nutrient empty, ie I only eat plain bread, pasta, rice and little meat/eggs/veg on the side, but I am still eating sweets such as cakes, etc. last month AF came on 23 oct, then I noticed I might have been ovulating on 7th nov, that day I had a lot of ewcm, very runny, clear and stretchy and then 11 days later next AF came on 18th nov. if my guess was right my lp is around 10-11 days. I didn't take temp unfortunately as I don't own a bbt thermometer yet and I don't track my ovulation using opk. But all I know is that my cycle has gone a few days shorter than before and I am sure lp to is shorter too.

I've heard that b6 may raise testosterone? Basically many supplements even for pink sway are high in nutrients that's why they could be prone to blue sway instead, which is what I don't want.

[Indira]

I don´t know if B6 can raise testosterone, it might sway blue because of the nutrients aspect. But if you need to take it for your lp, you need it; you can´t conceive a girl if you don´t get pregnant.
You could start with a small dose of B6 and see what it does. It might take a couple of months before you see a difference.
I took 60 mg only after OV in sept, 60 mg all through my cycle in sept/october and 80 mg all through in october/november. In October my LP remained 10-11 days, in November I got my bfp! Good luck!

[atomic sagebrush]

One theory of gender swaying is that high progesterone = girls.

Another theory of swaying is that reducing fertility overall = girls. This is the theory that I find more plausible (it is, after all, MY theory hahaha ). Testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone are all made from the exact same raw materials (fats and cholesterol. When you go onto a diet that is lower in fats and cholesterol, you remove the raw materials that your body uses to make ALL THREE hormones (and some other ones as well.) Leafy greens have vitamins in them that assist in this process. You DO NOT get progesterone, or testosterone/estrogen either, from diet, your body MAKES it (so any diet such as IGD that claims to raise progesterone because it contains foods that have progesterone in them like eggs, is based on a faulty premise.) It is totally possible that ANY of the sway diets can cause your prog to drop (even IG) because less cholesterol, less fat = less hormones, and less of certain vitamins means your body's hormone manufacturing processes work less efficiently.

The thing is, your body really "wants" to keep making progesterone because it "wants" to maintain fertility. So when it doesn't have enough raw materials to make all the hormones, it begins to cut back on the less essential hormones like testosterone first (altho if your body "thinks" you need testosterone to survive, it will make testosterone at the expense of estrogen and progesterone.) It also cuts back on estrogen production as well which is why sometimes on the pink diets, your cycle gets longer - it takes your body longer to make enough estrogen to trigger the development and release of the egg. Progesterone is necessary to conceive a baby at all so your body tries to preserve it as much as possible, but it wants to survive more than it wants to conceive a baby, so if your body "thinks" that your survival is at stake (having a baby used to be extremely risky to one's life, after all), it will curtail the progesterone production as a form of natural birth control.

Regarding the progesterone = girls theory, I ~personally~ believe that it's not that this is a wrong theory necessarily, it's just that it has been kinda misinterpreted by some people. William James, the guy who came up with the theory, is only saying that higher levels of progesterone with lower levels of testosterone and estrogen, seem to be affiliated with more girl conceptions and higher levels of estrogen and testosterone are linked to more boy conceptions. NEVER in any of his research does he even hint that you should therefore try and raise progesterone thru diet to conceive a baby girl. That is entirely the interpretation of non-scientists and is not based on any actual evidence or data whatsoever. Just because one person has higher levels of progesterone than another person does, that does not mean in any way that they are eating progesterone or taking B6 to make more progesterone. All it means is that when conditions are optimal and your body has lots of raw materials to make ALL hormones from, that also means it has enough to make progesterone in ample quantities.

When you cut back on your diet (esp with fats and cholesterol) somewhat and lose some weight (esp. while eating lower protein), but not so strictly that your body thinks it's like DYING or something, you will gently reduce the T and E production while maintaining prog (prog may decline a bit too but as long as your body doesn't totally panic and decide you need massive amounts of testosterone to find food LOL), THAT is the hormonal profile that is gonna sway pink. Enough prog to maintain a pregnancy, but lower levels of T and E at the same time. You want fertility to be diminished but still present and accounted for.

[atomic sagebrush]

I agree with Rainbow - I would shy away from B6 unless you NEED it and you don't need it unless your LP is 10 days or less. You can DEF. get pg with LP of 11 days and lots of people have gotten pg with LP of 10 days.

I conceived a boy taking 100 mg B6!!

[Loveychoc]

atomic sagebrush, thanks for the explanations!! I just got a prescription for the Mini Pills (going on oral contraceptions for first time in my life and will take it next cycle) and it contains progesterone only. Some info that I found on the net that Mini Pills increase the thickness of your CM hence it sways pink (i think only during the first cyle it comes off, not when you're still on the pill - it's dangerous to be on the pill and being pregnant at the same time). Although there is no such thing as making high/low progresterone, T or E, etc.... but since mini pills contain P only (which pink swayers think it sways girl). Can I take still take this when swaying? I do not get this purposely for swaying. It's just that DH and I aren't TTC until at least a year later.

[rainbowflower]

I wouldn't take any contraceptive when TTC (even only in the 2ww), but it's fine to take until then!

[Loveychoc]

The mini pills certainly will come off when we TTC and DTD, or else there's no way to get a BFP with contraceptions on!
I will do the diet 3-6 months before TTC, i hope during that time the mini pills don't mess up with my Testosterone level!