# Help me interpret my CD21s?



## knithappy (Jun 6, 2014)

Back in November(!) I had my CD21 bloodtests done. The jr Dr I saw the first time said my progesterone was low but consultant over rode that and said everything was fine. Out of curiosity, I went to my GP and got a print out of the results. 

Serum Prolactin Level - should be 0-445 mu/L - mine was 241 - fine
Serum LH - Should be 1-28 in the luteal phase - mine was 6.8 - fine
Serum FSH - Should be 1-9 iu/L in the LP - mine was 5.4 - fine
Serum TSH - should be 0.4 - 4miu/L - mine was 1.66 - fine

The 2 that interest me are

Progesterone - The printout says that in the luteal phase it should be between 12 and 89 nmol/L, but I've read in several places that it should be above 20 to indicate OV, and above 30 to be healthy and allow implantation etc. The GP I saw said it needs to be above 20. I'm so confused!

Mine was 24.9. (while taking Fertilaid, which improves progesterone) I do have some indicators of progesterone deficiency. I lost a bunch of weight last year and my cycle regulated and most of the Progesterone deficiency symptoms went away. I put most of it back on and they are coming back. I've asked for another progesterone test to see what it's doing now, but I'm not sure what to think of the old one. I'm considering self supplimenting to be on the safe side. 

The other interesting one is the serum oestradiol- I'm not sure exactly what that is, but in the luteal phase it should be between 697 and 990. Mine was 466 

Can anybody help me out here?


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## CrazyHorse (May 8, 2014)

One reason why testing blood progesterone levels is controversial is that progesterone is secreted on a pulsatile basis -- i.e., it's not secreted at a relatively consistent rate over the course of each day. If you were to take blood every 15 or 30 minutes and check the progesterone level of each of those samples, you'd see significant variation in the amount of progesterone across these samples. That's probably why the consultant wasn't bothered about it.

If you do IVF, you'll receive progesterone supplements anyway for at least the first two weeks after embryo transfer. Are you considering IVF, or are you wanting to continue ttc naturally (well, without IVF/IUI, anyway)?


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## simone546 (Dec 25, 2011)

Hi,

Not sure I can help much, but the progesterone does look a bit low (but not massively so). I think you're doing the right thing by following that up. 
Not sure how significant oestrogen levels are in the leuteal phase... have you had CD 3 Oestrogen/lh done? 

all the best xxx


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## knithappy (Jun 6, 2014)

CrazyHorse said:


> One reason why testing blood progesterone levels is controversial is that progesterone is secreted on a pulsatile basis -- i.e., it's not secreted at a relatively consistent rate over the course of each day. If you were to take blood every 15 or 30 minutes and check the progesterone level of each of those samples, you'd see significant variation in the amount of progesterone across these samples. That's probably why the consultant wasn't bothered about it.
> 
> If you do IVF, you'll receive progesterone supplements anyway for at least the first two weeks after embryo transfer. Are you considering IVF, or are you wanting to continue ttc naturally (well, without IVF/IUI, anyway)?


We don't qualify for IVF and can't self fund  
I was supposed to be going on clomid soon which I know helps with progesterone, but that isn't happening now (Drs cant make up their minds if I have PCO or not)


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## knithappy (Jun 6, 2014)

jessica546 said:


> Hi,
> 
> Not sure I can help much, but the progesterone does look a bit low (but not massively so). I think you're doing the right thing by following that up.
> Not sure how significant oestrogen levels are in the leuteal phase... have you had CD 3 Oestrogen/lh done?
> ...


No my GP ordered all my bloods to be done on CD21. I asked the Dr I saw when I got my print out and she says she usually splits them up but it shouldn't make a big difference having them done on CD21 vs 3. No idea if that is accurate or not.


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## caro226 (Nov 28, 2007)

Hi,


As the other ladies have said, your progesterone does look a little low.  From what I've heard within the NHS, a level of 30 is taken as an indication that ovulation is definitely happening, so you're not far off that.  What's important is that this test is done at 7 days after ovulation, which is around day 21 for a normal 28 day cycle.  If your cycle is a few days longer or shorter than this then day 21 isn't the optimal day to test.  


Also, some GP's are notoriously bad at interpreting results - my initial 'day 21' test came back at 2 (!!) and the GP said I was ovulating fine!!  That month I had a cycle of >50 days so I knew something wasn't right.  I've also managed to conceive twice with low progesterone levels (15 and 10), but unfortunately miscarried both times - I had raised concerns with my consultant before the losses about the low progesterone, and was told it wasn't a problem.  However, the private clinic I'm now at said that could (partly) explain the losses.  


I'm currently being treated at a private clinic, but not for IVF, it's medicated cycles where you TTC naturally.  They like to see a progesterone level of at least 60 and mine have always been way lower than that.  They also look at oestradiol in the luteal phase, and like to see a level of over 600 (again, I've been lower than this).  Feel free to PM me for details about this, it's a much cheaper option than IVF and so far, although I've not yet conceived, I've been really impressed by what they do and the support they provide.


All the best,
Cx


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