progesterone testing

I miscarried 3 years ago with my first pregnancy. I was 9 wks. along when I mc. The doctor did see a strong heartbeat a few days before I mc. I am now 6 wks 4 days preg. and am very concerned about another mc. I have seen a strong heartbeat. My sister mc 2 babies inbetween her two children. In order for her to not mc her 4th preg. she had to be put on progesterone early on. I have asked an ob to test my progesterone levels and she said it was not necessary to do and that they would not investigate a mc until there is a history of more than one. I then went to my primary care office and asked for a progesterone test and my doctor said he does not do prog. testing as a part of his routine during a preg. and said even if he tested me he would not know what to do with this information once he had it. He said he would do some research and get back to me. Can anyone give me some info to provide to my doctor to make him a little more willing to do the test? I tried to explain to him it would put my mind at ease just to do the test. but b/c he does not know much about prog. therapy he is hesitant to do it. Do you feel asking for a test is uncalled for? Is there any proof that prog. therapy (if levels are lower than they should be) is effective? Are there any harms in using progesterone? I want to make sure I am covering all bases so I won't miscarrie due to me. I understand a mc happens b/c there can be something wrong with the baby but I just want to make sure my body is not causing it. Thank you for you input and time.
~Christal

[Myah's Mom]

Hi-although I know very little about progesterone supplementation, I too had a mc, and asked my dr to test progesterone. She also said it was not necessary, as they do not often consider a woman at high risk of miscarrying until she has had 3 miscarriages! 3 too many, if you ask me......
You will not cause your body to miscarry, but if the thought of taking progesterone would ease your mind, then arm yourself with some more info before you go to see your Dr. Lots of ladies on this board know a lot about this, so just wait a bit- i bet lots of responses will start coming in! If not, I'm sure there are lots of other resources out there. Maybe seeking out a Dr who is more in tune with your needs may be in order, too? :)
Best of luck!

[firsttimearound]

I don't know that much about progesterone and testing, but I would think that the doctor responsible for bringing your baby into the world should be someone that you completely trust. If your doctor is not taking your concerns seriously, give him/her the boot and find someone who does. Doing the testing cant hurt anything, regardless of what your doctor's determination may be about starting progesterone therapy or not.

[Christie2004]

The trouble with progesterone testing is that a single level (which is most often done) means very little, if anything.  Progesterone levels can vary wildly, even from hour to hour on the same day.  

For this reason, if a doctor suspects a specific condition that causes your body to be deficient in producing progesterone, there should be a SERIES of levels done over more than one month to document this.  And then progesterone  may need to be started at ovulation to be most effective.

One problem with just administering progesterone is that doing so can prolong an abnormal pregnancy, too. Nature usually takes care of these early by itself and elevating progesterone levels artificially may make this process take longer.  Most often, very low levels of progesterone during pregnancy are the RESULT, not the cause, of a pregnancy that is going to fail anyway.  

Having said all that, more and more doctors ARE prescribing progesterone, simply because it generally doesn't hurt and MIGHT help.  Many women who have miscarried are rightly desperate not to do so again, and will grasp at anything that might help.  The sad truth is up to 1/4 of all pregnancies will miscarry, and most are truly not preventable.  

I asked an OB who I respect very much, about this the other day.  He said that he will reluctantly prescribe it to just about anyone who insists on it, simply because if they ask and he doesn't prescribe it and they miscarry, he will be blamed regardless of the real cause of the miscarriage.  

So I'm sure if you ask around, you will find a doctor who will give it to you.  I hope everything goes well to you.  Miscarriage is frustrating and heartbreaking and I understand the need to try do prevent it.

[hoping123]

I have had two miscarriages.  When I started spotting before the second miscarriage, my dr put me on progesterone.  It apparently was too little too late.  She did test my progesterone levels and found they were on the low end.  When I get pregnant the third time, she wants me to come in right away to do a blood test to find out if I am pregnant and then she wants to start me on it from the beginning.  From what I understand taking progesterone won't prevent a miscarriage that is doomed to happen but might either delay it :( or if my low progesterone is the cause of it, it could prevent it :).  I kind of have mixed feelings about this.  If I am going to have another miscarriage, I don't want to have one 8-10 weeks into the pregnancy, but if my progesterone levels are the cause of my miscarriages, it would be great to fix it and finally get that little bundle of joy.  If you are six weeks along and have a strong heartbeat, I don't think you would need to be on progesterone and from what I've read you really need to start taking it immediately for it to work for women who have low progesterone levels.  I'm not an expert here, so ladies feel free to contridict me if I am wrong.  It won't hurt my feelings one bit :)

PS if anyone knows how early a blood test will tell if you are pregnant. let me know.  I forgot to ask my dr when I should come in after I ovulate (I'm charting).

[Debra_Maine]

I had one m/c (my first pg), but my sister had 2 before having my niece. When she had my niece, she was on baby aspirin and progesterone.  When I spoke with my OBGYN about ttc again, I told him that I wanted to be on baby aspirin and progesterone. I am 38 and didn't feel I had time to have another m/c before they would look into it. I asked if it would hurt me if I didn't need it. He said it couldn't hurt and because of my age, he agreed to prescribe the progesterone. I took it from the time of conception until 15 weeks. I am now 20 weeks pg and will never know if the progesterone helped or not, but I am still pg and that's what counts. If I were you, I would find a doctor who will prescribe it. I'm surprised yours won't even test. There are progesterone creams that I've heard work, but I took a prescription myself. I took it orally, my sister had suppositories. Good luck to you. I understand your need to be proactive. I felt the same way.
Good luck to you,
Debra :o)

[cldionne]

to hoping123

regarding your question about how soon the blood test will show; the persone that took my blood said it shows up w/in 2 days of conception.

Thanks for everyones advice

Christal

[hoping123]

Thanks Christal