ovulation question

[bearx2]

Does anyone know...Do you ovulate because of progesterone or do you have progesterone because you ovulated?  I don't understand.  My progesterone test was 1.0 21 days in to cycle...and i'm anovulatory.....is one caused by the other or are they seperate problems?

[ALT76]

After ovulation, your body produces more progesterone.  If the egg is not fertilized, the progesterone levels drop and the drop in that level is what triggers menstruation.  They are definitely connected.  Do you menstruate regularly?  If not, have you ever been tested for PCOS?

Here is something I found for you (that can explain it better than I could!) that seems to be the most comprehensive explanation of hormones during a cycle.  I found it at this site :

http://www.americanpregnancy.org/gettingpregnant/understandingovulation.html

which has other good info on that page you may want to check out.

Here's what it says:

When your menstrual cycle begins, your estrogen levels are low. Your hypothalamus (which is in charge of maintaining your hormone levels) sends out a message to your pituitary gland which then sends out the follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). This FSH triggers a few of your follicles to develop into mature eggs. One of these will develop into the dominant follicle, which will release a mature egg and the others will disintegrate. As the follicles mature they send out another hormone, estrogen. The high levels of estrogen will tell the hypothalamus and pituitary gland that there is a mature egg.

A luteinizing hormone (LH) is then released, referred to as your LH surge. The LH surge causes the egg to burst through the ovary wall within 24-36 hours and begin its journey down the fallopian tube for fertilization. The follicle from which the egg was released is called the corpus luteum, and it will release progesterone that helps thicken and prepare the uterine lining for implantation. The corpus luteum will produce progesterone for about 12-16 days (the luteal phase of your cycle.) If an egg is fertilized, the corpus luteum will continue to produce progesterone for a developing pregnancy until the placenta takes over. You can begin looking for pregnancy symptoms as early as a week after fertilization. If fertilization does not occur the egg dissolves after 24 hours.

At this time your hormone levels will decrease and your uterine lining will begin to shed about 12-16 days from ovulation. This is menstruation (menstrual period) and brings us back to day 1 of your cycle. The journey then begins all over again.