PCOS and Progesterone

AlbertaGrayGirl

Hi all, 

I am not sure if this is the right board for this question. Is there somewhere else I should be posting? Let me know!

My DH and I have been TTC for almost 4 years. We looked briefly into IVF treatments, but I had a reaction to the hormones that I needed to take. We decided to move into the adoption process, and have been pursuing that for almost 2 years. Last month, we signed our papers and paid for our homestudy, putting us on the active list for a placement. Shortly thereafter, I began having pregnancy symptoms. It is still too early to jump to any conclusions, and I am extremely hesitant to get my hopes up, but I do feel like I would like to get some more information.

I was diagnosed with PCOS, and I know that ladies with PCOS often need to take progesterone to reduce the risk of miscarriage. Does anyone know from experience how soon that needs to be started? Ie. should I be super worried about finding out I am pregnant soon enough to start taking the progesterone, or will I be ok to wait it out for a while? Also, because I had a reaction to hormones before (progesterone being part of that) is there an alternative in case I can't take the hormones? Am I completely off-base? I feel completely under-informed.

Thanks!

cathartic1

Hi there, I am in the same boat as you... we TTC'd for 5 years before finally getting our BFP in June.  I also have PCOS and when I demanded my progesterone be checked at 5 weeks, I was at 8.71.  So, even pretty early on you can be low.  I started taking the pills for it right away and even took way more than I was supposed to for the first 2-3 days to give it a boost.  When I had it checked a week later it was already up to 15.7.  I am still taking it and will continue till I'm done with 1st trimester. 

There are various opinions on the benefits of taking progesterone supplements but after all the online research I did, I was convinced I needed it and since it doesn't hurt anything even if its not really helping, I wanted it anyways.

I can't really help you with alternatives if you had a reaction before but I'm sure your doctor could tell you ... but before you go doing all this worrying and/or research... find out if your preggers first!  

We were about to start going down the fertility treatment road when we magically got pregnant naturally which was a blessing... so as its my first ever pregnancy and sort of a miracle, I wanted to do whatever I could to help nature even if it only makes me feel better and doesn't actually keep my bean sticky.

Good luck!  There is also a PCOS forum which I have found to be very helpful for women with our conditions (different website than here).

mcgeeva

I have taken progesterone after both of my IUI's because my lining was low due to the stims I took for my IUI. I started taking it the day after my procedure. But in your case I would ask your doctor for it and since you know your pregnant. I only took it up to 12 weeks. But everyone is different. I'm sure when you do your NT scan or when you go to the doctor to see how many weeks you are they can check the thickness of the lining of your uterus and tell you if it is really needed or not. Good luck 

AnonnAni

It can be very common after ART to get progesterone but that in most cases can be related to all of the treatments as an adverse effect (i.e upping one hormone will always decrease another, which is why most IVF patients or injectible patients are put on suppositories through the 2 weeks wait to balance out the other hormones)... 

If you conceive on your own with PCOS its still up in the air regarding the benefits of progesterone early on. In general PCOS gives a higher likelihood of miscarriage but that is not solely based on a progesterone deficiency. Given that I take it you conceived naturally, checking it can be considered but some Dr's may not. Having PCOS like I said puts you at greater risk to miscarry, being on progesterone lord forbid something happened, would prolong an ill-fated situation being detectable, i.e mimicking pregnancy sxs. 

Since PCOS doesn't warrant any more ultrasounds and pregnancy testing than an average pregnancy so it is common to treat a PCOS patient as a normal patient not seeing them till 8-10 weeks into a pregnancy. Which is relatively close to the point where the natural miscarriage rate drops (at 12 weeks). So basically unless there is warranted concern that your rates are low and will not rise with placental growth than most dr's would not jump to the progesterone. 

It is it's self a drug that comes with side effects so though it is used in some cases it is not in all and from what you indicated above you have no prior warning of being in need other than PCOS and that in itself isn't a huge factor. 

 Sorry for the long post.

nolagal79

First step is to poas and (hopefully) get a BFP!

Next step - I would call your doctor and tell them you've tested positive and see when they we any you to come in for bloodwork.

Perhaps my doctor is proactive in her line of thinking, but she brought me in a few days after I called and did blood work - we believe I was around 4-5 weeks at the time. There was no real way for me to tell bc my cycles were SO irregular due to pcos and I had stopped charting. My progesterone was very low and she started me on oral supplements. She tested via blood work every few weeks until the progesterone was at a normal level and I stayed at that dose through week 13.

I admittedly have not done enough research, but solely based on what my OB said and her course of treatment for me, I disagree with the above poster that says progesterone supplements aren't necessary and delay the inevitable terms of miscarriage. Personally, if something may help but definitely not hurt, I'm al for starting it early.

Good luck!!

Amandysergio

AlbertaGrayGirl said:

Hi all, 

I am not sure if this is the right board for this question. Is there somewhere else I should be posting? Let me know!

My DH and I have been TTC for almost 4 years. We looked briefly into IVF treatments, but I had a reaction to the hormones that I needed to take. We decided to move into the adoption process, and have been pursuing that for almost 2 years. Last month, we signed our papers and paid for our homestudy, putting us on the active list for a placement. Shortly thereafter, I began having pregnancy symptoms. It is still too early to jump to any conclusions, and I am extremely hesitant to get my hopes up, but I do feel like I would like to get some more information.

I was diagnosed with PCOS, and I know that ladies with PCOS often need to take progesterone to reduce the risk of miscarriage. Does anyone know from experience how soon that needs to be started? Ie. should I be super worried about finding out I am pregnant soon enough to start taking the progesterone, or will I be ok to wait it out for a while? Also, because I had a reaction to hormones before (progesterone being part of that) is there an alternative in case I can't take the hormones? Am I completely off-base? I feel completely under-informed.

Thanks!

I have PCOS and tried for 4 years with DD. My progesterone on 12DPO was 20-something all on my own. I had no issues that pregnancy, hormone-wise.

This pregnancy, my RE put me on progesterone after O because my cycle before only had a LP of 11 days. At 13DPO, my progesterone was in the 40's with supplements. They recently said I could stop it because we saw the baby and a heartbeat. I'm nervous just stopping anything cold turkey (so I'm weaning myself).


So, while some women with pcos need it, having pcos doesn't mean you automatically need progesterone. Good luck to you.