Progesterone Supplements?

Hi! I went through the fertility process and had to use the progesterone sups too. They are pretty much harmless in terms of side effects (although the side effects often mimic pregnancy symptoms so be aware of that). The only bad thing is they are really gross when the start to melt. Which is pretty much as soon as they're inserted. Use a liner and be prepared to feel goopy for the first half of the day. The second half of the day is usually better. I had to use them at night time too and just follow the same advice....wear a liner.

Just to let you know that fertility treatments work, I have a 3 year old daughter and a 1 year old son. Both the products of IUIs. Hang in there! It WILL work!

My sister has been using this and is pregant now after trying for 2 years. She said it was not a big deal to use. Good luck!

S.,
It may be worth your while to try the Natural Balancing cream that Arbonne has to offer. I've heard many good things about it, and it's only $34 for a month's supply. Well worth trying.

It has USP Progesterone, and is highly recommended by Dr. Lee (physician of 30 plus years). (cut and paste) http://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dockets/05p0411/05P-0411...

Arbonne's products are botanical and researched thoroughly.

If you want more information, visit my website: www.mychoice.myarbonne.com

Good luck with whatever choice you make. I hope things work out for you and your husband!
J.

I've read some of the responses and can agree that the suppository progesterone is messy. You will definitely see some leakage, so do wear a liner. I had to take progesterone when we did IVF and became pregnant with our now 15 month old twin girls. My doc had me take the progesterone via a daily shot. The shots are a pain, but much better than the inserted pills. Good luck! All of the mess and pain is definitely worth it!

Hi S.,
I'm 34 had have a 2 and a half year old daughter who was conceived with no trouble at all when I was 31. In October 2007 we started trying for our second and had a positive pregnancy test in December followed shortly by a very early miscarriage. I demanded a progesterone test with the next cycle and my levels were low - much lower than yours - I think it was 5.8. My OB said this was within normal range (!) which contradicted everything I read on the internet. Nonetheless, we kept trying for a couple more months with no luck. I finally insisted on progesterone supplements, taking them as you are starting right after ovulation, and got pregnant the first month! I am now 22 weeks along! I used 25 mg suppositories compounded in cocoa butter, but as I understand it prometrium should be even more effective. Just wanted to share my success story with you - I hope it will work for you as well! By the way, I switched OBs as soon as I found out I was pregnant! If I hadn't interfered with the "treatment" they suggested, I would probably still be trying to get pregnant!
Best of luck,
K.

Research a natural progesterone called Uber Balance. It did wonders for my sister! It is a cream that you apply to the inside of your forearm.
I wish you the best!

I too have low progesterone but they put me on Clomid instead because they stated that I ovulated but it wasn't strong enough and that it would help bump my progesterone levels. Check to see if you can go on that or ask why they chose the suppliments instead.

Clomid bumped my levels from like 2 or 6 to 18 the first time or two and with my youngest daughter it bumped me to 11 or something and it was enough. Yes, anything 10 and over is ideal.

I conceived right away my first time on Clomid but miscarried at 5 weeks but the next month I conceived my oldest both on 50mg. I had to take Clomid again to have my second and that took longer and each month ramped up until I reached the highest dose of 250mg I think. I was on progesterone pills with my youngest only.

We did IVF to get pregnant, but I remember using those supplements sometime before & also during the pregnancy. I went on vacation during that time, so M. doctor prescribed an oral medication instead--it was great to not have to deal with the mess while on vacation. I can't remember the name of the oral one, but if you are interested in that, contact me & I'll look it up. Anyways, the suppositories were messy, so definitely wear a liner! GOOD LUCK!!!

We use natural family planning to postpone & achieve pg. It requires charting your body's fertility symptoms to let you know when/if you ovulate vs when your period starts. If there is not 10+ days from ovulation to when your period starts the egg will not have enough time to implant. Also, if you O late you may not have any swimmers left. I have a 32 day cycle & don't O until day 20 or later, so intercourse on day 14 would not conceive. Most OB do not utilize this as a help to dx fertility problems. Not all women O on day 14. There is a great book, "taking charge of your fertiltiy" by Toni Weschler that will tell you how to read your signs. I'm not saying it will work if you have other issues, but it might help if you use it in addition to the supplements. Check out www.ovusoft.com for the book & more info. Hope this helps those trying to get pg. I have 3 beautiful children conceived when we wanted them with the help of charting. I second the advice to see an RE vs an OBGYN. Good Luck!

I took prometrium (a pill by mouth) when I was pregnant with my now 6 mos old girl. I had a miscarriage right before I got preg w/her. They figured low prog. was the cause so during the 2nd half of my next cycle I started taking it and continued until I was 12 wks.

It took awhile for us too we were trying for almost a year and my doc said I could have been conceiving, but my hormones weren't supporting anything so it may not have been "sticking".

Once I was on the prometrium and I used an OPK I got preg. on the 1st try.

Good Luck!

I take prometrium during my first trimester to stay pregnant. I can get pregnant easily but to stay pregnant I need to be on it because my progesterone levels drop around 6 weeks gestation and I miscarry. Thank goodness my doc discovered this after only one miscarriage! It will make you really tired! At least mine did I was on 200mg twice a day with my last and the first two it was 100mg 4 times a day.

Having been through the testing/treatment cycle for infertility I know exactly how you feel. I didn't use Prometrium for conception - only to raise my levels when I was pregnant (for the entire first trimester). It did raise my levels. My sister used Prometrium for conception. It did not help her, though she had other issues that prevented her from conceiving normally (she does have 3 lovely IVF children at this point).

There's a lot more involved than just your levels, so it's hard to say whether it will work or not. If your big problem is low progesterone and nothing else is wrong then it has a good chance of working in a few months when your body has adjusted to having enough.

There are just so many factors involved that it's hard to say "this will work" or "this won't work". It really depends.

Keep a positive attitude and say your prayers. Often. ;-)

Suggestion: If you continue to be unable to conceive, find an RE (Reproductive Endocrinologist) instead of seeing an OBGYN for reproductive issues. The REs are focused specialists on reproduction while an OBGYN is more generalized. An RE may be able to pinpoint problems the OBGYN wouldn't discover/think to look for.

Hi S.,
I used Prometrium, the oral tablets not the vaginal suppositories, in order to help me get pregnant with my third child. They did work beautifully because I took them at the right time. We practice natural family planning so I knew exactly when to take them. I chart my cervical mucus changes and took them three days after my peak cervical mucus. I had to take them for 10 days and then take a pregnancy test. I got a positive test at home. Since I was so early in my pregnancy, the pregnancy test at the doctor's office that same day came back negative (I didn't have enough HCG in my urine as the morning tends to be the most concentrated.) This is my third pregnancy and I am 20 weeks along. I still have to go in for 100 mlg. progesterone shots at the doctor's office twice a week since my levels still have been below the curve of where they should be at this point. I didn't have any problems with having our daughter, my first pregnancy. I did have trouble conceiving our second child, which ended in miscarriage at 8 weeks. My progesterone level kept dropping in that pregnancy even though I was receiving 200 mlg progesterone shots. Since I had that trouble with the second pregnancy, my nurse practitioner prescribed the Prometrium tablets to help the baby get implanted. I was able to conceive my first cycle after miscarrying in January. Hang in their S.. They may have to watch your progesterone levels like they have done mine, but it is completely worth it. We love our daughter and are so excited be having a child in December.

D.

Try natural progesterone cream --- much safer

Hi S.:
I had infertility problems with all three of my kids and it was all stemmed from a low progesterone level. The infertility specialist that I saw put all of his patients on progesterone just because it's such a common problem for not being able to conceive. I conceived with all three of them by adding progesterone. I did the suppositories with my first one but because of my low levels, needed to have daily progesterne shots with my other two pregnancies. There were no major side effects and it truly works. I know it's a little messy, but it's well worth it. I'm so glad your doc decided to add the progesterone, because alot of docs wait too long and waste too much precious time. Good luck to you and your hubby!!!
S.

I used them, along with Clomid, on the same schedule your dr is suggesting. They are no big deal, but be sure to wear a liner - they can be messy. We went through the process 3 times before we conceived our beautiful baby boy. Pray and keep positive thoughts - Good luck!!

I would also second being on clomid as it has progesterone in it and easier to use. I conceived both of my kids using clomid. With my first child I used the vaginal pills once pregnant and until I was 10 or 12 weeks along per my doctors suggestions. My next doctor discouraged using them as they can cause birth defects. I did not have any problems, but please check it out!

Progesterone supplements are used to help your uterus mimic and substain a pregnancy. After 10-12 weeks of pregnancy your uterus normally takes over for the rest of your pregnancny and says hey guys we supporting a baby in here-kick it in gear, and it makes the necessary progesteron needed. Oral tablets do work well, but have to travel thru your entire digestive system in order to work and sometimes have some pretty bad side effects. A suppository is a bit messy, but the progesterone goes straight to were it is needed, without side affects most times. I would suggest taking them at night, that way seems to be little less messy. Good luck and happy baby making. K.

I am a licensed massage therapist who specializes in pregnancy massage. Call me if you ever need to.

My husband and I had to do in-vetro fertilization and I took progesterone shots. A friend of mine I know used the progesterone suppositories. I think both of us didn't use them until we were pregnant to help keep the baby. I don't think it's anything to be nervous about taking. Are you seeing a fertility specialist?

If you are not too confident in your doctor, I can give you recommendations for an OB.

Good luck.

I also had problems getting pregnant. I have a condition called PCOS...so alot different but they did put me on prometrium to boost my levels of progesterone once I was pregnant. They are easy to use...so no worries.

Something to be aware of ...I also have a condition called FACTOR V LEIEDEN...which is a blood clotting disorder...so when I was pregnant...I developed a blood clot which could have be contributed to the Progesterone. However, I do have FACTOR V so that made me more suseptable to blood clots. If you don't have that type of issue...the risk of blood clots is the same as it would be if you were on Birth Control..so then no worries.

Hope this makes sense. I now have a healthy, happy 8 month old little boy!!!! God Bless and I'm sure you prayers will be answered soon!

My husband and I recently welcomed our son into the world after trying for 2 years to get pregnant. I was given prometrium to help bring on my period but only after they knew I had not ovulated. I wasn't aware it could be used during the first 2 weeks of your cycle. We did clomid, injectibles, IUIs...almost everything but IVF. And, wouldn't you know, our son was conceived while we were on a break month because my cysts had reoccured.

I credit accupuncture with helping us become pregnant. There is a wonderful place out in Bloomington. I think it is called Northwest Medical or somethign like that (can't remember the exact name). I saw a woman named Barbara Gosse there and she specializes in infertility issues. She herself went through the infertility for 10 years before conceiving twins. She helped so much and I would highly recommend this form or treatment.

If you have any other questions, my email address is ____@____.com and I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have. I know how difficult this process is and I wish you the best of luck!