Can you help me with my lab results?

[alwayscoffee]

Hi ladies!

I got my labs done last week. I was on CD24 when these were taken and I have a 26 day cycle. I feel like my doctor was an idiot for ordering these because I thought progesterone was taken 6-9 DPO and LH/FSH was taken CD2-3.

Anyways, my results came back, they are in bold. I also listed the ranges underneath. My thyroid is normal, which I knew. That's good though.

TSH 3.43
range 0.45 - 4.50
I read online that the ideal range for getting pregnant is 1.00 - 2.50. Not sure how true this is.

Prolactin was 24.7
range 3.3-26.7

Progesterone 2.05
Follicular range: 0.06 - 0.89
Ovulation range: 0.12 - 12.00
Luteal phase range: 1.83- 23.90
Seems lower right? Or is that normal since I was so close to starting my period?

FSH 8.2
Luteal phase range: 1.7 - 7.7
Midcycle range: 4-.7 -21.5
Follicular range: 3.5 - 12.5

Lutenizing Hormone 11.9
Follicular range: 2.4 - 12.6
Midcycle range: 14.0 - 95.6
Luteal range: 1.0- 11.4

 

[alwayscoffee]

Anyone? Please?

 

[xMillie]

Hey, I’m not sure how to read these but you are right some of these needed to be done on a certain cycle day!

Hope someone who knows how to read these comes along to help soon xx

 

[MariaIsabella]

Hi ladies!

I got my labs done last week. I was on CD24 when these were taken and I have a 26 day cycle. I feel like my doctor was an idiot for ordering these because I thought progesterone was taken 6-9 DPO and LH/FSH was taken CD2-3.

Anyways, my results came back, they are in bold. I also listed the ranges underneath. My thyroid is normal, which I knew. That's good though.

TSH 3.43
range 0.45 - 4.50
I read online that the ideal range for getting pregnant is 1.00 - 2.50. Not sure how true this is.

Prolactin was 24.7
range 3.3-26.7

Progesterone 2.05
Follicular range: 0.06 - 0.89
Ovulation range: 0.12 - 12.00
Luteal phase range: 1.83- 23.90
Seems lower right? Or is that normal since I was so close to starting my period?

FSH 8.2
Luteal phase range: 1.7 - 7.7
Midcycle range: 4-.7 -21.5
Follicular range: 3.5 - 12.5

Lutenizing Hormone 11.9
Follicular range: 2.4 - 12.6
Midcycle range: 14.0 - 95.6
Luteal range: 1.0- 11.4

Hello! Progesterone should be taken day 3-5 in your cycle if I am not mistaken since it will tell you if you ovulate or not so not sure what that value will tell you. Think it might have to be retaken?

I can comment on TSH. Your value is similar to mine and I got pregnant naturally with my second. However, with my first it took ages and had do IVF in the end and went to private hormone doctor. TSH should ideally be under 2 and closer to 1 when TTC he said so he put me on levothyroxine which brings it down easily and safe to take while pregnant and TTC. Since I got pregnant naturally with second and had stopped levothyroxine tablets I contacted my doctor again and he said to prevent miscarriage risk I better start thyroxin meds again which I am taking now. Your levels are within normal and NHS will do nothing about it but if you went privately however ( I did ), they do believe this has some effect on fertility.

Your prolactin seems ok. Mine was super high ( off the scale ) but did not affect my fertility.

FSH I think has to do with egg reserve and the lower the better. A better measurement is AMH but again you might have to go private to have that done. This gives a much better indication of egg reserve and success rates for IVF.

Hope this helps xx

 

[alwayscoffee]

Hello! Progesterone should be taken day 3-5 in your cycle if I am not mistaken since it will tell you if you ovulate or not so not sure what that value will tell you. Think it might have to be retaken?

I can comment on TSH. Your value is similar to mine and I got pregnant naturally with my second. However, with my first it took ages and had do IVF in the end and went to private hormone doctor. TSH should ideally be under 2 and closer to 1 when TTC he said so he put me on levothyroxine which brings it down easily and safe to take while pregnant and TTC. Since I got pregnant naturally with second and had stopped levothyroxine tablets I contacted my doctor again and he said to prevent miscarriage risk I better start thyroxin meds again which I am taking now. Your levels are within normal and NHS will do nothing about it but if you went privately however ( I did ), they do believe this has some effect on fertility.

Your prolactin seems ok. Mine was super high ( off the scale ) but did not affect my fertility.

FSH I think has to do with egg reserve and the lower the better. A better measurement is AMH but again you might have to go private to have that done. This gives a much better indication of egg reserve and success rates for IVF.

Hope this helps xx

Thanks for the good information!

I think I need to have my progesterone level retaken. From what I read, progesterone decreases near your period. It rises around ovulation. So I'm not sure why he had me do it then.

In regards to the TSH, what does NHS mean? I am US based and I think our health care system is a little different. I really hope my doctor knows about it being under 2 and will prescribe me something!

I wonder when I should get my prolactin tested? What's the role in this when TTC, do you know?

As far as the AMH, I've never heard of that. I'll ask my doctor if he has. I bet it's expensive! It's a bummer because I live in a small town and we don't really have any fertility specialists here, just OBGYNS.

 

[alwayscoffee]

Hey, I’m not sure how to read these but you are right some of these needed to be done on a certain cycle day!

Hope someone who knows how to read these comes along to help soon xx

Thank you I think I'm going to have them repeat them.


Hope you are doing well and hanging in there!

 

[MariaIsabella]

Hello! Progesterone should be taken day 3-5 in your cycle if I am not mistaken since it will tell you if you ovulate or not so not sure what that value will tell you. Think it might have to be retaken?

I can comment on TSH. Your value is similar to mine and I got pregnant naturally with my second. However, with my first it took ages and had do IVF in the end and went to private hormone doctor. TSH should ideally be under 2 and closer to 1 when TTC he said so he put me on levothyroxine which brings it down easily and safe to take while pregnant and TTC. Since I got pregnant naturally with second and had stopped levothyroxine tablets I contacted my doctor again and he said to prevent miscarriage risk I better start thyroxin meds again which I am taking now. Your levels are within normal and NHS will do nothing about it but if you went privately however ( I did ), they do believe this has some effect on fertility.

Your prolactin seems ok. Mine was super high ( off the scale ) but did not affect my fertility.

FSH I think has to do with egg reserve and the lower the better. A better measurement is AMH but again you might have to go private to have that done. This gives a much better indication of egg reserve and success rates for IVF.

Hope this helps xx

Thanks for the good information!

I think I need to have my progesterone level retaken. From what I read, progesterone decreases near your period. It rises around ovulation. So I'm not sure why he had me do it then.

In regards to the TSH, what does NHS mean? I am US based and I think our health care system is a little different. I really hope my doctor knows about it being under 2 and will prescribe me something!

I wonder when I should get my prolactin tested? What's the role in this when TTC, do you know?

As far as the AMH, I've never heard of that. I'll ask my doctor if he has. I bet it's expensive! It's a bummer because I live in a small town and we don't really have any fertility specialists here, just OBGYNS.

Ah, ok. If you are in the US you wont have NHS ( National Health Service ). Are you going privately in the US? If so they should probably know about the TSH values. I think some docs probably think your value is ok ( it is after all within normal range ) but if you see an endocrinologist he/her would probably put you on Thyroxin meds since its recommended to have TSH lower when TTC. I would ask your doctor about this.

Prolactin I believe can be taken at any time in your cycle. I heard a high prolactin only has effect on TTC if you don't have periods ( high prolactin can stop your periods ) but as long as you have regular cycles no need to worry and your value is within normal range so would not care about that if I was you.

AMH is a marker for ovarian reserve and can be taken at any time in your cycle. https://tdlpathology.com/about-tdl/.../late-summer-2008/anti-mullerian-hormone-amh/


When are you speaking to your doctor about your results? How long have you been trying and are you looking into doing IVF? You can always ask if you can have AMH tested as well?

Good luck! x

 

[Rach beattie]

Hey always coffee, your lh and fsh should be taken on cd3 of your cycle. Your progesterone is to check for ovulation so this is actually tested 7 days after ovulation (usually cd21 for women with 28 day cycles which is why they can be called day 21 bloods). Unfortunately if these bloods are taken at any other time in your cycle they are worthless as they don't give a proper insight into your cycle. Hope this helps xx

 

[alwayscoffee]

Ah, ok. If you are in the US you wont have NHS ( National Health Service ). Are you going privately in the US? If so they should probably know about the TSH values. I think some docs probably think your value is ok ( it is after all within normal range ) but if you see an endocrinologist he/her would probably put you on Thyroxin meds since its recommended to have TSH lower when TTC. I would ask your doctor about this.

Prolactin I believe can be taken at any time in your cycle. I heard a high prolactin only has effect on TTC if you don't have periods ( high prolactin can stop your periods ) but as long as you have regular cycles no need to worry and your value is within normal range so would not care about that if I was you.

AMH is a marker for ovarian reserve and can be taken at any time in your cycle. https://tdlpathology.com/about-tdl/.../late-summer-2008/anti-mullerian-hormone-amh/


When are you speaking to your doctor about your results? How long have you been trying and are you looking into doing IVF? You can always ask if you can have AMH tested as well?

Good luck! x

I just had my ultrasound a couple hours ago and the ultrasound tech said everything looked normal and he is surprised I haven't gotten pregnant yet. I'm on CD4 and he saw several follicles on each ovary, which was good. They also moved up my appointment to today, so I'm going back to see the doctor in about 30 mins! I'm anxious and I can't wait to hear what he has to say. I'm also getting my levels re-checked. I want to re-do progesterone 6-9 DPO and have my FSH/LH levels checked on CD 2/3.

Thanks for sharing that link, I'm going to check it out and see if my doctors knows about it. I'm also hoping my doctor knows about the TSH thing and if not, I'll see if he will give me meds anyways. He wanted to get it checked to make sure my levels were right, so he might be aware of the right levels for TTC.

I've only been trying since January. But the reason I went to the doctor was because I'm always spotting between periods. I wanted to make sure I was good to go. I don't know if I would do IVF until it's been over a year of trying. Isn't it expensive?

 

[alwayscoffee]

Hey always coffee, your lh and fsh should be taken on cd3 of your cycle. Your progesterone is to check for ovulation so this is actually tested 7 days after ovulation (usually cd21 for women with 28 day cycles which is why they can be called day 21 bloods). Unfortunately if these bloods are taken at any other time in your cycle they are worthless as they don't give a proper insight into your cycle. Hope this helps xx

Thanks Rach! That's exactly what I figured and I'm mad that he had me do them then. Makes me lose confidence in him as a doctor. I'm seeing him soon, so I'm going to have him re-order them and do them again at the right time!

 

[MoominGirl]

Glad you're going to get them redone. Sadly lots of doctors haven't got a clue about fertility and unfortunately it sounds like yours in one of them.

As Rach has said already, they need to be done on specific days. LH and FSH on day 2-5 I'm sure I was told. The lower the better as a higher reading suggests that the body is working harder to release an egg.

They often refer to the progesterone test as day 21 but that's only true if you have a 28 day cycle with ovulation on day 14 so you may have to adjust this depending on when you ovulate. I always did mine a little earlier as I had shorter cycles. My GP never told me that - of course it was another thing I learnt from here. If I recall correctly, a reading of 30 or above indicates ovulation.

I don't think it matters when you get prolactin tested and a high prolactin is only an issue if it stops you from ovulating. This was one of my issues. I have a prolactinoma and didn't have periods for months. Once the levels were corrected and my periods came back, my doctors didn't have any concerns about it affecting fertility any more.

I hope this helps.

 

[alwayscoffee]

Glad you're going to get them redone. Sadly lots of doctors haven't got a clue about fertility and unfortunately it sounds like yours in one of them.

As Rach has said already, they need to be done on specific days. LH and FSH on day 2-5 I'm sure I was told. The lower the better as a higher reading suggests that the body is working harder to release an egg.

They often refer to the progesterone test as day 21 but that's only true if you have a 28 day cycle with ovulation on day 14 so you may have to adjust this depending on when you ovulate. I always did mine a little earlier as I had shorter cycles. My GP never told me that - of course it was another thing I learnt from here. If I recall correctly, a reading of 30 or above indicates ovulation.

I don't think it matters when you get prolactin tested and a high prolactin is only an issue if it stops you from ovulating. This was one of my issues. I have a prolactinoma and didn't have periods for months. Once the levels were corrected and my periods came back, my doctors didn't have any concerns about it affecting fertility any more.

I hope this helps.

Thanks This does help!

My doctor said that if I have a period every month, that means I ovulated. ha! That's not entirely true. I just can't believe I wasted my money on this guy. Hopefully they let me get labs redone. I'm trying to call their office now.

 

[MoominGirl]

Glad you're going to get them redone. Sadly lots of doctors haven't got a clue about fertility and unfortunately it sounds like yours in one of them.

As Rach has said already, they need to be done on specific days. LH and FSH on day 2-5 I'm sure I was told. The lower the better as a higher reading suggests that the body is working harder to release an egg.

They often refer to the progesterone test as day 21 but that's only true if you have a 28 day cycle with ovulation on day 14 so you may have to adjust this depending on when you ovulate. I always did mine a little earlier as I had shorter cycles. My GP never told me that - of course it was another thing I learnt from here. If I recall correctly, a reading of 30 or above indicates ovulation.

I don't think it matters when you get prolactin tested and a high prolactin is only an issue if it stops you from ovulating. This was one of my issues. I have a prolactinoma and didn't have periods for months. Once the levels were corrected and my periods came back, my doctors didn't have any concerns about it affecting fertility any more.

I hope this helps.

Thanks This does help!

My doctor said that if I have a period every month, that means I ovulated. ha! That's not entirely true. I just can't believe I wasted my money on this guy. Hopefully they let me get labs redone. I'm trying to call their office now.

No problem. I like to try and pass on the things I wish I knew then if I can. Hopefully it saves lots of wasted time for others.

Fertility is so poorly understood outside of the specialists, at least in my experience. Do you have regular cycles? If you do, then it is likely that you ovulate but it still doesn't sound like you're getting particularly good advice from your doctor. I'd be even more put out if I was paying for the privilege. Hope you get the bloods redone.

 

[alwayscoffee]

No problem. I like to try and pass on the things I wish I knew then if I can. Hopefully it saves lots of wasted time for others.

Fertility is so poorly understood outside of the specialists, at least in my experience. Do you have regular cycles? If you do, then it is likely that you ovulate but it still doesn't sound like you're getting particularly good advice from your doctor. I'd be even more put out if I was paying for the privilege. Hope you get the bloods redone.

Yes, I do have regular cycles. Usually 25-26 days. Sometimes 27. I have a long luteal phase, I just start spotting a week before my period and I don't know if that is good or not. I think it's because I usually have a cyst or 2 on my ovaries. Who knows. My doctor was no help at all.

I decided not to get my tests redone right now. I'm going to just keep trying on my own and then in a few months get them done again. I got off Vitex and now am just taking my vitamins, tracking my temperature, using OPK's and trying to stay stress free. I actually have a really good feeling that it's going to happen soon. I don't know if it's just hope or if it's just a gut feeling. :-/

 

[MoominGirl]

My cycles were also 25-27 days. I used cheapie OPKs and tended to ovulate CD11-CD13. My luteal phase was still around 14 days. Lots of people spot before af and it doesn't cause any issues. I used to spot just for a few days before. They found a polyp on a scan and the spotting stopped completely so it definitely wasn't a good thing for me. I'm not saying this to spook you but just to say that for some it's a problem but for others it's not. Hope you get some good news soon.