*What* does a pregnant person have to do to get a progesterone test??

[APToddlerMama]

Cross posting this sort of since I posted on TTC first not realizing this forum was here.

Anyhow, I am newly pregnant with #2.  I have a million good reasons to believe my progesterone should be monitored in this pregnancy.  My regular doctor gave me one test, which was 16.2, which I guess is fine.  I asked for another test next week to make sure it is not dropping.  She refused.  I pressed her.  She got nasty with me, and still refused.  Needless to say, I am finding a new doctor, but my OB with DS (who I haven't seen yet) never checked my progesterone with him despite the fact that I spotted the entire first trimester and she knew I only had 7-10 day LPs up until he was conceived.  I called around a bit today, spoke to some nurses, and basically said that I needed to be seen soon, and I wanted to work only with an OB who was willing to at least *test* my progesterone levels on a fairly regular basis.  No luck.  Did I mention two chemical pregnancies?  They want THREE. In a row.  What is the big deal about doing a simple blood draw? Help!  I want to cry... 

[L&K'smommie]

Big hugs mama!  Have you looked into calling any MW's?  Or have you tried just showing up at the ER or an urgent care clinic to ask for one?

[MarineWife]

Waiting for 3 consecutive miscarriages before doing any testing is common practice, not that it's right, but that's what docs do. You could pay for the progesterone test yourself. There are online labs where you can print out your own lab orders, take them to a participating lab and have the test run yourself. You have to pay in full because your medical insurance will almost certainly not cover it without a doc's order but a progesterone test doesn't cost very much. The results are given directly to you, too, so you don't have wait for them to be sent to a doctor and then wait for the doc's office to call you.

Here's just one I found when I googled online blood testing labs: http://www.personalabs.com/howitworks.php. I can't attest to that one because I've never used it but you can see that they are out there and you can do this yourself. You could also go ahead and start using progesterone cream. However, it probably won't make a difference. I was using it when I got pg in July of this year and still miscarried. The MFM doc I was seeing tested my progesterone levels while I was still using the cream but after I had already started miscarrying and my level was only 1.2 or something ridiculously low like that. Obviously, the progesterone cream was doing nothing to raise my progesterone levels.

The other thing to do, as frustrating as it is, is to keep searching until you find a HCP who will support you. When I got pg in May 2009 I finally convinced the OB I was seeing to check my progesterone. I had already had 3 or 4 first trimester miscarriages and been tested for an array of blood clotting and auto-immune disorders as well as having all the hormone level tests and had been prescribed progesterone suppositories for 2 of my 3 previous full term pgs. Even with all that the doc was reluctant. So, we got it tested once around 7dpo. It was 14.2 or something like that. He said that was good, wouldn't prescribe progesterone and that was that. The baby died at around 8w and I miscarried at 11w.

The problem is that there is no definitive evidence that progesterone supplementation helps once a pg has been established. So some (maybe most) docs won't prescribe it. I don't see why it's such a big deal because it's extremely safe on the scale of meds during pg and very inexpensive, relatively.

HTH

[APToddlerMama]

Thank you both for your replies.  MarineWife--I am so sorry for your losses :(.  It is amazing how callous and arrogant doctors can be.  Especially after your history... 

I am waiting for a call back from an OB's office.  I talked to the nurse and said I needed to know before I started with them if this doctor was going to be willing to regularly check my progesterone because if not, I was going elsewhere.  Unfortunately, my options are really limited here. I am hoping she wants a new patient enough to agree to it right off the bat. 

[MarineWife]

Thank you. I think doc's are like that because there isn't really much they can do. They only like to test for things they can treat. KWIM? I went back to the same doc with this pregnancy because I didn't have much choice. This time around he was much more willing to do what I wanted. That was probably because I had had 2 more miscarriages since I had seen him last.

I hope you can find a HCP who will support you.

[APToddlerMama]

Thank you MarineWife.  I saw an OB today who put me on progesterone suppositories...100 mg.  Of course, now I am nervous about taking them because she didn't do a blood test...said that the blood tests are unreliable but she agreed I should be on it.  Any insight?  How long did you stay on it?  She only prescribed a month, and I am only 4 weeks pregnant so I hope she continues them...  Thanks again!

[MarineWife]

I posted a long post in your other thread so I'll only answer the one question here. I took 200 mg progesterone daily until 13 or 14w. I can't remember which exactly this time. It's always been the entire first trimester, though. Some docs say you can stop taking it at 10w because that's when the placenta supposedly takes over fully and you don't really need the progesterone any more. So I would say that you need at least 2 more weeks worth. Is there not a refill? I got mine a month's worth at a time but with 3 refills.