Progesterone levels and LPD - Need Advice Please

[TTCmama]

Hi all,

If my progesterone levels (and estrogen) were "normal/good" via a blood test (5 DPO), what would be the reason for my luteal phase to be only 8 days long?

To say I am confused and frustrated is an understatement. 

[Jaimee]

What was your progesterone level at 5dpo?  I think it's important to remember that one blood test does not paint an overall picture- it's just one day.  It's possible that your levels fluctuate cycle to cycle or even within the cycle, causing issues for you.  I assume you are charting to know how long your LP is?  Can you share your charts with us?

[jpack]

Hi TTCMama, sorry you're struggling with your LP. I hope other smart ladies chime in on this too, I'm very interested. Do you know what your progesterone number was? From what I understand, there are different categories of causes for a short LP and one of those causes is that the corpus luteum starts out strong but peters out too early. Maybe that's what's going on? Another thought I have is how sure are you about your dpo? I ask because I was going off my chart, but was also doing opks. Without the OPKs, I would have mistaken my O date and subsequently mistaken the length of my LP. Any chance?

Those are just some ideas/questions that come to mind. I'm curious to see if anyone else has thoughts or experiences.

[jpack]

Another thing I forgot to mention is that I have read a lot of compelling research that finds progesterone levels fluctuate throughout the day - pretty dramatically. I have read that they are the highest in the morning before eating breakfast.

[SKJ2011]

I had a short LP for the last few months - average was about 8 days.  It was better (12 days) when I was on progesterone.  I never had any blood tests to confirm if low progesterone was my problem.  One thing I found helpful was "The Infertility Cure" http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Infertility_Cure.html?id=-G-dX3F28PQC

(You can actually buy the ebook and read it on your computer)

She looks at infertility from a traditional chinese medicine perspective and has an entire chapter on LPD.  She looks at the possible causes and how your chart might show which cause explains your situation.  Then, she gives you tips on how to correct it, such as diet changes or acupuncture/acupressure.

I thought it was helpful.  

Hope you get an answer soon!