[TibetanPrincess]

Thanks a bunch Tibetan, as always, I appreciate your suggestions.

As for my finding out the cause of my low progesterone, I choose to attempt to remedy some of my symptoms of low progesterone (listed here). I do intend to still research the causes but am unsure where to start as my cortisol blood test results were normal (12.2 mcg/dL at 8A). I've been thinking about the possibility of my having some sort of genetic predisposition towards hormonal issues as hormonal issues are common amongst the women in my immediate family.

Still I think that my doctor was right to proceed with caution and prescribe BC rather than bio identical progesterone. I doubt that the BC will prevent the real cause of my low progesterone from being seen. Also, my doctor and I are not sure how low my progesterone really is as I was tested 21 days after my appt w/ her (which was 2.5 weeks before my period during the follicular phase). My lab results state that it is normal for progesterone levels to <1.0 during the follicular phase.

SO wouldn't that mean that another blood test should be done during my luteal phase to confirm that I have low progesterone?


As stress is often a cause of low progesterone my I expected my cortisol level to be high but it wasn't. Does this mean that I can rule out faulty adrenals of the cause of my imbalanced hormones? I'm considering requesting that I have more blood tests done sooner than in 2 months, so that I have a more comprehensive picture of my hormone levels before my doc & I start trying different things.

Thinking about requesting:

24 hr urine test to monitor cortisol levels
Dexamethasone-CRH Test
Estrogen test to be done during my luteal phase
Progesterone test to be done during my luteal phase
Referral to endocrinologist (possibly for CT scans of my endocrine glands in hopes to finding the causes of my imbalanced hormones)

I know that because my doctor specializes in integrative medicine she is starting me on vitamins (rather than prescribing bio-identicals) in hopes that this with help my body function more normally. I hope that this works.

SO wouldn't that mean that another blood test should be done during my luteal phase to confirm that I have low progesterone?


Yes! You can even do a spot blood test or saliva test for progesterone only and I know with progesterone, you do it around day 19 of luteal phase. I believe the range is a few days in luteal. I don't know why they would test you in follicular for estrogen and progesterone in the first place.

As stress is often a cause of low progesterone my I expected my cortisol level to be high but it wasn't. Does this mean that I can rule out faulty adrenals of the cause of my imbalanced hormones?

Absolutely not! By the time your adrenals give out, they can no longer produce adequate amounts of cortisol. If you have High cort levels, your adrenals are over working, if you have low than normal cort levels, you are past this phase and can possibly be stage 3 adrenal failure! Be careful with this. Please test all 4 cort levels with saliva if you haven't yet. If they are normal cort levels, keep them that way. You are okay. Its just better to have both blood and saliva done to be sure.