Menu

An early cycle or Pregnancy after Miscarriage?

by Caterina
(Hawaii)

Hello Wray

I was wondering if you can advise me on my progesterone use. You have been so helpful in a past inquiry. I miscarried 5-27-12. I got my 1st cycle on 7-1-12, (33 days). I started the progesterone as you had advised I could around the time I would ovulate in my normal cycle. I didn't want to wait many weeks feeling miserable til my first cycle while the estrogen dominance takes over as it did with my last miscarriage. I just started to bleed and cramp lightly last night but I'm only on cycle day 18? I chart and my temp spiked on Monday the 16th. Around the time I was due to ovulate in my normal 26 day cycles. My Hubby and I had sex on the 14th. So I was wondering if this could be implantation bleeding? We used protection though? So I don't want to just stop the progesterone use abruptly assuming this is an early period because my body may be off.

To give you something else to consider, I started my progesterone cream of 50mg. 2x's daily on the 10th (cycle day 10) because I was under a lot of stress and feeling sick. I've done this before without it messing with my cycle. I've had a hard time waiting til I ovulate to start my cream. From days 6-10 seem to be the worst. Usually within 2 days of starting my regimen I feel better, more like myself. So should I count this as my 2nd cycle day 1 or just keep using the progesterone? I've seen your comment to someone else to just keep taking it for 2 months strait to concur the estrogen dominance. I'm afraid to stop thinking I may be pregnant!

You thoughts please, thanks.

Comments for An early cycle or Pregnancy after Miscarriage?

Click here to add your own comments

Jul 20, 2012
 An early cycle or Pregnancy after Miscarriage?
by: Wray

Hi Caterina It can upset the cycle, it's nothing to worry about though, it often happens. I don't think it's implantation bleeding either, the embryo is minute, so is the amount of blood it would create. As it takes a good 6 to 12 days for the egg to reach the uterus, and your bleeding came 2 days after your temps spiked, I doubt you're pregnant if you used protection. Or have I got the days wrong. I feel you should just keep using the progesterone, no harm done. The cycle is disrupted after a miscarriage, so are emotions. I'm surprised I didn't recommend this to you too. I normally suggest 2-3 months, using symptoms to judge when you feel ready to begin following your cycle again. There's more info on our page How to use progesterone cream. It's interesting you say days 6 to 10 are the worst. This is when oestrogen is rising, but progesterone is at it's lowest level. I would hope using the cream for 2-3 months will sort this out. Take care Wray
Jul 20, 2012
 An early cycle or Pregnancy after Miscarriage?
by: Caterina

Hello Wray
Thank you so much for getting back to me. I read though some of the pages on this site and understand what is happening to me. I am afraid to keep taking the cream continually for 2-3 months because I had a bad experience when I first started progesterone therapy two years ago. The Dr. I had at the time put me on 100mg. sublingual tabs and not only did I get oestrogen symptoms but I got my period every 2 weeks in a six week time frame. Three periods, I became anemic! I had to stop and resume again with my cycle. It wasn't until I started the cream a few months later that I felt better. But after reading through your site I realize I need to do this because I feel the oestrogen has become the more dominant hormone in me. I'm wondering how do I know when to stop taking the progesterone? Do I wait for another bleeding session? What if that comes in two weeks to 20 days from now? Should I stay on the 100mg. daily regimen I'm on now? Also I'm suffering with really bad vertigo and dizziness these last few days. Will this regimen help to resolve this as well as the symptoms I have at the beginning of my cycle on days 6-10? The vertigo and dizziness combined with nausea at times are the worst of my symptoms. Otherwise I'm just tired and fatigued throughout the day during the days before and after ovulation and menstruation. Your thoughts please, thanks.

P.S I recommend your site to my friends who don't have regular cycles to be educated in what's happening in there bodies. They don't seem to mind and are not concerned since they keep falling pregnant. One friend just had her second, another is pregnant with her 4th, another with her 5th! They get periods every few months when they're not breastfeeding. I don't understand how they get pregnant being irregular while I, being regular keep miscarrying.
Jul 21, 2012
 An early cycle or Pregnancy after Miscarriage?
by: Wray

Hi Caterina The bad experience was probably because you were taking the sub lingual drops. Oral progesterone is the least effective Delivery system, as most of it gets destroyed by the gut and liver. Leaving enough to stimulate oestrogen! If you decide to use the progesterone continually, when ready you would stop using it when your period comes. Then resume again at ovulation. You are currently using the lowest amount I've found helps, it could be you do need more to get your cycle regular again and reduce the adverse symptoms. Oestrogen causes water retention, which can lead to dizziness by upsetting the balance in the ear. It also causes nausea, as it works with substance P which stimulates nausea and vomiting. We do have more info about this on our Migraines page. I would hope using it daily for 2-3 months does stop the symptoms you get during your follicular phase. I really feel you need more progesterone though, your symptoms should have gone if you had been using enough. I'm not sure if I gave you our Pregnancy page, please read through it again. As it also explains the odd things which can happen with our cycle. So does our page on Menstruation. Miscarriage has nothing to do with being regular. Many things cause it, a lack of progesterone, a lack of vitamin D, have you had a test done, high oestrogen, high testosterone, stress in particular, there's more info on the pregnancy page. For more info on vitamin D levels, test kits etc see the Vitamin D Council, GrassrootsHealth, Birmingham Hospital and Vitamin D Links websites. Blood levels should be 70-100ng/ml (175-250nmol/L) and not the 30ng/ml (75nmol/L) most labs and doctors regard as adequate. The minimum daily dose should be 5000iu's per day, although the latest research indicates it should be 10,000iu's per day, see here. Many thanks for recommending the site to your friends! Take care Wray
Aug 24, 2012
 Progesterone Usage
by: Caterina

Hello Wray,

I took your advice and decided that I would take the progesterone cream for the 2-3 months through any bleeding. So on July 21st,the 4th day of last cycle, I started the cream at 150 mg. I continued to take between 100 to 150mg. until I started my period on Aug. 10th, giving me a 23 day cycle which was closer to my normal cycle of 26 days. The reason why I stopped, instead of continuing for another month or so through any bleeding, was because I was starting to feel better. However, as soon as I went off, I felt terrible. I had really bad vertigo and fatigue along with some anxiety. So I started the cream again at 100mg. daily on Aug. 14th, which would be the 4th day of this current cycle. I have experimented with up to 150mg. but I'm not feeling well yet. I'm having bad vertigo and dizziness all day. I feel really tired within 20 minutes of my first morning dose and this lasts all day. I take a nap and this does not shake the tiredness from me. I realize that I need to take it through any bleeding for at least two months. I was wondering if you think I should take more. I was afraid because when I've taken more it seems I'm more drowsy and dizzy. I've also just ordered your PCO Formula because of all the supplements that are in it, in hopes of feeling better soon. I am taking a prenatal vitamin along with 5000iu of vitamin D daily.

Also, I was wondering could these be symptoms of a low thyroid. I only ask because a friend had similar symptoms of vertigo and fatique after she had her baby and they diagnosed her with a low thyroid condition that has since cleared up. I've had my thyroid checked many times and they always say it's normal. I think they checked my thyroid during my cycle day 3 test. Partial results were Estrogen 155, TSH 2.03, and FSH 6.5. The rest was the Antiphospholipid panel which all came back normal. I think my estrogen on day 3 of that cycle seems high, which would point my symptoms back to estrogen dominance. What to you think?

Thanks, Caterina
Aug 26, 2012
 Progesterone Usage
by: Wray

Hi Caterina It's a pity you stopped when your period came. You say the 150mg/day made you feel better, but it does take time to settle down. It's best to continue for 2-3 months before stopping. Now you are back to square one again, and not feeling good on the 100mg/day. You say you've experimented with going up to 150mg/say, does this mean you do it for a few days and then drop back to 100mg/day? Because if so this would also cause adverse symptoms, the drop of 50mg/day is too great. It's best to keep to the same amount while healing and then gradually reduce by about 16mg each reduction, staying on that a few days before reducing again. But I would only recommend this once feeling better. I do hope the formula helps you, we've had a number of women who have been and several who've had children as a consequence. It's best to get a vitamin D test done, if your level is very low you should be taking far more than 5000iu's per day. Low thyroid can be caused by many things, but one is excess oestrogen, it tends to suppress it. The other is a lack of vitamin D. I would say your friend had some symptoms of post natal depression, which is caused by a drop in progesterone, leaving oestrogen dominant. I had many symptoms, one of which was chronic fatigue and muscle weakness. Unfortunately I knew nothing about progesterone then. But it's very effective for post natal depression, see this page here. We do have a page on Hormone Testing where you can check your levels. Oestradiol ranges from 30 - 400 pg/ml, so your level is not high, but the critical factor is not the level, but the ratio of P:E2, you haven't given me your progesterone level so I can't help you with that. But you might like to see these Saliva Tests we've run. You'll notice all the ratios were over 600:1. Take care Wray

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Blog contributions.

Share this page:
Find this page helpful? Please tell others. Here's how...

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

  1. Click on the HTML link code below.
  2. Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.

Search over 8,400 pages on this site...