diagnosis guide
If you’ve just received a medical diagnosis, or you’re concerned that something in your present or past health history might be jeopardizing your fertility, check here for quick info on common medical conditions and how they can affect conception and pregnancy.
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Progesterone - Low
What It Is
Progesterone is a female sex hormone that prods the uterine lining (the endometrium) to thicken and prepare for an embryo to implant. If a woman produces too little progesterone, the lining cannot build up sufficiently for implantation.
Who Gets It
Many women with a condition called luteal phase defect (LPD) do not produce enough progesterone to prepare the uterine lining for implantation.
Symptoms
Because most women with low progesterone have regular periods and thus appear to have normal monthly cycles, the condition often goes undetected until they have difficulty getting pregnant.
How It's Diagnosed/Detected
Women trying to conceive who are charting their basal body temperature may notice that their temperature does not stay elevated as it normally should during the second half of their cycle. This is a clue that they are not producing sufficient progesterone, which keeps basal body temperature higher in the days between ovulation and menstruation.
Low progesterone also can be detected by a blood test and by endometrial biopsy, which can reveal that the uterine lining is not as developed as it should be on the day of a woman’s cycle when the sample was taken.
How It Affects Fertility (And Pregnancy)Women with low progesterone cannot sustain a pregnancy because the uterine lining is not thick enough to allow an embryo to attach. The lining breaks down, bringing on menstruation and causing an early miscarriage.
Treatment
The doctor will likely prescribe progesterone supplements, which are available as pills, injections, and vaginal suppositories.
Fertility Prognosis
Luckily, fertility problems quickly cease when progesterone is replaced.
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