short luteal phase and doctor said it's an old wives tale?

[Bunnygirl]

I've been ttc for about 10 months now. I have been charting and each month my luteal phase is 7-10 days, but mostly just 7 days. I went in to see my obgyn about it. She basically told me that you can get pregnant regardless of how long your luteal phase is, that it is just an old wives tale. She also did a physical and my blood work done. Everything is fine with me physically except that she recommended that I loose at least 30 pounds and my blood pressure is a little high.
I did loose 10 pounds recently. But I really think that my short luteal phase is a problem and from my research it means my body isn't producing enough progesterone. I really feel my wieght is causing my hormones to be off maybe. I have normal periods and ovulate and everything. I'm just really frustrated because everywhere I read a short luteal phase is a problem but my doctor said it isn't..
I'm also afraid that a doctor won't want to help me because I am overweight. Can only skinny people have babies? I feel like if I was skinny I would be pregnant already.

[Caligal]

My dx is LPD and low prog. I always needed to take prog. Wether it was in PIO or the pills. I would look for another OB. Are you seeing a fertility Dr.?

Or do not take no for answer and ask for a prescription for prog. And then start taking it after you ovulate. Your LP needs to be longer for sure.

Good Luck to you!

[jenisuzy]

My husband & I have been TTC for awhile, on cycle #13, soon to be #14. I thought I had a short LP as well & started taking B6 in addition to my one-a-day vitamin. Since this is my 1st cycle trying it, I'm not sure how the results will be quite yet. I know from using OPK/BBT that I seem to ovulate every month, just not sure why its taking so long since I havent had any tests done at all !!! Also, us skinny folks dont have an easy time either I wish it was that simple. Both my hubby & I work out pretty much 5x/wk and we are still here, without any babies...hopefully sometime soon and to you as well ! Best wishes!

[Bunnygirl]

I haven't seen a fertility doctor yet. I thought you had to wait a year before they would see you and it's been about 10-11 months I think. So maybe I could go see one next month. I also tried taking b6 vitamins but they didn't seem to help, but I did only take them for a month.

I'm really nervous about seeing a doctor. Last time I went they had these paper gowns you had to wear and it ended up ripping and I was totally exposed. It was so embarrassing. And then the table you have to sit on wasn't connected to the floor and when they had me scoot up to the end of the table it started to lift up. It was the most humiliating doctor’s visit. I think the office there was really cutting on cost. What doctor’s office using paper gowns anyways? I did have a really good obgyn before but it took over 2 months to make an appointment and it was an hour drive. It's really hard not to get frustrated and to stay optimistic about everything.

[Mrs.Teacher]

If I were you I would at least call a RE and get an appointment scheduled. When my regular doctor suggested I go, I wanted to wait. I wanted to give it our all a couple more months before scheduling an appointment. We had been TTC for a year and a half with one pregnancy that ended miserably with a miscarriage. Several people encouraged me to still call and schedule since they are usually scheduling a couple months out. I did call and schedule and had my appointment last Monday. I was so nervous and didn't know what to expect, but he was very friendly, made me feel welcome and made me feel like we were doing the right thing in coming to see him. A couple days later we recieve a letter in the mail from him, thanking us for coming in and how it was nice to meet us. I feel so much better after going! If I were you I would go ahead and call anyway. The most they can say is no, we won't schedule you and appointment and then you call back the next month, since it will be about 12 months of trying and get an appointment scheduled. Good Luck!!!

[Bunnygirl]

Do you think that a regular obgyn could help to a degree? The reason I ask is the cost of seeing an RE is 3 times as much. Are there options that the obgyn could offer? I do have insurance, I guess I should see how much it would cover if any at all.

[Krior29]

Question.... I started seeing a RE at the begining of the month. She started me on progesterone (I dont have a period on my own)...she had me take the progesterone for 10 days and in the past I think I've only taken it for 5 days. Generally I get AF 3 days after taking the last pill. I took the last pill on the evening of 6/9 and still no AF. Anyone know why? At what point do I call RE's office? I am scheduled for E2 and thyroid lab work on CD3 and then need to schedule an HSG and work-up for DH. Everything is on hold until AF arrives.... this waiting game sucks.

[cpgal]

I have a short luteal phase as well. 7 to 8 days. You don't need just B6 - but the whole B family - so a B complete with B12, etc. of a B stress complex is absolutely perfect. I have been doing it for three months and it probalbly took about that for the difference... Now I am 8 to 10 days on the luteal phase.

Like you, I thought progesterone problem... My prolactin was borderline high (also can cause LPD). Well, my progesterone is low normal. The more I read about all the hormones the more I realized that they are an orchestra - all working together. And one being off can just throw everything a little out of kink.

But, my RE does believe in them in LPD. I had my OB do initial bloodwork and they said it is fine... WELL, my advice is to see a specialist. I took those results to my first RE appt and they said you have a thyroid problem and they did some more labs. Now I am hypo-thyroidism - it was fluctuating between 3.5 and 4.5 for TSH. Fine if you are a person but not good for a woman trying to conceive. It should be below 2.5 for a woman wanting a baby. And, guess what? It can cause luteal phase defects as well.

So, schedule the appt pronto. Because they might find something that with a few months of treatment would allow you to conceive -- there is no need to wait.

OBs are good for paps and delivering babies, but I have yet to find one that is really knowledgeable on fertility and your hormone levels. They simply aren't up on it. I hear too many stories of ladies just being put on Clomid willy nilly or other kinds of treatment and wasting time... Lots of time. They were never monitored or even checked to see if that was their issue. The thyroid thing bothers me... Experts know it can stop ovualtion and cause LPD and miscarriages - yet many doctors let it go and even do IVF, etc. and then the baby is lost... When a stupid pill once a day could have caused the baby to carry to term.

Hang in there, good luck.

[MONICALEIGH]

I spent thousands of dollars on multiple IVFS only to find that after getting a copy of my records that I had LPD and low progesterone. I kept having break through bleeding during my 2 week wait. I changed RE who was willing to tweek the hormones and on the Last IVF #8, I used prometrium, PIO, and oral progesterone, and it was the only cycle that worked.

[Alexismith]

Bunnygirl:- seriously, check your insurance... if you get it through either yours or Dh's employer then in Texas they have to offer you some IF coverage by state mandate... it may not be great but its better than nothing... if it turns out you picked the policy that didn't have it just change over at enrollment (for us we have to choose in october to have coverage start first of the year) our insurance payed for half of everything but meds and what that really meant was a $9000 IVF cycle cost $1500 plus another $1650 in meds. Turns out that they paid for all 'Testing' and some creative billing from my RE's office meant that loads of my appts came under 'Testing'
heres a hug and loads of positive thoughts
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IVF/ICSI#1 BFP EDD jan10.2010