So last month my partner and I had some fertility tests done and after we saw the GP for results (NHS), we were left with more questions than answers.
I had some basic bloods done- LH, Prolactin, Testosterone, FSH, TSH...ect all came back normal.
However my Progesterone levels were only 17 nmol/L which is considered abnormal although the results state the normal range is anything between 10-80 nmol/L.
My GP was unable to explain the reason why the lab considers my results abnormal. I had it done on cycle day 21 as requested by the GP although I had explained to them that I usually have a shorter follicular phase. During that cycle, ovulation may have occured on cycle day 9 as LH surge (peak) was detected on cycle day 8.
Has anyone had results similar to mine and they were told their results were abnormal?
I requested to have the test done again (counting 7 days past ovulation) as I think I may have done the previous one a bit too late.
What can I do to improve my progesterone levels? I had a miscarriage in November last year at 8 weeks (a natural pregnancy). I don't know if my progesterone levels had contributed to that.
My partner's sperm count came back normal- 218.4 million, concentration 52 million/ml. However, his sperm quality came back abnormal:
total motility =27%
progressive motility=17%
Morphology=1%
The GP thinks my partner's overal semen results are good!!😲 and that pregnancy may still occur with these values, which I'm not conviced about. My partner has now stopped cycling (since May), we both started taking impryl and I am taking Ubiquinol as well. He is not following any specific diet. He is not a smoker, and he drinks very occasionally.
Has anyone/anyone's partner taken impryl and found that it had improved the quality of their sperm? (motility & morphology) and egg quality after taking impry and Ubiquinol? If so, how long until you have noticed a difference? I've just turned 40 and I know egg quality here is compromised.
Does anyone have any other suggestions on how to improve sperm quality and egg quality/ progesterone levels? Any suppliments? a specific diet?...ect The website where we bought impryl from advises not to take impryl with other suppliments which have strong direct antioxidents such as vitamin c, Co Q10, Selenium...ect
I've read "It Starts With the Egg" and I have implemented a lot of changes (to my everyday life) that were suggested in the book.
Any advice or input would be much appreciated🥰
Sending love and big hugs to you all ❤️💕
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Katiluna
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Anything over around 10 nmol/L indicates ovulation has occurred (which is usually the reason progesterone is measured as part of fertility investigation) but most texts/sources consider 30 nmol/L to be the minimum level required to sustain pregnancy. One problem with progesterone is it fluctuates so a single measurement isn’t always super reliable. I have problems with progesterone causing severe dysfunctional uterine bleeding, and likely the cause of my infertility. I never managed to improve it but supplements shown to improve it (in research studies) are 750 mg vitamin C and/or 50-100mg vitamin b6. Might be worth a shot xx
Purpledoggy, thank you so much for taking the time to reply and for your suggestions. I'm sorry to hear about your fertility struggles related to progesterone 😔. Such a tough journey...When I asked the GP if a progesterone level of 17 nmol/L is high enough to maintain or sustain a pregnancy, they said "it should be high enough", but the tone they used was just not too convincing to me. And yes, most sources I've found online point to progesterone levels of at least 30nmol/L to maintain a pregnancy.
I will look into the vitamins you have suggested and see if they will help improve my levels.
I wish you luck with the rest of your fertility journey and hope things will get better for you. Sending you baby dust xx 💞♥️
Hi Katiluna! If your second progesterone level still comes back as on the low side it might be a potential risk factor for recurrent miscarriage. As far as I'm aware the only thing to improve this is to take supplemental progesterone. But NHS won't investigate until you've had 3 miscarriages which I think is awful. My friend saw a fertility specialist privately after having recurrent losses - who gave her supplemental progesterone (which your GP can probably prescribe) and she went on to have a successful pregnancy.Re sperm quality sounds like your hubby is already very healthy. I don't think there is much evidence for improving things other than avoiding hot baths/excessive cycling/smoking/excess alcohol. For what it's worth though my partner cut down on alcohol from about 14 units/week to around 6-8, took wellman conception, coQ10 and ashwarghanda for 3 months and his motility went from <1% on 2 consecutive tests to 68% (normal). Can't say whether any of it/which helped but that's an anecdotal case study! (He was already healthy, normal BMI with balanced diet)
Hi HedgehogMad, thank you so much for your reply and for all the information💞 xxxOnce I get the second test done, I will contact the GP and see if they could prescribe supplemental progesterone, otherwise I would have to see a private fertility specialist for this. I may be wrong, but I have a feeling that the previous miscarriage may have occured due to low progesterone. It would be another nightmare if I would have to go through that again... I wouldn't wish that to my worst enemy
I'll see if I can get my husband to take ashwarghanda or CoQ10 (never easy to convince him to take supplements) but at least he's not cycling now, he barely drinks (a pint in 3 months or so). Before he started taking impryl, he took wellman for about a year. We'll see what happens in the coming months (or years!)
I'm glad it worked out for you and your partner ❣️ 💖
It sounds like you're pretty clued in to what to focus on which is great. A big part of trying to figure out infertility can be knowing when to advocate for yourself, and it seems you're already doing that. 👍
Regarding the progesterone: 17 nmol should probably raise a flag. My lab's range says that anything over 25 nmol indicates that ovulation occurred, and my gynaecologist/fertility specialist wants levels >50 nmol in order to support a pregnancy. As you say, your results are likely skewed by the fact that you tested pretty late in your luteal phase, so hopefully your follow-up test will give you more accurate results if you test around 7dpo.
If your follow-up does still indicate low progesterone, I would second all the suggestions that the previous posters have made. I would add that it's best to take a food-based vitamin c supplement - Pukka Natural Vitamin C is a good one. Most vitamin c supplements are synthetic ascorbic acid derived from grain and not very well-absorbed. You may also want to look into "seed cycling", which is a way to balance hormones and can help increase your progesterone levels. You'll find lots of information about how/why it works if you google it, but all it involves is eating flax and pumpkin seeds daily during your follicular phase, and sesame and sunflower seeds daily during your luteal phase.
Regarding your husband's semen analysis: I think you've made all the right lifestyle changes so far. You might also want to add in vitamin D and omega 3s (cod liver oil is a great source) for your husband, as both play a key role in sperm health. Unfortunately, it takes three months for sperm to develop so you won't see any significant improvements until three months after he made his changes. My husband did see improvements in his concentration and motility after taking Impryl, but his results for those were already within the normal range. He was never able to improve his morphology (it was always 2-3%) and we found out later that he had high sperm DNA fragmentation due to a varicocele, which was likely causing the poor morphology. Depending on how proactive you want to be with testing, you might want to have your husband do a DNA fragmentation test to see if there's some deeper issue (besides lifestyle changes) that needs addressing.
Hi hun, thanks a lot for all the information and advice you have provided. I feel so blessed with all of these replies, such a stream of valuable information. I like the fact that Pukka Natural Vitamin C is naturally derived so I will add it to my list of supplements. This is the first time I hear about "seed cycling" but I will definitely look into it. I try to avoid synthetic supplements as much as possible so seed cycling sounds like a great alternative to try and improve some of the hormone imbalance issues. I have an appointment with a homeopath coming up in a few weeks time and I may also book an appointment with a naturopath to see if they could address this hormone imbalance naturally/homeopathically.
I'm sorry to hear that your partner was diagnosed with varicocele 😔. Did he have to undergo any surgery for that?
Re my husband, we did consider a DNA fragmentation test, but first we wanted to see what a semen analysis would reveal. He was advised to repeat the semen test in 6 weeks from the time he got his previous results. But it will still not be able to detect any sperm damage as a DNA fragmentation test would. So he will probably end up doing it. I will get him vitamin D and cod liver oil (hopefully he will take them- well, he may have to 😆).
Sending you a big hug and wishing you luck with the rest of your fertility journey ❤️ xxx
Heya, we were actually really relieved to find the varicocele as it was something that could be fixed! For a few months we were really stressed because we thought he just had unexplained high DNA fragmentation. He ended up getting the varicocele embolised (a minimally invasive procedure where they go in with a catheter to block off the affected vein) in late March, so we'll be coming up on the 3-month mark soon and are hoping to see some improvement in his morphology and DNA frag results.
Fingers crossed your husband is able to improve things though with just a few supplements and lifestyle changes. If not though, feel free to message with any questions and I'll be happy to share what we've learned. Good luck! xx
Hello my darling, I can imagine the amount of stress you guys have gone through, esp when you keep wondering what's causing the issue. Knowing the root of the problem is part of the solution. I hope that after this procedure, you will see a positive outcome in your husband's morphology which will hopefully result in a healthy pregnancy 🤞❤️Honestly, I'm not quite confident the supplements will help improve my husband's morphology/motility (maybe to some degree!) but we want to give it a few months then see what happens. Meanwhile, I will try to get him to do the DNA frag test which would give us more details on what's going on with him. Such a roller-coaster.
Sending you baby dust & wishing you best of luck xxx💕
Maybe get repeat tests. I retook my day 21 on day 19 and got a much stronger result which showed ovulation.
With the sperm analysis - has your partner had covid in the last 6 months? My partner got a normal result - then had test repeated when we had FET 3 months after covid and morphology totally different. Apparently this can happen to up to 40% of men post covid. So we are due to get a repeat test in a month to see if it’s temporary or something else! But maybe worth a repeat if had infection
Hi Albs171, thank you for taking to time to reply xxx ♥️Yes, I'll definitely repeat the the test in the next cycle, but this time 7 days after ovulation. We'll see if the result will be any different, hopefully it will be higher🤞
Re the sperm analysis, I didn't know that covid may have an impact on sperm quality! My partner has recently been tested positive for covid, but that happened 2 weeks after he did the sperm analysis. We will see what his numbers will be when he repeats his test in a few weeks time. Hopefully not worse than the previous one because of covid 😆🤞
Wishing you luck with your fertility journey and I hope your partner's result will be better next time 🤞
Hello, my partner had similar issues and what we did was: take Mascupro (vitamin supplements), eat green leafed vegetables, fish, no alcohol, no sauna, exercise 3 times per week (even walking helps), avoid warm showers, eat asparagus and fruits with vitamin C. His results improved after 3 months.
Hi Bomboncita, thank you for your reply and for the suggestions you have provided 💞Never heard of Mascupro. I've just looked it up. Seems like a good product.
As my partner started taking imryl just recently, we would like to give it 3 or 4 months then we'll see if it has made any improvement in his health. If no positive change happens in his health by that time, we may switch to Mascupro
He eats fish 3 times a week (salmon & mackerel) and some veg but he may have to eat more of those leafy greens
I'm glad it worked out for your partner though. Wish you luck with the rest of your fertility journey xxx❤️
my partner tried all sorts of supplements, already had an amazing diet, non drinker or smoker and nothing changed his sample, there weren't a lot and what there was, weren't good. We had icsi in the end as the good old saying goes, it only takes one, and the embryologist knew the ones she was looking for. We have a 2 year old and our last frostie is cooking nicely.
Your gp probably thought because the count was good, that it was good, but if you've got a team of swimmers and the majority can't swim, how is that race gonna be won?
Id push to be referred to a fertility clinic/your fertility unit at the hospital to see what they recommend as your gp isn't a specialist 💙 all the best for the future my lovely xxx
Hi my lovely, congratulations on your pregnancy 🥳 and thank you for taking the time to share your experience 💕Indeed, it only takes one for that miracle to happen
When I saw my partner's results, I thought well...having a high number of sperm count is good, but not good enough if quality is not there. If those few good ones can't swim, then that's just not going to help. We are trying various things- supplements, diet, exercise...etc, but we just don't know to what extent/ if any of that will help. It's hard to tell at this point.
I did request a fertility referral from the GP. My appointment with a fertility specialist at the hospital is scheduled for end of August. I hope they will be able to get us somewhere... We shall see.
Take care and enjoy the rest of your pregnancy xxx❤️💞
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Semen analysis translator plz?
Low progesterone levels
Progesterone levels following FET
Progesterone levels 
Semen Analysis: 0% normal forms (pyriform heads), everything else seems pretty good
