Bleeding during tww/progesterone?

[Tryingforbabynow]

Hey everyone.

Is bleeding during the TWW actually linked to low progesterone? Can't find any conclusive evidence.

Was on cyclogest 2 X 400mg prior to embryo transfer and continued until 10dp5dt as I came on my period.

The clinic doesn't test progesterone and won't up the dose for the next round which is a FET as say it's irrelevant.

My question is;

did anyone here bleed during their first cycle TWW and get a BFN. Then do the same protocol again without adding more progesterone and get a BFP the second or third time round?

About me; 27, normal amh, good BMI, no known fertility issues, donor sperm.

Thanks

[Purpledoggy]

So, kind of. My first fresh round I was on rectal cyclogest and lubion injection. Early period, BFN. Second fresh round was on vaginal utrogestan and lubion injection. It was an equivalent dose but i think the vaginal delivery made all the difference-I got my son from that round. I had suspected progesterone issues in my natural cycles hence being on a relatively high dose. Vaginal delivery avoids a first pass effect where you metabolise it before it ever reaches the endometrium so one can get higher concentrations where it’s needed. My clinic doesn’t use cyclogest any more as they feel they get better results with utrogestan, and I can’t help but wonder if some of that is the delivery method (you can use cyclogesrlt vaginally obviously, but a lot of ladies don’t as it’s messier). There was a study that showed vaginal vs rectal made no difference, but it did not take into account the specific reason behind infertility, as we often don’t know. Anyway, if you did rectal last time maybe try vaginal this time. You could always ask about switching to utrogestan if you want to try something different and they won’t up your dose xx

[Twiglet2]

I have bled a few times during 2WW so clinic added lubion injection to my pessaries. I haven’t bled in 2WW since. I have had a few chemicals which are likely embryo relayed so I think the extra progesterone is at least dealing with that part amd defo helped me for sure! I would push harder for the extra progesterone personally! Xx

[Tryingforbabynow in reply to Twiglet2]

I will ask but others at the same clinic have said they don't do it as theirs no evidence that higher progesterone supports a live birth or implantation in general.

They say that if you are regular (which we are) that your body just knows it's not pregnant and as the bleeding started on 10dp5dt that would have been 1 day after my normal period was due.

It was also a fresh cycle so body should have been producing its own progesterone, really tender swollen breasts, bloating, dark areola, had all the symptoms of high progesterone but it just did not implant.

Maybe I'm stressing too much and next time will work anyway and we were just unlucky!

Thank you

[Twiglet2 in reply to Tryingforbabynow]

yeah you might be right if that’s the case, we test on day 10 or 11 with a fresh transfer so your bleeding wouldn’t have been in our 2WW actually anyways mine was earlier day 7 or 8 sometimes so think that might be the difference. When I was an nhs patient they wouldn’t give me extra either and I did have success with just 2 pessaries a day although when I started bleeding at day 7 I did up it to 3 a day myself (I had pessaries left from miscarriage previous round where they had already given me the additional meds) but the bleeding that time was from a hematoma anyway so don’t know if that played any part. Now as a private patient (same clinic) it was one of the first suggestions they made to me due to the early bleeding on fresh and frozen (obvs I am paying for the drugs now might be part of it lol) but it does give me peace of mind personally that I dont bleed until after test day and I stop the progesterone that my levels are where they need to be and as it does no harm (body will absorb what it needs) then it’s worth it for me so I will be keeping this for sure xx

[DianeArnold Partner Nurse Fertility Network UK]

Hi Tryingforababynow. Mention it to your clinic in case they feel you need a top up while you get going. Drink plenty of water and keep an eye out for infection. Good luck. Diane

[Riocca]

Hi,

So I had my first FET in Sept with 2 x Cyclogest pessaries and prontogest injections every other day and didn't have any bleeding but ended with a BFN. Bit of background I have a short luteal phase of 6 days so I was worried about needing extra progesterone.

I have just had my next FET but on a natural cycle - again been nervous about my luteal phase especially as I've been dropped down to 2 x pessaries and no injections. I stressed that by the time of the transfer I'll be ready for my period but the docs didn't seem concerned. I started spotting the day after the transfer which turned into heavier bleeding everyday but the docs/nurses said don't worry as it can be normal but I couldn't get my head around it so I mentally prepared myself for a negative but somehow got my first ever BFP on Friday. I'm still bleeding everyday (it's been 2 weeks 1 day since transfer). I'll be honest I tried adding an extra pessary every day for a week during the TWW but it made no difference to bleeding so I stopped as I believe your body absorbs as much as it needs. It may be worth speaking with them to see if they can increase progesterone but I'm surprised they aren't checking your levels before transfer so I'd really push for that.

Wishing you the best of luck xxx

[PizzaAndPasta in reply to Riocca]

I’ve been having a similar experience. I’m in my FET 3x pessaries a day with spotting and then bleeding throughout my tww. I’ve been feeling like it’s been a waste of time because of the bleeding, so this is giving me a little bit of hope for test day on Monday 💕 thank you x

[clarebearclarebear36]

Hi

I had a fresh transfer back in February and it sadly failed. I began spotting on day 5 post transfer and this continued until my period arrived 2 days before test day. The clinic tested my progesterone levels after I reported the spotting and they came back fine. They also wanted me to take Lubion injections to see if that would help. I had to get the prescription and the quickest I could get it from a pharmacy was a 2 day wait. I was on 3 400mg of cyclogest pessaries before starting the injections. They asked me to drop the midday pessary.

After our consultation it was decided that before going straight in for a second attempt as we have 3 frozen embryos left I would do a mock cycle where they would make sure I was on the right levels of medications & hopefully it would prevent early bleeding. I was on on oestrogen patches & 1 lubion injection every morning from 4 days before the transfer would be. Sorry for the long message. I hope it all makes sense. The mock cycle certainly helped and I only started spotting once I can e off the progesterone.

So here we are now and I’m 4 days post FET on the same protocol. Fingers crossed the bleeding will stay away. I had bloods done the day before transfer to see if they needed to up my progesterone but they said the next morning they came back perfect, hope this helps!

[Rain415]

Hi, my first fresh transfer was the same, I bled at about 8dp5dt and came on my period. Clinic said it wouldn't be progesterone and didn't increase for FET. My first FET I got a BFP which unfortunately was an early miscarriage and my second FET was a BFP and my son. My progesterone stayed the same with how much I took for all transfers. X