Pregnancy Hormones

What Do Estradiol Blood Test Results Mean?

Typical question of a patient: I got my estrogen levels tested and here are the results. I’m not sure what they mean however. Anybody got any clues? 

The report show this phrase: Estradiol value appears low by immunoassay. Suggest repeat testing by Tandem Mass Spectrometry for Estradiol, Males or Children, Test Code 0093247.

Hormones actually in relations to Girls and periods

  • Primarily: follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) –> makes eggs mature 
  • Lutenizing hormone (LH) –> when the eggs are mature, makes the follicle rupture, so that eggs are released
  • Estrogens (Estradiol, E2)–> makes cervical mucus get thinner and less acid, so that sperms can swim through it
  • Progesterone –> is produced after releasing the egg. It makes the womb walls thicken to prepare them for a pregnancy. When no pregnancy is detected, production of progesterone stops and a period starts.
  • If a girl is pregnant she produces Beta-HCG (Beta human chorionic gonadotropin), which is also a female hormone.

E2 Normal Ranges:

  • Estradiol, Adult Premenopausal Female <20 pg/mL 
  • Follicular phase: 27-122 pg/mL
  • Mid-Cycle phase (ovulation): 95-433 pg/mL
  • Luteal phase: 49-291 pg/mL
  • Post-Menopausal: less than 41 pg/mL

Example 1: 13 years old girl and have been on her period for 2 months> the cause may be something called endometriosis, especially if your periods are particularly painful. In the meantime, make sure to drink plenty of water and increase your protein intake or take an iron supplement so you don’t become anemic, then have a doctor visit.

Hormonal Imbalance

From the women I’ve known, it’s actually not uncommon for a woman not to ovulate regularly. I knew a girl once who stopped for six months for no apparent reason; her parents were convinced she was pregnant, but she was a virgin so that wasn’t even a remote possibility.

The most common cause I’ve heard cited by doctors is stress. When the mind and body are stressed, it can cause the body to want to conserve resources because it senses the stress hormones and thinks you’re in some sort of survival emergency. A university health service nurse once told me it’s not uncommon for women to stop ovulating during the school semesters, particularly during exam season.

However, if you’re having other symptoms like mood swings and appetite loss, the most likely cause might be a hormone imbalance. These, again, are pretty common in young women. Ovulation is actually dictated by the interaction of like seven different hormones, so if any of these is out of balance it could prevent ovulation.

The most common hormone imbalance in young women is thyroid imbalance. Hypo or hyperthyroidism are associated with changes in ovulation, changes in appetite, changes in mood, and excess energy or fatigue. Hypothyroidism (having too little thyroid) usually causes heavy, frequent periods, increases in appetite, weight gain, fatigue, and depression. But for me, I’m hypothyroid and I actually experienced a loss of ovulation. So I guess it can go either way. Hyperthyroidism is somewhat more rare and is supposed to have the opposite symptoms, i.e. loss of ovulation, appetite decrease, weight loss, excess energy, irritability and anxiety.

Not ovulating is not in itself an urgent medical matter. There are a lot of reasons this could happen, and most of them are not reasons to worry. However if you’re uncomfortable with the other symptoms you’re experiencing, what with mood, appetite, physical symptoms, etc., it would be worth your time to talk to your doctor about getting tested for hormone levels. I’d specifically mention thyroid since I know a lot of girls with thyroid imbalances. They might also want to check more hormones such as estrogen and testosterone that could be effecting your mood and ovulation.

Good luck getting this resolved! It’s no fun when your brain does things and you don’t know why. The good news is it’s almost certainly fixable.

Period, Stress, Estrogen Relationships

Stress doesn’t exactly make your period late, it causes late ovulation – if stressed (enough to make you ill, a few bad days doesn’t mean you’re suffering from stress) your body will prevent itself from ovulating to avoid risking you getting pregnant during a time of stress.

As ovulation is what triggers menstruation this is thus what makes menstruation late when you’re stressed – it’s the stress around the time of ovulation that causes delay, but stress around the time of menstruation can cause you to tense-up so that the cervix doesn’t relax to release flow so make you a few days late.

Other things that can make your period late; 

  • Interrupted E2 Levels
  • Illness. 
  • Medication. 
  • Travel. 
  • Poor Diet. 
  • General poor health. 

basically anything that may make your body want to prevent pregnancy, and obviously hormonal imbalance can lead to late periods too, sometimes this just happens but sometimes underlying medical conditions can lead to imbalanced hormones and late periods…if you’re in your teens irregular cycles are normal due to hormonal imbalance during puberty.

What Do LH and FSH Test Results Mean?

Q: I am being tested for irregular periods, they are assuming i have pcos. Everything has come back normal but the test didn’t give me a standard range for three LH and FSH test which are LH: 11 & FSH: 2.5 … I am 22yrs old and instead of me not getting periods i get really long periods and bleeding in between. I have been trying to conceive with my husband for 2 years and nothing has happened…. does anyone know the levels of these 2 test?

A: FSH stands for follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). This hormone is released by the anterior pituitary gland.In women, FSH stimulates production of eggs and a hormone called estradiol during the first half of the menstrual cycle.The FSH test is usually done to help diagnose problems with sexual development, menstruation, and fertility. 

FSH Blood Test Normal Ranges

  • Before puberty: 0 – 4.0 mIU/ml
  • During puberty: 0.3 – 10.0 mIU/ml
  • Women who are menstruating: 4.7 – 21.5 mIU/ml
  • Postmenopausal: 25.8 – 134.8 mIU/ml

So you have a low FSH.

The LH blood test measures the amount of luteinizing hormone (LH). LH is a hormone released by the pituitary gland. In women, an increase in LH levels at mid-cycle causes ovulation.

The normal LH level for an adult female is 5 to 25 IU/L. Levels peak around the middle of the menstrual cycle.
So your LH is normal. Your doctor will tell you if anything is wrong. 

Causes of a low FSH

  • Hypopituitarism
  • Klinefelter syndrome
  • Polycystic ovary disease
  • Turner syndrome
  • Ovarian failure (ovarian hypofunction)
  • Ovarian or adrenal cancers
  • Precocious puberty in girls and boys
  • Anorexia

The meaning of borderline FSH blood test

A customer asked me one question yesterday, it was: I recently had a blood test to line out any problems, well i got a letter yesterday saying one of my tests were borderline. I rang to see which one this was, the lady told me it was my FSH. I didn’t know what it was, i googled it and all i got was stuff i didn’t really want to read :S so i was wondering if someone can help me out here thanks, I’m 18 and kinda worried, and not had a period for nearly 2 months this is unusual for me.

Q:  Usually you have a batch of hormone tests, LH, Progesterone test, Oestrodial etc if you have period problems.

Good luck and I hope you are able to conceive! If you have any questions I will monitor the question!

Prolactin Blood Test and Hyperprolactinemia| How to conceive when prolactin levels are high?

I have elevated prolactin levels. What does this mean? What can I do to regulate my hormones?
You mentioned that you were recently diagnosed with high prolactin levels in this condition is known as hyperprolactinemia there’s a lot of different things that can cause it
and one of the first symptoms a woman usually has is:
she’s not having periods or not having regular periods and it sounds like this is the case with you as
you’ve been trying to have a third child and you didn’t have a problem with your first two many women don’t have periods
they go seeking help and this is sometimes a diagnosis that’s found high prolactin levels affect your ability to
ovulate and that’s why it’s hard to get pregnant certain medications can cause higher prolactin levels and there are
other explanations as well
and it can go along with other hormone imbalances and you asked some really good questions about how you can balance your hormones and make it possible for you to have another baby these are all really good questions for your doctor, who knows the most about your situation your lab results your past health history and your current status.

How to conceive when prolactin levels are high?
so prolactin is basically another hormone which is produced by the pituitary gland and the higher levels of these prolactin also inhibit the ovuation from occurring properly so this can be checked with a simple blood investigation.
just like how a thyroid levels are checked in the morning fasting sample
similarly the prolactin also can be done clinically usually the problem would be that you know your periods are little delayed and then the flow during the periods is reduced some do complain of occasional headaches when it’s a very high levels of prolactin and it and people do come back with this thing they’re not conceiving and we do this hormone test for them now any level more than 30 in the prolactin is requiring treatment.
then the dosing pattern is decided based on that and once you’ve conceived then these lab medications are stopped usually we get a very good response if this is diagnosed and treated on time.

10 Blighted Ovum HCG Levels Must Know

Blighted ovum HCG levels with doubling time and rising levels of the pregnancy hormone.

From real case’s complications:

  • A woman done her first pregnancy test and show a faint line which means weak positive pregnancy.
  • After a week, cramps and slight bleeding.
  • In the emergency ward at the local hospital, the Gynecologist done an internal ulstrasound and can’t see any sac.
  • She told the doctor that she’s in the week 6 and 3 days.
  • At the clinic one day later, the Gunecologist repeated the ultrasound scanning with transvaginal probe and found a little white speck in the sac.
  • Tomorrow at laboratory: take a quantitative beta subunit HCG blood test and the results show rising HCG levels at 5 weeks and 5 days post LMP.

The woman told me that she was worried and confused about the conflicts of BHCG levels and ultrasound.
The first doctor recommended methotrexate upon diagnosis as ectopic pregnancy but the second doubling HCG blood test with white dot sac suggests a blighted ovum which require a dilation and curettage procedure.
What’s the opinion of medical science?

What blighted ovum is?

A blighted ovum is an early pregnancy failure after the fertilized ovum attached to the uterine but failed to develop an embryo even after 14 week LMP. That’s why I have blighted ovum pregnancy?

When blighted ovum is occurred during the pregnancy?

A blighted ovum occurs during the early pregnancy term (the first trimester), may be the woman didn’t know that she’s pregnant yet.

Do HCG levels double with blighted ovum?

Blighted ovum HCG levels still rise and high but not doubling enough as in normal pregnancy, blighted ovum symptoms is the same with normal pregnancy. lack of symptoms of blighted ovum is common.
From a real blood work for a pregnant women:

At 5 weeks

HCG level 680, after 48 hour HCG level 1800, no sac on ultrasound, no bleeding and no cramps.
Had a blighted ovum?
Answer: The case is for a normal pregnancy till now and the time scale can’t tell the right expectation, the advice is to wait until the week 8 at least.
Full: HCG level chart

At 20 weeks:

blighted ovum HCG levels
Ultrasound noticed one inch empty sac, still feel pregnant even blood pregnancy test is negative and urine pregnancy test is negative too.
Felt a baby in my belly, discharges from my breast when squeezed.

Can be a blighted ovum even after 12 weeks?

The Answer: A small sac with nothing in it and HCG level below 5 units after 5 weeks must refer to a blighted ovum. You had missed miscarriage. Get the Ob/Gyn advice for natural miscarriage or by D&C operation.
 blighted ovum hcg levels ultrasound

What to do for blighted ovum management?

If your body still acting as you’re pregnant, doctors would recommend to wait few days until the body passes this anembryonic (no embryo) pregnancy naturally.
And can conceive as close as the next week, as the period is due within a month and HCG levels can back after nearly two weeks.
If you’ve blighted ovum conception your doctor will have two options, the pills or surgery.
You shouldn’t be scary of D & C, it’s for your safety. The sac would expel by it’s own but remnants in the uterine may cause infection, so that the D & C would be beneficial to avoid complications.
But woman must wait three consecutive cycles before trying to conceive again, the reason is to allow the uterine lining to rebuilt itself in the way to sustain another pregnancy.

What to do with blighted ovum hcg levels and ultrasound?

Blighted ovum is difficult to see on ultrasound until the week 10 LMP.
Blighted ovum HCG levels 5 weeks LMP is within expected levels for normal pregnancy.
Even with no embryo inside the sac the placenta and corpus luteum continue to produce pregnancy hormone at early pregnancy.
At week 4 and 5 a yolk sac and fetal pole but no heartbeat, heart beat is the baby’s life determining factor inside you.
You would find heart beat after week 11, and only babies with heart beat deemed live.
See: HCG level ultrasound and heart beat chart

What to do for blighted ovum with HCG levels rising?

Most woman scarred after week 9 with no bleeding or pregnancy, so please understand first.
If you have or expect a blighted ovum just relax and retest BHCG blood test and ultrasound until the week 12.
Confirm blighted ovum after week 14 with low HCG levels, no visible embryo sac, and no heart beat.
Never rely on the sac size small or big or how sac is measuring when it’s empty.

When do hcg levels drop with blighted ovum?

From 4 to 7 weeks and up to 12 weeks for some women after a successful m/c or d/c operation, beta subunit HCG test after d/c can predict the dropping rate of HCG levels after blighted ovum miscarriage.
Read: HCG levels after miscarriage
We’re welcome to explain your pregnancy blood test results.