Progesterone Suppositories & Home Pregnancy Tests: What to Expect

Question
I will run out of my progesterone suppository tomorrow, the 8th day after I should have ovulated. I used Ovidrel on Monday night, Nov. 1 as per my doc's instructions, and missed the IUI on Wednesday morning, Nov. 3 due to my husband's illness.  We did manage to have intercourse that night so there's a small chance I may be pregnant, but it's remote given that I only dropped one egg this cycle using Gonal F, we missed the IUI and had intercourse late, and I'm 41.  As such, I'm not too worried about halting the preogesterone prematurely.  If I do an EPT test next  Wednesday, Nov. 17th, which will be 6 days after I stopped the progesterone suppository, might the pregnancy test still be affected by the progesterone and show a false positive, or will the progesterone be sufficiently out of my system by that time?

Answer
Hello Keri from the U.S.,

Pregnancy tests are not affected by progesterone, however, the purpose of the progesterone is as a supplement to help with implantation and sustain the pregnancy until the placenta develops completely.  Removing it prematurely could lead to a pregnancy loss.  I would not recommend that you stop the progesterone, rather, call your doc and have it refilled.  You will then need to have a pregnancy test done at approximately two weeks from ovulation, then if it is negative, you can stop the progesterone.  A period should then ensue.

Good Luck,

Edward J. Ramirez, M.D., FACOG
Executive Medical Director
The Fertility and Gynecology Center
Monterey Bay IVF Program
www.montereybayivf.com

Monterey, California, U.S.A.

for additional information check out my blog at http://womenshealthandfertility.blogspot.com check me out on twitter with me at @montereybayivf and facebook @montereybayivf