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Hmmm...I don't think that is normal..Well, I shouldn't say that, that isn't normal for my OBGYN. My doc took blood on cycle day 3 and then again in my leutal phase....that was enough for him to write me a prescription. My cyles are also very irregular so maybe that is why he didn't require more blood. You must be getting very anxious to get your prescription and to get things moving. Good Luck.

mine did not do any testing i went in may and i and had hsg dye test and progesterone levels checked and i start clomid in juse on day 3 of my cycle they never mentioned anything about doing bloodwork to see if i could take it they said that my progesterone level was 12 which wasnt bad but they wanted it to be higher before iui so that is why they are starting me on clomidso that is new to me

Hmmm...I JUST don't understand. I have the blood test results right in front of me & progesterone was low, like 8.7 one month then 5.2 the next month the other things, FSH was low- 4.7 then 2.2. FSH/ LH 3.7 then 11.2. Maybe the range is so broad. I don't think I'm ovulating on a regular schedule at all. But it's been established my Progeterone is low, it was low when I was PG a year ago & the OB put me on Prometrim but I MC'd at 7 wks b/c the fetus was trisomic.
I don't get why they're doing so many day 21 blood tests. Does anyone know what exactly would make someone NOT a candidate for Clomid? I have 1 child & M/C'd twice so I know I can get PG. ANd the FSH # is important too.

i dont know i think i would go to another doctor because my progesterone level was 12 and they put me on clomid as a matter of fact today is the first day that i started taking it

Yes, my progesterone was 12 put me on clomid too. I think that you sound like a perfect candidate. I would confront your doctor on why he is doing all of this needless testing. If you are in Canada, he is abusing the system and probably wants you to keep going to see him so he can keep getting paid. If you are in the US, I'm sure you insurance company wouldn't be thrilled.

poppea, I have never heard of them doing more than one month of testing. Am I correct in understanding that your fsh was 11.2 at one point? Make sure they are testing your fsh on cd3 and not on cd21 as with progesterone. Also, make sure you are Oing 7 days before the test. Day 21 is just an average and it assumes you Oed on cd14.

So FINALLY today, my doctor called me back w/the results for my last (3rd!) round of bloodwork for Progesterone, FSH, etc. He's concluded I am pretty definitely not Oing so FINALLY he's prescribing Clomid, yay. All I remember from the conversation is that I will take it days 5-9 of my next cycle & somethimg about OPKs. I'm gonna have to call the office for the rest of the instructions b/c when doc & I were on the phone I wasn't able to write it down. Yikes, I proly shouldda tried harder to write it down huh? I was driving so...
So yeah I ALSO mentioned to my doc all your ladies' responses to my initial questions on this forum-how you've all 3 of you unanimously said 3 months of tests seems excessive; how you all got Clomid precribed after like ONE low Progest test & felt 3 months of bloodwork seems unusual, etc..
His response was something like 'you don't know these women's other circumstances-have they had any children before? Are there other health problems?
'there are many factors to consider in each case..every year millions of patient die/are ill-effected from being prescribed wrong meds or prescribed meds prematurely' or something to that effect..Still tho, my low progesterone has been known for some time-I had low Progest during my last PGCY & took Prometrium then. I just never know what to believe anymore *sigh*.
Ann1- I did have a 3rd cd FSH test 2 months ago & the result was 5.5 which is good, right? Also, Ann ,when you say "make sure you are Oing 7 days before the test. Day 21 is just an average and it assumes you Oed on cd14'. Does that matter for me since I'm not even Oing?
Well anyway I am glad I'm finally going forward now w/the Clomid already. I stopped TTC after the first test came back low Progest b/c I know without Progest the corpus luteum can't function properly so it is unlikely one will get PG.

poppea, Don't be to happy to take clomid and think that it will improve your cituation. I was going to regular OB from 5 months. I was taking BBT and saw that to OB. First 3 months was o.k but on 4th month We can't see temp rise so, doctor put me on 100mg clomid withought any testing. I finished that cycle and I went to RE (infertility specialist) on CD-4. Unfortunately I have read somewhere that it's good to take clomid from CD 3-7. So, I took clomid on CD-3. My new RE said since I already start taking it continue with it. He took some blood work and said He will like to see next cycle withought any medication. On CD-10, I went for ultrasound and found out that I have 3 follicles developing but my uterus lining was very thin 4mm. I went again on CD-11 and it was still same. Doctor said it's very difficult to get pregnant with this lining and it's very common side effect from clomid. Than I read many articles and figure out that it's almost impossible to get implant on this lining and even if it's get implanted than it's very difficult to hold the pregnancy. I am on CD 23 today and feeling very helpless. I have read that many doctors give estrogen or someother medication with clomid to prevent this side effect. So, If you are taking it make sure you take estrogen. I wasted my two cycles. It's really not good idea to do any treatment with regular OB because they don't know much about infertility treatments. My OB should not put me on high dose of clomid without cheking my blood tests. RE knows much more than them and afterall it's their speciality So try to go to them directly. My OB did IUI as well. You know what She did not wash the sperms and directly injected into my uterus. I had horrible cramps for 5 hours (Alomost like labor pain). Than after I read that it's very dangerous to inject unwashed sperms into uterus. That time I have decided to go to specialist. I got two lession from my experiance which I like to share. First dont waste your time with regular OB and second if you prescribe for any medicine than do the search and find out all the side effects and talk about it with doctor first before takling it.

poppea, what I was saying about the progesterone test is that it may be wrong if you are Oing on a different day. For example, you may O on cd20, so you you took a progesterone test on cd21, it would show low progesterone and insinuate that you are not Oing. How old are you? If you are under 30, it would be unlikely that you would have a fsh issue. 5.5 is a good number. However, when my ob/gyn tested mine it was 5.9. When I went to the RE, he tested it in conjunction with the clomid challenge test and we found out it is really 12.9. I second what Pinky said about using a RE.

my ob/gyn did not prescribe clomid he sent me straight to specialist but my ob/gyn does the progesterone tests and whatever tests that he can do so that i dont have to drive 2 hours to have them done because i have to drive 2 houhrs one way to see specialist but i only did 1 month of testing before they put me on clomid i timed the appointment to see specialist with when i should be ovulating and the all they had to do was progesterone but they did my progesterone test on day 23 and it was 12 and i had to do hsg dye test which was not any fun at all that is to see if your tubes are blocked...i started clomid sunday and they did not give me an estrogen or anything else to take with it so far i have not had any side effects from it i go back in around the 14th for hcg trigger shot and i will let you know how it turns out

slowpoke, my lining was fine with clomid as well. It just needs to be monitored and you take estrogen if it is too thin. I could not agree w/you more on the hsg. That is by far the worst thing I have done on my ttc mission!!

Wow you guys...I am just bewildered w/all these variables. I'm just going on the fact that low Progesterone was an issue with my last PGcy so it seems likely that this could be the problem now. The doc said I'm starting at a dose of 50 & will be getting blood tested once I'm on it but is that the same as the Clomid Challenge test? Def I'll ask re: the estrogen issue too. I don't know much about all this stuff at all b/c I never had a problem getting PG til this past year so this is secondary infertility. Iam 38 this week, FYI, are you all over 30 too? Are any of you 'Secondaries' too? Ann, I don't even know if I am Oing or not at this point.. I did OPKs for months which turned dark within the normal days indicated in the package insert, what is it day 13-14 for a 28 day cycle? then BDinged accordingly but nothing resulted for like 5 months at least..The basal temp thing since is out of the question sinceI have to get up a lot during the night w/ my son who doesn't always sleep through. But my OB is supposedly really good, he's been in those 'top docs' magazine articles a few times & he delivered my son. But actually there is a good RE center that is even closer to my house than my OB, maybe I should try it? Or should I do the Clomid first?
So now ok, If you've been PG before can you develop blocked follicles later? How would you know if you have that? And please, what is this unpleasant hsg dye test you've had? Is that something done strictly for IUI/IVF?

The dye test is the test you need to determine if your tubes are blocked. It is usually done before you evern start clomid, because if your tubes are blocked, clomid won't work or anything else and you have wasted time. Since you are 38, you should definitely do the cct. That is not the same as being monitored on clomid. With the cct, you do 100mg of clomid. Like I said, my fsh said 5.9 until I did the cct (I am 37 and ttc for #1--never been pg). I understand that you like your ob/gyn--I really like mine, too--but you should really see a RE asap. I wasted a lot of time before I saw one and I very much regret it. If you got a surge with an opk on day 13/14, you probably were tested for your progesterone on the correct day, assuming you surge around the same time every month. If your only issue is not Oing, the clomid will probably be a good thing for you. Like I said though, I would see a RE.