Oct 30, 2013
So I have been wondering why I haven't ovulated and as I was lying here in bed it just came to me... I have been on estrogen non stop from the start of my cycle (last 2 really). I started thinking how estrogen lowers fsh and my last fsh came in at 4 which was artificially low from the estro patches... I kept thinking and realized that to grow eggs you need fsh! That's what injectables like menopur are all about! I realized I have actually stopped myself from ovulating by starting the estrogen patches too soon in my cycle!!!
I googled 'estrogen stopping ovulation' and sure enough this is what I found....
Estrogen actually can and does prevent ovulation if given at the start of AF and in the right doses. (Mostly because, in a natural cycle, estrogen is released after FSH and LH have triggered the follicles to start growing. Estrogen is what turns off FSH production. Then the rising estrogen triggers a surge of LH, which of course triggers the egg to be released. But, when you gave high enough doses of estrogen right from the start, it starts telling your body to stop FSH production before it ever begins, see? So if you never have FSH production, you never have growing follicles, so there are no eggs to be released. Basically you jumped to step 2 of a natural cycle, completely skipping step 1 - which was FSH triggering follicles to grow.)
That's why some "medicated" FETs are minus Lupron and BCPs. (My own was done with only twice-weekly delestrogen injections starting on CD1 of my period, then progesterone suppositories starting some days before transfer. That's it. No Lupron, no other suppression.) The statistics are that, given that way and at the right levels, estrogen prevents ovulation in 90% of women. The other 10% will ovulate anyhow -- which is why, in those kinds of FET cycles, they will check your ovaries to make sure you aren't growing follicles. And is also why some clinics prefer to use something like Lupron, which doesn't have that 10% "failure" rate.
I WONDER WHY I DIDN'T THINK OF THIS SOONER?????
So question-- should I stop estro and see if my fsh rises now or skip to progesterone and jump start AF and just try next cycle??