Hi Jill and everyone here,
I’ve been a silent reader for a long time (Have been trying to conceive for 6 years) and only just put up my first post yesterday to sell my remaining support meds including Proluton. Thanks for all the generous sharing because it provided a lot of light when I was searching for answers to endless questions. For today, please allow me to share my experience.
I’m currently at Week 13 via IVF at NUH under medicated FET cycle. At Week 6, I had red bleeding (2 swipes of it on toilet paper when peeing + 1 panty liner worth of it) + clot ($1 coin size) + slight cramping, all happening in the morning. Went to NUH A&E in the aft and doc looked for heart beat (found it) and checked if cervix is dilated (it’s not), so they are not too concerned about miscarriage. They couldn’t tell me why I was bleeding because bleeding could be for a number of reasons. I was told to worry if I’m bleeding more than a pad an hour and have cramps to go with it.
Subsequently I had brown spotting in Week 7 & 8 (usually lasting less than a day) and I ignored it because I'm not willing to pay A&E charges ($175 after subsidy) again. There’s no number to call for G Clinic to check anything with anyone (I’m a subsidised patient. Not sure if private patients at NUH get better support), and I’m too sick with morning sickness to deal with it.
When I was using Crinone gel before 6 weeks, I also occasionally had pink, brown, something a string of blood in the discharge, which I ignored. From what I read, as long as they are not red blood, it's fine.
I was very worried in the beginning too whenever I see 50 shades of red. I was also very frustrated and stressed out when I'm worried and docs don't seem concerned.
My worry though is opposite from yours. While you want more progesterone jabs, I wanted less. I preferred not to take it, am constantly asking for alternatives/lesser dosage and I couldn’t wait to get off it because the side effects affected me a lot.
In my previous IVF Fresh cycle pregnancy (which my foetus died at 11 weeks due to chromosomal abnormalities), I dutifully injected Proluton twice a week till 12 weeks, bearing with the pain, rashes and inconveniences. I didn’t bleed AT ALL throughout that pregnancy so perhaps Proluton did it’s job too well but still not well enough to prevent an in utero death. So, no bleeding in my case doesn’t mean all is well too.
For this current pregnancy, I have bleeding and cramps but I feel I'm getting helpful signals. Because whenever they happen, I will go and lie down, rest for the whole day and it goes away. It forces me to slow down and listen to what my body needs. I will encourage more rest than more medicines but I also recognise that this may not provide enough assurance for everyone and may not be possible for those who are working.
Regarding Proluton, I browsed through quite a bit of forums including from other countries. Different hospitals (over the world) have different protocols for IVF pregnancies. Some believe Proluton (also known as progesterone in oil) is helpful as a pregnancy support, some don’t. Different hospitals prescribe the usage for varying periods. Taking all into consideration, my view is that progesterone jabs doesn’t help prevent a miscarriage that is meant to happen unless you have very specific underlying conditions that Proluton is meant to plug. That said, I think a patient’s mental well being should be of utmost concern – If a patient feels more assured with the jabs, investigate more to find out if possible to give while causing minimum harm. Conversely, if a patient is not comfortable with it, do more to find out if patient can do without it or lesser of it.
Thank you for sharing your experience. It reinforced my opinion that KKH tends to let the body do more while NUH tends to use medication more. My first IVF is at KKH, subsequently I went NUH. While I did not succeed at KKH, I tend to appreciate their approach more now. That will be a story for another day.
I wish you all the best.