Description

Dr. Wilson explains if a woman who is trying to get pregnant should get her hormone levels checked.

Transcript

There’s a couple of different answers to that question. In general, especially if you’ve had a history of an irregular menstrual cycle and/or if you’ve been trying to conceive for more than six months or especially more than a year, then I would say yes, there are some hormones that can be tested in the blood that would be helpful, for example, LH, FSH, especially. Other people sometimes are wondering whether they may need to have their progesterone, estrogen levels tested, you know, even on a somewhat regular basis or by saliva testing and I don’t find that to be as effective. It depends somewhat on the situation, but what I find is that we really have a lot of answers in understanding you, your body, just by how you’re feeling and your PMS symptoms, any likelihood for cramping during your menstrual cycle. That information gives me a lot to go by in terms of estrogen and progesterone levels, and we may not need to do lab testing in those cases.