In fact, I'm convinced that was the cause of my miscarriage in September 2011, before I began truly digging deep into the causes behind my health issues.
Through lab work, I have confirmed that at the end of my progesterone supplementation during my luteal phase, my cortisol levels are significantly higher than they are two weeks later once the progesterone was out of my system. I realize that not all women experience this, but it is clear that I do based on my symptoms and my labs.
I also believe that for women like me whose progesterone levels are low as a direct result of their adrenal dysfunction that it is crucial to make that connection. And I suspect that it might be crucial to not only supplement progesterone with bio-identical progesterone, but also address the adrenal issues that are at root.
You can read here about how I have taken charge of my health issues and how I'm healing my body.
One underlying condition that can contribute largely to miscarriage is called MTHFR gene mutation. There are five of them. You can read about MTHFR here and here.
A word about Progesterone and Post Partum Depression:
In some of the above posts, especially "Progesterone: A New Post" and this one, I have written about the relationship between progesterone and Post-Partum Depression (PPD). I am not a doctor or trained medical professional, but I have networked with a lot of women and read extensively on these health issues. And I believe that in some cases, thyroid dysfunction is a large contributing factor for adrenal dysfunction and that, as I wrote before, adrenal dysfunction is the issue behind the progesterone deficiency in many women.
In my Old Post on progesterone, I wrote about the dramatic difference that progesterone supplementation made for me in my struggled with PPD after my second (and full-term) pregnancy.
But after my miscarriage about a year and a half later, progesterone supplementation didn't make as dramatic a difference. I strongly suspect that was because I had moved from having slight adrenal fatigue to much worse adrenal fatigue, and therefore from slight issues with my adrenals stealing cortisol to much worse issues with my adrenals stealing cortisol. There is no way to know for sure since I have no cortisol labs to look at from that time, but this is my belief.
You are not alone
If you are a woman struggling with these health issues, you are not alone. There are answers. There are some wonderful resources out there - blogs, websites, health care professionals, and patient-to-patient forums including Stop the Thyroid Madness's groups. Read; connect with other women who are struggling and learn what has worked for them; and try to get to the bottom of your health issues.
