Progesterone ... No thanks!

So here's the whole story. Because 1) Maybe it'll help someone else and 2) If I don't write it down I'll block it out completely and forget it ever happened.

I had a miscarriage about 8 months ago. It was my second miscarriage. Two miscarriages out of five pregnancies is actually not terrible odds. I think the latest statistic I heard was that one in four pregnancies end in miscarriage. So I'm really within the average, but it still worries us. (Us being my doctor and I) So as soon as I learned I was pregnant again, my doctor and I decided to put me on Progesterone just to be extra safe. Progesterone is basically the hormone that makes the babies. My levels of Progesterone were already normal, but "on the low side of normal". So I went ahead and started taking it.

At first as soon as I took the pill (twice a day) I would get super dizzy. I had to lay down for a solid hour after I took each pill. But after about 5 days that faded away, much to my relief. But then I noticed that I was nauseated all day every day. Not terrible or anything, but there was no relief. I've never been nauseated all day before when I was pregnant. Sure there's plenty of nausea, but there's always some time during the day where I'd get some relief. Usually between 11am and 4pm or so. After a few days of that the nausea got worse and worse. Pretty soon I was in bed all day. And not able to keep anything down. And here I am a week later having not eaten anything more than rice and Saltine's (in very, very small doses) all week. I have no energy since I've eaten basically nothing and I still feel amazingly nauseated.

I even spoke with my doctor about half way through this week. He recommended I not quite but perhaps take the pills both at night right before bed. It didn't help. He said I have 10 days left that he wants me to take these pills and that if I can't give him 10 days, at least give him 5.

I made it 2 more days. And then I quite. Because not eating and quickly loosing weight can't be good for the baby (I lost 6 pounds in the last week). Because I prayed about it and strongly feel that my baby will be fine. Because I am a mother - and I can't be a mother if I can't move. And, I admit it, I'm tired of feeling like crap. I was hoping that I'd feel much better today since I didn't take the pills last night, but unfortunately I only feel a little bit better. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

If I've learned anything from this experience, it's that I am a lucky woman. My pregnancies are normally not so bad. Sure, I'm always tired and sometimes nauseated - but not this bad. I can't imagine if I had to live like this for a solid 3 months or more. I sure wouldn't have plans for as many children as I do if it was always this hard.

I'm not saying that nobody should ever take Progesterone. I'm sure there are times when it is absolutely a miracle drug. And times when all these side effects are totally worth it because it's the only way to make a baby. But I was taking it "just to be safe". So, for me, the awful side effects weren't equal to the possible benefits.

So, that's the story. Now, assuming I start feeling better tomorrow, I'm going to start blocking this all out. I'm really pretty good at that. I'll have forgotten all the details in just a few months. It's one of the good parts of not having a good memory.