Prolactin

I feel like I could have a lot of my posts on this blog named 'one step forward - two steps back', but that would be unoriginal and weird. It might be fitting in this case.

I got a phone call from Dr. E on Friday and she said that I have increased prolactin. This was discovered during my fasting blood draw last week - fasting until 10am. Who can do that? Well anyway, she recommended me to an endocrinologist in Minneapolis who works a lot with her patients. I called to make an appointment - one month. Always one months.. never fails.

What is prolactin or increased prolactin you may ask? This is all my own research, so bear with me....

If the test shows too much prolactin in your blood, you will most likely have trouble getting pregnant and also might have irregular periods. Too much prolactin is definitely a problem if you are trying to get pregnant, since it can be a major roadblock. You can also suffer from vision problems, headaches and a reduced sex drive as a result of too much prolactin.

Causes of high levels

High levels of prolactin can be caused by a number of things. One of the most common is prescription medications, lack of sleep, or extreme stress or strenuous exercise. Sometimes there are more serious reasons for high prolactin levels, including a tumor on the pituitary gland, or sometimes PCOS can also be to blame. Prolactin levels can also be increased if you have liver or kidney problems as well.

Treatments

If your doctor is able to determine what is causing your high levels of prolactin, and fix the problem, your prolactin levels can begin to drop almost immediately. Once high prolactin levels are brought down, there is a great chance of being able to conceive on your own. It is just a matter of figuring out what is causing the high prolactin levels and how to fix it. There are several drugs on the market right now that can easily treat high prolactin levels in most women and bring them down to a safe level. Just be sure to ask your doctor about what you can do in your case if you think high prolactin levels could be contributing to your infertility.

One more roadblock for the dude and I but we'll get past this one too. Keep on keepin' on. We're still in the middle of a medicated cycle right now so fingers crossed that this will all be Moo (a cows opinion, it doesn't matter).