Specific question about Day 3 blood test

I have a very specific question, but was hoping someone who has either had one or knows what they’re talking about could answer for me…

Due to my irregular/long cycles and inability to so far conceive, my doctor is having me do some blood work. I need to have blood drawn on [name]Day[/name] 3 of my cycle and [name]Day[/name] 21.

My unpredictable AF appeared yesterday, making [name]Day[/name] 3 fall on a [name]Sunday[/name] - when the lab is closed. Can I have my blood drawn on [name]Monday[/name] (when it’s open) even though it’s [name]Day[/name] 4?

I looked it up online and have read that anywhere from [name]Day[/name] 2-4 is fine, but I was hoping to confirm this. I tried calling my doctor’s office yesterday to ask, but they have short hours on Fridays and were already closed.

On [name]Day[/name] 3 they are checking my FSH, estradiol and anti-mullerian hormone…

Anybody know? Maybe @[name]Blade[/name]? Thanks so much in advance!

[name]Hi[/name]! I’m not a dr, but I am a med lab tech. I’m not too familiar with day 3 testing, but I also found online that it is done between days 2-4, and often day 5. And is AF was full bleeding after 4/5pm, then the day 1 would be considered as the following day. If it was me, I would still get my blood drawn, but I’d try to make sure I was there first thing on [name]Monday[/name] morning. …As close to day 3 as possible, instead of late [name]Monday[/name] afternoon. It might be a good idea to call your dr’s office too, and let them know. Or, I suppose you could also call the clinic first thing on [name]Monday[/name] morning, confirm that it’s ok to test on day 4, and then head to the lab.

Thank you @labmama! I will follow your advice and hopefully it’ll all be fine.

Is the lab open on the weekend? If so then the dr can always send an order for the labs over, and you can drop by (you may need to call the clinic office and/or have the on-call provider paged [they don’t like that tho]).

Let us know what you do!!

The lab is only open on Saturdays not Sundays, so I will just got on [name]Monday[/name]. However I think it will have be [name]Monday[/name] afternoon and not morning due to work. :frowning: [name]Hope[/name] that’s fine…

I am not an MD, but I do work in reproductive medicine and order [name]Day[/name] 3 hormone panels all of the time. [name]Day[/name] 4 is fine. [name]Day[/name] 3 is ideal, but like you mentioned, Days 2-4 work just fine.

Also, as a side note, AMH can be measured at any time of the cycle as it does not shift throughout the menstrual cycle the way the way other hormones like FSH, LH, E2, prog, etc. do.

I hope your labs give you and your MD some good, clear information to work with.

Good luck!

edit: I just wanted to add, your 2nd draw may or may not give you clear information if you get it drawn on Day 21. The Day 21 blood draw is to measure progesterone levels in the blood. The corpus luteum is what remains of the ovarian follicle following the eruption of a mature egg/ovum at ovulation. It produces progesterone to prepare and thicken the endometrial lining of the uterus for implantation. The Day 21 blood draw will confirm that ovulation has occurred and will measure progesterone levels to determine if adequate levels are present. This test presupposes that you have a 26-30 day cycle and that you ovulated between days 12 and 16. If you have very irregular cycles, you may not even ovulate by Day 21. It’s important to consider that when doing a Day 21 test with a woman that has very irregular cycles.

Thank you for your response @sdsurfmama! It was very helpful!

I don’t have a 26-30 day cycle and my doctor knows that. I guess I could be ovulating past day 21. Ovulation kits have usually given me a positive at anywhere from day 14-21…

When I did [name]Day[/name] 3 testing, they said day 3-5 was okay.

My doctor was fine with it being done on [name]Day[/name] 3. Now I’m waiting to do my [name]Day[/name] 21 labs… ugh. I’m so impatient haha.