Illustration for: How to Check Your Progesterone Levels At Home

How to Check Your Progesterone Levels at Home (and When Not To)

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Short answer: You can check progesterone at home with a finger-prick blood kit that you mail to a lab, or with urine strips that detect a progesterone breakdown product. Both mainly tell you whether you ovulated in that cycle.[1][6] Neither can diagnose a “hormone imbalance” on its own, and saliva tests are not reliable.[8][7] If you are worried about unwanted hair, progesterone is not the key test: Doctors start with testosterone.[9]

Progesterone is a hormone that rises after ovulation. That is why doctors use a blood test in the second half of the cycle to confirm that ovulation happened.[1] Home test kits make this easy to try, but the results are easy to misread. This guide explains what each type of home test can and cannot tell you, how to time it, and what to do if you are really trying to find out why you have hirsutism or irregular periods.

Woman doing an at-home finger-prick hormone test

What a progesterone test can and cannot tell you

What it can show: In the UK, NICE recommends a blood test for progesterone in the mid-luteal phase to confirm ovulation. The luteal phase is the second half of the cycle, after ovulation, so for a 28-day cycle the test falls on day 21.[1] When you are not pregnant, a low level may be linked to not ovulating normally, missed periods, PMOS (formerly PCOS), high stress or perimenopause.[2][12]

What it cannot show: Progesterone is released in pulses, so a single reading can swing above and below the usual cutoff for ovulation within hours. In a small study of 9 women, a single mid-luteal measurement was not always a reliable sign of ovulation.[3] Levels also depend on where you are in your cycle, so you may need several tests.[2]

Many websites link low progesterone to long lists of symptoms, such as headaches, mood swings, weight gain and bloating, often under the label “estrogen dominance.” We could not find evidence that these symptom lists can identify low progesterone, and “estrogen dominance” is not a diagnosis used in the clinical guidelines we reviewed.

Does progesterone matter for hirsutism?

Not directly. Hirsutism is driven by androgens, male-type hormones such as testosterone, acting on hair follicles.[11] Progesterone can still give an indirect clue. PMOS, the most common cause of hirsutism, often involves irregular or absent ovulation, which shows up as low luteal progesterone.[11][10][2]

To investigate hirsutism, the Endocrine Society recommends starting with total testosterone, taken early in the morning, ideally on cycle days 4-10. It also recommends 17-hydroxyprogesterone, which screens for an inherited adrenal condition, for some women.[9] 17-hydroxyprogesterone is a different hormone from progesterone, so a home progesterone kit does not cover it. Read which tests are used to diagnose hirsutism. If you are wondering about progesterone cream, see over-the-counter anti-androgens and progesterone cream.

How to check progesterone at home

Finger-prick blood test (dried blood spot)

Evidence: Limited You prick your finger, drip blood onto a card and mail it to a lab. In a small 1986 study of 6 women, progesterone measured in dried capillary blood tracked blood-serum levels closely across the cycle.[4] We could not find independent studies validating the specific home kits sold today, so accuracy depends on the lab.

  • Regular cycles: Test in the mid-luteal phase, about 7 days before your expected period (day 21 of a 28-day cycle).[1]
  • Irregular cycles: NICE suggests testing later, for example on day 28 of a 35-day cycle, and repeating the test weekly until your next period starts.[1]

Urine strips for PdG

Evidence: Limited These strips detect pregnanediol glucuronide (PdG), a breakdown product of progesterone, in first-morning urine. They give a yes or no result, not a progesterone level. In a study of 107 women over 326 cycles, PdG above a set threshold on 3 consecutive days, after a positive ovulation (LH) test, confirmed ovulation with 100% specificity, meaning no false positives. The PdG was measured in a lab, not with a home strip.[5] In a pilot study of 25 women using a home PdG strip, specificity was 100% and sensitivity was 85-88%, so it missed some ovulations. Only half the women found the results easy to read, and the study was too small to validate the test.[6]

Saliva tests

Evidence: Limited We don’t recommend these. See the next section for why.[7][8]

Is saliva testing for hormone imbalance reliable?

Saliva tests are often marketed as an easy way to check estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and cortisol at home. The evidence does not support using them to diagnose a hormone imbalance:

  • Mayo Clinic notes that hormone levels in saliva do not reflect the levels in blood or correspond to menopause symptoms.[8]
  • A 2026 study that compared daily saliva samples with blood found that salivary and blood progesterone moved in the same direction, but the actual values agreed poorly. The authors concluded that saliva does not directly replace blood measurements.[7]
  • In the small 1986 comparison, saliva tracked blood levels less closely than dried blood spots did.[4]
  • For testosterone, the most important hormone in hirsutism, the International guideline recommends blood tests using highly accurate LC-MS/MS methods (tandem mass spectrometry). It warns that less precise direct immunoassays perform poorly at the low levels found in women.[10]

Saliva testing may have a place in research on hormone patterns, but it is not a reliable shortcut to a diagnosis.

How to Check Your Progesterone Levels at Home (and When Not To)

How can I check my hormone levels at home?

Some home kits offer other hormones as well, such as testosterone and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG), usually from a finger-prick sample sent to a lab. If you are thinking about one because of unwanted hair, keep these points in mind:

  • Testosterone in women is hard to measure accurately. Choose a lab that names its method. LC-MS/MS is preferred over direct immunoassays.[10]
  • Timing matters. Testosterone is best measured early in the morning, ideally on cycle days 4-10.[9]
  • The pill skews results. It raises SHBG and lowers androgen production, so androgen results on the pill are hard to interpret.[10]
  • Normal results don’t rule out hirsutism. Some women have hirsutism with normal androgens and regular ovulation. This is called idiopathic hirsutism.[13]
  • More tests are not always better. In fertility care, for example, NICE advises offering thyroid tests only to women who have thyroid symptoms.[1]

A home kit can be a starting point, but a doctor can order the right tests, at the right time, from a lab they trust, and interpret them with an exam. In the UK, a GP can arrange hormone blood tests if you have unwanted hair growth.[14] Score yourself first with our hirsutism self-check and bring the result.

When to see a doctor

  • Your periods are irregular, very infrequent or have stopped.[2]
  • You have new thick, dark hair on your face or body, especially if it appears suddenly, or your voice is getting deeper.[14]
  • You are trying to conceive and want to know whether you ovulate. Blood progesterone testing is the standard approach.[1]

Read more about what causes excess testosterone in women and the difference between hirsutism and PMOS.

Frequently asked questions

When should I test progesterone at home?

About 7 days before your expected period, or day 21 of a 28-day cycle. With irregular cycles, test later and repeat weekly.[1]

Are saliva hormone tests accurate?

No. Saliva levels agree poorly with blood levels and should not be used to diagnose a hormone imbalance.[7][8]

Can a home test diagnose PMOS?

No. PMOS is diagnosed using your cycle history, signs or blood tests for androgen excess, and ultrasound or AMH, after other causes are ruled out.[10]

Does low progesterone cause facial hair?

Not directly. Facial hair growth is driven by androgens. Low progesterone can be a sign that you are not ovulating, which is common in PMOS.[11][2]

Key takeaways

  • Home progesterone tests mainly show whether you ovulated, and a single result can mislead.
  • Finger-prick blood kits and urine PdG strips have some supporting evidence. Saliva tests do not.
  • For hirsutism, testosterone (ideally measured with LC-MS/MS) is the key test, not progesterone.
  • See a doctor about irregular periods or new hair growth rather than relying on home kits.

Sources

  1. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Fertility problems: assessment and treatment (NG257). Investigation of fertility problems and management strategies. Accessed October 2026. Link
  2. MedlinePlus. Progesterone Test. Accessed October 2026. Link
  3. Steele PA, White GH, Judd SJ. Reliability of a single serum progesterone determination as an indicator of ovulation. Clin Reprod Fertil. 1985;3(2):125-130. PubMed 4052919
  4. Petsos P, Ratcliffe WA, Heath DF, et al. Comparison of blood spot, salivary and serum progesterone assays in the normal menstrual cycle. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 1986;24(1):31-38. PubMed 3708868
  5. Ecochard R, Leiva R, Bouchard T, et al. Use of urinary pregnanediol 3-glucuronide to confirm ovulation. Steroids. 2013;78(10):1035-1040. PubMed 23831784
  6. Leiva R, McNamara-Kilian M, Niezgoda H, et al. Pilot observational prospective cohort study on the use of a novel home-based urinary pregnanediol 3-glucuronide (PDG) test to confirm ovulation when used as adjunct to fertility awareness methods (FAMs) stage 1. BMJ Open. 2019;9(5):e028496. PubMed 31133596
  7. Goldenstein SJ, Bechke EE, Shultz SJ, et al. Salivary estradiol and progesterone across the menstrual cycle: Association and agreement with serum concentrations. Physiol Rep. 2026;14(15):e71026. PubMed 42517231
  8. Mayo Clinic. Bioidentical hormones: Are they safer? Accessed October 2026. Link
  9. Martin KA, Anderson RR, Chang RJ, et al. Evaluation and Treatment of Hirsutism in Premenopausal Women: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2018;103(4):1233-1257. PubMed 29522147
  10. Teede HJ, Tay CT, Laven JJE, et al. Recommendations From the 2023 International Evidence-based Guideline for the Assessment and Management of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2023;108(10):2447-2469. PubMed 37580314
  11. Azziz R, Amiri M, Bril F, et al. Approach to the Patient: Hirsutism. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2025;110(10):e3503-e3519. PubMed 40200552
  12. Teede HJ, Bahri Khomami M, Morman R, et al. Polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome, the new name for polycystic ovary syndrome: a multistep global consensus process. Lancet. 2026;407(10545):2329-2339. PubMed 42119588
  13. Carmina E, Rosato F, Jannì A, et al. Extensive clinical experience: relative prevalence of different androgen excess disorders in 950 women referred because of clinical hyperandrogenism. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2006;91(1):2-6. PubMed 16263820
  14. NHS. Excessive hair growth (hirsutism). Accessed October 2026. Link

This article is for education and is not medical advice. Talk to a doctor about diagnosis and treatment.

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