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Post by mysticmoon on Jun 8, 2012 9:13:14 GMT -5
Hi, everyone. I am new on the forum. Been trying to get pregnant for the past 3 years. 2 years or ovulation management and 6 IUIs. Am estrogen-dominant. 5 months ago I had a laparoscopy and was diagnosed with and treated for endometriosis directly on my ovaries. As of right now, my pain is actually worse than it was before the surgery!! . I've tried all kinds of things to make it better, including a vegan diet for a while. My doctor recommended for me to go back on the pill (birth control) for 2 months, then try IUI again with ovulation management. Has anyone done this?? Was it successful? It feels wrong to go on birth control while I am trying to get pregnant, but my doc says it will help. Am torn... I am 34 and my husband is 40. He has had all the tests done and he is fine.
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Post by Karen on Jun 8, 2012 16:43:10 GMT -5
Welcome to the board! I'd encourage you to post an intro thread so the other girls will pop in and say hello.
I applaud you for trying a vegan diet; however, I'm curious if you eliminated gluten from your diet as well. Gluten, dairy, and sugar seem to be some of the biggest culprits for pelvic pain as they can cause inflammation or/or trigger the immune system. Some women find when they go on the endo diet, their hormones and cycles regulate and can get pregnant. If you haven't attempted going gluten free, I'd recommend it.
As for taking BC to get pregnant, I've heard of it before but I don't recall any specifics off the top of my head. May I ask, what lead you to determining you're estrogen dominant? How long is your luteal phase? When during your cycle do you ovulate? During your lap or otherwise, has it been determined if your tubes are clear? Did your doctor give you a reason as to why she wants to do BC now? What other things have you tried? Sorry for the 20 questions!
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Post by semicolon on Jun 8, 2012 21:25:01 GMT -5
Hi there! I know some fertility docs will put women on BC or other things to regulate their cycle before trying to do IVF. Are your cycles irregular? I have also been trying to get pregnant as well, it is a trying process. Have you had an HSG to check your tubes? I'm sorry you are in pain, that never helps any situation.
Have you tried tracking your temp? It is pretty fascinating! The book in Karen's signature is very informative, Taking Charge of Your Fertility, I realized I didn't know much about what my body was actually doing month to month until I picked that one up!
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Post by mysticmoon on Jun 11, 2012 8:42:40 GMT -5
Hi, ladies! Thanks for your responses. Karen, to answer some of your questions: I had not eliminated gluten in my diet for the first month of my endo diet, but that's my plan for the next month. However I think I will allow some seafood back in for the omega-3s. I had one tube blocked for the first 2 years of trying, until it was "cleared" on my second HSG. My periods are regular, but my cycles are quite short - 20-23 days. I usually ovulate on about day 11. My doctor gave me two reasons for BC. One was that I asked to take a break from all the treatments for a couple of months because the failure every month was causing me a lot of stress. He said by taking BC during that time I will avoid new endo cells growing while I'm on a "break". Also he said it will lower my estrogen so that we can start with a clean slate for the next IUI with ovulation management... I went ahead and started taking it because I just can't think of anything else to do but listen to my doctor... I will definitely try going gluten-free this month although being on BC i may not be able to tell the difference, as it has quite effectively remedied my cramps in the past. In general my treatments were: two HSGs to clear out my tubes, laparoscopy, and I've had a total of 7 IUIs with femara before and prometrium after. Only two IUIs post-surgery so far.
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Post by Karen on Jun 11, 2012 18:23:51 GMT -5
Your short cycles are something to look into a bit more. If you ovulate on day 11 and have 20-23 day cycles, you're ranging from a 9-11 day luteal phase, which means you could be getting your period too soon for things to implant. It sounds like you've tried prometrium after ovulation/IUI - did it ever lengthen your luteal phase?
Another thing to consider is thyroid - have you had your thyroid levels tested? TSH, free T3, and free T4 is a good start. If you've only had TSH tested, you don't have the full picture. Even slightly low thyroid function can significantly impact fertility and/or early miscarriages. Doesn't necessarily address your question about BC and IUI, but food for thought!
As for BC preventing new endo from coming back, that's hit or miss. For some, it really alleviates the symptoms but doesn't prevent the spread of endo, and for some it doesn't alleviate symptoms, and for others, it seems to prevent growth. If you're comfortable going on BC for a few months to give yourself a break for a bit, I say go for it.
Are you familiar with temping and detecting fertility indicators? I'm not TTC, but temping has given me a wealth of knowledge about my body and has allowed me to track and trouble-shoot my cycle's progress - from over a year and a half without ovulation to - just this month - a perfect 14 day luteal phase! It's given me the confidence that my cycles are conducive to making babies, should I ever want to. If you're already up to speed on what your body's doing well and needs help with, I applaud you. If not, I'd recommend the fertility book in my signature - it may make you feel more in control with what's going on and help you trouble-shoot why things aren't working for you yet.
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Post by mysticmoon on Jun 12, 2012 8:24:22 GMT -5
Karen - yes, the prometrium did help lengthen my luteal phase after IUI but nothing "took." And I actually had a physical done just a week ago and my bloodwork all came back within the normal range, including my TSH and T4 levels. Although now that I am looking at the actual numbers, I am definitely on the lower end of "normal." Maybe I should discuss with my endocrinologist. In a weird way, I was actually kind of hoping they would find something "wrong" because at least then I would have some sort of answer. I have not done temping, but I have been using ovulation predictor kits followed by ultrasound at the doctor's office to see whether I am ovulating... I will definitely look into getting the book you recommended. I also still feel that I need to go the natural way to try to alleviate my endo symptoms, so I will continue with a modified vegetarian and gluten-free diet and see what happens at the end of these two months... Thanks so much for your responses, it sounds like a have a wealth of knowledge on this subject!!
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Post by Karen on Jun 12, 2012 17:27:54 GMT -5
Hey,
Well, at least you know prometrium helps lengthen your LP! I hope you weren't on a super high dose so you could still function! I know sometimes docs prescribe 200-400 mg and at the higher levels, it can be the equivalent of a tranquilizer!
As for your thyroid levels, I'd encourage you to dig a bit deeper. Had I known a few years ago what I know now, I would have at least pushed for more testing. For 10+ years, I had a normal TSH and the few times my free T4 was tested, it was within normal range, too. But, I finally had a doc that tested my free T3 and that was just barely above normal. I tried a few different thyroid medications and after much failure, finally started on one that did the trick. Just like that, my non-existent cycles went to just about normal in just a few months. Many docs just rely on TSH and/or free T4 as they can give a pretty good indication of thyroid function in a lot of people, but not always. TSH is a hormone produced by the pituitary gland in respond to it's perception of thyroid hormone. It's a value that doesn't fluctuate much throughout the day so docs think it's great. However, it can often take a while for the pituitary to recognize a lack of thyroid hormone, signaling it the TSH to raise. Free T4 is just a measure of the inactive form of the thyroid hormone that's available for potential use in the cells. The thought is if there's enough T4 floating around, the body must be able to convert it into the T3 it needs. Free T3 is a measure of the active thyroid hormone available for potential use in the cells. That's the one that really counts. T3 and T4 values fluctuate throughout the day so that's why lots of docs don't use it as often, but if you can test first thing in the morning and consistently test around the same time each time, you should have a pretty good idea.
Sorry for the book... I've done a ton of reading and have been incredibly frustrated by such a lack of understanding of something so simply by docs that don't get it!! I'm not at all implying that's part of your issue, but given your lack of success getting pregnant, it's an easy one to rule out. Unfortunately, I've heard endocrinologists often don't have the best reputation for doing the right thing - they tend to stick to TSH and free T4 since the most heavily prescribed thyroid medication is T4...
TCOYF is such a confidence booster - I hope it's useful to you! They also have a lot of trouble-shooting info in there, too. And I completely agree that the diet changes are a must to see what your body does! You're on the right track - it just may take some work on your end to figure a few other things out. Like I said, I'm not TTC, but I may someday and I want to ensure I know what my body is capable of at that time!
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Post by semicolon on Jun 12, 2012 19:19:35 GMT -5
I can weigh in on temping- I didn't even know what that was a year ago! I am TTC and I know a lot more about my cycle. I am very regular, but now I can pinpoint what day is ovulation and actually know it happened. Ok, that totally sounded like an infomercial, ha!
It sounds like you are on top of things with your health, I hope something works for you. How is your pain, when are you in pain?
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Post by mysticmoon on Jun 13, 2012 8:30:16 GMT -5
Semicolon - my pain typically happens during ovulation, at which point it's about a 4-5 on a scale of 1-10, and of course also with the start of my period, at which point it often gets to a point that I have to stay home from work, in bed in fetal position, with a heating pad, and popping lots of pain meds. Twice I've had to be taking to ER for morphine drip b/c the pain meds just didn't help... So, it's quite disruptive to my life/work. Also, I get anxiety attacks around the same time. It's quite a mess. I am doing lots of research and things on my own, b/c like Karen said, some docs just don't get it or they focus on fixing one "problem" and not taking into account the whole body and how everything is interconnected. I just don't think that there is such a thing as "unexplained infertility" and diseases without reason or cause. There are just doctors who aren't digging deep enough and not taking an integrative approach.
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Post by mysticmoon on Jun 13, 2012 8:33:50 GMT -5
I can't recall what dosage of prometrium I was on, but I do recall being quite tired while on it... so I definitely believe that a high dose would be tranquilizing!!
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