PAL after Recurrent Losses - come join us!

[ReadynWaiting]

There are so many reasons for losses and I don't feel like MD's acknowledge all of them. I connect more with natural remedies rather than a prescription. I had very low Vit d at my last gyno appt in 2014 so kind of made me think maybe there are other deficiencies causing issues?? Idk, just a thought.

 

[dairymomma]

Quick update-got my hematologist appt date today and while I'm thrilled they got back to me on scheduling so quick (I dropped off my info release form for the referral on Thursday and I got my scheduling letter today.), I'm not so thrilled with the actual appt date. I don't get in to see him until MID APRIL. I know doctors are busy and I'm not his usual patient (he's pediatric hematology and oncology mainly) but seriously? APRIL?!

 

[loeylo]

Oh dear Dairy! I was the same for my first RMC testing appointment - I waited months and all they did was basic bloods and told me I was "probably unlucky" - I was so frustrated!


Just out of curiosity (I'm planning to ttc #2 within the next 6 months - so planning in advance) for those ladies who had RMC before your first rainbow, did you go on to have further losses? And should I start on aspirin, vit d, folic and omega sooner rather than later?

I honestly think miscarriage after a successful pregnancy might be harder than before. I know what the end result could be now!

 

[blueblue]

Dairy, sorry they are making you wait so long x

Loeylo, good luck with #2 x

I found a lump in my breast which doesn't seem to be a blocked duct as it doesn't go with massaging, my GP isn't worried but is automatically sending me to hospital next week to be assessed. I'm sure it's nothing but you always worry. LO has now turned into a breastfeeding demon after not latching for weeks and 10 weeks of it really not working at all so it might be from when I expressed, we had another go after I took the pump back to the hospital x

 

[Squig34]

I hope it's nothing Blue, but glad that you're getting checked out speedily nontheless. Good news that your LO has finally got the breastfeeding knack!

 

[dairymomma]

Loey-I've never had consecutive successful pregnancies so I'm not much help there but I think it's a case of going with your gut. I've tried something new (upping progesterone, different supplements, no treatments, etc.) with each pg and even if it's turned out to be another loss, at least I can cross something else off my list, you know? I will say that Vit D and folate probably can't hurt even if those aren't exactly your issue but it's up to you and what you feel comfortable with.

Blue-my sister had a lump on the edge of her breast/near her armpit that would not go away no matter what she did. She tried massaging it and using heat packs thinking it was mastitis or blocked duct because it hurt a little bit when she'd touch it but after a few weeks without change, she went in for it. Her dr wasn't concerned but sent her for an ultrasound to get a better picture of what was going on. Turns out it was a large milk duct that got a bit more prominent because she was nursing. FX the same is true for you. Also, check your bras. My sis also got mastitis like 4 times while nursing her 2nd son because part of her nursing bra was putting too much pressure on one of her breasts and the flare-ups always started with a lump that would gradually turn into a hot, hard, extremely SORE boob.

 

[loeylo]

Blue - I know a few people who have had the same and been sent to the breast clinic for a scan. I had bad health anxiety at one point and I'm sure I read somewhere that 9/10 breast lumps are benign and they are particularly common when breastfeeding. Well done for facing up to it and getting it checked out!

Dairy - I added vitamin d to my regime after my second loss, along with taking extra folic acid (not folate though) - my third pregnancy was ectopic so unrelated to my previous losses, my fourth pregnancy I did the same and that's how I got wee Gracie!

I genuinely think that my issue lies with carrying boys. My mums aunt had a stillborn boy and several miscarriages, her only surviving children are girls. My mum lost three pregnancies before me, one of the pregnancies were twin boys, then she had two consecutive pregnancies which resulted in healthy girls, then she had another miscarriage after my sister. My mums sister had two miscarriages and only has girls.

The only testing I haven't had is chromosome testing, so I think there may be something there. Which is annoying as if that is the case then its just down to luck if I conceive a boy or girl!

 

[InVivoVeritas]

Ready, how are you doing now? Hope the beta and progesterone levels were some reassurance.

Dairy, that's a long time to wait! Any chance you can ring and ask to be put on a cancellation list?

Loey, my issue turned out to be progesterone deficiencey so once I had that sorted out I had three consecutive successful pregnancies. Only when my eggs started to get old did I start to have losses again. I seem to have a harder time carrying boys too -- I've spotted in both my boy pregnancies but neither of my girl ones. With spotting this time it will be interesting to see if the pattern holds true.

Blue, my sister had a lump in her breast and it turned out to be a cyst. Her consultant told her that if it's smooth and feels free-floating then it's likely to be a cyst but if the edges are uneven and it seems anchored to the tissue underneath then that's more worrying. Sending good thoughts that your appointment puts your mind at rest.

Me, I'm back to being cautiously optimistic. I haven't had any more spotting since I upped my progesterone and nausea is finally starting to kick in. It's still going to be a long wait until my scan on the 5th.

 

[ReadynWaiting]

Ready, how are you doing now? Hope the beta and progesterone levels were some reassurance.

I had repeat draws that aren't looking good.
14dpo 177
16dpo 271
18dpo 283
I'm frustrated and upset and tired of this happening. The one good thing is I'm going to see the specialist on Thursday so hopefully I begin to figure out what is happening. I've also booked an appt with a naturopath who specializes in fertility issues. I feel hope again and hopefully there is light at the end of this tunnel!
I wish all of you the best of luck and pray that you get to hold your rainbows at the end of this.

 

[blueblue]

Loeylo - a friend cousin's had similar issue with carrying girls - she was told she couldn't, I'm not sure what the exact reason was and she now has two boys x

In Vivo - hope the time until your scan goes quickly x

Ready - I'm sorry the test results aren't looking good, hoping everything will be ok and that you will get some answers from naturopath x

Thanks ladies for the reassurance. Really hoping it's nothing to worry about and it's just a blocked duct. It feels smooth but I'm not sure whether it moves or not.

 

[InVivoVeritas]

Ready, I'm so sorry that the numbers weren't what you wanted them to be. I'm glad you're feeling hope, though. Fingers crossed that the specialist, or the naturopath, unearths some sort of answers.

 

[NDH]

Has anyone had RPL with no diagnoses made and so no treatments and still gone on to have a successful pregnancy? Last year in all of my research I thought maybe the issue was due to Natural killer cells or some kind of autoimmune issue.

I had 4 losses back to back beginning in November 2014. The first was a MMC I discovered at 10 weeks, and the others were a type of chemical pregnancy I suppose. hCG didn't rise high enough for anything to develop, but lingered for weeks three times giving me symptoms and positive tests, but I never had bloodwork done (my choice) so didn't know what was going on.

Basic bloodwork came back with no answers, but I explored some possibilities with a naturopath - MTHFR or an autoimmune condition being high possibilities. My Dr would not do more in depth testing though as I already have two children so she determined it "bad luck".
My naturopath had me go gluten free and work on a gut-healing regimen in case of an autoimmune condition, and had me on some herbs as well. I also self-prescribed baby aspirin, changed my prenatal to one with folate vs folic acid in case of MTHFR and got a natural progesterone cream. I started these changes after my third loss but conceived and lost a fourth pregnancy, but I don't think any of the changes I made would have had time to make a difference yet.

After my 4th loss I met an acupuncturist, who without knowing any of my history, was speaking about the number of pregnancies she has treated where hCG was not rising much, or even plateauing in the first couple weeks and after just one treatment surprised Drs by suddenly shooting up normally and progressing into a normal, healthy pregnancy.

I was going to see her for some pre-conception treatments and take a break for a few months to let my body have a chance to recover but had yet another surprise fast pregnancy instead. I started seeing the acupuncturist a couple days later at the first chance I could get in, and saw her weekly until 13 weeks when I switched to monthly. She said I had lots of blockages in my uterus (specifically disruptions in my kidney qi, which relates to reproductive organs), which lined up with my main theory of an autoimmune condition causing clotting issues in my uterus, in addition to saying some other things that agreed with what my naturopath had told me.

So I have no idea what was really going on with my losses, or what, if anything, that I did differently this time worked, but here I am a 32 weeks with the smoothest, uncomplicated pregnancy I've had yet. Whether or not the acupuncture did anything I will definitely be going for all my future pregnancies if for no other reason than the way it has helped keep my moods even and my alleviated my anxieties.

Ready, how are you doing now? Hope the beta and progesterone levels were some reassurance.

I had repeat draws that aren't looking good.
14dpo 177
16dpo 271
18dpo 283
I'm frustrated and upset and tired of this happening. The one good thing is I'm going to see the specialist on Thursday so hopefully I begin to figure out what is happening. I've also booked an appt with a naturopath who specializes in fertility issues. I feel hope again and hopefully there is light at the end of this tunnel!
I wish all of you the best of luck and pray that you get to hold your rainbows at the end of this.

I would suggest looking for a fertility acupuncturist too, as per my above comment. It may not look promising but there's still a chance this pregnancy may work out I hope you get some answers either way though - being in limbo is so frustrating.

 

[ReadynWaiting]

Thanks NDH! I have been seeing a chiro (specializes in fertility issues) that also does acupuncture. She did it the week of implantation and then didn't see her last week. I am due to see her Wed. If this pg fails I will def see her weekly if not twice weekly.
Funny you should mention the kidney qi because I self diagnosed myself with kidney yang deficiency last month. I will mention this to both the naturopath and my chiro.
The specialist I am seeing is Chinese so maybe he will connect with Chinese medicine as well.
I have been on again off again gluten/sugar free for a few years but probably since I keep reintroducing it my gut hasn't completely healed. Time to get serious! I am going to be 38 next month and feel like time is running out. I know those in their 40's will laugh at that.

 

[loeylo]

Ready - I don't think anyone would laugh at you feeling that time is running out in your later 30s. I feel the same in my mid/late 20s. My mum went through early menopause and has osteoporosis in her mid 50s despite breastfeeding both her babies (apparently reduces the chance of osteoporosis) - my mum fractured her hip in her 40s, has broke her wrists several times, her legs, has terrible teeth etc and also had recurrent losses so maybe vit d is an issue? I'm rambling but my point is that you are the only one who can cast judgement on these things. I personally plan on having all my kids by 30, I'm 27 in March and want two more, I need at least 18 months between deliveries due to one emergency c section and going to go for elective next two times, which means I need to fall pregnant successfully every 18 months. I have a mental block about trying over 30!

 

[dairymomma]

Ready-I'm 30 and I feel that way too about my age even though I know I've got at least a decade of childbearing years ahead of me. (In fact, my grandmothers both had a baby in their early forties and my mom had my twin brothers at 39 and my youngest brother just a month shy of her 42nd birthday.) As for natural medicine, I def feel there's something there. I've been seeing a naturopath for 7 years and he's continually found hormone imbalance issues and inflammation in my reproductive system as well as imbalances in the parts of the brain that correspond to hormone production (like the pituitary gland) but we've always had to stop my treatments because I unexpectedly fall pregnant again. This time, DH and I have been super duper careful about pg and it's been nearly a year since my last loss so I've had an extra long time to work on my own health. I feel 100 times better mentally than I did a year ago and physically, I'm slowly getting stronger/healthier. I also see an intuitive kinesiologist and she's found the chakra and chi points that coincide with my brain and reproductive systems are continually blocked and my chiropractor has also commented that the bones in my spine that are continually out of place are the ones with nerves running to the reproductive system and my brain as well so it all links back to the same body systems yet none of my doctors-medical or naturopathic-have ever talked to the others so there's no way they could have been trading notes. I'm also considering seeing a chinese medicine/accupressure person too but at this point, I'm kind of like 'one doctor at a time!' because my head is spinning with all the information I've learned in the last six months or so. I'm seeing the hematologist before I start looking into other avenues and then I'll decide where to go from there.

 

[ReadynWaiting]

So my latest readings have led me to hyper/super fertility. This past year every time we have dtd we have got pg. The bfp in June Dh even questioned me about it like I had an affair or something cuz we literally dtd 1 in 3 weeks (rough patch for us) and it was at best 5 days before ov.
There isn't a lot of literature out here on the subject but I'm wondering if anyone has come across this?
I meet with the naturopath tomorrow and specialist thurs so fx'd we get some answers. I had more blood taken today for hcg, should have results in a few hours.
Thanks for all of the support. I really have no one to talk to about this that understands what I'm going through. Dh tries but he really is clueless.

 

[ab75]

I thought that's what was wrong with me ready. anytime I tried to get pregnant I did but staying pregnant was the problem.

Hope your meeting goes well xx

 

[dancareoi]

My consultant diagnosed super fertility as my problem.

Her idea was to make me less fertile by prescribing progesterone. (I was 41 at the time so this worried me!)

The idea being that only viable pregnancies continue, theoretically it will take longer to get pregnant but when you do, odds are it is more likely to be successful.

The first month I took the progesterone I fell pregnant and my rainbow was born 1 week after my 42nd birthday!

 

[ReadynWaiting]

How does the progesterone work in this regard? Was your level in previous pg normal or low? I'm asking because my progesterone levels were great.

 

[dancareoi]

I'm not too sure how it helps. I did have a progesterone test done some months before and it was ok.

I do know I was to take it for 13 days after OV and then take a test. Theoretically you won't bleed whilst taking it (so maybe in that respect it helps the womb lining do its job properly) if not PG I was to stop taking to allow AF and then start the cycle again the following month.

I was PG and was advised to stay on the progesterone to week 17 (date of previous loss) but I was a little nervous about stopping so consultant said. Could continue to 28 weeks.

Really though around 12 weeks is sufficient as this is when the placenta takes over.