Struggling with female factor infertility

[SarahLou372]

Thank you

I tried with my pervious partner for 18 months and never conceived, so it worries me about this time. Im currently taking metformin for my PCOS and I had two af's since starting (one starting the last day of may and the other 4th July so 34 days!) But I have missed this cycle im on CD 42! Sounds like im back to square one as far as af is concerned

I have to lose some weight but I don't feel the will power to keep my diet going long enough

 

[Christi85]

Thank you

I tried with my pervious partner for 18 months and never conceived, so it worries me about this time. Im currently taking metformin for my PCOS and I had two af's since starting (one starting the last day of may and the other 4th July so 34 days!) But I have missed this cycle im on CD 42! Sounds like im back to square one as far as af is concerned

I have to lose some weight but I don't feel the will power to keep my diet going long enough

I see. That makes more sense then why you're lurking in the LTTC forum
It's good that you're getting treatment for your PCOS. Hopefully that will help you have more regular cycles and eventually get a sticky bean . Yeah, I can't imagine having such long cycles. I take it that you have already ruled out pregnancy this cycle? Are you going to continue with metformin once you get AF again?

All the best to you and keep us posted on what's happening on your end!

 

[Mikihob]

SarahLou the only way I could keep motivated to lose weight and stay healthy was when I was on birth control. My PCOS symptoms are too powerful, they practically rule my life! Add Clomid and I am a mess. You may need Clomid too. Clomid, especially with Metformin can help you ovulate more/high quality eggs and increase your chances for conception. Are you seeing a doc for fertility currently??

Be warned that some PCOS women do not respond to Clomid. In 2012 I took it for 6 months and didn't respond well- up to 150mg. I started taking Maca Root (as advised by the nurse/midwife in my docs office) and on this 6 month go at Clomid I have ovulated and had a period every month. You might want to give it a try. Mine is a capsule that I take each morning with prenatals, Vit C, Calcium + Vit D and probiotics.

Christi I hear on the "mothers should be more in tune." My mom says things sometimes and I am like, really? She said something once about never being a grandmother. I was thinking to myself "How long have I been trying? Hello?" I don't think they mean any harm, it's just them thinking out loud. But still, it is painful to have to speak the obvious to your MIL. Sigh. Why can't life be easier??

 

[Hatethewait85]

Glad the hpt seems to be getting more faint Christi. I think a 3.5 hr hold is probably plenty. I'll be interested to see what your beta is tomorrow. Hopefully nice and low.

So sorry to hear about your MIL, too. I can't believe she was so inconsiderate. You have every right to be upset about that. I think most people don't truly understand how awful a loss is unless they've been through it themselves so I'm sure it didn't even register to her that reading that e-mail may be difficult. I'm not saying it excuses her behavior at all. She definitely SHOULD have realized that, but sadly it doesn't surprise me. My bff and her hubby kept bringing up their pregnancy and I just wanted to scream do you not realize how hard it is for me to hear about this!!! Anyway, I'm sorry you had to feel that way. Hope you are able to have a nice chat with her about it so she knows for future reference.

SarahLou. Hope the metformin kicks things into gear. Have you tested already to make sure you didn't get a bfp this month? I'm sure it's super hard to get motivated to lose weight. I would start with baby steps- cut one bad habit out, like soda. Add in one new activity, like going for a walk.

 

[Mikihob]

Ladies my 4th IUI was a BFN. Now onto saving money for IVF. I just feel like no matter what I do, I won't get pregnant. I am devastated. It's all my fault. We are using donor sperm cause DH doesn't produce, so with ovulation meds and an ovulation trigger plus a great timed IUI I STILL can't get pregnant. Sigh.

Ok rant over.

Hope you are all doing well!

 

[Christi85]

Back from doctor. He did a physical (moderately painful) and an U/S. The ultrasound showed there were still some blood clots in there, so he prescribed 4 tablets of this medication to take every 6 hours (can't make out his writing, but I think he must have prescribed methegrine or something similar) to cause the uterus to contract and expel all that's left in there, so that I can hopefully stop bleeding. He said it should only be minor contractions and not really painful, but I'm not sure I believe it. Needless to say, I'm terrified to take the drug, even if it's just 4 tablets for a day. I'm scared of excessive bleeding and bad cramping again (like what I had last week), even though the doc said the cramping should only be minor. I haven't gone to pick up the prescription yet. If anyone has any experience with this kind of drug, please let me know. I'm toying with the idea of not taking it at all, but on the other hand, it should do the trick and stop the bleeding after everything that's left is out.

Other than that, he said not to expect a period until my beta is negative, but he also didn't think there was a point in them drawing blood at this point. They gave me a urine test that came back positive (and I had a faint positive again this morning with my HPTs), so he thinks my hormones are probably still high. His instructions was for me to take the drug now and take a pregnancy test again in about 2 weeks. At that point it would hopefully be negative. If not, he wants me to go back and see him again then. I asked him about my travel plans for late September/early October and he said I should be fine by then.
Another annoying part is that we don't know if the clinic who did my D&C sent any tissue to surgical pathology, as my doctor didn't have a report yet. So I need to call the clinic now and ask what they did. My doc said they should have sent something to surgical pathology .

I'm beyond sick with all this. The only reason I chose the D&C was to have everything out asap, and it's beyond frustrating that my life is on hold because of all this.

Mikihob - I'm very sorry for your BFN. Sounded like this month was promising, but you can never know, and don't forget that IUI is basically a glorified version of timed intercourse, so the chances of success are not THAT much higher. IVF will definitely give you much higher chances since any embryos they will put in there will be already fertilized and at least of a decent -if not very good - quality. Big hugs from me

 

[Hatethewait85]

Ladies my 4th IUI was a BFN. Now onto saving money for IVF. I just feel like no matter what I do, I won't get pregnant. I am devastated. It's all my fault. We are using donor sperm cause DH doesn't produce, so with ovulation meds and an ovulation trigger plus a great timed IUI I STILL can't get pregnant. Sigh.

Ok rant over.

Hope you are all doing well!

I'm so sorry you the IUI didn't work. There are so many variables to make a baby it's amazing that anyone ever gets pregnant! Don't beat yourself up though- even with perfect conditions a baby only results 20% of the time. I like what christi said - with IVF you know you're putting in a great embryo. It has much better success rates than IUI. Be kind to yourself this weekend.

Back from doctor. He did a physical (moderately painful) and an U/S. The ultrasound showed there were still some blood clots in there, so he prescribed 4 tablets of this medication to take every 6 hours (can't make out his writing, but I think he must have prescribed methegrine or something similar) to cause the uterus to contract and expel all that's left in there, so that I can hopefully stop bleeding. He said it should only be minor contractions and not really painful, but I'm not sure I believe it. Needless to say, I'm terrified to take the drug, even if it's just 4 tablets for a day. I'm scared of excessive bleeding and bad cramping again (like what I had last week), even though the doc said the cramping should only be minor. I haven't gone to pick up the prescription yet. If anyone has any experience with this kind of drug, please let me know. I'm toying with the idea of not taking it at all, but on the other hand, it should do the trick and stop the bleeding after everything that's left is out.

Other than that, he said not to expect a period until my beta is negative, but he also didn't think there was a point in them drawing blood at this point. They gave me a urine test that came back positive (and I had a faint positive again this morning with my HPTs), so he thinks my hormones are probably still high. His instructions was for me to take the drug now and take a pregnancy test again in about 2 weeks. At that point it would hopefully be negative. If not, he wants me to go back and see him again then. I asked him about my travel plans for late September/early October and he said I should be fine by then.
Another annoying part is that we don't know if the clinic who did my D&C sent any tissue to surgical pathology, as my doctor didn't have a report yet. So I need to call the clinic now and ask what they did. My doc said they should have sent something to surgical pathology .

I'm beyond sick with all this. The only reason I chose the D&C was to have everything out asap, and it's beyond frustrating that my life is on hold because of all this.

Mikihob - I'm very sorry for your BFN. Sounded like this month was promising, but you can never know, and don't forget that IUI is basically a glorified version of timed intercourse, so the chances of success are not THAT much higher. IVF will definitely give you much higher chances since any embryos they will put in there will be already fertilized and at least of a decent -if not very good - quality. Big hugs from me

Sorry I don't have any personal experience with that medication. It's hard to believe any guy when they say anything about uterine cramping 'not hurting' or being 'mild'. What do they know?! I hope he's right though. It would be good to put this behind you sooner rather than later. That's good that he thought you should be fine to travel by the end of September.

How frustrating though about your D&C and not knowing if they sent anything off to pathology. Did you find out anything yet?

 

[slg76]

I took Methergine after my DE. It is to stop the bleeding. I hope your body gets back on track soon! It is so frustrating to have to deal with these things when the pregnancy is over!

 

[Christi85]

Thank you ladies! Let's hope it works. I think I'll start it tomorrow morning and take it over the next 24 hours (one pill every 6 hours, 4 pills total). The only thing that consoles me is that it's only going to be a day, so even if the pain is horrible, it's only a day.

Thanks HtW! I spoke to the nurse of the clinic and she told me that she sent my doc a report this week, so he should get it any day now. She basically said they didn't send anything to surgical pathology because they assessed what they took out post D&C and found it to be exactly what they were expecting to see. In these cases she said they don't send it to surgical pathology, because they assess it to be normal. Whatever! I told her about the methergine and she actually confirmed what I was expecting: she said it's safe to take it if I want to speed things up, but to expect a lot of cramping and to take my Advil with it and I should be fine. I've been reading a lot online (maybe I shouldn't) and there are a lot of women who report horrible cramping on this drug, though I did also find a few who had minor to no cramping. Also, most women seem to have taken it either to induce a missed miscarriage to begin, or right after their D&C. So I wonder if that in itself made it more painful for them. Since I'll only take it for a few small-ish blood clots that are low enough in my uterus, near the cervix (and would probably get expelled on their own anyway) and a whole 2 weeks post D&C, I'm hopeful that my cramping may be tolerable. Last thing I want is land in the ER on a weekend...

Thanks sIg. This drug confuses me. It seems to do both things at once - both expel any remaining blood AND reduce bleeding, which I can't quite wrap my head around as they seem to be contradictory. Did you have much cramping/bleeding while on it? Do you remember how long you took it for and how long it took for it to kick in (and for the symptoms to go away once you stopped it)? Thanks!

 

[Christi85]

Took the Methergine on Saturday. First pill at 10:00am, last one at 4:00am Sunday (yes, I set the alarm ) and laid low the whole weekend in case I had bad pain or a ton of bleeding. It's been more than 24 hours now since my last dose. I don't know if it helped that I took it together with Advil, but the pain was very bearable, though I also got leg cramps, lower back cramps and a bit of stomach upset, but nothing too bad.

I'm a little confused as to how it has worked and how it was supposed to work. My doctor specifically said he was prescribing it to help expel what was left, but as I hear from sIg and other ladies online, it is also used to help stop bleeding. The drug pamphlet I got from the pharmacy also says it is to manage bleeding.
Anyway, my experience so far: I only had two gushes of brown blood (the second one with a small clot) on Saturday night and again on Sunday morning, neither of which was a lot of blood, but that was it. I've been having either just drops or nothing ever since. So naturally, I'm quite confused. I thought I'd give it all of today and maybe even tomorrow, keep an eye on how things are going, and at least call the doctor's office to report what's going on and ask if what I'm experiencing is what was supposed to happen. I'm more than happy with no bleeding, but I was under the impression that the whole point of taking those pills was to temporarily increase the bleeding so that the uterus clears faster

In other news, our friends' baby who was born last week was born 3 weeks premature via C-section (the mother had developed pre-eclampsia) and is in the NICU with high blood sugar levels and his temperature drops every time he is removed from the lamp, so the doctors aren't happy and are keeping him in for as long as it's needed to stabilize him. My MIL saw her friend (the happy grandma) on the weekend, and she told her what was up, so after I found out about all these problems, I felt very bad about being bitchy earlier on...

 

[Mikihob]

Christi did the doc say the blood would increase right away? Maybe it will take a couple days to expel so maybe you will bleed today and then be done. OR, you didn't have as much left as was thought. I am glad that you didn't cramp badly, I was worried.

I hope that your friends baby gets well soon. My eldest step-daughter (who is not my husbands bio daughter and is on the outs with him ) had her first child early due to pre-eclampsia. She is beautiful and growing perfectly. Hopefully your friends baby does the same.

That was nice that your MIL explained to the grandma friend about the delicate situation BUT, she still handled it erroneously earlier. I think you had every right to be mad and vent about how the excited email made you feel. At least now you don't have to be mad at her insensitivity because she made up for it.

Hope everything can get well, stay well and let you move forward.

 

[Christi85]

Christi did the doc say the blood would increase right away? Maybe it will take a couple days to expel so maybe you will bleed today and then be done. OR, you didn't have as much left as was thought. I am glad that you didn't cramp badly, I was worried.

All the doctor said was that he was prescribing the drug to help expel what was left. He didn't say when to expect that to happen and I didn't think to ask Somehow I presumed it would happen while on the medication or very soon afterwards, as it seems to be a medication that gets out of your system fairly quickly. I will definitely give it a couple days to see what happens, but to me it feels like the longer I go without anything happening, the less likely it will be for anything to actually happen. Especially if nothing happens by 48 hours of the last pill (which will be tomorrow morning), at which point I may call the doc just to be sure. Then again, it is confusing because the medication instructions specifically say it is used to 'control bleeding', and I have read online accounts where women were bleeding continuously for several days after their D&C (as I was) and were given this medication which stopped their bleeding. Which is what I am seeing. I'm not complaining at all. I love it that the bleeding has subsided so much (almost stopped) after 2+ weeks of the D&C, I just want to make sure that this is normal and expected. I wonder, is it even possible for the medication to make the clots dissolve and get absorbed by the body instead of getting out?

 

[Hatethewait85]

Good to hear the bleeding has slowed down. Did you call the doc to make sure you responded the way he intended? From my understanding is that it increases uterine contractions but also constricts blood vessels. So the contractions would help you expel any clots or loose blood, but the constricted blood vessels would slow/stop any unnecessary bleeding. That seems to make sense of things (at least in my head) but you are right everything I look at mentions controlling bleeding post-partum.

Sorry to hear about your friends baby. They must be so scared! I hope it all turns out ok. You can't feel bad for your thoughts and feelings before you knew- they did not cause this.

 

[Christi85]

This actually makes more sense . I think I'm responding fine. I actually didn't call the doctor today because I ended up having 2-3 more 'gushes' later on Monday, so I figured things must be 'clearing out'. Today it was much lighter than any previous day and it has turned a bit 'watery' too (sorry TMI). Which I had read online from some other women. So I think I'm on the right path and hopefully it will all clear out within the next few days. It's frustrating and hard to wait, but I keep reminding myself that I was told by the clinic that up to 3-4 weeks of bleeding/spotting post D&C is considered normal. I'm now at 2 1/2 weeks, so still well within limits, and I'm seeing good progress, so that's good.

Other than that, I finally spoke to my acupuncturist today, since I figure I'm now well enough to go back for sessions. I'll be seeing her later this week and she said she'd be able to help me 'get back in order' even if I'm not planning on TTCing again for a while.

I know, I can't imagine having a baby only to find out they were born with health problems and have to take medication and be monitored (not to mention stay away from mommy and daddy) from the get go. I also can't imagine going home without a baby and having to visit your little one in the hospital every day. I too hope that he will get better soon and discharged from the NICU.

 

[Hatethewait85]

Glad that makes sense to you too and that things are heading in the right direction now. Hopefully the bleeding is completely done soon.

Hope you enjoy your first session back at acupuncture. I have found it very helpful to getting my body back in gear. It's good to get your body in the best shape possible even if you aren't ttc right away. That way when you are ready, your body will be ready too.

 

[Christi85]

Sorry I haven't written any updates here lately. The past couple of weeks have been crazy again

After I took the Methergine, the bleeding stopped completely within a few days (but without me expelling much of the leftover blood, which concerned me a little bit). It did give me nasty leg and lower back cramps though, which luckily, acupuncture took care of. Quite incredible, really! I just had one session and I was in quite bad pain. By the end of the acupuncture session I could still feel the cramps, but I was already feeling much better. By the next morning, all cramping was gone and never returned Thumbs up for acupuncture!

I had some more brown spotting about a week after the bleeding had stopped accompanied by light 'period-like' cramping, which lasted a few days, but it seems to have stopped again now. Quite possibly it's all the hormones still settling down, or it might have been 'clearing' all that Methergine didn't clear out initially. And I'm finally getting negative pregnancy tests 4-something weeks post D&C After I last saw my doctor I decided to follow his advice and wait at least 2 weeks to take another pregnancy test. Then the spotting started again, so I decided to take one the next morning. The test sticks I had been using (which had still turned positive 2 weeks post D&C) were now negative - yay!! But I decided to take a Clearblue digital as well to cross-confirm (the one that reads 'Pregnant' or 'Not Pregnant') and that one came out showing 'Pregnant' So I then decided to wait a few more days and I took another Clearblue digital just this morning, since this was the one brand still showing positive. This time I got a 'Not Pregnant' sign which also means, I don't need to see my doctor again for now So now I think I'm finally on the right path to getting back to normal. No period as of yet, but it could take a couple of weeks I think, since I still had positive results (at least from some test brands) up until a few days ago. I only hope it comes in the next 2-3 weeks (even 3 1/2 weeks would still be ok), as I'm traveling in exactly 4 weeks from today and would rather not get my first post D&C period while on my trip, if I could help it.

But oh well - we'll see what happens.

 

[Hatethewait85]

Hey! I was beginning to wonder how you were getting on. So happy to hear you are finally getting negative HPT's!!!! So weird to say that. I hope your period shows up before you leave. I had the same worry with my vacation planned for next week- camping is not a fun time to have AF! But luckily I think AF will be here tomorrow so she should be gone by the time we leave

 

[Christi85]

And...AF is finally here!
Started last night, just a day shy of 6 weeks post D&C
I have to thank acupuncture for that. I'd been having moderate to bad lower abdomen cramps for 2 days and I was getting the icky feeling I get right before I start AF, yet no sign of AF except for some light brown spotting. My temperature was also way down (even though it's been really hot in LA this whole week), so I knew it was time for AF at last. Yet it was a no show for 2 days. Luckily I had my weekly acupuncture appointment yesterday and told my acupuncturist. She did a treatment to encourage the period to start and also to ease my abdominal cramping. Lo and behold, within 3 hours of getting out of her office, I started to bleed And my cramping is mostly gone and the few times I feel it, it's very light
Now my AF is a little weird, but after the many changes and the hormonal ups and downs my body went through in the last couple of months, this is to be expected (my doctor's nurse also warned me that my first AF may be weird and sometimes even the first 2-3 AFs post miscarriage/D&C can be weird, so I'm not too worried). Flow-wise I'd say it's moderate so far and not too far off my usual flow, and unless the flow picks up by day 3 tomorrow (my heaviest flow days are typically days 2&3), I expect it to stay like this and eventually die down in a few days. What's weird about it is that it is more 'watery' and 'runny' than normal, if that makes sense. And any clots I've been passing (all small to moderate size) are also kinda 'runny', more like jelly than solid clots. Sorry for TMI I did some googling and it seems like lots of women have a watery 1-2 AFs post D&C. I don't think it even merits a call to my doctor to ask, unless things do get too weird. Cramping-wise, ever since my acupuncture session, I've been having anything from light to no cramping, which is awesome. As long as it goes on for a few days (I would hope for 4-7 days - my normal AFs would last 6-7 days) and resembles a normal AF, I am going to consider this my first post-D&C cycle
I never thought I'd be so excited for AF to arrive

 

[slg76]

Great news!!!! After my DC it took 111 days to get a period!!! Acupuncture is what finally got mine going too. So glad your body is moving on

 

[Christi85]

Great news!!!! After my DC it took 111 days to get a period!!! Acupuncture is what finally got mine going too. So glad your body is moving on

Wow, close to 4 months? I imagine your nerves while waiting for so long I guess mine was something like 41-42 days (started late in the evening yesterday, some doctors would consider today as CD1, but whatever). I know, isn't acupuncture amazing? I can't believe how much it has helped me in such a short time doing one 45-minute session once a week, even with the 3-week break I took around the time of the D&C and right afterwards.

I may be starting the herbs again soon (I'm on nutritional supplements already for detox, reconstruction of cells etc. but not the actual herbs). My acupuncturist thinks it will give my body a boost if I take them for 1-2 cycles before I start TTCing again. So I'm considering that. I haven't done anything yet, because: a)I wanted to wait for my period and not mess with my already messed up hormones, and b)I happened to speak to another acupuncturist/holistic specialist who is also a family member (but sadly, lives 3 hours away ). From the discussion we had, I realized that my acupuncturist (who has great skills, btw!) is more of an acupuncturist and nutritional specialist than an herbalist. While I need both acupuncture and nutrition/supplement advice and I intend to keep seeing her for my sessions, I also need a real herbal specialist for my herbal treatment. Someone who will mix and make custom herbs for me, based on my individual case. This I haven't had with my acupuncturist, unfortunately. The herbs I took the month I got pregnant were the Blossom/Evergreen line of herbs (different ones for each cycle phase), and while I don't doubt they are good (heck - they helped me get pregnant for the first time in 16 months!), I'm not crazy that they are a one-fomula-fits-all treatment developed by a company with different fertility challenges in mind. I think it's worth trying to get something more specific and tailored to my exact needs and the challenges of my individual body, and my discussion with my relative reinforced this belief. With just a brief talk we had, she thought my problem was a weak 'kidney chi' and offered to have a more in-depth talk and treatment with me and prescribe some custom herbs based on what comes out of that talk. Without charging me for her services of course, since we are family (she's my step mother in-law, my FIL's second wife). She's going to be in LA again from late next week 'till the middle of the week after next, so I've agreed to meet with her (nothing to lose, right?) and see what she suggests for my case herb-wise. Then I'm going to decide which herb path I want to follow, but I'm leaning towards taking custom herbs that I'd know were prescribed for my individual case.