Troublesome trying

Hi again ladies,

Sorry I've been avoiding the forum recently - there are just too many babies around me already.

Red tulip I hope you have met a new GP by now - some ladies I know have recommended that you can self refer to FA and they will assess you to see if you qualify for public funding.

We have had all of our bloods taken at last (I had to wait for a cycle after my miscarriage in April) I had 10 vials taken!! They called later and asked for more too.

Most of the results are back, but we will not be referred to FA for an appointment until the karyotypes are back - apparently they are taking about six weeks at the moment, but thankfully my doctor also mentioned that FA have a short waiting list at the moment of around 2 - 3 weeks.

I talked to my doctor about seeing a naturopath, she didn't seem very supportive but I feel super awkward about seeing a naturopath to see if my problems can be fixed naturally without telling my GP. Does anyone know if FA support natural therapies.

Edited by Mintyfresh

Hi ladies,

I haven't posted on here before, but some of you know me from the other TTC and Miscarriage forums.

Quick overview, I've just turned 35 and had 2 MC in quick succession (less than 5 months apart), I'm gay so we had my wife's brother donate for us. I got pregnant on the first try in Aug 11, then lost the baby at 11w, 5d- had no medical treatment but assessed the baby as having died at 8 weeks. Got pregnant again in Jan, then MC at 12w (bleeding started on 11w, 5d again!), and that was mid Mar 12. We found out that time through an ultrasound after some specks of blood. So I utilised accupuncture and homeopathy to MC naturally. The EPAU clinic of course said they would not investigate till I'd had 3 MC.
Very stressful as my wife is from the Caribbean and it's no easy (or cheap) feat bringing her brother over from there, and stressful as he can only get a 3 mth visa (although we managed to get his last one extended to 5 mths), and his sperm wont freeze / thaw so we can't use the Fertility Assoc as we had planned to for IUI. We can't afford IVF with ICSI at $18k a go!

So now for the long story!!!!

With no obvious reason for the MC's (I'm super duper healthy, do at least 3 mths pre-conception care eg no alcohol, coffee etc, take a zillion pre-natal supplements, accupuncture etc. I also wasn't working so had no stress nor a busy lifestyle, especially with the 2nd pregnancy.

Well had some great news last week - well great news wrapped in kind of an scary wrapping. I'd suspected a possible cause for my MC's after lots of google research (unreliable of course, but our instinct told us we may be onto the right thing). So I consulted a naturopath (Loula George at Motherwell in Mt Eden - who specialises in infertility and MC's), and had a stack of blood tests done. Fertility Associates had flagged before my first pregnancy that I had a potentially low TSH - thyroid. But as I got pregnant easily twice in a row, and then had a TSH test at 10 wks of my first pregnancy which showed up normal. So with the second pregnancy we didn't think about it again. I told my two different midwives about the possible hypothyroidism and alo spoke to my GP about it but none suggested any further monitoring or tests. After the second baby died at 8 weeks, and after the EPAU clinician and my GP said nothing could be looked at till my third MC we started considering the thyroid again. (We figured since the baby had died at 8 weeks, maybe the thyroid levels had returned to normal afterwards and that's why the test at 10wks was fine.) Turns out the brain is developing at 8 weeks, and the brain needs iodine to grow etc...Research indicated that thyroid issues were a top cause for MC at around 5-8 weeks. So we took all the info to Loula. Plus my temping charts etc. She sent me for 17 tests, lots of blood! And my new GP was happy to oblige even though he didn't know what half of them were for :-)

When we got the results back my thyroid is low, but only marginally, but it was the thyroid antibodies that no-one had tested before that were the real problem! They should each be less than 60 and were 500 & 1300. As well as attacking the thyroid, (as I understood her simple way of explaining it to me), they can also reside in the uterus and attack the foetus. I have been reading up and people with thyroid antibodies are shown to be 4x more likely to MC. So we are doing a major detox then starting a treatment programme to try and reduce the antibodies. It's scary to have them, but it's a huge relief to have an idea of what has previously been inexplicable. At least this way we can try and treat and then monitor the situation. She's managed other women with this problem through successful pregnancies, so I'm so much more hopeful.
I'm also a bit pissed off that when I flagged the potential thyroid problem to the medical people, that no one suggested checking my antibodies! A simple blood test showed their levels and even the GP was a bit horrified, even though the regular thyroid tests came back low - normal range.

So the point of this LONG message is...do your research, trust your instinct, consider alternative medicine (especially when combined with proof through blood tests etc as you can monitor the effects of treatment), and specifically if you have any thyroid abnormalities then consider asking for a thyroid antibody test!!!

Here's hoping I can eventually add a success story to these threads :-)

We are now waiting till Oct to try and bring back our lovely donor, to give me time to detox and try and get my antibodies under control.

PS - I'm hardly ever on the internet as I access ohbaby from my iPhone (and frustratingly can't login!), but if you write on here I'll endeavour to go online and answer any questions. But don't think me rude if you reply and I don't respond straight away!

PPS - Mintyfresh - the people at Motherwell have a lot of their clients going through Fert Assoc etc at the same time as they are treating them, so it shouldn't be a problem. I HIGHLY recommend their services.

Hi ladies,

Pepi-bebe - I'm sure that your BFP will come once your donor returns in October - Your news sounds so promising and I can understand the relief you must feel!! Big bonus to be seeing someone who has experience treating other ladies with the same problem - AWESOME!

Minty - great to hear you've had all of your bloods taken - can't believe how much they took! Hopefully your results will give you all the answers you need to carry on toward your huggable bub! AFM - happy you posted, you actually kick started me into some action!! I had a GP recommended by a couple of friends. She is supposed to brilliant. I decided I'd make an appointment but have been finding all sorts of reasons to put it off - think it's just the thought of having to confront the issue? Not sure... Anyway, saw your post and gave myself a kick in the pants lol!! Realised that I'm the only one who can change the situation (DH always right beside me but think hes been a bit lost as to how to help) so phoned and made an appt with her today for Thursday. Just have to put my bad experiences with last GP behind me and be open to any help/advice this new one can offer - so here's hoping the ball will start rolling.
Was actually over in the TWW thread till today when AF arrived, so here's to a new cycle and new start!

Take care ladies and keep me up to date on how your getting on... know what you mean about being surrounded by babies - I have a swarm of them too lol! Sure our turns will come!!...
and thanks Minty, you were just the push I needed   

Hi everyone,
Minty - great to hear from you. New GP was really lovely, said she'd get back to me within 2 days with a referral and ???????!!!! Nothing. Phoned and emailed her to follow up but no go...
So decided to phone FA today and have made an appt for DH and I for (Lucky lol!) Friday 13th July. So silly, should have done so myself ages ago but just thought it better to go thru GP... lesson learnt.
Good on you for giving up smoking... I'm much the same as you, have always started again after loss, although very few. Seems such a shame when I start again seeing as I don't miss it when UTD... such a sh*tty crutch!
Yaye for you making your own products too.. have you googled 'Wendyl Nissen' or 'Green Goddess'? She has some really wonderful receipes for household and personal products. NZer too so all ingredients you can source here.
As far as food goes, I don't always buy organic - but we do eat a heap of veg, fruit, lean meat, pasta and rice. In saying that, we had a pretty awesome vege garden happening for a while and it was great... dead now tho'!...should get that going again.
Can I ask why you've cut your sugar intake? I don't use alot but wonder what impact it has?
Wishing you lots of fun times skiing!
   

Hi Minty,

Great to hear you had a good appointment - sounds positive that your specialist has pinpointed your LP and thyroid, what you've been prescribed could make all the difference Interesting to know about vitamin B too - didn't know it was linked to mc.

AFM - ended up cancelling our FA appointment as got BFP on the Saturday beforehand. Have 1st scan on the 3rd August but what has helped is that I'm having HCG BT's done weekly to check they're increasing so at least will have a heads-up of how things are going before scan. Last mc I had absolutely no signs things weren't right so was really devastating when I went in for scan as didn't have any idea i'd mc'd.
So just hoping things are going to end differently this time - staying positive and just trying to get more rest. Part of me really wishes that we'd had our appt before getting UTD as maybe there's something I could/should be aware of or something I should be taking... but without time on our sides DH and I thought it best to keep trying anyway. So just trying not to overthink things and see where life will lead us this time.
Really interesting about sugar being a toxin and reducing brain function etc... you're such an interesting lady to chat with!
Would love to keep hearing how you're doing with your specialist - do you have a follow-up to see how the progesterone and thyroxin are going?
Take care x

Hi ladies,

Minty, I've been thinking of you lately and wondering how your baby-quest was going so thought i'd pop in here to find you...
Congratulations!! So lovely to see Speckles ticker! Wishing you a really safe, easy journey until bubs arrives x
Pepi-bebe, also saw that your donor is here! Wishing you and your wife heaps of luck and baby-dust for this cycle

Thanks redtulip. I really hope this is our time! I just had an additional treatment today, a lipoidol flush. It's used for unexplained MC / infertility and women with endo that find it hard to conceive as well. It apparently results in both a hugely increased chance of getting pregnant, better implantation rates, and also may help women with the antibody issues I have. So fingers crossed.
Minty- I'm super excited to see your result too! As well as the anti-thyroid antibodies, I'm also on thyroxine now too as I'm currently hypo-thyroid (the antibodies can make me go from hypo to hyper). So it's nice to see a success story on that!! i hve also cut sugar out, and gluten. plus I've been taking a zillion natural supplements per day for my antibodies, thyroid, and to generally make sure I'm in tip top condition! I hope I can add a success story to this thread too!!!

Yep changing my ticker now :-)