alternative route?

Didn't want to read and run.
I don't have any first hand knowledge but a friend had success with acupuncture. They were taking some time TTC although I think one of the probs may have been related to her cycles being inconsistent. Anyway she had acupuncture and conceived a few months later. She had acupuncture each time they were TTC and have 3 beautiful boys

I got UTD after a mixture of Acupuncture and going to a naturopath (Motherwell.) I had a hard time TTC and with miscarriages that was in the end due to low progesterone.

Hi Kelzie Rose,

Thanks for the positive feedback, it's great to hear. The progesterone thing: I've heard it before. One of the girlr in work was on the natural progesterone and she got pregnant within 3 months.
Her levels were all askew though, and my doctor says mine are the way they should be. So I'm not too sure if that would help me.
I have heard good things about Lisa Houghton (acupuncture) so I'll try and make an appointment and see if I get a good vibe....

I would DEFINITELY recommend acupuncture to anyone, I don't know if I would have got pregnant without it! I had two sessions a week and was also given a tonic in pill form to take to regulate my hormones. Took less than three months after starting to get a positive test.

Hang in there. Sound like the others have some suggestions for you. Just wanted to say we took 3 1/2 years to have our first. Everything was fine on all tests which sort of made it harder because we were told to just keep trying. Anyway in the end a holiday did the trick. Oh I was 38 when we finally had her. Then I wanted to start trying ASAP for number 2 and it only took one cycle after AF returned. I was having an alcohol and coffee free month so wonder if that helped.
Anyway, just wanted to let you know things can work out well. Hope it happens for you soon. Bloody stressful waiting. I could have coped so much better if someone could have looked into the future and said 'you will get UTD but it will be 3 years'. The uncertainty sux.

Hey Metis,

I'd definitely recommend trying the alternative route too. I would never have known there was anything wrong with me either, I have an issue with unexplained miscarriages rather than getting pregnant. If I had not pursued a naturopath (Loula George at Motherwell), I would not have known that I had thyroid antibodies. (See my entry under Troublesome Trying if you wan to see more of my story.)

A naturopath will spend time taking a full medical history, asking about things that you wouldn't even consider may affect your fertility, and send you for tests that regular doctors, and even fertility specialists don't consider. They look at you holistically. Since conceiving and carrying a baby utilises so many different parts of our body, hormones, mineral reserves etc, it's wise for them to lok at the whole picture - not just certain parts of your body or health.

Acupuncture also helps. It's helped me regulate my cycles and temperatures.

I have always had very regular periods, no problems, pain free etc, and so thought they were all good. When I started temping and charting that, it all looked fine too, proper length of the different parts of the cycle etc. However, when the naturopath looked at my temps she showed me how although my temps were roughly in the right places, they were really erratic, hinting at some hormone imbalances and possibly stress or similar affecting them - meaning maybe the egg was not growing properly early on in the cycle, so even though I ovulated at the right time and got Af at the right time, the egg may not have been of a great quality - even though I was getting pregnant easily enough.

So all seemed fine to me on the surface, and the full lot of tests that Fertility Associates gave me came back fine. But a naturopath picked up some possible issues really quickly.

I wish you luck on your journey, and speaking from the perspective of someone who put a huge amount of research, money and effort into getting pregnant (we used a donor), then has experienced 2 heart breaking 'unexplained miscarriages' before consulting a naturopath...I recommend spending the money on doing that as a first step rather than doing it later!

Hi - I've been dealing with Patient Advocates (google for their website) who do natural hormones. My progesterone levels were fine through the doc's bloods but she tested through saliva and they weren't which meant I was experiencing wicked PMS. Hormones helped with that, not UTD but just found out we have serious male factor issues hence why. I have a friend who fell preg with their programme within the first cycle and she has serious endo.
Anyway just thought I'd share my experience. Good luck.