Anyone have lining issues?

[caluna]

Recent scan showed possible adhesions from a D&C I had for a retained placenta after DD's birth. The lining was on the thin side, irregular and without good blood flow :( I was not getting AF which I put down to bf but it seems that it's because the lining is scarred. I've been referred for a hysteroscopy.

Is anyone else going through similar or having problems with thin lining? Wondering if there is anything that I can do in the meantime to support the lining. I'm in the tww and trying to improve blood flow with exercise, not sure what else is good for lining. Be great to hear from anyone else with similar experience.

[Alibaba2]

Hi Caluna,

My friend had this, had the scarring removed by a specialist and fell pg the next cycle. When you have the hysteroscopy, will they remove the scarring at the same time?

Ill see if I can get the name of the specialist in London...

[caluna]

Oh thank you, Alibaba! Glad that worked for your friend :) that's good news! Yes, they will treat at the same time - I have to go to a different clinic in order to have a GA as they said they can't remove the adhesions under local but that means they can do everything at once.

[Bubblegum89]

Hi, I also have scarring on my uterus (or Asherman's Syndrome) I haven't had treatment as of yet so don't know the severity of it yet but it was spotted after a pelvic ultrasound. Is that how they found your adhesions?

I believe that hysteroscopies are the best way to check the severity and I know that depending on the dr, they will go ahead and remove the scar tissue there and then also. Most people insist that for this you have to go private but with only 2 specialists in the whole of the UK and both being private (I think one of them does NHS but there are certain requirements for that) it can become expensive and very time consuming. I'd suggest just really discussing it with whoever does your hysteroscopy and try and get a feel of how experienced they are in removing scar tissue as inexperienced doctors can actually make it worse.

Are you still ttc despite the adhesions? I was still getting periods and have had quite heavy bleeds before whilst I had scarring which is why I think it is so difficult to diagnose. Sorry you're having to go through this, I know how much it sucks. Like life is just kicking you while you're already down :(

[caluna]

Thanks Bubblegum :) yes exactly, I spent months thinking I wasn't ovulating despite positive opks and EWCM, turns out I probably was but just have no lining :(

I only found out about this a few days ago which was after ovulation so technically we are ttc this month as we didn't know not to, although probably no chance. Assume we will have to miss a month for the hysteroscopy/treatment.

I'm a bit shocked that there are only 2 gynaes who can be trusted to remove the adhesions! Do you know who they are or how to find out? I have been given 3 names by my clinic but they are local drs, I don't know their credentials, better look them up!

Yes, mine was spotted on an ultrasound which was looking for ovulation and also looking at the lining as my history suggests lining trauma. Are you going to have a hysteroscopy?

[Bubblegum89]

I think one of the specialists is called Mr Lower and he's based in London, I can't remember the name of the other one. I think that as long as you find a doctor who has has past experience doing adhesion removals, you'll be fine. I was worried as there's no way I could ever afford to go private!

After my ultrasound, the dr didn't even really seem concerned about the scarring which reassured me until I looked up Asherman's Syndrome online! I wasn't referred to a gynaecologist or anything. Just told I might find it hard to conceive or I might not :/ however I didn't tell them I was going to start TTC this year at the time. I'm going to hopefully have a referral to Liverpool Women's for a hysteroscopy as apparently ultrasounds can't really show scar tissue well and so you can't use them to diagnose, only speculate really. There's other procedures like an HSG which checks your tubes aren't blocked but I want to get a hysteroscopy done first so I know what exactly I'm dealing with!

Just to reassure you, I know a girl who is currently about 7-8 months pregnant after being told she couldn't conceive due to being a bit of a hoe bag (lol) and having chlamydia a few times after sleeping around a lot, which scarred her uterus and basically ruined her lining. She's never had any treatment. Also a lady I spoke to on a ttc forum who said she had AS and had two babies without treatment. I'm not advocating not getting treatment obviously! TTC without treatment can cause recurrent miscarriages which require a d&c therefore making things worse although I'm still TTC which I probably shouldn't be. But just know that most women who have adhesions and lining issues will go on to have healthy pregnancies :)

[CordeliaFitzgerald]

Hi caluna
I had Ashermans after a major infection and ERPC. Like you, I was ovulating but didn't have proper periods due to scarring preventing blood flow. I had the scarring removed by Adrian Lower - can't recommend him highly enough!
If you do a search on here for Ashermans, there are some good threads from a few years ago with good advice. There is also a thread about lining issues over in the Infertility section. After my treatment, I tried to improve lining quality with acupuncture and various supplements, also, exercise for blood flow, hot water bottles before ovulation and raspberry leaf tea- not sure how much effect those had but my periods got back to almost normal (still lighter than they were before but good enough!).

[Bubblegum89]

cordelia that's how I developed Asherman's also, through ERPC and a nasty infection afterwards. Have you had any luck ttc since your treatment? Also what were your periods like before treatment if you don't mind me asking? I was told they change straight after AS develops but my bleeding didn't get lighter until about 9-months after (mind you, I got the implant put in at the same time as my procedure was done so I'm a little lost as to what it was that caused my bleeding to be lighter!)

[CordeliaFitzgerald]

It's hard to say what my periods were like, as I was on the pill for 10 years, so my periods were pretty short and light, I never really paid much attention to them. When I stopped the pill, I got pregnant straight away leading to the MMC and ERPC disaster. I then didn't have a proper period at all until the scarring was treated. I do know that the adhesions calcify with time so maybe that could explain yours getting lighter after a few months? Although the implant may also have something to do with it.
After my treatment, I got pregnant pretty quickly. Sadly lost that baby at 13 weeks but nothing to do with the Asherman's so hopeful for when we start TTC again soon. Hope you both get your hysteroscopies soon, only way to put your mind at ease!

[Bubblegum89]

Sorry to hear of your loss :(

The doctor did mention the word "calcification" to me but I have no idea what that means. I googled it (I know, I know) and it said that calcification wasn't as bad as fresh tissue but then I googled again another time and it said calcification is the worst of the worst and a hysterectomy is the only treatment I just had my first proper period off the implant a couple of weeks ago and there was a lot of brown blood (which I expected as a first "clear out" after being on the implant) but I did have medium/heavy red blood as well. I'm hoping that's a good sign. I was actually having a heavy withdrawal bleed the day of my ultrasound as I stopped the pill which I'd been taking after my implant was removed, as I wanted to start ttc. First thing she asked was when I'd last had a bleed and I told her and she said she wouldn't expect me to have another bleed for a couple of weeks but I didn't mention I'd stopped birth control and didn't know I was having the bleed until later on that afternoon. A tiny tiny TINY part of me is hoping that what she saw on the ultrasound was bleeding and not scarring as I believe they can be confused (perhaps why she asked about bleeds first?) but I'm not a particularly lucky person so I very much doubt it!

Good luck with ttc, I hope you get your bfp soon!!

[caluna]

Hi Bubblegum and Alibaba,
Really want to say thank you very much to you both for telling me about the two specialists who can deal with this - have spent all weekend reading about it! I have an appointment with Dr Lower tomorrow so will soon find out what is going on it there.
Yours sounds positive, Bubblegum, hope things regulate this cycle :)

[Alibaba2]

You're in good hands Caluna. Good luck and keep us posted.