6 miscarriages should I try eating meat.

[Charisgroves32]

I have been vegetarian since I was 14. I started trying to conceive at the beginning of 2018 after I had double jaw surgery as I couldn’t take the pill with my mouth wired shut. We really struggle the last tear I saw a couple of Acupunture ladies who told me I was eating enough protein which looking back I definitely wasn’t. I mainly ate vega and a carb, fruit and a little dairy. Since then I’ve added in eating quinoa most days, lentils, beans, chickpeas peas, edamame, pumpkin seed sunflower seeds and at least an egg each day. When I could out I was pregnant this time I also added in chia seeds and high 5 omega oil every day.
I take pregnacare plus even though it’s not technically vegetarian because the omega 3 capsules are made with fish oil but I hope it would help. I’ve been taking them for at least a year now.

I’m under a miscarriage clinic and had all the normal checks for hormones, thyroid, clotting disorders, immunity issues. I’m under a Gentics team as I was born with a cleft palate as part of Pierre robin sequence but they haven’t found anything in my genes to indicate why I have it or why I might be miscarrying. Basically everyone is at a loss to how to help now as there’s no medical reason to why.

I have put a stone on since my first miscarriage but normally until recently been very active. I’ve tried yoga to help too.

I only thing I can think of trying now is trying meat again. I was going to start eating it after my jaws were fixed as it would be easier to eat but have been scared to put loads of weight on. I was over weight as a teenager when I ate meat. I also don’t really know where to start or if it’s the right thing to do as there’s so much conflicting advice out there about the best. Some say meat is best with bone broth being good and others say go veggie.

What’s worked for you?
Sorry for the rant
Thanks

[Charisgroves32]

Forgot to put carbs use have changed everything to whole grains, brown rice, pasta, bead. I’ve never smoked or taken drugs. I drink at least 2 litres of water a day. Sometime I have a got chocolate and rarely have alcohol. My downfall is chocolate but I’ve stopped eating it as often helped by not going shopping With all that’s going on.

[Matilda128]

Hi @Charisgroves32 I'm so sorry to hear your story with so much loss. I have been struggling with IVF for a year now (infertility much longer) and have had one miscarriage and one failed frozen embryo transfer. I became a vegetarian when I was 10 so that's nearly 30 years ago. You're asking such a difficult question and I myself have wondered if I should start eating meat. What did the miscarriage clinic say about this?
I think you have to be careful with the idea that your recurring miscarriages are down to something you're doing- such as not eating meat or not being healthy enough. For me it's difficult to accept I have no control over the problems I have been having with infertility. But when I became totally obsessed about being healthy, having supplements, exercising and meditating- the quality off my eggs did not improve. In fact, where I had two embryos during my first cycle of IVF- I had none during my second after implementing all the diet changes.
This was despite being anemic during the first round.
So I don't think it matters if you're vegetarian. Of course you need all your nutrients to keep healthy in general. My consultant has advised me to make sure to eat enough protein from different sources and not too much soy (I use some pea and rice protein powder everyday). You probably already checked your B12, Iron and D but it's worth keeping an eye on these. But there is no scientific evidence that vitamin deficiencies (or being a vegetarian) cause miscarriage. Sorry for not being able to give a better answer. Good luck and take care xx

[Charisgroves32]

Thank you for your take on things. Unfortunately the clinic is only doing scans so have to wait until it reopens properly to speak to the consultant as she has been reassigned for now. They know I’m a vegetarian but never had to give them a food diary for them to check to see if I’m getting all the nutrition I need. I had upped my protein intake after seeming a couple of acupuncturists as I struggled to get pregnant to begin with. They both wanted me to eat meat said to try bone broth and liver and salmon. So I upped my veggie protein and started yoga to which is when I got pregnant for first time a month later. I’ve also found out that my sister in law who is a vegetarian too ate fish when she was pregnant. She’s had 3 healthy baby’s. Annoyingly she isn’t a healthy vegetarian she doesn’t like veg and mainly eats carbs. The nurse at the scan could say if it would help or not but said I could try if I wanted.
Yeah I’ve heard about soya not being good but the only soya I eat is edamame beans occasionally. For protein I mainly eat lentils, chickpeas, seeds, quinoa, dairy, eggs most days and beans. I don’t like quorn and things like that plus I don’t want to eat over processed foods. Then fruit and veg I eat the rainbow and mostly eat brown carbs.
I have not been offered tests to check my b12 or anything like that that I know of. After my 3rd miscarriage I had them do a blood test to check anaemia and that kind of thing but all came back fine. My iron level was low but in the normal range but guessing that was because of the miscarriage.
It’s so hard to let things go even though they are mostly out of your control. I have decided that I’m going to stop trying at least until I can see the specialist again. Hopefully I will relax soon. Thank you for listening and telling me your story it helps to hear other people’s experiences.

[Charisgroves32]

Also were you told not to do cardio exercises. There so much conflicting advice on exercise too. I want to loose the weight I have put on but not sure if I should be doing hit workouts like joe wicks. Was thinking about doing it once or 2 a week then the rest of the week have go for walks and do yoga. With the consultant not around I don’t know who else to ask.

[bunhead34]

I don't think it matters, I have a bunch of vegan friends all popping out babies like
It's no bother!

Are you underweight? I think it's important to make sure you're eating enough on a veggie/vegan diet xx

[Charisgroves32]

I’ve always been int the middle of the ideal zone for my height until I started getting pregnant now I’m slightly over weight. I have been really trying to get everything in my diet especially protein but all I have seemed to do is put on a stone and a bit. I think I have been to obsessive maybe and lost.

[Shmabel]

I'm so sorry to hear about your losses. I really don't think it's likely to be your diet, which sounds good. It's very unlikely that it's anything you have control over. I know it's tempting to think otherwise because you're looking for a way to fix it, but be careful not to blame yourself.

That said, without knowing for sure, I can see it's tempting to try anything. I have unexplained infertility and there are many crazy things I've wondered over the years to try and account for it (e.g. i wondered if it had anything to do with my feet always being cold?!) I'm pregnant now after IVF so the mystery goes unsolved. Hopefully you'll manage to have a baby even if you don't get answers. In the mean time, feel free to try anything that isn't too big a sacrifice if it helps you.

[Charisgroves32]

Thank you. I have cold feet most of the time too and a cold person in general I layer up a lot lol. Thank you for sharing your story of hope. I will just have to wait until covid19 is over and things are back to normal and hopefully the consultant will have the next things to try. Until then I need to keep away from google lol.

[Chicasimona]

Hi @charisgrove32, if you look at India most of them are vegetarian and definitely not a dying breed. Being vegetarian doesn't mean you cannot get pregnant but if animal protein helped you to get pregnant maybe you want to incorporate in your diet during pregnancy?
Traditional Chinese medicine likes the warm diet and the vegan diet is classed as cold for our body that's why the acupuncturist is advising to eat meat. But if you are not comfortable with it don't do it. You can add cayenne or ginger to your cooking to keep your body and uterus warm.
I'm a very cold person and the Tcm diet definitely benefited me but didn't get me pregnant. So I guess it is not a miracle cure anyway.
Good luck ladies X

[Pinktruffle]

I'm also a vegetarian who has had a miscarriage and struggles with infertility. My acupuncturist also probed my meat eating, I have been vegetarian for so long, I can't actually imagine eating meat but was willing to give fish a go - however she said protein shakes every day with whole milk was an acceptable substitute which is what I have been doing. I am pregnant now after IVF and at 14 weeks - I did protein shakes throughout my treatment and my pregnancy so far and will continue to do. So your acupuncturist could have mentioned it from a protein potion of view?

[Pinktruffle]

*point of view

[Charisgroves32]

Thank you for your messages. I’ve decided just to dive in and try meat whilst being in lock down as I was going to try it after my jaw surgery but put it off. I have heard about a warm diet and I am a cold person so was making sure I tried warm foods and keeping the uterus warm.

Unfortunately one Acupuncturist was against any dairy, which I ignored. The other lady said to add more seeds like pumpkins and sunflower seeds which I did too

Hopefully once lockdown ends I can see my consultant again and work out a new plan.

[Chicasimona]

Hi @charisgroves32,
My acupuncturist said the same about dairy because these cause damp so depending on your diagnosis you might consider to cut back. I'm reading a book by Randine Lewis: the infertility cure, great book about tcm might give you some answers.
I'm having a phone consultation with my Dr on Tuesday I cannot wait to know what our next step is. Have you rang your clinic in regards appointments?

[Charisgroves32]

That’s interesting to know I will have to have a look through the book.

My consultant is helping with Covid19 patients at the moment so the clinic is closed down for now but I have spoken to her secretary who is going to book at appointment when they can reopen. Hopefully it won’t be too much longer now.