Thread 28, TTC #1 | We may be hormonal giraffes but we don't eat no low fat humous

[Londonjam]

Calling all OPK-ers, Temp-ers, Clomid-ers, Femara-ers, IUI-ers, IVF-ers and anyone else on the TTC #1 Bus.

We've been going a while now so the novelty has worn off and we're slightly battle scarred and bruised in the cervix area. We don't get a lot of baby dust in these here parts, we just keep it legs spread and fingers crossed (LSFX). We love a baby bomb from a prior bus-mate but if we get told to 'just relax and enjoy it' ONE MORE TIME you will get a punch in the face!

Hop on board, post your stats and prepare to be dazzled by the wealth of TTC knowledge we long-timeys have to share...

Key:
HS - have/had sex
GOS - good old shag
ELH - enthusiastic lavatory happenings
LSFX - legs spread, fingers crossed

flash

I also have had an odd cycle this month, and just want to move on to the next.

Simce my mc, my cycle has been ridiculously regular. 30/31 days. ov on cd17/18.

This cycle, i did have some bad stress/anxiety early on which i think has thrown this cycle.
I returned from a work trip on cd14, and immediately opk-ed. It was "medium" so I assumed it was the ramp-up or ramp down. dtd.

opk completely negative cd15/cd16. so think i ovulated early or not at all? no physical symptoms to give clues ..... i.e. no crazy hornyness

anyway..... am now 2 days late. bfn. and pms from hell. Sore boobs have left the building now, so expect AF in the next day or so.

Just having the memories of last year when AF buggered off for 2months due to stress. I really don't want to go back to that.

did i mention i have mega pms? feeling down, and sorry for myself. Also being completely useless at work.

My treat this cycle will be finally giving in and getting my highlights to cover my greys before my birthday next month. Also need to choose the hotel, as I have asked for a weekend away as my birthday present from OH.

Big hugs Flash and Hep ❤️❤️❤️ You're not being insensitive Flash - it's awful enough when your period arrives, let alone the uncertainty of it not properly arriving or your body trying some new trick.

flash you're not being insensitive at all. At the end of the day all we all want is a baby, and anything that stands in your way or makes you worry you won't ever have that is horrible. There are no top trumps for pain and sadness and worry. Sorry to you too hep.

I've booked a private appointment with a recurrent miscarriage clinic, which is going to wipe my savings, but I feel like it's worth it to feel proactive and hopefully get some answers. I wish I could mc naturally now just to get this over with, but really good advice to see if I could get tissue tested so will ask about that.

harriet i thought that after 3 (recorded) mc the nhs should get tissue tested? It is one advantage of the EPRC.

Have you had an EPRC before? if not, please feel free to pm me if you have any questions.

Thanks hep yes sorry - my last post wasn't clear - will ask nhs to test the tissue. The private appt is for testing me - they take 14 vials of blood apparently!

I've just seen that my local hospital offers MVA which is erpc with a local anaesthetic rather than general. I've never had a general before so wondering whether this might be a better option. I'm not squeamish and want the option that will give me fastest recovery and lowest risks. How did you find erpc?

Thank you for being kind about my rambling craziness. I just can't help feeling hopeful even when I try not to. If still nothing, I will test again tomorrow.

Have never had an erpc Harriet but had general anaesthetic for my surgery last year and I was very afraid of it but found it fine. I did take a while to get over the sleepiness of it though, as in days and weeks, not hours.

harriet

I found EPRC so much "nicer" than having the medical (which wasn't successful)

I went to the hospital in the morning, where they did the normal bp and blood tests (assume this may also happen for local?)

after a couple of hours they wheeled me into theatre. I awoke an hour (i think) later. groggy for another hour or two. No discomfort.

I bleed a lot after (completely normal), which was actually oddly nice/reassuring,

They let me go home after i had been to the toilet and had eaten a hospital sandwich

I was a little shakey after.... but i think that was more the procedure than the ga.

I found the ga itself absolutely fine. you black out with the anaestist talking to you. the next thing you know you are coming round. Its not like sleeping where you are dreaming and have any concept of time.

you are not under for very long, so you recover relatively quickly.

i would not want a local.

flash all rambling welcome here

harriet and flash hoping you're both coping alright and sorry you're down in the dumps hep

I've just got my 21 day blood results back. No appointments for the Dr to explain it to me so I'm turning to yous. Progesterone at 20.5 - does this mean I ovulated? Finding conflicting things online. Prolactin at 645, seems very high but Dr wrote at the top of results page 'tell patient all ok'

Any insights?

So sorry you are going through this harriet
Re. Ga I had one for a wisdom tooth removal and it was fine, would def have another, you recover very quickly.

Gaelach I don't know a huge amount about it but I would suggest that is quite low? It could either mean not ovulated or you have but with low progesterone which itself could be problematic. I'm sure when I had mine done it said it needed to be over 20. Mine was 50 with ovulation day of either cd16 or 17.
It could be you had an anovulatory month-did you opk?
I would guess they may want to repeat it?

Gaelach - when I get home I'll check my results for you too. But no clue right now...

Thanks winging and sk1pper. According to my clear blue digital,I did ovulate on Cd16, so my 21 day bloods were at 5dpo, I'm hoping that might be the reason it was a bit low. I'm testing tomorrow, still hanging on to a thread of hope.

Flash I'd take your charts / notes to a Dr and get them to explain why you have all this random spotting and bleeding in the lp. It must be very upsetting; there's nothing worse than ttc and your body not playing ball. How are things now?

Hope you're out of limbo soon Hep

Harriet I don't have much to add to what's been said but I'm thinking of you and wishing you a smooth recovery with answers to this heartache

Gaelach I don't agree with the term "21 day bloods" - 7dpo is what it should be. No idea why doctors think the whole world O's on CD14. Anyway, the number does seem low, I thought it had to be over 30 but I could be wrong. If your bloods weren't taken on/near 7dpo that could explain why. Sorry they haven't gone through the results with you.

Sorry XP there Gaelach.

Alexia yes my plan is to make a note of the past year (!) of ridiculous cycles and get them to sort the hell out. The plus side is the B vits have increased my cycle to at least 28 days for the past two cycles, and given me two 14 day LPs so far.

Which I think also gives me ammunition to say 'Look, this is a hormone issue'. Low progesterone is also associated with ectopic pregnancies, so I want them to take it seriously.

Gaelach sorry the results aren't more conclusive but if they were taken too early, perhaps worth asking for them to be done again? And ask to see another GP if this one won't do it.

Oops, forgot to answer, still no bleeding, boobs still sore. I really don't think I am pregnant, but I would like an end to the limbo.

I can't speak about progesterone but I had a similar prolactin reading and was told by both my GP and my consultant that it was not a big deal at all - very high prolactin (in the thousands+) can be an indicator of something going on with the thyroid (I think?) but at that kind of level, it probably just means you were running a bit late or a bit stressed about the blood tests or worried about getting to work on time.

Flash, I'm sorry that your cycle is so screwed up. I know how frustrating it is and the stopping/starting must be so weird. Am I right that you've got a gynae appointment soon?

Hep, I've had similar stress-induced crazy cycles recently. Sadly, I'm not sure DH is going to buy my argument that I should give up work to focus on TTC but it's what I feel like most of the time.

Harriet, I had a GA for the first time as an adult last year and it was fine. I didn't have any issues recovering from it at all. I was worried about being sick because I was very sick the only time I'd had one before but she gave me something to stop that. Thinking of you

flash you should definitely get it looked at. Obviously I don't know yet but I'm pretty sure I've got low progesterone and that might be (at least part of) the cause of my mcs.

My cycles were regular but longish - 32-34 days with late ovulation and short luteal phase. I get bad cystic acne on the jaw line, crazy sugar cravings and dry skin which are all signs of low progesterone. I also have an underactive thyroid which is linked to low progesterone (and high prolactin) too. Last summer my periods became a lot shorter and lighter than they'd ever been - like 2-3 days instead of 3-5 which is another sign. Kind of pissed off I didn't put all this together earlier as it's easy to treat with cyclogest pessaries.

Hep a weekend a way sounds just what you need/deserve. I'm sorry that your cycle has been messed up too.

Why can't we get what we've been told to expect all our lives "You will have unprotected sex once. You will get pregnant. You will know you are pregnant because your perfectly regular period will not arrive. You will take a test and instantly two lines will turn up. You will spend the next 9 months easily, and healthily growing a perfect baby."

Kathrino yes gynae appointment next Friday. If I feel I am banging my head against a wall I will be paying for private tests I think as I cannot go on like this.

harriet my cycles have been short, with short light periods and a short LP, as well as the spotting. Didn't know that reduced periods could be a sign of low progesterone but goes hand in hand with my slow temp rises after OV as well.

That sounds like a good idea Flash and you have a lot of evidence to show them which is always good to argue your case! That reminds me I had taken this screen shot of this convo on FF for you. It reminded me of you (although I think your temps are fine?). Thought I'd share anyway.

Thanks to everyone posting about HSGs. I think I can safely say we will be trying again next cycle after it.

alexia I totally get what you mean about the professional advice and inconsistency. I kind of feel like I've hit a brick wall with Clomid though. I've asked both consultants and they both said no. I don't feel comfortable with buying it privately, but I also feel like I'm potentially 'missing a trick'. You can't help but feel what if that one thing made my pregnant...

Hello inspector good to see you, your cheeriness always makes me smile. I hope you are doing well?

flash sorry you are still in limbo that must be so frustrating

hep sorry you are struggling, having PMS at work is shit, although sometimes I find the distraction of work helps. I hope you just ovulated early. Are you doing things to keep on top of the stress levels?

harriet sounds like a really sensible thing to do with the miscarriage clinic. You need proper investigation and information to know what's happening and what you can do about it.

gaelach I don't know about the progesterone result, but I also had high prolactin - it was around 600 too I think. The doctor said it wasn't high enough to stop me ovulating and that it was probably stress related. Maybe you could try some yoga or mindfulness / meditation to bring it down? That said I do both of these things and still get stressed! My doctor friend said she considered that the upper end of normal - but still normal. I've just checked my last blood test results and I got 272 this time - so maybe I have calmed down a bit?! It must fluctuate. The scale on my paperwork says normal range is 25 - 629, so yours is barely over.

I'm a bit worried that my AMH is low - the consultant said it was fine - good even, but looking at it now against the scales I'm not sure. It's 29.8 - would anyone consider that low?

Ooo Alexia that does look quite similar to me. I will definitely ask. This poor gynaecologist just thinks he's going to look up my fanjo and boom! The Spanish Inquisition!

Another opinion / experience on Clomid on the 18 month plus thread...

Haha Flash 😂😂

Jam - Yes with male factor (MFI) it's another story and could seem pointless, but a 'boost' to your ovulation and the release of more eggs would up chances slightly. Your DH also has a great count. It's obviously not anything like IVF % wise but I see it as tick boxing - yes we tried it, now we move on. If I was you, after a HSG, I'd want to take Clomid to feel like I tried my best to maximise those months but you've hit a brick wall and won't source it privately so you've done all you could. It's just confusing / annoying how some Drs are more proactive than others.

My DH went to his appointment today and had a long chat with the Dr. He agreed bloods need to be done to rule out a hormonal issue but thinks it's probably more psychological as he doesn't drink or smoke and is fit and healthy. They aren't doing his bloods for another two weeks though zzz so slow!