TTC being overweight!!!

[nicolerl]

Hi all. Sorry for the long post. So we have been TTC for over 18 months with our 2nd child. So we went to the doctors and I was told it was because I am over weight ( I was overweight with dd1) they did the hormone blood test which came back with good results even my doctor was impressed. Now I have been loosing weight but I still have a long way to go before they will refer me to the fertility clinic. I was wondering if anyone actually knows why it is more difficult when over weight to get pregnant? Like I said my hormone levels were excellent and I ovulate every month as I use ovulation strips and they always show 2 lines at the time of the month. I just don't understand what else being over weight would do to make ttc difficult. I don't know about my hubbys fertility as the doctors want to just look into me at the moment. We are both taking Maca root tablets so it should be doing something for him and me. I am truly at my wits end trying to figure out what is going on. Any advice would be most welcome. Thank you in advance loveys

It's a load of shit if your hormones are fine. Being overweight causes problems with hormones but like you say yours are good. Just keep trying!

Fat is a endocrine disrupter. What hormones did your gp actually test? There are MANY that control fertility and your cycle and fat can essentially store them and then release them at the 'wrong' time.

They tested my FSH levels. The did loads of blood tests, but this is the one they used for testing my hormones. Are there other ones they can do then? if there are I will go back and ask for them.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5845358/

This article is really comprehensive if you're interested. If I've understood it correctly they conclude that there's not loads of relevant studies but that even where ovulation appears normal overweight women still have lower than expected fertility and that this could be for a variety of reasons (it gets very, very technical at this point!)

I believe they are also reluctant to refer overweight ladies to fertility clinics because being over weight is also associated with worse outcomes during pregnancy, ie more likelihood of miscarriage, birth defects and Labour complications. So they prefer people to get within a healthy bmi before referring them. I was overweight with my first and was told this by my GP.

Totally anecdotal I know, but just my own experience - took 15 months to conceive my first when my bmi was high (over weight but not obese) and my hormone tests all came back perfect too! I lost 4 stone after having Ds so my bmi was in the lower end of healthy and conceived number 2 first try... might be a coincidence but I think my weight made a huge difference!

Fertility drugs are also less effective (or at least less predictable) when overweight - again because fat is an endocrine disrupters...