Trying to conceive over 40

[October1979]

Here is a new thread for us girls

Hi @Honey2 I hope you are ok. I actually have heard that 75% MC statistic for all pregnancies for women of all ages... not just for women aged 41. So not depressing at all!
What I find frustrating is the days and days of waiting. I'm practically CD1 so a long wait again (btw thanks @Portlandia xxx but pretty sure I'm out this month).
It helps to post here and share the frustration with you all!

Thanks for posting the information @Honey2, it's very appreciated. I'm sitting here at 4+4 just waiting for blood to appear. I am taking baby aspirin but wonder if I could get some progesterone too to cover all bases. I'll chase up my consultant tomorrow but wondering if I can get some myself!?

@Honey2 also what dose of folic acid did he suggest?

@Lastyearttc he prescribed 5mg folic acid. Not sure if you can buy that over the counter or if it needs to be prescribed. As for the progesterone - you can buy progesterone cream online. I think @Catconfusion and maybe @October1979 are using it? However not sure it’s as strong as the pessaries? For sure I would think it worth asking your Dr if they would prescribe it. The consultant I saw said there is evidence to show it can have a small effect to reduce MC risk. he said there are no negatives to taking it so I might as well.

@birdbybird I thought the statistic was the other way around for women under 40 ie 25% pregs end in MC (so 75% successful)…

Congratulations to all the positives!

Can anyone inform me as to what the progesterone pessaries (and to a lesser extent the progesterone cream) do to prevent miscarriages?

When I was TTC DC2 I had blood tests which revealed a low progesterone (and I'd had a couple of chemicals) so I upped my B vitamins and got a sticky one but I'm a few years older now so possibly need more help!

Where does one put the progesterone cream?

Any over the counter tips also on increasing endometrial lining too?

And final question... what does baby aspirin do? I've tried to research it but not come up with anything substantive yet

Thank you

My consultant when I had my mmc said 80% of all conceptions miscarry. He said try not to fixate on age because conception is a complicated process and women of all ages miscarry.

I’m on progesterone prescribed by my Gp. It’s 1 x 200mg pessary before bed. It helps keep the womb lining thick and healthy so it can nourish the baby. So if you’re low on progesterone sometimes the baby can’t stick. I’m on a really low dose as no evidence I have low progesterone so just a bit of a boost. I’m also very sick and constipated. I can’t help but feel all the progesterone is contributing to this. The plan is if there’s any spotting I’ll up the dose. The recommended to prevent miscarriage is 2 x 200mg twice a day.

The theory with baby aspirin is it increases blood flow to the uterus which in turn helps the baby to be nourished and keeps the environment healthy.

The nurse I saw at the EPAU last week said there’s no evidence for aspirin as far as the nhs are concerned but it won’t hurt to take it. The nhs however are now supporting the use of progesterone. The nurse said they’ll even prescribe it if the GP isn’t on board with it. So @Lastyearttc it might be worth trying to chat with your epau. Xx

I’ve got a prescription for progesterone pessaries once I get a bfp.

Who do I speak to to take this following ovulation and before the bfp? Is that what you did @Catconfusion?

And do I take the baby aspirin throughout the cycle?

@birdbybird I started the progesterone 3 days after ovulation and I got my bfp at 8 dpo so don’t know if it helped speed implantation up. I do wonder if it helped this one stick. I took 75g aspirin throughout my cycle. I hope it works for you xx

Thanks @Catconfusion
Did the doctor or nurse prescribe progesterone for you? Or did you do research and start taking it?

I ask because some years ago I used to apply progesterone cream from ovulation to the end of the cycle.

Thanks for your advice and nudge @Catconfusion, I just called EPU and spoke to the same lovely lady who helped me exactly this time last year through my mmc and surgery.

Anyway, I've going in for hormone bloods later and maybe Friday. She has also booked me a 6 week scan for next Friday too.

I asked about high dose folic acid and she said it's generally prescribed for high bmi (mines very low).
Feel better now I'm doing something proactive rather than waiting for blood to appear!

@Honey2 it's good they've actually given you a thorough check up and rules things out for you, progesterone could be the key too! Seen it work for lots of ladies.

@Lastyearttc I believe that the only progesterone you can get yourself is the natural form in cream which is very low compared to what the docs can get.

@feelingkenty you need progesterone to sustain a pregnancy, it's what keeps the baby in place by keeping the womb lining thick. There are points on the body to put the cream. Drink pomegranate juice to increase the endometrial lining, baby aspirin thins the blood so you get better blood flow to the uterus.

@birdbybird my gp prescribed it two years ago when I had a bfp with ds due to having had two mcs previously. To be fair she was really up on miscarriage but research. I had to fight to get it when ttc this time. I complained when they said no because I’d had it before and I got it.

I’d read the Tommy’s research before so I was aware but my lovely GP suggested it before I mentioned it. It’s such a shame she’s retired now. Ds was perfectly ok so I don’t know it the progesterone helped or not. This time around I made it clear I’d be really anxious if I couldn’t have the progesterone. Xx

@Lastyearttc fantastic your EPAU are doing bloods for you. I hope they look after you until 16 weeks. It makes such a big difference having the monitoring.

I’ve been a little confused about high dose folic acid as quite a few people are taking it. Every time I’ve asked I’ve been told 400 is fine and no reason to take any more. I don’t like taking excess vitamins so I’ve just gone with a good quality prenatal with 400ug of folate in xx

Thanks for the explanations ladies. I'm visiting a city next week so might see what I can find

@Catconfusion the dr told me to take the progesterone pessary after BFP but I’m wondering then if I should go for after ovulation?? Was that what you were advised?

As for aspirin they seem to sit on the fence - for me he said he’d advise not as I’ve had blood tests that rule out any issues and there are some (small) negatives to taking aspirin regularly like stomach ulcers and risk of bleeding. However he did also say but if you decide to take it it’s up to you… so I’d read that as he had to say ‘don’t’ but actually it would not really harm.

@Honey2 I just decided to try it and it stuck. It’s your decision as that’s not what your doctor said. I personally couldn’t see the harm in it. Also after some googling saw that some doctors recommend from just after O.

With the aspirin you will be advised to take it anyway from 12 weeks to help prevent preeclampsia due to age. If the stomach ulcer issue was that much of a risk it wouldn’t be standard nhs advice. My consultant put me on 150mg from 12 weeks with ds so it’s double the dose. I was already on 75mg from my bfp for mc prevention Xx

@Catconfusion thanks 😊

@Lastyearttc how did it go at the EPU with the hormone bloods?

@Honey2 so they were 6732 which is good apparently and progesterone 120, which is also good as they like to see above 40. Went again today for 48hr repeat and need to call in the morning for results. The hope is they have doubled. How are you doing hun? X

@Lastyearttc sounds like a great result. Fingers crossed it’s doubled. Xx

Sounds good @Lastyearttc 🤞 for you. I'm sure things will double. I think I've missed ovulation this month. I was told to wait 2 weeks after miscarriage till cervix closed to avoid infection. Mentally I also wasn't ready. However using opks and Ava think I ovulated on day 11 after miscarriage which is early for me. I thought at the time it might be left over pregnancy hormone that was turning opks to peak. But now not to sure. I hope that wasn't my good egg that I've missed. How long did it take you to ovulate @Honey2? Still no appointment through from miscarriage clinic. I know they said 12 weeks but was hoping for an appointment to put in the diary.

@Lastyearttc how did you get on this morning?

@October1979 I don’t think I ovulated in the month immediately after my miscarriage, I did get a high opk reading but FF never showed ov and I didn’t have a temp rise…. I had a normal period 26 days after my MC bleed and ovulated on my normal day 14, and I got pregnant that cycle! So I hope that give you some info/hope… they do say you are extra fertile after a MC.

I’m having a weird cycle this month. I’m CD9 but I’ve just got a peak reading on opks (2 diff brands) in fact I’ve got the highest LH reading I’ve ever seen?! Reasons it’s weird is I’m pretty regular and always ovulate on CD14. Once in the last 6 months I have ovulated on CD 10. So not totally unheard of. I guess I just need to get on the case!! Hope DH not too tired after work 😂 I hope this is ovulation as I’ll cut 4 days off my wait!!!

@Catconfusion how is your sickness? Are you managing any better with the medicine?

Hello ladies hope it's OK if I pop on been reading the tread all day, although I'm 38 ttc number 1 have had 4 miscarriages and 1 cp but the support would be great I'm in the hands of a rmc and got my nxt app on the 15th of Sept for my scan results they told me at scan I have a heart shape uterus but don't know how bad he has said progesterone from a bfp but I'm going to c if I can have them from after ovulation to c if it helps frist 3 pregnancy took a year each time I always seem to fall pregnant in September but last one was Jan I lost at 6 weeks, so being September nxt month I'm hoping it's my lucky month and baby sticks sorry to read all your journeys and congratulations to all the successful stories, is anyone now taking aspirin from ovulation to period.

@Honey2 so far so good thanks for asking. hcg more than doubled and they have moved the scan forward to Tuesday as think they should see something with those numbers. Got a bit of brown cm but trying to ignore it!

@Lastyearttc that’s fantastic news. Doesn’t seem the brown cm is anything to worry about with great numbers. Can I ask where you are in the UK as in my area (south west) they absolutely refuse to do the hormone blood tests. They will only do a scan at 6/7 weeks

@Honey2 I'm in Hampshire. I think it was because of my history as had 3 mcs and under infertility consultant who had already order mc bloods... they just offered it when I called them!?