Dr Shehata CRP clinic

[Meg310532]

Hi lovely ladies, just looking for some positive stories of going to CRP clinic ? My back story I have had a chemical then a missed miscarriage at 12 weeks ( baby stopped growing at 6 weeks) then another chemical. I went to CRP clinic three weeks ago and spent £3,300 on tests, everything came back normal apart from the Cytoxicity NK cells (activation of Nk Cells in pregnancy state) normal is below 20 percent and mine are at 26 percent. I suppose I’m just concerned is this really the reason for my 3 loses ?! I hope it is and that the treatment plan can be successful ! He’s put me on superovulation, infusion before ovulation then prednisone and infusion then test. Also taking viagra to help with the lining. I’m having this month off as partner is away so starting next month. I’m so worried about the steroids. Also I’m hoping he will be able to help with my lining. Does anyone know what he will do if my lining is thin on scan day? My last clinic I was at did nothing. No wonder it wasn’t successful. CRP seem great so far just expensive !!! Any comments and replies are so so welcomed

Hi @patti436
I’m very sorry, that sucks! It’s hard to look for solutions with out knowing the problem . I don’t know if this will help you, but I can give you my take on doctors in general.
When it comes to choosing a doctor the problem is that if you have symptoms and give them to a neurologist he will look for neurological issues, but give the same symptoms to an endocrinologist and he will look for Endo/hormonal issues.
It’s the same here. Dr Shehata is specialising in immune issues, and that is what he treats. A lot of women have immune issues so he is great for that, I’m not so sure about the rest. For example one of my blood test came back concerning, Dr Shehata has a plan on how to solve it for pregnancy BUT if I wasn’t a reaserch freak I wouldn’t know that I need to make an appointment with an endocrinologist (done for week after next) because pregnancy or not I might be having a thyroid issues for life.
Before CRP I was with a different fertility specialist in Croydon Fertility Center and because I’m 41, she theorised that my 3 chemical losses might have been due to chromosomal abnormalities, so IVF and genetic testing of embryos would be next. I thought to check the immune system first, and if needed then I will proceed with IVF even if I’m getting pregnant and just keep miscarrying early.
I will offer a suggestion, that for you, it’s the other way around and you have now excluded immune issues. Before you proceed trying to fix something that might not be the problem, maybe it would be worthwhile to exclude everything else?
Did you and your partner check the sperm DNA fragmentation?
Optimise lifestyle for egg & sperm quality?
What about the blood test on nutritional deficiencies? For example Dr Shehata doesn’t do ferritin level (iron stores) as standard, I had to ask for it, my one is very low - that can also cause miscarriage.
I know excessive reaserch is horrible thing to do for mental health, but when it’s not going well with doctors there is little choice and you have to be in charge of your health even more than a doctor. I think you should get second opinions from other fertility specialists.

As far as super ovulation - it’s just a slogan.
Its really just ovulation support using Letrozole for the first few days of your cycle to help ensure maturing od eggs and a trigger injection at day 12-14 of your cycle, so there is increased likelihood of ovulation, more precise scheduling of intercourse, therefore increasing likelihood of falling pregnant. It’s also used typically by NHS. Unless finances are of no concern, you might find that CRP is very pricey for something you can get from NHS for free. Don’t get me wrong, CRP is worth the cost if there are immune issues, but if you don’t have any?
If you don’t mind me asking how old are you and your other half?
Maybe IVF and gen testing is a better way in your case?
I hope this was helpful and not upsetting. Let me know if you would like me to send you links to fertility discussions by doctors on youtube that I found helpful.

Time of day, it depends. Vit D is not good at night. Some things should not be taken with tea or coffee. If you want a shortcut list all the things you are taking in Microsoft Copilot and ask it if there are any issues with timing, that thing is really useful!

@AgnesTTC hey darling thanks for checking in. Tested this morning 10dpo and VERY NEGATIVE 🙂‍↕️
I should wait for the period but in the meantime decode if I keep going natural or try Gonal-F (latrozole worked for me but I doubt that has caused me thin endo).
how are you? Xx

@patti436 hi dear! Sorry about ur losses…and I am sorry that meeting Shehata hasn’t been so helpful in terms of responses. i agree with all that Agnes said…however I remember once I met at CRP. a lady that like u had no answers from blood tests and tried immune therapy anyway and she was happily pregnant after 3 or 4 miscarriages…
Take ur time to decide..it’s super hard I know!!! Xx

@Rainbowchaser87 I’m sorry, that does suck! The hoping is exhausting. Considering the two weeks wait stress it a miracle we are not all completely crazy going through this over and over!
Question… are you supposed to check again tomorrow?
I am absolutely not a good example of healthy pregnancy, so maybe it should already show at 10 dpo, but I went back to double check my calendar notes, I only ever tested positive at 13dpo? Granted my hCG never got it to proper numbers but does a negative test at 10 days mean that it is a definite NO for this cycle?

@AgnesTTC I think I will text tomorrow just because I have another test left. I think that if it’s negative at 11dpo max even if pregnant it might not be already a good start. I once tested positive after 1 week of my missed period and that was my first miscarriage.

@AgnesTTC also in case of superovulation if u are negative at 10dpo u are definitely not pregnant cause the trigger shot release hcg so u could have a faint positive line due to the injection and not to the pregnancy.

@Rainbowchaser87I think you are right. Following implantation the hcg should grow rapidly, doubling almost every day, so it should show early. For me it never happened like that, just a week of hovering around the 25 units mark. Still it might be best if you try to test tomorrow even if it might mean a chemical. It’s better to have all the data you possibly can. It’s good to know if you need to focus on conception or implantation. I honestly don’t know anymore if I hate the negative test more than I dread the positive one…

I’m not supposed to try again until July. By then it will mean not trying for 3 cycles, taking me that much closer to 42. This scares me, I’m trying to focus on maximising my health in the meantime. Also I’ve been reading a lot of medical journals and I’m considering a gluten free diet. It seams that non celiacs can often have an undiagnosed gluten sensitivity that leads to inflammation and of course miscarriages.
I’ll ask my endocrinologist on the 16 of June what he thinks about the gluten free diet for inflammation.

By the way ladies: epically fantastic endocrinologist that I can recommend is Dr Abbi Lulsegged. Does not shy away from dual approach of medication and supplements as well as diet interventions. Awesome for PCOS and endometriosis.

@Rainbowchaser87
Thank you, I never had the injection, as always too many eggs, so I didn’t realise! Good to know!

@AgnesTTC thank you! I seriously have PSTD from testing and having my blood tests from all my previous losses as they are never good news😔.. so I generally test once and then try to forget about it and hope for the best… it is taking ages for me to get my period since my miscarriage I hate this waiting time!!I still feel like I have not ovulated yet!!! I guess it gives more time for the Hydroxy to work on my body before trying again… positive attitude!!😂 where are you in the process?

@patti436why te you worried about superovulation? If you are given Letrozole they will start a low dosage and increase slowly so don’t worry too much! I had it so many times and that’s really the drug I don’t mind at all!! The only thing is when you are about ovulate you feel so bloated aroud your ovaries but it goes away as soon as you ovulate! The good thing is it might give you more chance to get pregnant per month!!I am sorry there is no answer to why you are not conceiving I know how tough it is. What weeks were you miscarrying?

@Rainbowchaser87 I am really sorry it didn’t work this cycle. Big hugs!!

@AgnesTTC I really do know how you feel about waiting a few cycles to try… I am 42 so it is getting hard to think that I will be over 43 if anything happened… when to stop as well… that’s the question.. my partner is even older! I am also scared of the health implications that goes with getting older… but if you feel like you are still willing to fight to have a baby go for it! I still think deep down I am not ready to give up.. but Dr shehata protocol is my last chance I will have to accept that is it for me as I can’t afford proper ivf or anything like that.. I am a bit sad that I still miscarried with part of his protocol so adding hydroxy is my last chance …I will properly need therapy to come to term with it though if it doesn’t work 😔

@CarpeDiem75 I’m in the same boat. I want a baby, I’m exhausted emotionally from miscarriages, currently my hopes are up with Dr Shehata. Completely terrified of possibility of having a sick baby due to age complications. I decided to give myself time till end of the year and I hope I can stick to that. Plan B for me might mean therapy, and probably a puppy…
I know it’s anecdotal evidence, but I do know 3 casual friends that had babies at 43 and one at 44. One little boy is 5 years old now, not only healthy but no issues whatsoever behavioural or intellectual. It dose give me a lot of comfort to know that while the chances of something going not right are higher, it doesn’t mean that you won’t have a solid chance of a healthy baby.
Statistically there is a lot of data that supports that after 40 you should be trying for a year. I think it fair to say that is a year of trying when you fixed everything. Maybe it would be worth giving yourself a year with Dr Shehata?

Fair or not the age of the dad has a smaller impact overall, it’s the lifestyle that matters more. I had a chat with my husband and asked him for no alcohol whatsoever, he is already into fitness, so that helps, I’m only having trouble getting him to sleep properly. He was gaming yesterday till 4AM. Some women can’t make the guy give up beer or eat a salad, I can’t make mine sleep like an adult.
We ordered the sperm DNA fragmentation test, just in case. If we get recommendations from that I’ll shear here, but I know sometimes it’s harder getting guys on board with improving their health.
I’ll put some charts here so you can have a look and hope it helps you a bit with anxiety, there is no that much difference between 42 and 43 really, it’s all just classified as over 40 category. And while I would never say to anyone don’t try, you can see that at 45 its pretty much not happening for most women - at least not with your own eggs. The NHS consultant in Croydon mentioned IVF with donor eggs (it is massive £11K) and I’m just not sure if that is a route I even want to consider, but it dose completely solve the age issue.

@AgnesTTCthank you. I have friends too older who had healthy kids so it is doable! lol
is your AMH still high? I had PCO morphology so basically I look like a PCOS but I am not… but as areult I always had too many follicles and a high AMH but with time now it is in the right range as 2 months ago I was at 22. But despite this is good the issue is egg quality 😕 there is always something!
that’s good you have a timeline in mind… I won’t have any more options when my protocol is over so I guess this will be the end of the road for us too.
I know what you mean about partners … mine doesn’t drink much only when goes out once a month or so and we try to be healthy… I probably could cut down on my sugar intake as I have a sweet tooth and love my bread! 🙈so hard!!!

Hello @AgnesTTC
Thank you so much for taking the time to give me such a thorough response, I really appreciate it. At a time when I feel so lost and alone, the kindness of strangers means a lot.
My partner has been in Australia for the last 2 months and had the sperm DNA frag. test there, as recommended by Shehata and they are sending the results directly to CRP. This was a few weeks ago and we haven’t had them yet. I was annoyed though as in my test results meeting when Shehata when we were told there was nothing abnormal with my results, we reminded him we were still waiting on the Sperm DNA, Shehata basically dismissed these results and said he didn’t expect the findings would indicate the reason for 3 MCs. It felt like this opinion was already formed, I was emotional and didn’t get to ask him why, but on reflection - why did we have to do another expensive test if he didn’t feel he needed the results from them? Maybe from previous Sperm Analysis tests he could see nothing was seriously wrong, but why dismiss the Sperm DNA results before we even have them - whilst simultaneously suggesting I still go ahead with immune therapy - when I don’t have any abnormal immune issues...
One of my MCs needed surgical removal and they tested the genetics of the tissue and the results were abnormal chromosomes. At the beginning of Apr I went to the fertility unit at UCLH after a referral from my GP well over a year ago, I’d reached the front of the queue. The gyni I saw there was very sceptical of Shehata and told me I could have IVF on the NHS and pay for PGT which would ensure a genetically normal embryo was transferred and dramatically reduce the risk of MC as that is probably the issue. He also said they would “investigate reasons for recurrent MCs”. I did some blood tests a few days later but haven’t heard anything from them since and it’s impossible to get through to anyone. When I told Shehata this at my first meeting with him, he completely dismissed the NHS approach, firstly said that it would be "uncommon for genetics to be the reason recurrent MC" and then put the fear in me that I would "get into the IVF cycle - run out of freebies from the NHS - end up spending 10-20-30 thousand pounds and keep having MCs”. He also explained about how when you do PGT, you may get results that are “mosaic” (inconclusive) and then you are non the wiser. He had anecdotes of women he's seen that morning "had 2 mosaic and 1 abnormal from her PGT and now doesn't know what to do".. It was a lot to take in, and still is - two completely differing opinions from experts in fertility. Both very persuasive MEN and adamant about their opinions. When you’re vulnerable, heartbroken, desperate - it’s pretty intense and impossible to know what to do.
My husband and I have optimised our lifestyles, take all the supplements (have been on them for almost 3 years now - that alone is a huge expense!), regular acupuncture etc… I’m 36 and my husband 43. I know we have years left of trying if it doesn’t work, but that’s also terrifying, I really don’t think our marriage would survive it - we’re already so strained.
I’ve started having therapy with the NHS fertility unit at UCLH and I’m really grateful for that. We try to process the grief and it’s the only place I can be really open.

Reading the other comments in this thread I’m so sorry for all your losses and pain you’ve endured. I hope Shehata is able to help you, he has such a huge success rate when there are issues that I really do believe in him for that. I’ve two close friends who he treated and their kids are testament to that. So everything crossed for you.
Also anecdotally, I know 3 casual friends who’ve all had their first baby at 44/45/46, the 45yo had 8 failed IVF then tested for NKC and next round was a success. The 46yo had had many rounds of IVF in her late 30s/ early 40s and then gave up - she never expected a baby to come along naturally at 46. But I really hope Shehata’s treatment works for you - and that goes for anyone reading this who’s also going trough it x

@CarpeDiem75 thank you for getting back to me. I guess because Shehata had said "there's an increased risk of multiple pregnancies" with superovulation - so it stuck in my head. But after reading a lot more on here I'm seeing it's not something i should worry about? 2 chemical at 5-6 weeks and 1 MC at 9 weeks - but they said the embryo had stopped growing around 6 weeks.

@patti436 No worries! We’re you able to get pregnant easily naturally? (Sorry if you have said it before!!🙈) if not then you would be like me.. I had one round of letrozole and ended up with 4 mature follicles they didn’t want to trigger me but I pushed for it I was like worst case I will have twins ( never beleived I would get 4!!) and would be fine with it… didn’t even get pregnant at all!!
also Dr S clinic (under the nhs) told me too that my miscarriages (6 that never had heartbeat) would be very unlikely due to abnormal chromosomes as often even with abnormalities foetus can develop a bit further along so the fact my miscarriages were always very early they think it is more to do with my body…But who knows!!

@CarpeDiem75 it wasn't easy to get pregnant, no, so i'm in a similar boat to you. That's interesting about the 4 mature follicles - so in a way, taking the letrozole can have an adverse effect and mean you miss a month of trying if there's too many follicles?

@patti436we did try that month with the four as we are conceiving naturally but I didn’t get pregnant with any! It is pure luck at that stage! But we were not using Preseeds at that point since I do it is a bit easier.

Hi all. I’m currently going through my 7th miscarriage. Yet again we saw a heartbeat at 6 weeks then went for a scan at 9 weeks ans there was no heart beat. Another missed miscarriage. I’m already on clexane and cyclogest & want to use prednisone but my consultant doesn’t belive in NK cells- which I’m convinced is now causing my miscarriages all before 8 weeks. We can’t afford to go to dr shehata as it is so expensive. Does anyone have any spare prednisone they no longer need? Obviously I’d be more than happy to buy them off you? i just feel desperate. I tried the antibiotics from cd1 like I did with my only successful pregnancy and they didn’t work either.

@Sal80 So, so sorry you are going through this horrible experience again.
So, firstly, without knowing if you have already had any tests I cant really comment too much upon the prednisone thing so I just wanted to ask you if you had all other tests for any other issues.
The next thing I want to say, without wanting to sound patronising, is that prednisone is quite strong steroid and isnt a good idea for everyone to try so you really need to get it safely prescribed.

Having said all of this I do, as will all others on here, totally understand your desparation and you may be right, of course re the steroids.
I am wondering if your GP might consider prescribing them for you? They are not expensive and if you Google some of the medical research you will find some persuasive arguments regarding the possible benefits.
Let me know if you need any further info x

@Sal80 hi , I am so sorry about your losses.. I was a bit in the same situation as you as I had lots of losses and couldn’t afford private consultant or clinics. But do you know that Dr Shehate has a nhs recurring miscarriage clinic at Epsom and St Helier Hodpital? You can be referred by your GP there I think even if you are live far from there. They will run the tests for free and they are the only nhs clinic who can prescribe prednisolone or something else depending on your blood test results. Let me know if you need more info about it!

@Sal80 I am so so sorry you are going through this again!! My gosh! I am sending u a big hug!🫂

as @CarpeDiem75 said u can be referred to prof. Shehata by your gp or also to Prof. Quenby in Coventry…they are the best doctors. If u are London based perhaps prof. S works better for you! Usually the referral takes no more than 3 months so shouldn’t be too long or at least that was my experience. Let us know how u are getting on! We are here for u!! 🫂❤️

Thank for the replies. So I’ve had all blood clotting, AMH, thyroid, diabetes etc all normal, I’ve had tissue from the miscarriages sent away for testing- all normal, husbands sperm analysis normal, swabs for underlying infection all normal. I’ve already asked my gp for a referral to dr s and as I’m in wales it goes to the local health board to decide. They decided no as we already have a child and there is absolutely no way we can afford it ourselves. (Incase I haven’t mentioned further up the thread, I had 4 recurrent miscarriages, a successful pregnancy and another 3 since)

@Sal80 i do wonder if you may be right about immune issues. My consultant told me that while most women have an 85 percent chance if a successful pregnancy, my own immune issues, high NK cells, bad cytokine ratio, etc meant that my chances were completely reversed without any medication. It could be that your successful pregnancy was a lucky draw.
I would suggest perhaps contacting Tommy's miscarriage support to explain your situation and it may well be that they can offer some thought as to your next move re immune tests.
Now for my favourite question to people in your situation - and you may find it a strange one - Do you have any known allergies?