Assisted conception after recurrent miscarriage

[duggs1976]

Hey super ovulators and those struggling with infertility after miscarriage this is where we are! Come on over ...

Thanks all :)

I'm all au naturel luckily for me. I've had 3 mc's on Mr S's treatment hence preferring this thread to the Pred thread iykwim... V high NKCs (when tested two years ago) and high TNF alpha but allergic to Humira (that was an interesting if unbearably itchy few weeks last Sept). I am an enigma according to Mr S

Ari fount of all knowledge that you are- should I stop taking Angus castus? I think I should stop and let my hormones do their thing? Also resveratrol is fine in pregnancy isn't it? I'm sure you said you are/were continuing with it? Sorry to ask - I know its appalling timing to be asking you stuff like this... x

With the agnus castus, I think Ari has previously said that she doesn't like the idea of pulling the plug on the hormones that your body has just got used to. Of course officially the answer is to stop it, which is what Mr S would definitely say, but I suppose it depends on whether you think low progesterone has been an issue for you. If you got a BFP on 13/14dpo that suggests you have a nice long luteal phase and probably don't need it. If I were you I'd stop it, but that's just me, and isn't the resveratrol an antioxidant? You can't alter the quality of the egg you've just conceived with, so again, no more need for it, I think.
I continued to take l-arginine in my last but one pregnancy as it increases blood flow and I thought that would help develop the placenta/aid implantation, even though Louise told me to stop. I don't regret that as the reason for my miscarriage was Down's so it I don't think it did any harm.

Welc

Whoops hit the wrong button!

Welc

Sorry will try again! Wanted to say welcome to Lugs and dirty you have such a long wait on the Nhs. Not sure if you mentioned but have you had any immune testing? Most if us on here have immune issues with high natural killer cells, high tnf-alpha etc.

Whispered congrats to Choccy.

Have you tested today Brown?

choccy The jury seems to be out on agnus castus. For all bar this last miscarriage I stopped it cold turkey, although I was worried about doing that as it stimulates progesterone creation and I was worried if I stopped taking it my progesterone level would fall - and perhaps trigger a miscarriage, I didn't know. On doing copious reading around at the time, I found several women who had carried on taking it right throughout the first trimester then stopped, because they were worried about the same thing. This time around I thought bugger it and asked Penny's advice, and she said it was perfectly fine to carry on taking it. So I did.

Resveratrol - well, that's another one I researched, and read from Dr Braverman the following (amongst other things) - "Resveratrol has potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Resveratrol also suppresses TNF-alpha." So I decided to keep on taking it, at least to the end of the first trimester again (not that I ever get that far). But I think at the end of the day it has to be your choice m'dear - only you can know what you feel to be best for your body. It appears unlikely to do any harm, I would say - but it has to be your choice!

brown How are you doing?

Yey choccy!! Brown how are you doing? Waving to all xx

choccy congrats, are you on any immune treatment or totally au naturale :)

brown any news on the line ???

lugs are you from the BESH thread with your twirling tassles

Thanks Ari thoughts much appreciated.

Oh I'm full of meds. 25pred (and omeprazole) and hydroxy plus pregnacare max, 50mcg vitD3, plus to date resveratrol and agnus castus. Conception is the one bit I can do without help, it's what my body does from then on that's the problem! :)

Thanks everyone; the line has finally gone today and I have some spotting; AF is on her way. It'll be a letrozole month next I think ... or shall it? I can't decide.

choccy let's hope that all will be fine with you with this one. I would like to think one of the old timers will have success as it gives the rest of us hope!

brown sorry to hear the line has gone now. It sounds to me like it didnt implant properly. I am beginning to think the early pregnancy tests cause more distress than a less sensitive one as you might never have known otherwise.

Ari I thought that you only took agnus castus until ovulation or am I wrong? I started taking it a week ago and have noticed much more cm already. Hoping that I will ovulate in the next day or so. Actually sitting in the waiting room of the ivf clinic where I just had the failed cycle to see what they suggest next. They will prob go for cl

Clomid but I will see if I can get letrozole.

Good luck with your appointment Sue.
I think you're right about not implanting properly and I wonder if only taking pred from 4dpo instead of ovulation was to blame, as I had such an early positive, it perhaps wasn't long enough. But then, with my DS I didn't take pred until 4 days after a positive as I hadn't seen Mr S yet.
And yes about the tests; my period will be just a few days late and I might never have known. But I'm so addicted to them! In fact tests of any kind!

brown sorry about the line

sue how did your appointment go

sue No you take AC all month.

brown Sorry about the disappeared line :(. Pred isn't known to help with implantation, is it?, is I wouldn't have thought taking it from 4dpo would be to blame? Trouble is, we all try to find reasons why these things haven't worked - especially me! - but in reality it's probably nothing to do with anything we did or didn't do. Big hugs and hope for the next cycle.

So sorry to hear this brown its awful having hopes dashed its a wonder we all keep so sane :(

Sorry about the line Brown :(

Sorry to hear your line has gone Brown, hope you are feeling ok.

Thanks everyone; I don't feel too bad as it was clear early on that it wasn't going anywhere. And all in all, to have conceived twice in 3.5 months after over two years of infertility is still progress for me. After the low I hit on getting my AMH results, I am in much better place. The thing about infertility is that you have no idea at what stage things are not working. Once you can conceive, you can eliminate a lot of things. And yes, Ari, Mr S told me, during those barren years, that NK cells can prevent implantation.
But you're right; I always try to find a reason. Logically, there has to be a reason, but yes, probably not something within my control.
Could you remind me which agnus castus you use, Ari, as I'm running out and I don't think the one I use is available any more.
Also, if Duggs is lurking, re. the supplements, etc. I forgot to add that I also use oestrogen pessaries in the first half of the cycle now (which they gave me on the NHS to counteract the drying effects of Clomid) and Cyclogest afterwards. This is a recent thing so again may have something to do with the two, albeit short, pregnancies.

I use this one brown www.amazon.co.uk/Natures-Aid-199220-Castus-1000mg/dp/B000GY76FC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1371714954&sr=8-1&keywords=agnus+castus (one a day).

Interesting your comment about using oestrogen and then progesterone - with this IVF cycle I noticed way more CM during the first half before ET and my skin was the clearest it's been in a very long time. I put that down to the oestrogen supplements, and it does make me wonder if my own natural oestrogen isn't just too low now? It was very low when it E2/LH/FSH was tested Apr '12, does make me wonder if there's something there.

Good to hear you're feeling positive brown, it's amazing how we as a group are such a strong bunch of ladies.

Thanks Ari; yes, I've been long convinced I need more oestrogen, although strictly speaking my levels were fine when tested (101 pre-DHEA, 160 while on it). What were yours?
I think I impressed my NHS consultant with my positivity; when we got our karyotyping results he started all serious but soon realised that I was feeling quite optimistic all in all. And he made me another appointment for 3 months as if he really wanted to find out what would happen next with this kind of attitude. And of course, next time I'll be able to tell him I conceived again. Just a shame I never seem to have anything to show for it!

... Although my optimism about conceiving isn't matched by optimism about my DS's glands. He had a blood test, which is all clear, but he's now got an ultrasound of them on Tuesday. I've just terrified myself by feeling the dominant one in his neck, which is the size of a large butter bean, and he isn't ill and hasn't been for ages, so there's no need for his glands to be up, let alone of that size.

Have just say through my lunch listening to girl at work saying how amazing her pregnancy has been with no problems and how she loves it!! Must be amazing to just think oh let's try for a baby, get pregnant 3mths later and than sail through it all.! Had to mumble something and walk away in the end...

Anyway hope you all enjoy the sunny weekend.