Assisted conception after recurrent miscarriage part 5

[Mel3062]

Hope this is right ladies ...

It does make you wonder, doesn't it? So many factors affect us, the slightest change in the smallest of things plays havoc with our cycles. It makes you think, it's such a delicate balance and here we are chucking hard-core drugs at ourselves - I do wonder how much 'they' really understand about what it's all doing to us!

Thanks for asking pebbles .. we're still in limbo over OH's Dad, he's still in hospital, has had several scans and tests and no-one is telling him or the family anything at all! Drives me crazy, there's an 85-year-old man, in hospital, his wife is all alone at home, and they're just not telling him what's going on, what they're finding, what they're going to do next, or anything. OH and his sister have been hounding the nursing staff at the hospital but they're saying they don't know anything elther. Hoping we may get some answers today, but I have to say I'm seriously unimpressed with the level of care.

brown When do you get your FSH results? I know today, but .. soon?

5 minutes, assuming they're back yet. Eeek!

I hope you can get some answers today, ari. That's an awful situation.
Fsh 13.1. They said 'normal, no action'. I suppose they mean by that that I'm not perimenopausal, but it's hardly ideal fertility either!

Well that's not bad brown, and certainly not anywhere near as bad as you had feared, right? Remember even once perimenopausal you still have around 10 years before hitting menopause, so the fact that your FSH is what it is has to be good, yes? :)

Also remember that a lot of places take bugger all notice of FSH these days, citing them as generally unhelpful/irrelevant!

You're right, it could have been a lot worse. I am nearly 43 after all; it's gone up 3.4 points in a year. Nevertheless, this current DHEA + melatonin for a month or two cocktail is going to be my last attempt, I think.

Thanks ladies I'll order that dhea test now!!my progesterone test is back at normal they said but no hcg one yet. Yes I'll continue the meds today as Akville said "At this point as dr Gorgy said we need to have the blood results to determine your pregnancy and then form there he can advise you in regards of further medication and treatment plan. lease let us know tomorrow as soon as you get your blood results"
Still got migraine :(
Brown glad results seem not too bad
No not temped for a whole but will again though can I if on cyclogest??

Would the saliva test be accurate now I've taken dhea for a month? Should I stop that til I've done the test?

It's tricky, I know, but you might as well do it now. If your levels are too high, then you know to stop or reduce it. I don't know how long the DHEA would take to get out of your system, so you might as well do it now.

True thanks brown it's ordered ;)

sue how did you get on with the geneticist yesterday, any news?

Yes it was interesting as in addition to the trisomy 21 (downs) they found a triplication on chromosome 12. The geneticist said that they have never seen this before but said it wouldn't have been a cause for miscarriage. DH and I are both being tested to see if we carry the faulty chromosome 12 gene and if we have passed it on to our dd. They are not sure what it would mean if we have! Apparently when you have karyotyping they only test for the common defects such as downs but they don't do the advanced testing. This new testing has only been available in the last year and is only now being offered to couples with recurrent miscarriage. The previous karyotyping which we had done is completely different. I asked why do we have a perfectly healthy dd if one of us is carrying a defective gene and was told that a baby gets its pairs of chromosomes from both parents but it could be the healthy ones she inherited. There is no way to choose which single chromosome will be naturally selected from the pairs both parents have at this stage (only later with pgd ivf). No good for me with my failure to respond to ivf stimms. Will have to wait 12 weeks for the blood test result but she said we should still TTC as thinks its still probably the killer cells killing the embryos rather than defective chromosomes. Most people carrying downs babies make it to 12 weeks unless there is a problem with the heart etc. I am doing the advanced testing for peace of mind rather than as an answer to recurrent miscarriage.

Was told it was probably the food poisoning I had that ended the pregnancy. The downs was due to my age not a genetic default.

Very interesting, Sue, and a lot to think about. They may well find it was a random mutation presumably, rather than being inherited.
It makes you wonder now that this test is available, whether the field of recurrent miscarriage will change in any way, whether they'll discover any more genetic issues involved or not.
The sister of a friend of mine recently found out that she has the same genetic mutation carried by someone else in their family who has a rare condition. I can't remember the name it but it there are only 3 people in the UK with it. But she is completely 'normal'. Which just shows that even if you inherit a certain genetic fault, it doesn't mean you necessarily have the problems that can be associated with it.
Interesting that Down's babies usually reach 12 weeks too; I saw our baby's heart flickering on and off at 8 plus 4. Maybe she had problems with her heart.

Got my results at last after they didn't test the HCG :/ Luckily done it now. My progesterone is 35.9 so normal and HCG is 3 so def not pregnant! Just awaiting Dr G advice now then hopefully start again albeit abit delayed!! Hope he just tells me to stop the cyclogest early in future!

Sorry to hear that Mel, but at least you know. Cyclogest always holds off a bleed for me for 2 to 3 days so I always stop using it 10dpo so that I get a 12 to 13 day luteal phase - long enough to implant but not too long as I haven't got spare time at my age. If it's not happening I want to get on to the next cycle!
Sue, what was it that you ate that gave you food poisoning? Definitely something to avoid in future. Scary that that can happen to what might have been a healthy pregnancy. I can thoroughly recommend veganism for avoiding food poisoning; I haven't had anything like that in the whole 23 years I've been vegan because you basically don't eat most of the foods that might harbour those bacteria.

Thanks brown yes hoping that's my way forward!

Do you know what this new test is called, Sue?

I don't know what the new test is called apart from being a detailed cgh scan.

I got the food poisoning from a hotel in Scotland. We were there for a funeral and I think it was from eggs at breakfast. The type I had was campylobacteria which normally comes from eggs or chicken. I was eating more if both to up my protein levels! Typical! Plus the eggs I had were cooked well so I was being careful.

I am also waiting for af to arrive, had spotting on Monday but noth

Nothing else since. Got another bfn on Monday so am not pregnant! Weird how a few of us have strange cycles!

Monday is a long time ago, Sue! What dpo are you?
So, just to clarify, did they do this test at the time of your erpc at the same time as the usual test? Or did they go back retrospectively?
Yes, the protein thing is difficult, isn't it? I've read about studies showing you need a high-protein diet for fertility (although didn't I read that Zita West thinks the opposite?) and I eat a low-protein diet. Then the next week you read about this latest study showing that meat, eggs and dairy are definitely bad and you should eat a low-protein diet for general health (which you would have thought should include fertility). And I look back at when I had my DS; I was eating low protein then. I keep thinking of eating more protein but never get round to doing it.
Maybe it boils to this: protein is good when you're building new tissue, as in childhood, and maybe to create eggs, and also in old age, which is what that latest study showed - that it was good in old age, but not in youth or middle age when you've not much need for new tissue and maybe anything superfluous is carcinogenic then.

Sue test again!
I'm abit miffed as all Dr g said was to stop everything it's neg, I knew that wish id just done that! Tried asking whether I should stop cyclogest early next cycle as something's stopped period and she just emailed the same thing!! Maybe I'll email Akville tomorrow or just stop it when I get bfn myself! That's if it is the cyclogest..
What do you think ladies?

As I say, you only need enough Cyclogest to support a decent luteal phase, which is why I do it to 10dpo and if it's negative by then I stop and then have AF about 13dpo. But you might want to do it a little longer considering all the money and effort that's going into the cycle!

Thanks brown I think I'll just do that and hope for the best x

Yep, I'd echo brown on that one mel - I used to test 12dpo and the only pregnancies I've had worth mentioning had lines by then. I think I'd take it to whenever your AF usually starts - 13dpo, 14dpo, whatever it is, and then if test is still neg stop.

The protein issue is very dear to my heart right now! Over on FF (well certainly in the Serum camp) people seem to advocate a higher protein diet in the run up to your cycle to promote a healthy lining. I know being veggie and a non-pulse eater that I don't eat enough protein, and I have just had this borne out in the results of some blood tests my GP ran on me on 13th Feb. She wasn't testing for this, but in the results of a LFT (liver function test) it flagged up I had low alkaline phospatase levels. Dr Google says that this can be indicative of protein deficiency (as well as other possibilities, but the other possibilities I have already got good levels of so I know it's not these). I have been trying to have at least one protein shake a day for the last 3 weeks; protein is what helps to build cells, no matter what age you are, so it makes sense that it would help to form a healthy endometrial lining.

However ... too much protein? How much is too much, and what would you typically have to ingest to be in the 'too much' camp? Ideally of course we'd all have a 'perfect' diet and not have to worry about any of this, but in this day and age the chance to eat a 'perfect' diet is an increasing rarity.

All very interesting!