FSH 15, 5 miscarriages-any postive experience or advice

[Starshine1]

Hi, I have just had my fsh back as 15, taken on day 3 of cycle. I have a scan booked for Thursday to look at my follicles and I have also arranged to have my AMH checked.

We are lucky to have a nearly 4 year old DS, but would really love another child. I am not sure if all of the above means we need to be going down the ivf route? We have been ttc for the last 2 years and have had 5 miscarriages, 2 of which we have seen heart beats. I am worried that the reason for the mc is egg quality? Just wondered if anyone had any advice, thank you

I have no experience or advice but just wanted to wish you luck. I think the fsh is quite high, it seems like your body is struggling to ovulate.

Yes that's what I thought. I am using opk and getting positive ovulation and rises in body temp though.
Thank you for the good luck wishes

How old are you?

Yes your fsh is high. This implies you have low ovarian reserve. High fsh means that your body is finding it harder to ovulate as you have lower numbers of eggs left.

However, I'm not sure if there's any link with the miscarriage thing. Sorry to hear of your miscarriages.

Re ivf, high fsh can mean that you won't respond well to the ivf drugs as your body is already pumping out more fsh to ovulate (which is basically the same as the fertility drugs).

However, none of this means that conception is impossible. You can get pregnant with less eggs as it's the quality not the quantity that counts. My fsh was 12 when I was 34. I was told I'd struggle etc etc. I've been pregnant 3 times and had 3 live births since then.

Thanks chatty- that gives me hope! I am 36. didnt ever think this would happen - have been ttc for the last two years.

Did you do anything to lower fsh? I was doing acupuncture and have just restarted that so hoping that helps!

You can't lower it- this would mean that you can suddenly find or make more eggs, and this is impossible.

However- what is possible is that you can improve the egg quality of the eggs you do have. I would focus your attention on that if I were you. Acupuncture can help with this. Also some vitamins, diet changes, less caffeine and booze. You just need to catch one decent one. It's also not impossible that ivf would work- just thaf you might not get many eggs.

Thanks chattycat- did you take any specific vitamins? I have read about wheatgrass and DHEA supplements, which I will try

Wheatgrass is honestly the most disgusting thing you will ever try! I have tried it. Yes.

Dhea is controversial and supposedly can have some bad side effects. It has had good things reported about it though.

The one I'd def try is ubiquinol - i used that before I got pregnant with ds2. It's meant to have v high anti oxidant properties - great for eggs.

Ps I said I'd had 3 live births above- I meant 2! (Typo!)

I don't think the FSH is telling you anything about egg quality, just reserves.

You are clearly getting pregnant at a good rate for you to have had 5 miscarriages. So I'm not sure why IVF would help, unless you've stopped getting pregnant?

Much more importantly, have you had investigations about why you are having recurrent miscarriages?

There will be people here much more up to date with the state of the art on miscarriage treatment, but I want to ask whether you've had your thyroid function checked? TSH needs to be below 2 for pregnancy. And thyroid function is something that often gets fucked by pregnancy number 1.

I am really sorry to hear about all those losses, and wish you very much better luck next time.

Thank chatty- yes have heard of ubiquinol too, but will look into this more.

Output- yes I have had investigations and the consultant I am seeing on Thursday is a miscarriage specialist. Funny as this month was the high fsh and I don't think I am going to ovulate this month- certain I have other months as I track temp and use ovulation predictors. So maybe it's just exceptionally high this month? I know they go by the highest one though.

It's been six months since the last miscarriage, which is the longest I have gone without conceiving. Thanks for your comments and wishes output

Make sure they do check your thyroid. Mid 30s and post first baby is often when it starts to wane.

I had IVF for dc1. When we went back to the Lister for dc2 they had started testing everyone's thyroid function. Mine was off and once fixed, I got pregnant without IVF. (I also need blood thinners to stay pregnant, which I'm sure they'll test you for.)

Good luck.

Hi ladies, and hope your appointment went well Starshine?

Output, just wanted to ask you about TSH/thyroid. My TSH result came back as 2.03 mIU/L which looks like it's in range according to results sheet. Just wondering abt needing TSH under 2. Is that for results in mIU/L or something different? Thank you!

Hi Clara, I'm no expert but I think the units of measurement will be the same. I have no idea whether 2 on the head is fine for pregnancy or not. Unfortunately I found that both GPs and obstericians were often clueless about the need for TSH to be lower for pregnancy than the acceptable levels otherwise. Who did your testing? Have you any access to someone who would be able to give better advice?

Sorry, should also have said that starting your own thread might work. I only found out via brilliant advice here and then got signed up to the thyroid clinic at UCH for my last 2 pregnancies.

Thank you output, will look into it more... The gynae dr I'm under hasn't made any comment on it but will ask again..

Hi Starshine

I have never been pregnant so cannot imagine how 5 miscarriages feel. I have however been reading a lot about how to improve my chances, we have been TTC for over 3 years with no luck. I have found good reviews about fertility acupuncture and amazing reviews about fertility massage (I am in the process of booking with auramama). A lady called Clare Blake designed the fertility massage with shamanic wrap to help people who have fertility issues and miscarriages, they also have counselling alongside. I am going to try everything I can to get my body into the best shape should I get the holy grail of NHS funded ivf.

I have also looked into Ayurveda treatment and there is a known treatment called Shatavari which is apparently used to clean the womb to help women conceive and not suffer miscarriages

AS-L

Hi ladies, good you have your thyroid result Clara- I am pretty sure they prefer TSH to be under 2 for pregnancy, but not an expert.

So my AMH came back as 1.9. Am actually now starting to believe we won't have another one and after two years, trying to focus on other things- for the first time I actually feel motivated at work!

Thanks anisl- 3 years is a long time- have they looked into if there is any reason? Thanks for your advice I will have a look into the fertility massage. I do already do the acupuncture and if anything, it's really helped with relaxation and given me some me time!

Hi

I spoke to the lady who performs the fertility massage and she told me that it's specifically designed to help with blocked tubes, scar tissue build up etc within the womb. It's helped quite a number of women.

In my research I have found that the IVF clinics with the higher success rates, the difference between them and those with lower rates is the extra holistic therapies they offer their patients.

3 years is long and the whole process trying to get anywhere with the NHS has been an uphill struggle. I asked my GP at the end of last year, my blood tests for 21 day happened in January and I have just had my FSH/LH blood test and US abdominal at the end of this month. My DH we were told is recently is azoospermic. So we know his has fertility issues, not sure about me yet. My gynaecologist was quite happy in telling us that there's no way we can get NHS funded as I am 36 and that doesn't meet their criteria.

I hope that the holistic approach will help

AS-L

Hi, I am sorry to know about yr losses. From what I know egg quality can't be the reason of mcs. There are lots of other reasons why a woman might experience pregnancy loss: poor sperm quality, genetics (IVF with PGS NGS might solve that), unhealthy life style or stress, immune issues, and others. I would recommend you see a doc to do additional tests to find out more about the reasons. Good luck

I'm really sorry about your loses. I'd try immune testing (often a cause of miscarriage) and keep on trying naturally. I don't think you'll be able to qualify for IVF given the FSH. I do think there's some hope naturally if possible immune issues get addressed as you seem to get pregnant very easily just don't stay pregnant. It's probably not down to the eggs being rubbish as at your age half of them are still good (statistically speaking).

Hi starshine,

I am so sorry to hear about your losses. I know what an appalling experience it is to have multiple miscarriages when everybody around you seems to be able to have a second child easily. I can't even imagine how hard it is for people who go through the experience without having a child at all.

I was in the same position as you 4 years ago. A four year old, four miscarriages, 3 of which were missed miscarriages at 12 weeks, and all the numbers against me. I can't remember the figures now because it was a while ago, but my AMH was rubbish, my thyroid didn't work at all and I was pushing 40. My doctor told me that our chances of success were very low indeed.

The thing which changed things for me was going to see Dr Raj Rai privately at St Mary's in London. He did a test not available at that time on the NHS and found that the miscarriages were probably being caused by a genetic defect (MTHFR c677t) which affected my ability to process folic acid and caused blood clots. So when pregnant I had to inject myself with an anti-clotting medicine and take mega doses of folic acid. I had one more miscarriage while on this treatment and at that point gave up hope of managing naturally so decided on egg donation. We had chosen the donor and were about to go ahead when in our final month of ttc naturally I got pregnant and it stayed. My son is a delightful three year old and I am so amazed and grateful every day that we got him.

I hope that there is something in my story that is useful to you. I appreciate how lucky we were because I know that on paper our chances of having a second baby were minimal. Very very best of luck in your journey.

Hi Starshine

My closest friend, who is now 42, suffered 5 miscarriages, her first was when she was 35. Before the miscarriages the doctor told her she could not conceive naturally. After the 5th miscarriage, she decided that they would give it one more shot. She now has beautiful son and a beautiful daughter (who she conceived at age 40), there's hope.

I agree that you should have a immunology test done and look into it further

AniSL