Dr Shehata - inconclusive results

[patti436]

Hello,
I wanted to ask the community if anyone has been to see Dr Shehata and had inconclusive results? This has happened to me and i'm feeling more lost then ever.

I'd love to hear from anyone who's had lots of tests and have found nothing wrong - what did you do?

After 3 pregnancy losses I was feeling so hopeful about going to Dr Shehata, that he would discover what is wrong and fix the problem. (i've had many tests on NHS and private over the last few years, and always came back with the same results - nothing abnormal). I was sure he'd find NKC and immune therapy would be the miracle cure i needed. So my disappointment that he can't find any abnormalities is so deep. I know it sounds weird to want to find a problem, but there clearly is one and I can't fix it until i find it.
He's suggested three options :

1. try naturally with progesterone (i took progesterone with my 2nd pregancy and the doctor said that could have been why i didn't naturally miscarry, i had to have the surgical removal at 10 weeks) - so does progesterone just hold onto pregnancies even if they're not viable?
2. immune therapy - this is his treatment plan. it's expensive and very inconvenient location wise as i don't live near Epsom and it requires frequent visits to the clinic. His reasoning behind this is that I could have an immune issue that hasn't been detected. Has anyone else had this?
3. immune therapy and superovulation to speed up conception. (I'm scared superovulation would result in twins !)

I know Dr Shehata has an excellent reputation, you can't argue with 81% live birth rate after treatment for miscarriages. But it is a business and it's expensive. I don't know why i should do all the immune therapy stuff when i haven't been found to have an immune issue. But then - i want to believe that the immune treatement will help me - but maybe i'm just kidding myself and should see the results for what they are - normal, not requiring treatment. But where does that leave me? I'm so lost and heartbroken. Seriously feel for everyone out there dealing with miscarriage, it's devastating.

Hi, very sorry you’re going through this. I went through similar but didn’t have the NKC tests or choose this doctor (my NHS / private doctors were skeptical about the evidence for the approach - this was many years ago now). Many MCs are not explained. I found Prof Lesley Regan’s book on MCs helpful. It said that odds are good of having DC.

Have you already had the genetic and blood clotting tests? What’s your age?

It’s a v personal decision what to do / not do.

with progesterone (I had this) think it can help if womb lining is an issue but won’t ‘save’ a pregnancy if the MC is for various reasons. I had two (one physically v painful) end of first trimester MC on progesterone and wondered whether it might have prongued things. Then I very luckily had DC2.

I can’t help really as I had problems found through CRP / prof Shehata. I do now have a toddler. I had super ovulation - I don’t think the odds of multiples is high with letrazole (what I had). I did have the full immune protocol, well I think it was called the ‘super complex’ treatment plan, so all the drugs under the sun. I live about an hour away, but am a teacher so time off for appts was very tricky. I have no regrets now of course.

good luck with whatever you decide.

I am so sorry your results weren't helpful, it's a big expense to go through to feel no further forward. Ad someone who did have high NK cells and is on the complex protocol, I absolutely would not be doing it if he hadn't found something. It is expensive and disruptive and there may well be side effects. In terms of where you go from here, there was recently a really good podcast about recurrent miscarriage on 'dont tell me to relax' they mentioned the vaginal microbiome which it might be worth looking into. I have also found acupuncture hugely helpful and nourishing, she gave me a lot of good advice in terms of supplements and lifestyle too. Wishing you lots of good luck.

@Dozer Thank you for responding, i'll look up Prof Lesley Regan's book. We started trying when i was 33 and had 1.5years without any pregnancies. Then the last year and a bit it's been 3 losses. In April I had an appointment at UCLH fertility dept. and they "ran tests for miscarriages" - but i don't even know what tests they did! They took blood and i can see on my portal the results, but I haven't heard anything from them and when i call it just rings and rings, i can't reach a human. They suggested I do IVF (i quality for some free rounds on NHS) with the PGT (that would have to be paid for). As far as i'm aware i'm now just in a waitlist for the IVF and will hear from them when i reach the front of the queue. But i have no indication of when that will be. I am having therapy with the psychologist of the fertility unit there and she says it's just like this, the wait... I don't even know if i want to do the IVF from fear of entering that cycle and it failing, bt it's btter to be in the queue then not is our theory there. My husband has done the sperm DNA fragmentation test but we're still waiting on results. But when we got my results with Shehata and pointed out we were still waiting for my husbands, he basically said it was very unlikely that those results would show it was an issue with the sperm that had caused 3 MCs. Which made me so annoyed that we paid for that test when these seemed to be his thoughts already formed. I don't know why he has this opinion, maybe from results of previous sperm analysis tests(??). When i eventually get through to the UCLH fertility unit i will ask them if the tests they ran included genetic and blood clotting tests. Thanks for your advice. **

@Fletchasketch thank you for your response. I'm a fan of Don't Tell Me To Relax, my acupuncturist is one of Hannah's best friends. The problem is i've done all the lifestyle changes, the acupuncture, the supplements (as has my husband) for coming on 3 years and they don't seem to stop the MCs. I'll think about doing the virginal microbiome tests, but again it's just hundreds of pounds being thrown at something when we just threw over £3.5k at Shehata and got nothing. It's all just so frustrating, and expensive! I'll listen to that though. Thank you x

I hear you, it’s so so much money. I believe the microbiome test is ´only’ £100 and you can do it at home so a bit more palatable. It sounds like you’re doing all the right things and I’ve read stories where women didn’t change anything and had a successful pregnancy after multiple losses.

@Fletchasketch "invivo" was the test i was recommended, it's £200 and then i'd have to have a consultation with that practitioner to go through the results which was £250. So it adds up... I don't trust myself to understand the results so think that's where either way it gets more expensive as you need a professional to help. but I'll research to see if there's someone cheaper :)

Hi, having a copy of all your blood tests is useful. So you know what you have had and if any levels not right.

we started the immune testing process 16 years ago, at a time when nothing could be done on the nhs and treatments such as blood thinners and progesterone were only available privately. I would say we had a long journey to have our family and tests and treatments have changed over the years for us.

we had issues including infertility, early miscarriages, IVf failing. The immune tests threw up some issues and despite having no obvious issues with sperm tests when we went privately for urology discovered there were issues!! such that my DH was prescribed tamoxifen to aid a natural conception!

are there any nearer clinics you can use, based on Dr S not finding any issues, where you can have some of those treatments if you wished to follow them.

the progesterone sounds useful to prevent miscarriage.

Hey @patti436 - I've sent you a private message. I went through the same. x

Just diving in to say I did the £99 Daye (and there’s 20% off code) which showed high Ureaplasma which is linked to infertility and miscarriages, I then got a prescription to doxycycline (about £10) to treat. I did already have a private consultation booked (£125) and got the prescription as part of that, but could have just bought doxycycline from an online pharmacy. Worth a go

@Wisteria25 Thanks - i've just ordered it with the discount code. Seems like you can have a consultation with one of their specialists to go through the results and get prescription if it's needed. Appreciate the recommendation, thank you

Ah that’s good, hope it’s helpful ☺️

That’s poor from the NHS clinic you saw: is there a procedure where you and your GP can complain about you not having received details of your and your H’s tests done and the results?

Hello @patti436, just to say that I got my results back from Dr Shehata last night, and I'm in exactly the same boat: no NK cell abnormalities found, which shocked me.

Am 42, have had six first-trimester losses since 2018 and one living child, who is five. Really not sure where to turn next. I was on progesterone, low-dose aspirin and high-dose folic acid for the last two losses.

hello @TammyinCork , i'm so sorry to hear about your 6 losses and that you're in the same boat re test results, it's super hard to know where to go from here. What are you thinking? Did he suggest you do immune therapy anyway and the super-ovulation? Can you afford to try that?
I went to see my GP and she said that next time I get pregnant if i have an early scan she'd prescribe me the immune therapy drugs that Shehata had suggested, but only after I've had a scan. So i'm praying this happens. I'm also considering IVF though and doing the immune therapy at the same time. I told myself i'd give myself 3 months (June/July/August) to try and if i don't get pregnant (haven't yet) then come September it would be back to the drawing board ... back to Shehata / IVF / not sure what else to try.
Sending hope to you, and here to chat any thoughts through x

Looks like I jumped the gun a bit. NK Cells were normal but my TSH is 2.55, which is on the cusp, and Thyroid Peroxase Antibodies are high at 144. I have read that this can lead to recurrent miscarriage, but still, this is not sky-high? I still wonder if this accounts for the six losses I have had (all around 6-7 weeks gestation). So he has prescribed me thyroxine pre-conception and 25mg prednisolone after ovulation and during pregnancy. Pretty scared of this drug and its potential side effects - I think Amanda Tozer only prescribes it after a positive test. I am speaking to Dr S about the results tomorrow and might get a second opinion about when to take pred. Your plan sounds like a good one... Most GPs would not agree to prescribe this stuff at all for RM, in my experience!