IF Testing & Treatment w/o June 5

britters314

This is a place for those of us who have already started TTC, but have started infertility testing and/or treatments. You can express your thoughts, feelings, and frustrations on infertility. TTC can be a long journey naturally, then add in the difficulties associated with infertility, and it becomes a whole new ballgame. The road to infertility can be lonely, frustrating, and complicated, so let's make this a place where we can vent, ask questions, and support one another. Feel free to resurrect this thread at any point in the week if you have something to say. Treat this as an ongoing conversation.

Diagnosis (if you've been):

Status (TI/ICI/IUI/IVF/FET/benched):

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?):

How are things going?:

Any questions?:

GTKY: Who was your first celebrity crush?

britters314

Diagnosis (if you've been): Unexplained

Status (TI/ICI/IUI/IVF/FET/benched): Natural cycle plus acupuncture 

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?): H is still doing acupuncture weekly. My first appointment is Thursday and I’ll be going weekly too.

How are things going?: I’m feeling hopeful about trying something new 

Any questions?: Nope

GTKY: Who was your first celebrity crush?
The earliest celebrity crush I can remember (not counting fictional characters) was James Roday (from Psych)

halfanewt

Diagnosis (if you've been): unexplained

Status (TI/ICI/IUI/IVF/FET/benched): trying naturally 

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?): nada. Couple wtf appts, then thinking 

How are things going?: thinking we’ll likely take a ~6 month pause to try on our own and to decide if we want to pursue any further treatment. Have appts with my GP and my RE later this month to see what the options even are. 

Any questions?: Just rhetorical -  why is unexplained such an annoying diagnosis?!

GTKY: Who was your first celebrity crush? I honestly don’t remember, though I can tell you about my first real life crush in great detail 😉

halfanewt

@britters314 ooh, good call on James Roday! Hope acupuncture goes well! 

inthewoods23

@britters314 I'm sure you've mentioned this before, but how is the acupuncture supposed to help you and YH's fertility? Or what's the benefit?

@halfanewt you did a FET last cycle right? What testing have you had done thus far?

Diagnosis (if you've been): immune stuff

Status (TI/ICI/IUI/IVF/FET/benched): benched, but also TI in a TTA way haha

What are you doing this cycle? (Testing? Treatment?): once I get my orders from the RI there will be scheduling a saline sono, a biopsy (probably done at the same time), and lots of lab work.

How are things going?: good now that my consultation has happened!! I'm also feeling really well. The switch to lexapro is clearly showing improvements

Any questions?: nope

GTKY: Who was your first celebrity crush? probably Elijah Wood back when he was Frodo on Lord of the Rings. The funny thing about that is that all my boyfriends before DH were blondes. DH is brunette like Elijah Wood so clearly I have a preference haha.

britters314

@inthewoods23 I'm not sure how much you know about Traditional Chinese Medicine, but basically it treats the whole body in terms of balancing the energies in your body. For example, H was told he has an imbalance of yin and yang (hot and cold) so his acupuncture points are targeted to treat that, rather than anything fertility specific. I've only had a phone consultation so I haven't gotten a diagnosis of what my energy imbalances are, but the acupuncturist said that since we have unexplained infertility and there isn't anything wrong physically or hormonally, it is likely an energy imbalance. And I know it all sounds like it's not legit, but studies have shown that it does work, both for improving fertility naturally and in conjunction with IUI or IVF.

halfanewt

@inthewoods23 have had a whole bunch of testing, but it’s been since 2017. See spoiler for details - TW LC and length! 

I took along time to adjust after going off BC, had some mismanagement of the issue by my GP (I’ve since switched), had some IUIs with questionable timing (said the RE I switched to, anyway) and normal blood work, HSG, saline sono. At the time, DH was on the low end of normal. Rather than keep waiting (had already been 1.5 years) we did IVF, ended up with 5 untested embies. From those, we have two healthy boys, one early miscarriage, one CP, and one failed transfer. So, all within the realm of statistically normal. Yay, statistics? 

Not sure what our next steps are in terms of treatment, or not. Seeing my GP (the new and awesome one) next week, then new RE at the end of the month (because of course mine is out on indefinite leave) to talk options. I assume repeat bloodwork will be run. Basically we’re back in the place of unexplained - no reason why it shouldn’t happen on its own, except that it hasn’t. 

Any tests you’d throw in the mix? I’ll definitely ask about them! 

inthewoods23

@britters314 ah okay! I know acupuncture can be used to help with blood flow to the uterus and stuff like that. But the energy imbalance makes sense too. I wish I could try it but it's not covered under our insurance.

And it's okay. A lot of doctors don't believe the immune system plays any role in our fertility and think reproductive immunology isn't legit but I am proof that it works!

inthewoods23

@halfanewt hmm yeah that all sounds within normal. I wonder if the failed one plus the miscarriages are because they were abnormal. Doesn't help with the unexplained part though.

anniemarie887

*lurking* @inthewoods23 i also don't have acupuncture under my health insurance... but it's like $75 a visit and i use my HSA account for it. i go every 4-6 weeks and have for many years before ttgp. it's a big stress reliever for me! 

britters314

So I had my first acupuncture appointment yesterday. My acupuncturist said it looks like the issue could be that I am not getting enough yang (heat) during my LP. On my charts my temp doesn't stay very high and starts coming down too early. I'll put some of my previous charts in a spoiler box below in case anyone wants to see. It's really annoying because I noticed this pattern when I first started charting years ago and thought it was a potential problem. I brought it up to my OBGYN and the RE that I saw, but they both just dismissed it and didn't even bother to look at my charts. My acupuncturist actually suggested that is potentially the issue without me even bringing it up. So anyway my treatment will be addressing that issue and trying to get my body to have EWCM on the correct days since that's been off the last few months.

Charts: