?'s for anyone who has had RPL testing

cutebride73

I am going to ask my RE about having the RPL blood work done and I have a few questions. 

Who ordered the tests for you?  OB?  RE?  PCP?

Did the bloodwork have to be done on certain days of your cycle?

What all did they test for?

How long did it take to get the results?

Did you have to TTA while you were waiting or did you contiue to TTC? 

Has anyone had the testing and they found nothing as a cause for having so many losses?

Thanks so much for any info you can give me. 

While I do know the cause of my 2nd loss (chromosomal - Trisomy 16) I don't know for the 1st one or this one b/c they are so early.  And I realize that with being 37 my eggs are "older" and so that can cause chromosomal issues.  But, really 3 times in a row?  I mean it just seems to be unlikely that I would be that unlucky 3 times in a row. 

jen629

cutebride73:

I am going to ask my RE about having the RPL blood work done and I have a few questions. 

Who ordered the tests for you?  OB?  RE?  PCP? OB

Did the bloodwork have to be done on certain days of your cycle? I did it when the bleeding from 2nd miscarriage ended

What all did they test for?MTHFR ,Factor 5 ,thyroid.i would have to check the other stuff

How long did it take to get the results?2 weeks

Did you have to TTA while you were waiting or did you contiue to TTC? I had to wait a cycle that time anyway

Has anyone had the testing and they found nothing as a cause for having so many losses? I was diagnosed with 2 copies of Homo MTHFR but they don't think that was the cause of my losses

Thanks so much for any info you can give me. 

While I do know the cause of my 2nd loss (chromosomal - Trisomy 16) I don't know for the 1st one or this one b/c they are so early.  And I realize that with being 37 my eggs are "older" and so that can cause chromosomal issues.  But, really 3 times in a row?  I mean it just seems to be unlikely that I would be that unlucky 3 times in a row. I had 3 losses also  and I always think it is because of my age being 39 but I have no proof

Scout05

TICKER WARNING

Hey hon. I also had an unexplained first loss, and then a Trisomy 16 loss (third loss).

My RE wanted the testing, but my OB ordered it because he was covered by my insurance and she wasn't.

They can take the blood any time in your cycle.

It took three weeks or so to get the results back.

We strictly TTA while waiting, in case they found something that needed more testing, or needed to be addressed while we were TTC (they did, homozygous MTHFR).

In addition to the RPL, we had base line bloodwork drawn on CD3 to test my hormone levels. It turns out I have elevated estrogen, and thus was ovulating eggs that weren't mature enough to produce a healthy pregnancy.

The RE had me try Gonal-F to delay ovulation, monitored the follies, triggered when the follie was the right size. We concieved using timed intercourse, and have been treating the MTHFR the whole time. Thus far, that seems to be the combination that is working for us - this baby is not showing any signs of genetic complications.

Good luck to you.

cutebride73

Thank you so much for your replies. 

Jen - are they doing anything to treat what they found?  MTHFR? 

ambrandau - what are they doing to treat the MTHFR?  I did have the CD 3 b/w before and my TSH was slightly elevated, so I am requesting that be checked again. 

Irachelle - do you have to take anything for having only one copy of MTHFR?  Or is that not supposed to effect anything? 

Thanks again so much. 

shanna82

My OB ordered the RPL for me. She did it right after myy 2 wk checkup after my d&c, so I don't believe it has to be done at a certain point. Also, it's just drawing blood so I'm sure you can TTC. My OB gave us the ok to TTC right before she ordered the test. They took 8 vials of blood but I think it mostly tested for blood clotting and thyroid disorders, but don't quote me on that. It took about 2 wks to get the results. They found out I have hetero c677t mthfr, so I take BA and 4mg of FA. But my new OB says he doesn't believe that has anything to do with my losses.  GL and keep us posted!

grr_aargh

Who ordered the tests for you? OB? RE? PCP?
My OB ordered all of the tests after my third loss, a chemical.

 Did the bloodwork have to be done on certain days of your cycle?
Nope.

What all did they test for? How long did it take to get the results? Did you have to TTA while you were waiting or did you contiue to TTC?
My doc did a clotting panel, thyroid panel,and a fasting blood sugar. We did NOT TTA while we were waiting though, in retrospect, I wish we would have.  All in all it was about 15-17 vials of blood.  Results came in about 2-4 weeks.

Has anyone had the testing and they found nothing as a cause for having so many losses? Thanks so much for any info you can give me.
Me.  They did lots and lots of testing and I tested up normal in every standard panel.  We did *not* run karyotypes on DH and I as we had two living children who are genetically normal, thus the thinking was that it wasn't genetic-based.  We also did not get into any immune-related loss issues like Natural Killer Cell testing.  I suspicion is that had we tested for NKCs, we would've found them - but that is JUST a suspicion.  We did find I was heterozygous for MTHFR A1298C, but honestly, so is about 40% of the population.  As a result I took high doses of Folic Acid, but that's the only change we made.

But, really 3 times in a row? I mean it just seems to be unlikely that I would be that unlucky 3 times in a row.
By all the testing we did, we were unlucky 4 times in a row.  There's simply no rhyme or reason to it sometimes.  About half of the people who are tested after repeat loss show no explanation for the losses.  Which sucks.  But DH said, and rightly so, that if LUCK was our problem, we should be happy because LUCK can change at the drop of a hat.  And ours did.  In some ways having an explanation/treatment protocol would've been nice, but in even others knowing that it was a matter of yes or no, lucky or not, it somehow was a comfort.  

jen629

cutebride73:

Thank you so much for your replies. 

Jen - are they doing anything to treat what they found?  MTHFR? 

ambrandau - what are they doing to treat the MTHFR?  I did have the CD 3 b/w before and my TSH was slightly elevated, so I am requesting that be checked again. 

Irachelle - do you have to take anything for having only one copy of MTHFR?  Or is that not supposed to effect anything? 

Thanks again so much. 

I have been taking baby aspirin since January when I found out and also Neevo which is a prenatal with more folic acid  unfortunately that didnt prevent a 3rd miscarriage in July

cutebride73

grr_aargh:

Who ordered the tests for you? OB? RE? PCP?
My OB ordered all of the tests after my third loss, a chemical.

 Did the bloodwork have to be done on certain days of your cycle?
Nope.

What all did they test for? How long did it take to get the results? Did you have to TTA while you were waiting or did you contiue to TTC?
My doc did a clotting panel, thyroid panel,and a fasting blood sugar. We did NOT TTA while we were waiting though, in retrospect, I wish we would have.  All in all it was about 15-17 vials of blood.  Results came in about 2-4 weeks.

Has anyone had the testing and they found nothing as a cause for having so many losses? Thanks so much for any info you can give me.
Me.  They did lots and lots of testing and I tested up normal in every standard panel.  We did *not* run karyotypes on DH and I as we had two living children who are genetically normal, thus the thinking was that it wasn't genetic-based.  We also did not get into any immune-related loss issues like Natural Killer Cell testing.  I suspicion is that had we tested for NKCs, we would've found them - but that is JUST a suspicion.  We did find I was heterozygous for MTHFR A1298C, but honestly, so is about 40% of the population.  As a result I took high doses of Folic Acid, but that's the only change we made.

But, really 3 times in a row? I mean it just seems to be unlikely that I would be that unlucky 3 times in a row.
By all the testing we did, we were unlucky 4 times in a row.  There's simply no rhyme or reason to it sometimes.  About half of the people who are tested after repeat loss show no explanation for the losses.  Which sucks.  But DH said, and rightly so, that if LUCK was our problem, we should be happy because LUCK can change at the drop of a hat.  And ours did.  In some ways having an explanation/treatment protocol would've been nice, but in even others knowing that it was a matter of yes or no, lucky or not, it somehow was a comfort.  

Thanks.  Even if they find nothing at least I will know it, instead of wondering if something could be done. 

Seems that everyone has had the testing through their OB, I may have to call mine if the RE can't or won't do the testing.    

grr_aargh

cutebride73:

Thanks.  Even if they find nothing at least I will know it, instead of wondering if something could be done. 

Seems that everyone has had the testing through their OB, I may have to call mine if the RE can't or won't do the testing.    

I'm sorry, I should've been more clear - I don't mean to discourage testing at all, I really don't.  It's good to have in your arsenal - and I wanted mine to know that I'd done everything I could for the LOs I lost, you know?  Because learning, in retrospect, that there WAS something identifiable would REALLY hurt.

I just meant to prepare you for what becomes reality for some ladies - that there's no discernable answers.  That was an emotional aspect about which I'd been warned, but for which I was unprepared.  It was a tough row to hoe, you know?  Because you figure there HAS to be something wrong.  You'll note, I still think there *was*, I just don't think we found it. 

cutebride73

grr_aargh:

cutebride73:

Thanks.  Even if they find nothing at least I will know it, instead of wondering if something could be done. 

Seems that everyone has had the testing through their OB, I may have to call mine if the RE can't or won't do the testing.    

I'm sorry, I should've been more clear - I don't mean to discourage testing at all, I really don't.  It's good to have in your arsenal - and I wanted mine to know that I'd done everything I could for the LOs I lost, you know?  Because learning, in retrospect, that there WAS something identifiable would REALLY hurt.

I just meant to prepare you for what becomes reality for some ladies - that there's no discernable answers.  That was an emotional aspect about which I'd been warned, but for which I was unprepared.  It was a tough row to hoe, you know?  Because you figure there HAS to be something wrong.  You'll note, I still think there *was*, I just don't think we found it. 

Thanks.  I am sure it will be emotional, but I just can't imagine going through this again and then finding a problem later.  But, even if they find nothing, I will have tried.  I am curious about the "killer cells"  I guess that's not something they usually test for - I know there is some controversy about that.  Thanks again - so glad that you finally have your sticky baby.   

Izabella22

cutebride73:

 I just can't imagine going through this again and then finding a problem later.  But, even if they find nothing, I will have tried. 

I feel like this, esp if you have insurance that covers the testing. I'd rather have some needlesticks than find out after the fact that there was even a 50% chance that there might be something I could do to prevent another m/c. Personally even if there is no identified reason and it just a bad meeting of egg and sperm, that is comfort enough. To me knowledge = power. And right now I feel powerless.