Newbie Introduction and Looking for Guidance

gpm84 · September 2014

Hello everyone. I'm new to the community and the board here. I'm sorry for the upcoming long story. I haven't had anyone to talk about this with, so I'm getting everything off my chest in this

I got married May 2013. I'm 30, my husband is 29, and while we haven't quite met the one year mark (we've been TTC for 11 months) we've already been through a lot of the infertility work up because of dysfunctional uterine bleeding. I had been on OCPs for years to treat sporadic midcycle bleeding. I never paid much attention to the timing of the bleeding back then because I wasn't trying to get pregnant, but when I got off in August of last year, I started tracking my ovulation. I have been having positive OPTs, but by 2 DPO, I start bleeding. It's mostly brown, with some red. This continues for a full 2 weeks until I get my period. It's heavy enough that I have to wear a regular tampon for the 2 weeks leading up to my period. My OB-Gyn diagnosed me as having a luteal phase defect and started me on progesterone suppositories to be used for 2 weeks starting 1 DPO, which I had an allergic reaction to. That was in February. He switched me over to prometrium 100 mg PV twice daily thinking maybe I was allergic to a component of the suppository. I've had a couple reactions to these, but not as bad as with the suppositories. For the most part, this controls the bleeding, but when I'm nearing the 12 hr mark, I'll start getting some breakthrough. I tried it orally one month and bled for most of those 2 weeks, so went back to vaginally. All of my labs have come back normal, but my midcycle ultrasound showed a very thin endometrial lining of just 5 mm. He said normal is 15-20. In the meantime, my husband had a SA which showed just 1% normal morphology. Right now, my OB-Gyn has put everything on hold until my husband sees urology and potentially gets another SA in 3 months. He won't refer me to REI until after that, and he's going to hold off on the HSG until then. I feel so frustrated, because I like my doctor, but I feel like something is being missed. He told us at the last appointment that my husband's abnormal SA was the reason that we aren't getting pregnant, but didn't address the fact that I had a very thin endometrial lining, and despite having normal progesterone levels with my bloodwork, I'll bleed for 3 weeks straight without the progesterone. Has anyone had any similar experiences with vaginal bleeding after ovulation? I know a lot of ladies on this board are on or have been on progesterone, as I used to read through these prior to joining since I was having such a terrible time on the progesterone

If there's a possible side effect, I'm definitely having it! Mood swings, fatigue, water retention, weight gain. I've trolled the internet for months though, and haven't been able to find anything about bleeding that starts that soon after ovulation and persists. Thank you all so much for letting my vent for so long. A lot of my friends and family have families and never had any trouble TTC, so it's difficult to talk with them. Anything I can help you ladies with, let me know!

Hollowvic · September 2014

I would recommend seeing an RE. Also get your husband to a Urologist that specializes in Fertility. Welcome and good luck!!

MrsLolaSky · September 2014

I'm sorry to hear about the frustrations you have had. I am also a little confused why your doctor is stopping everything until your DH gets another SA in three months. It seems like a waste of time especially if he's also not figuring out how to help you. I guess all doctors are different, but my DH has had two SAs that both showed 0% morphology and our RE is still willing to work with us. (DH did go to a fertility urologist, though, who prescribed Clomid to him.)

It's just that these three-month periods can really add up… three months to see if the SA is unchanged and then three months after YH starts taking something (clomid and/or supplements/vitamins), etc. I would insist on a referral to an RE while YH sees a urologist.

GOOD LUCK TO YOU!!!!!

aves0708 · September 2014

I am going to echo PPs and tell you to insist on seeing an RE. I also have some abnormal uterine bleeding. I have a normal LP(always exactly 12 days) but I start spotting brown->red at about 6 or 7 DPO. Because of my abnormal amount of spotting my RE added a saline sono, in addition to the HSG, to my initial round of testing. Every test so far has come back normal other than my thyroid antibody test, so they can't find a reason for my spotting. My P4 levels are always great, so I have never had to be on progesterone. I've heard the side affects are not fun though!

I'm very sorry you are struggling with all of this and have a frustrating doctor on top of it all. I would really push for moving to an RE now rather than later. Good luck moving forward!

saritacw · September 2014

I'm sorry. That sounds really frustrating. I don't have any advice on your medical condition, but I will offier the suggestion that perhaps you should try another doctor to see if it feels right ot you and if s/he will partner with you in a better way. Just because you get a second opinion doesn't mean you have to stick with that new doc....but you might breath a big sigh of relief when you meet with a different doc. I know I did when I switched doctors.

gpm84 · September 2014

Thank you to everyone for all the suggestions and support! I've been thinking about requesting a second opinion referral through my PCM or contacting my insurance company to see if REI will be covered if it's a referral from my PCM instead of my OB-Gyn. I feel bad because my current doctor is a really nice guy, I just think he doesn't deal much with infertility and is at a loss for what to do. My husband has his appointment with the urologist tomorrow, so I'm hoping to get some more news from him. I really feel like I'm using this progesterone for nothing right now. I'm putting up with all the side effects knowing that it's I'm probably going to have a negative pregnancy test at the end of every month because the other issues haven't been addressed. Thank you again for all the comments. It's really nice to be able to discuss this with other women going through the same process. Have a good night all!

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