Introducing myself (loss mentioned)

Kburton44 · October 2016

I am a 32 (will be 33 in January) year old female. My husband just turned 34. I stopped taking birth control August of 2015. I had been on birth control since I was 16, so I knew it would
probably take 3-4 months for my body to be "normal" again so we weren't actively TTC.
In Dec of 2015 we decided to actually TTC (count days etc) and I had a positive pregnancy test. We were very excited and even joked about how "easy" it was... (terrible, I know!)
At the end of January I started to have some light bleeding. I called my OBGYN and they said not to worry about it, but I just knew something wasn't right. My breasts weren't nearly as tender and something just felt wrong. I went in for blood work and it confirmed I was having a miscarriage. I was absolutely devastated. And my husband was out of town for work that week which made it even harder being home alone.
Ever since the miscarriage, I have had 2 periods a month. A "light" one that's lasts 3-5 days, then a few days of no bleeding, and then a heavy or normal period that lasts about 3 days. My OB has been telling me it's ok because my irregular periods are regular. (i.e. a light period to the next is about 28 and days and the heavy to heavy is 28 days)
I called her this summer concerned about it, and she told me to wait until the end of the year ( a year from my miscarriage) and keep trying.. I was very frustrated.
I went in for my annual exam a couple weeks ago and she said we could start some testing. She ordered a progesterone, prolactin and TSH. The labs have been uploaded to my patient portal so I was able to see the results but haven't heard from her yet... (lab work was just done on Friday and it's Monday). My TSH was normal. My progesterone was 21 and my prolactin was 39.8.
I've done some readying and know that an elevated prolactin level can cause infertility.
My OB mentioned depending on the blood work that the next steps would be medication (I'm assuming Clomid), semen analysis and then making sure my Fallopian tubes are open by injecting a dye into my uterus.
I am extremely frustrated and worried about my age.
Should I be requesting a referral to a specialist? Or do I continue with my OB's plan?! I just don't want to "waste" anymore time!
thanks for listening

Bababatty · October 2016

@KBurton44 Welcome! I'm so sorry about your loss! Compounding that with the odd periods sounds so very frustrating. I'm sorry you find yourself here, but I think you'll get some good advice and support.

I can't speak to your test results, but I'm just about a year older than you and I can tell you not to worry about your age. Literally every time I see my RE he reiterates that "I'm still young" and age is not a factor here.

Since you've been trying for almost a year, I'd encourage you to see an RE. A lot of people on The Bump are wary of pursuing IF treatment from an OB because they're not specialists in getting you pregnant. They also tend not to do any monitoring with Clomid, which could potentially be an issue since it can thin your lining and increase your risk for high order multiples, among other issues. An RE will generally put you through a series of blood tests, SAs, and HSGs before starting any treatment so they have a better idea of what if anything is going on with your body.

I'm so curious about your periods. Are you using OPKs?

Kburton44 · October 2016

Thank you for responding!
I have been using ovulation tests which makes me think that the "second" period is my "true" period based on when it says I'm ovulating. But I don't typically test for ovulation after the "first" period because typically I'm having the "second" period when I would test. It's so confusing and frustrating.

hoffmanr7 · October 2016

@Kburton44 Welcome. I am sorry you have to be here and hope your stay is short and sweet.

I would have to agree with @Bababatty regarding your age. I am the same age as you. We both have at least a few years before age really becomes a factor.

I would also encourage you to see an RE if there is one available near you. I don't see one myself (the closest I have near me is a women's clinic that has OB/GYN's that specialize in fertility), but that has more to do with the limitations of our location.

funkykey · October 2016

Hi @Kburton44 - I'm new here too! I'm so sorry about your MC. I also don't have as much knowledge of a lot of the women here, so I can't advise as to prolactin, or even about any changes your body may have encountered as a result of the MC.

But, on whether or not to be tested/ request a referral:

My OB was more relaxed about our struggles than I was, so I self-referred to our RE around 8 months. The wait list for our RE was 3 months long, but once I was on it, I had the SA, HSG (the uterus dye one), and other blood work requisitions, so we did that testing between months 8-10. If I'd waited a full 12 months to learn that there was something up with DH's sperm, and a simple SA could have told us at month 6 for the market rate (in our area) of about $150, I would have been choked. I'd pay $150 to alleviate 6 months of suffering, no problem.

Then, when it was time for my RE appointment, I went into my OB, fessed up, and asked her for the referral to the RE of my choosing. I explained that I'd self-referred because I wanted DH's SA, and also that when I'd made the RE appointment, I'd hoped to be able to cancel it. To be fair, I could have pushed her harder for a referral earlier in the process, but I figured "why bother" as the tests I needed had to be performed out of the RE's clinic anyway.

You and I are about the same age, and it sounds like our husbands are close in age too. At this point, I'm not worried about my age, but our results alleviated a fair amount of anxiety for me. Even though my circumventing her meant we did our testing (at most) 4 months before she would have recommended, that was 4 months of much less anxiety for me. Totally worth it, and I am glad I don't now resent her for making me wait.

I don't know how open you've been with your OB about your frustration, nor if her office is equipped to do the SA or if you'll need to see an RE for that. I do think that doing the HSG, SA, and other bloodwork, has been a huge relief for me, and if you are distressed you may feel more active/in control by having some of them done.

Your OB might not be approaching your situation with the same sense of urgency because of your MC - she may be confident that you will conceive soon. I'd ask when you speak to her about your results, and I'd be transparent with her about your worries and frustration. I don't understand why some OB's are so reluctant to recommend testing like SA's done before a year, in cases where the patients are distressed - it's easy to do, and the patients pay anyway.

Good luck!

seethosestars · October 2016

Hello and welcome! It sounds like you are having midcycle spotting which as far as I understand can be from a lot of different hormone imbalances. I would at least ask for some other bloodwork (Cycle day three bloodwork like FSH, LH and estradiol) to start with. I'm pretty sure a high prolactin can also be a big factor so that should be looked into!

I think it's reasonable to get some of the preliminary testing done with your OB (it's likely to be the same tests the RE would order anyways like the HSG and SA) but would probably wait to see the RE before pursuing treatment (like clomid, letrozole, IUI, etc) if you can.

Good luck!

SaphireSweetie88 · October 2016

Welcome and sorry for your loss. Hugs

Trumom16 · November 2016

Hello,
Sorry for ur loss.
As @seethosestars said, try hving a full blood panel checkup.
And for stress try meditation, I usually listen to meditation music while trying to sleep.
Lot of baby dust to all of us

laurad75 · November 2016

@Kburton44 Welcome and I'm sorry for your loss.

I agree with the others that getting full baseline blood work is an important start so you know what you are working with and if there are any obvious obstacles. If your AMH and FSH hormone levels are normal than you have some time to be patient.

That being said, if the recommendation is for you to try medication I would agree that you will want to move to a RE if you can.

I hope you stick around and become part of the community. I think you will find that many women are going through similar situations and a community can be really comforting.

Introducing myself (loss mentioned)

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