July ’22 Fertility Update

Sometimes it feels like all I’m talking about lately is our fertility (or lack thereof). I apologize if this is frustrating for you but we’ve been waiting two years to move forward. We’ve waited two long years to try to get some answers for the losses that we went through. Now that we are getting those answers, I definitely want to share them. If I can spare just one person from having to wait this long or having to go through what we went through it is well worth it. There is a lot of information coming to us quickly right now but that will slow down soon. We are almost to a point where the testing will slow down and we can move to the next steps. With that, here’s our July ‘22 fertility update.

In Person Visit

On 6/27/22 I had my first in person visit with my doctor. I had met with her before but it was virtual. This was one of the more important visits so it was necessary that it be done in person. 

The first thing that we did was go over all of the test results. This was really interesting to me because a lot of the tests showed that I was “normal” but the results weren’t really ideal. The best example of this is my vitamin D. It shows that I am in the standard range but my levels are not optimal for achieving a pregnancy.

There were 3 other tests that fell into this category. My DHEA was just a teeny tiny bit low. They have a chart to show where your estrogen (estradiol) and progesterone should be based off of where you are at in your cycle. Mine showed “normal” on standard results but because I was after my ovulation they actually were out of range. My estrogen was a tiny bit too high and my progesterone was extremely low. 

More Tests

The next thing that we did at this appointment was two more tests. This was actually a vaginal swab that had to be done (another reason to be in the office). It would take 2-3 weeks to get the results but they were testing for two infections- mycoplasma and ureaplasma. In addition to that testing we scheduled follow up testing for my thyroid to make sure the medicine was working and to gauge if we should move to a higher dose. 

Homework

The July ‘22 fertility update had a lot of homework associated. There was a list of changes:

• 10mg DHEA supplement
• Switch from fertilaid supplement to ovaboost supplement
• 4000-5000mg vitamin D supplement
• Progesterone taken in the 2nd half of the cycle (starting 3 days after ovulation until 14 days have passed  with a negative pregnancy test or period starts)
• Research and make a decision on LDN

LDN

Low dose naltrexone was an option that was presented to me at this appointment. It’s an experimental drug that they use to reduce inflammation within the body. My body has a lot of inflammation because of my Hashimoto’s diagnosis. My cells are attacking my cells which just sounds like a lot. LDN is often used for chronic illnesses like Chron’s so it’s a good option for someone like me. Insurance will not pay for it though because there hasn’t been enough research done. Hilarious considering the “research” or lack thereof behind the jabs they tried to force in 2021 but I digress. My doctor said it was my choice to get on it but she highly recommended it. I took about 24 hours and decided I would give it a shot. Mainly because I read a statistic somewhere that said it helped 33% of patients achieve pregnancy. Sign me up!

This has to come from a special pharmacy though and that can be frustrating. Most of the times they will ship it but I wanted to start right away so I went and picked mine up on 7/5. That was the first time I took LDN and, so far, things are going fairly well. 

Next Steps

Unfortunately, our next steps are a little disappointing. She wants us to wait one more month before we start trying again. She really wants to build up the progesterone in my body to get it nice and prepared and get me to the full dose of LDN (you have to work up to the full dose). On top of that, we did test positive for one of the infections. Another bittersweet moment. This definitely could have caused our miscarriages but now we also have to do a round of antibiotics. I’m still waiting for the prescription to come through to get that one started. Colin will also have to go through the same protocol and we are not allowed to have any sort of contact before the infection is cleared from both of us. 

In Summary: July ‘22 Fertility Update

So, we’re playing this waiting game again. It’s cool to know that we are taking time to make changes but it’s also frustrating to have to wait to try again. I swear I almost started crying right there in the office. For what? ONE MONTH. Seems so small to some people but after you’ve been waiting years one month seems like such a long time. If there is the potential to make sure that we can conceive and meet a baby earthside though, one month will be worth the wait. Thankfully, we have a lot going on outside of this fertility stuff so that keeps us busy and I’m sure the month will actually go quickly.