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Brokenhearted TTC miscarriages

by Nicole
(Minnesota, USA)

I am 34 years old, and have PCOS. I am using Metformin for insulin resistance, and this has brought my period back. I discovered awhile back that I have estrogen dominance (I scored 100 on your quiz-not good) I am trying to conceive and have been hardcore trying/monitoring cycles for 2 months.

My history is long, I've been trying for 12 years, I had 2 tubal pregnancies on the right side and that tube was removed, my left tube is clear)Right after starting the Met, I got pregnant, but this ended in early loss. This lit a fire under me to get my body as healthy as possible, as now I'm able to conceive, but need to be able to maintain a pregnancy. I added prenatal vitamins, vitamin D (I'm deficient) baby aspirin, Maca root, wheatgrass, and I use progesterone cream from ovulation to menses. The first monitored cycle, I ovulated on day 25 and then started the progesterone cream and continued til menses. I had a 14 day luteal phase so cycle was 39 days.Very oddly my menses only lasted 2 days and was not super heavy, my normal cycle is about 4-5 days. With the last cycle I ovulated on day 24 (I was pleased that this had gone down a bit)again I used the progesterone cream after ovulation. I might add this is a high quality cream and my temps were nice and high.

I had many symptoms of pregnancy, but tests were negative...it wasn't until 17 days post ovulation that I got a positive hpt, well actually 3 (different brands, good quality) I tested positive the next day on 3 more tests. At 19 days past ovulation, or 19 days pregnant I began to bleed/clot and have very painful cramps. The bleeding only lasted about a day and was a medium flow at best, I have now spotted for 6 days. I confirmed with an hpt, and at the ER that it was an early loss. I am taking this cycle off to try to remedy the issues I have. First big concern is that I ovulate so late, I think this is effecting egg quality and lining quality as well, please tell me what I can do to shorten my cycles/ovulate sooner. Second concern is that my last period was only 2 days long, and with the recent m/c the bleeding was much less that I would expect. I fear that I may have a thin/innadequate lining. I know many treatments for a thin lining involve estrogen, but I'm already estrogen dominant!

Although I'm taking this cycle off as I don't want another loss, I still plan to use progesterone cream. I'm wondering would it be best to use it as usual, and wait until ovulation is confirmed (day 24 or 25 normally), should I begin taking this when I should be ovulating and continue for 14 days then stop (hoping this will train my body to ovulate sooner in future cycles) or should I use the progesterone cream throughout this whole cycle to suppress ovulation completely similar to birth control. I really want to use this cycle to make as many improvements as possible as far as ovulating sooner, and having a thicker lining.

I am not going to wait more than one cycle to try again, because having 1 functional tube, that cuts down my chances each year compared to "normal" woman. Please help guide me on the best way to use the progesterone cream THIS cycle to hopefully shorten my cycles, and thicken my lining for future cycles. I have made countless health/nutrition/lifestyle changes to get my body healthy and fertile. My Dr. has given the blow off, and I don't want to resort to fertility meds. PLEASE HELP!!

Comments for Brokenhearted TTC miscarriages

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Jul 19, 2011
 TTC
by: ally

I'm not sure if im right but i read that if you started the cream from ovelation untill till your menst than you stop. what i did was use it for a month no stopping and i used a lot, 5ml morning and night, than month 2 i wanted a 28 day cycle,i counted 14 days and than used the cream for 14 days,i now have a 30 days cycle, not sure if this will help you, but im starting to feel a lot better,i had no PMT this month, im useing 2.5ml morning and night. by the way girls with pocs are the best canadates for ivf, we can make lots of eggs, i made 17 to 30 each cycle and was pg after every cycle, (sorry about spelling).

Don't lose hope your body has not let you down just lost it way, but i do feel your pain ,and i no how it feels, I to was Brokenhearted, and no one was hearing me, so well done for helpping yourself, your the boss , and only do what works for you.
take care
xxxxx
Jul 19, 2011
 Thank you...
by: Anonymous

Thank you for your reply and well wishes. I decided to take one cycle off TTC after this loss. I think cycle length being too long may have caused the loss with poor quality eggs and lining. I decided since on a break to supress this cycle kind of like you did. I'm using progesterone cream twice per day from day 7 to day 26. I'm hoping by doing this my period will come shortly after stopping the cream, and that I trick my body into ovulating sooner, and shorter cycles. Wish me luck!! I know many Drs. would suggest IVF, but this is so expensive! I don't have a problem getting pregnant, it's staying pregnant that is an issue. I hope this is just due to ovulating so late and that I can shorten my cycles naturally. I have also thought of using vitex, but don't want to use anything that is not safe in pregnancy.
Jul 20, 2011
 Brokenhearted TTC miscarriages
by: Wray

Hi Nicole PCOS is an inflammatory disorder, often caused by a lack of vitamin D. This will stop ovulation, upset blood glucose leading to Insulin Resistance, and much more. It's a potent anti-inflammatory, so incidentally is progesterone. I don't think you'll find you will need the aspirin. You say you are deficient in vitamin D, but what range did your doctor or the lab use? Generally they give the cut off point for 'normal' at 30ng/ml. This is far too low, it should be in the 70-100ng/ml range. The minimum daily dose should be 5000iu's per day, unless very low, in which case I advise taking 10 000iu's per day. There are many nutrients which reverse insulin resistance, vitamin D being one. Metformin is not needed, it's not treating the cause, see here and here. I do hope they've given you vitamin B12, as Metformin depletes this. Normal cycle lengths vary from 21 to 35 days, so yours is outside the range. Obviously due to the PCOS. When first using progesterone it can upset or alter the cycle, making it either early or late, it can also reduce bleeding. I usually advise women to use the progesterone daily for 2-3 months to stop ovulation, suppress excess oestrogen, testosterone, LH and FSH and to 'top up' the progesterone. But the amount has to be 200mg/day and over to stop ovulation. I do understand your view, but feel a month is not long enough. Studies on the various nutrients used to reverse PCOS have found it takes between 3 to 6 months to do so, the papers are on the link I've given you. The most critical nutrient being vitamin D. I don't know how much you're taking, but if less than I've given above, please increase your dose. For more info please see the Vitamin D Council and GrassrootsHealth websites. This is an excellent video on pregnancy and vitamin D to watch too, see here. I'm running out of space so will start a new comment below. Take care Wray
Jul 20, 2011
 Brokenhearted TTC miscarriages
by: Wray

Hi Nicole The PCOS link I've given above explains the use of progesterone, the amount, plus the nutrients needed to help. You don't say how much progesterone you are using, but I recommend 100-200mg/day, although in cases like PCOS more is advisable. We do have a page on Pregnancy you might like to look through too. Ectopic pregnancies intrigue me. In all the studies I've read, progesterone has been low. But it's regarded as a marker, and not the cause. I believe it could well be the cause, see here, here, here and here. If you have more questions I'm happy to answer them. Space is too short here to explain everything. Take care Wray

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