Feeling a bit low...BFN

[bunnykins]

I had a good cry to my fertility nurse earlier on the phone - she (quite rightly) told me to stop testing and to come have a blood test on Monday to confirm numbers. So that’s what I’m doing. I’ll keep you updated! Have a lovely weekend x

[atomic sagebrush]

Oh wow yes if they're willing to do that, by all means!!! Many of us (myself included) have doctors who will not do blood tests before a certain point but if yours is willing to do that then absolutely carry on!

[bunnykins]

I had my betas done today - 39 at 18dpo so whilst *technically* pregnant, this isn't a viable one. They wont test me until another cycle so i'm going to be in limbo for over another month or so. The general consensus from the clinic is 'well at least you can get pregnant' which isn't helpful, as I keep loosing them. They recommended trying again this month and didn't seem to think anything was at play, other than bad luck. Hmph.

Do you have any suggestions in the meantime? DH is on 500 OLE and I am on 400mg folate & 200mg ubiquonol daily.

[atomic sagebrush]

Oh gosh, well, I hope eventually they are willing to do the testing.

I agree you should absolutely try again this month. Let's up folate to 1200 mcg and add in the lowest dose Vitamin D and B12 you can find once a week.

[bunnykins]

I started 10ug Vit D and 10ug B12 last night - today is now CD2 (hurrah!). Just to check all this with you:

1x Vit D & 1x B12 weekly
200mg ubiqunol daily
1200mg folate daily
500mg olive leaf extract daily (DH)

I spoke to my GP and I have a thyroid blood test next Friday so thats a positive. I'm wondering what your thoughts are on prolactin? I am so stumped as to why we keep having chemicals and am thinking of every possible thing that could be a cause.

I also wondered if I should take iron? When I fell with DD I was on low dose vits but I can't take them now as they have folic in them.

Also wondered if I should 'up' frequency? Or stick to the 1 attempt?

[atomic sagebrush]

Unless your prolactin is elevated to the level of having a tumor on your pituitary gland, that is not the issue. I will say many doctors will say things like "breastfeeding causes losses" and will try to get you to quit, and will tell you things about prolactin but they're either being overly conservative based on things that they were told 100 years ago in medical school and then THINK they have seen (having a theory in need of evidence, basically) OR actually do not approve of women breastfeeding when pregnant and tailor their replies accordingly. I myself and tons of other women have successfully conceived while nursing and it is NOT considered a legitimate cause of chemical pregnancies any longer by most reputable sources.

If you'd like to take iron that is at your discretion. 18-60 mg 3x a week.

I would also ask about testing for clotting disorders. Clotting disorders are one of the main preventable causes of chemicals.

What kind of diet are you following? (sorry if you've already told me this!)

It's your choice about the frequency patterns. If you're ready to increase chance of conception, then by all means, but you are conceiving with one attempt so I wouldn't think that's the issue. Still, it can be nice to go in with a better chance of conception to be sure you don't have any chance of missing the egg.

[bunnykins]

That’s exactly why I ask - thank you for confirming! I don’t really want to wean DD as I think we both enjoy it but after doing a teeny bit of Googling, prolactin popped up so I thought I’d ask.

At the moment I’m wondering if it’s a) thyroid, b) clotting, c) progesterone or d) bad luck (which seems to be what the clinic and GP think - I’m not so sure!) I just think that the NK cells thingy would be unlikely as I’ve carried a term baby? So those are what I’m checking.

I am doing LE, skipping breakfast having home made soup and cheese sandwich for lunch and whatever for dinner. I’m not being too strict about it but I’m now adding in way more fruit.

That’s true - I just wonder if maybe DHs spermies are just too old by the time they get to the egg?

[bunnykins]

I have got back a heap of results from the GP regarding bloods. Can I run these by you please?

T4 = 13.5pmol/L (normal 9 - 22)
TSH = 1.49 mu/L (normal 0.35 - 5)

I have a heap of other results too but nothing relating to progesterone or clotting (I don't think?) All are in normal range but I know with fertility sometimes they need to be at a certain level.

[atomic sagebrush]

TSH below 2 is what we want to see.

Your T4 is right in the middle of the road, and that together with good TSH really indicates to me everything is as it should be. The reason why they test those two things together is that you need to know both of them to tell what's going on. Because your TSH is good and your T4 is in normal range that likely means that your chemicals are not being caused by thyroid stuff.

I'm happy to go over anything and tell you what I think.

[bunnykins]

Thanks so much! Good to know the ‘ol thyroid is operating as it should (even though, it would have been good to find something to blame the chemicals on!). When I get further bloods ill send them to you but I don’t think the other bloods are that relevant (full blood count etc)