[on the plank]

Hi. I just wanted to say that after 16 years of infertility I finally lost 60 pounds and was completely shocked to learn that we were pregnant.



I do believe that losing the weight had something to do with resetting my body, but I don't believe that my weight had anything to do with my infertility because I was 18 and around 110 pounds when I found out I was infertile and we had tried invetro with no success. I did not gain the weight until my late 20's and only carried it for about 6 years.



So, what I am trying to say is that while weight was not the cause of my infertility, in my case losing the weight was the treatment. I think that putting it that way makes more sense and is less of an insult to some people. I don't know why I became pregnant after losing the weight, but I did. I also know that I was not always overweight and that my weight was not a factor to my infertility initially. So, perhaps all that my body needed was to be 'reset' and losing the weight is what did that.



It was a small price to pay for the joy we now have with our two children. What mom would not do anything for her kids? I know that may sound a bit harsh, but when I look back now, all the hard work and frustration of loosing the weight was exchanged for our two little miracles. It may not work for everyone, but there is turning out to be allot more women like me than I originally thought. My cousin was quite heavy all her life. She went through all the invetro things that we did and was told by here Dr to lose the weight before proceeding (She was around 250 at that time). She too was insulted by this, but after she saw me lose my weight, then get pregnant she started to do the same thing. She and her husband had only been trying for 5 years, but now she is due in Sept – with twins! She is still heavy – 180 ish, but that is with the weight of her babies right now.



Weight can matter. It may not be the cause, but it is a factor. And if losing it is all that stands between you and a miracle, well ..... It may not work for every one, but ruling out weight as a cause gives you back that much more in helping to treat infertility.



LB

[hopefulx2]

Thanks for your inspiring story! I love to hear positives like that and also keep in mind that that weight loss will allow you to keep up with those little tykes. And your friend is also blessed to be pg with twins after following your weight loss example. Take care and enjoy your family!

If it is not to personal can you pls tell me how you loss the weight. I am struggling with it myself and my dr said that he will not do the IVF unless I lose around 30 lbs. I feel like I have tried everything to lose weight. Unfortunatley I am an emotional eater and with all the IF issiues I have been eating more than I should.

[on the plank]

pm'ed you

[Murphy's Law]

I too am loosing weight during my IVF cycle. I was not told to, but I just decided to. I'm currently doing Weight Watchers and I have lost 50 pounds! I have been doing it since late December. We were diagnosed in August of 2005; so, it took me a little while to just get on track. I find it very easy.

[NINA232006]

i to would love you to share that with me if it is not to rud to ask

[Shanleigh]

I am not totally sure about the weight issue being a problem. Most of the people I know that have fertility concerns are not overweight. I, myself, have lost 90 lbs (from being 300 lbs) and gotten off of birth control and have had no period for since Jan '05.

[on the plank]

I went through a 6-7 month no period scare too. I was active and enjoying life and not overweight then either. I cannot remember the name of the drugs I was given that induced a period, but it was a nasty experience (gave me really bad acne and body zits!!) my period was never (and still is not after 2 kids) normal after that as I still go without a period occasionally.



I have a calendar on which I tracked my period start and end dates for 11 years. I noticed that my periods went through several different stages along the way - some closer together, some farther apart. Some Periods were only a few days long, some were over 10 days long. Some months there was nothing, some there were two almost back to back. It really is bazaar because it doesn’t make much sense. There is one pattern though that I only noticed after my husband pointed it out - I only averaged 10 periods per year - not 12. Periods are not naturally once a month anyway, but a few women do have clock like periods every month. Even now after the children my periods start around 4-5 days later each time so it works out to be around 2 periods less per year. I am not on the pill or any other contraceptive so it seems that this is how my body naturally works for me.



I am not trying to label weight as a 'problem' - that’s too negative. What I am trying to say though is that losing weight can help in more ways than one (its that whole self esteem, physical mobility factor and range of body cavity mobility thing too) I was not overweight when I was diagnosed. I was 18. I did not carry any significant weight till over 10 years after the diagnosis, and my infertility condition did not change with the weight added on. BUT, losing the weight did help. To be honest, one cannot deny how weight may be an issue for some women- after all, it is a fact that extra fatty material can stick to organs and hinder their operation or impede their range of movement within the body cavity. Getting back to the range of normal weight for my body seemed to have 'reprogrammed' what ever it was that had been affected. A rather non-medical way of saying I fixed myself. My cousin was quite overweight all her life. After she lost al her extra weight it took a few months, but she did get pregnant (due any day now). In fact, as pregnant as she is right now from the back she still looks much smaller than she did when she was overweight!



I am not totally convinced it was the weight loss that was the only reason for our conception. Some people claim that different positions and different sex *styles* help. Some say that simply forgetting about it helps. Maybe it was just our time... Maybe it was the switch to an organic vegetarian eating style. Maybe it was just one of these things, maybe it was a combination of them all. I don't know, but I do know that losing the weight was the last thing I did after doing all those other things.



I can say for sure that it was not a side affect from taking the pill - I have not taken it in over 19 years now and don't intend to ever take it.



x

[Brianna&Chris123]

I read your thread about losing weight and then getting pregnant. I was wondering if anyone might give me any advice about my situation? I was diag with PCOS around 16 (after an abortion) and never really took anything for it. Now I am 24, 5'2 and 200lbs. I also heard that loosing weight can "cure" PCOS. I guess I am trying to figure which one might be my bigger problem? I know the PCOS has to be raging because I have almost a full beard growing on my neck under my chin. Has anyone else been able to get pregnant with PCOS? I really want to loose the weight, and If conceiving is my insentive, its a very good one. I dont feel all that over weight, most of my bulk is all in my stomach/thighs. My arms and legs are pretty normal. Anyway im frustrated even charting my ovulation as my period consistantly runs 5-10 days "late" every month. As soon as I think I might be preg, it comes.

[SueBear]

Interesting. The past few times that I have been weighed I'm not moving up or down in size. I'm 5'9 and 220. In the course of six to eight months, I dropped from 260 to where I am now and not able to budge down any further. I'm holding the weight at the moment by just eating healthy, sleeping six hrs a night, and exercising in between attending graduate school. I think a lot of my exercise is coming from the winter cleaning we've been doing but at any rate.

I'll know more of what's going on come Tuesday when I go to see my OB/GYN.

[Claire75]

It seems very hard to determine if weight is an issue affecting fertility or not. It's good to hear such a positive story though.

There are interesting surveys about both infertility and weight loss at OpinionDB. They're anonymous and you can see the results after voting.

[Love_Drug_04]

Weight, BMI and Fertility Registration Page

The fertility clinic I go to offers webinars. This one is on weight, BMI and infertility. You all may want to watch.