[Lil Miss]

Who out there has unexplained infertility? If you do, what tests have you already had? What is your next step in overcoming infertility -- IVF, adoption, giving up??

[rusty04]

Originally Posted by Lil Miss

Who out there has unexplained infertility? If you do, what tests have you already had? What is your next step in overcoming infertility -- IVF, adoption, giving up??

I married at 20 and used birth control for one year. 4 years later no baby. I started taking vitamins because i was exercising, not trying to get pregnant. Boom, I have my beautiful 10 year old. Surprise, Regan wasn't going to be my only miracle. My second pregnancy happened again 3 1/2 years later when I was dieting and yes, taking a multi-vitamin. I thought this was an interesting coincidence. I have not used any birth control since 1991 and I have 3 children. When I wanted to have another baby in 2002 I started taking a multi-vitamin again. I had 1 period after I started my regimen. I had a miscarriage in January of 2003 but I kept taking my vitamins. My youngest was born in December of 2003. I wonder how many other women who think that pregnancy isn't possible can have their prayer answered by something as simple as a vitamin. I also wonder what kind of deficiency caused my infertility issue. Any info??

[lugotwins2007]

I have been taking vitamins forever and have not gotten pregnant in two years. Sometimes things just don't work out the way we think they should.

[slobin]

I have unexplained IF and have been taking vitamins, herbs, you name it forever and not pg. Vitamins will not cure IF. Taking vits. and getting pg is probably coincidence or in VERY rare cases people have vit. deficiencies that can contribute to IF but think of all of the starving malnourished emaciated women in poor countries who pop out tons of kids- they are obviously deficient in vits. and fertile.

Usually "unexplained" IF really means undiagnosed IF because if you look deep enough (deeper than most doctors are willing to look) you can almost always find a reason. For me after being labelled "unexplained" I investigated immune causes of IF and pg loss and did a full immune work-up and it turned up several immune problems which are treatable. I am now moving to IVF with immune treatment. But my point is that "unexplained" sometimes just means that the doctors have not looked deep enough.

If you want to investigate possible immune causes you can start by looking at The Alan E. Beer Center for Reproductive Immunology and Genetics and there are many other clinics that do reproductive immunology as well. I can give links to others if you are interested.

[meremere]

I agree with Slobin, the Dr's need to dig deeper, I have that label finally as of this week! BUT we also know what the issue is! Chromasomal abnormalities. We have about the same chances if we do IVF or natural. I know it is hard to hear but I can get pregnant very easy, I can not keep the baby. I have a deficency of Folic acid, and I have a blood disorder that makes my blood clot to fast so I will have to be on blood thinners, and folic acid, projesterone and prenatal vit. as well as baby asprin just to stay pregnant and still there is no 100%. The blood disorder I have can cause a loss in teh 2nd or 3rd trimester. But I have not given up as yet. We have one and I mean only ONE more try! We have also started the process of adoption. I have the money set aside for one IVF with PGD or one adoption. I do not care where the baby comes from, I just want it to hurry up and get here Ya know????!!!!!

[catt13]

Unfortunately I was diagnosed as unexplained for 2.5 years, and the truth is that just because a doctor cannot explain it doesnt mean there isnt a reason. I finally found out that my FSH is high and POF is a reality. One stupid test that 3 doctors failed to give me! Now at least i can have some sort of plan, as when it is unexplained you are at the mercy of the doctors, and i felt like i had no route to take.
Slobin is right just because a doctor doesnt dig deeper doesnt mean there isnt a problem!

[CreoleInDC]

Well I'm one of the healthiest people I know. I eat mostly organic, drink lots of water...AND TAKE MY VITAMINS. If they stimulated fertility...I'd have more than I'd want to have by now.

Maybe you just didn't have a problem during that period of your life.

[Boston73]

We're also "unexplained". But since we've been thru one cycle of IVF..my RE learned a lot more of our situation. My DH has a good count..but his guys are swimming all over the place..not in a straight line like they should be, so they're not able to find there way, hehe. Also, my eggs are not of the best quality, and not dividing all that good..which she believes could be a biological issue. But she did say to me if my dh's guys were better..we'd probably have a child by now. So our IF is leaning more toward my dh.

But our next IVF is coming up and we're doing ICSI w/assisted hatching. So I'm praying that this will work for us this time. We did do ICSI last time, but out of my 17 eggs only 4 matured, 2 made it to ET. So we have a new protocol for next cycle...hoping it will all be worth it in the end.

Good luck to you all!!

[mail2rachel]

Hello,

I've been ttc for 13 months now. DH has had 2 SA and a scrotal ultrasound. He's on the low end of the "normal" scale on count, motility and morphology. But no physical or hormonal problems found for him.

I've had 2 tests for a thyroid condition. First time around it said I had hyperprolactinemia, Second time it said I was okay. Next, I had an HSG... all clear there.

Now we wait, next for us is IUI... possibly in combo. with Clomid.

I almost wish I knew something was wrong just so I knew how to fix it! It can be maddening.

Rachel

[ocgirl]

I've been looking for others who are dealing with chromosome issues too. After my m/c's I found an RE who did every possib test appropriate for us. Everything checked out fine except karyotype testing revealed that my husb is a carrier of a chrom. inversion. So then they sent me to see a genetic counselor to explain it to me (didn't help much). After some consuls, we decided to do PGD/IVF. So i'll be starting the process at the end of Nov. Oh, and like you, my body doesn't absorb folic acid well, so I'm taking megadoses of it via prescription.

What I can't figure out from anybody is what our risk factor of m/c's are when TTC naturally vs PGD assistance. What's the percentage? I think I could have been one of those women who suffered through 5-6-7 m/c's and not have known why, but at least i know why now, and I don't think it's too late.

Good luck to you.

Originally Posted by meremere

I agree with Slobin, the Dr's need to dig deeper, I have that label finally as of this week! BUT we also know what the issue is! Chromasomal abnormalities. We have about the same chances if we do IVF or natural. I know it is hard to hear but I can get pregnant very easy, I can not keep the baby. I have a deficency of Folic acid, and I have a blood disorder that makes my blood clot to fast so I will have to be on blood thinners, and folic acid, projesterone and prenatal vit. as well as baby asprin just to stay pregnant and still there is no 100%. The blood disorder I have can cause a loss in teh 2nd or 3rd trimester. But I have not given up as yet. We have one and I mean only ONE more try! We have also started the process of adoption. I have the money set aside for one IVF with PGD or one adoption. I do not care where the baby comes from, I just want it to hurry up and get here Ya know????!!!!!

[Lyss]

My infertility issue is currently unexplained..

I am having normal periods on time every single month but no ovulation.. My daughter happened effortlessly and now that we are trying, nothings happening..

Doctor thinks that due to the fact that I dont have any other problems of any kind, DH's sperm is good, my uterus is good, bloodwork is fantastic... pap's are perfect.... that I just need a little boost. So I started 50mg of clomid this week.

[TGB]

I was also unexplained but after doing IVF we determined I had poor egg quality. I agree -- it takes a lot of digging but the answers are out there.

[Jacklyn]

We are there - unexplained. Even though its nice to know that nothing is majorly wrong, it surely is a tough place to be in coz it seems like no one can really help.
We have done Semen Analysis, HSG, Ultrasounds, Clomid Cycle Tests and myriad of other tests. Eveything is in the normal range.
I have been trying acupuncture and chinese herbs. I think I plan to continue with that a couple more months and may be try a couple more IUIs.
Not sure at this point what my next step would be. For some reason, we are both terrified about IVF and adoption. But it looks like we need to come up with a decision soon
Its so hard

Good luck to you!

[Jacklyn]

Forgot to mention in my earlier post - if you are interested in exploring alternate medicine, then there's a good book to read - Infertility Cure by Randine Lewis.
She talks about acupuncture and chinese herbs mainly and how these can help the body. It is quite inspiring to read that book.

[Artlawprod]

I have unexplained IF. It's really frustrating. There is no reason I have not gotten pregnant. Most women who claim Unexplained IF you hear things like "...but I had ovarian cysts" or "...but I was 42" but for me it's none of those things.

I'm now 36 but have been trying to conceive since I was in my early 30s (my Gyn was next to useless and we spent 20 months not conceiving while she kept saying to give it another month and take temperature readings. We wasted so much time on her). My period is regular. My hormone levels are prefect. I produce healthy folicals and they produce (we think) healthy eggs. My uterus is text-book. My husband has a high sperm count.

We're finally starting our first IVF cycle now and we have high hopes, but they have me on the under 35 treatment (for the most part) because everything looks so good. They say that if we don't conceive on this round of IVF they'll have a better idea of why we can't.

My doctor says unexplained is good because it's the easiest kind to fix (and apparently the odds are significantly in my favor), but it sure is frustrating.