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Becky J
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| Posted: Nov 29 2012 at 4:16pm | IP Logged
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I am 39 and have been trying for 3 years to get pregnant with a fourth child. Last month, my OB/GYN told me to do lab tests on certain days of my cycle, which I did, and we met to discuss the results today. All my levels are fine -- thyroid, FSH, estrogen, prolactin, and progestin. (The progestin level is actually slightly low but, in the doctor's words, "still consistent with ovulation".)
I'm unsure what to do next. The OB/GYN (who is not of the NaPro/NFP-only mindset) recommends a Clomid challenge test, which would evaulate how hard my ovaries have to work to release an egg.
I know Clomid has a lot of side effects, so undertaking this test is not something I'd do lightly.
As I try to discern what to do, I have some questions for those of you who are familiar with Catholic approaches to treating infertility:
1) Is the Clomid challenge test worth doing even if I would never do anything illicit like IVF?
2) Even with my hormonal levels measuring as normal, is learning Creighton something I should think about? I have a close friend who is an instructor and has previously urged me to learn it. And I have a friend who wouldn't have 2 kids today if it weren't for the Creighton Method. But she warned me of the difficulties of learning it. I got my hands on the manual and can't imagine being able to get in the habit of doing Creighton to check all day, every day, for fertility signs.
3) Is there anything I'm "missing" at this point to try to become pregnant in a natural way? The OB/GYN did recommend Clear Blue Easy monitors (which I have used inconsistently in the past), as well as the supplements recommended by Marilyn Shannon.
Thanks for any advice you can offer! Please feel free to private-message me if you'd prefer.
God bless!
Becky
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3ringcircus
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| Posted: Nov 29 2012 at 4:33pm | IP Logged
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I can't give you much info, but I did learn the Creighton Method. I saw a practitioner for private consultations. She worked for the local diocese. She walked me through charting and described the types of cervical mucous that occur during different phases of the cycle (there was nothing personal or TMI).
I wouldn't say it was difficult to learn or remember to do. It was puzzling though, because my chart didn't make any sense. Come to find out, I have PCOS, and learning the method probably gave me some valuable knowledge way earlier than modern medicine would have. For me, the first suggestion (from my Dr.) was to lose weight and hope that my body would be more sensitive to the ovulation hormones. It worked, and I conceived shortly after, although I had stopped charting.
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Christine
Mom to my circus of boys: G-1/06, D-1/04, S-4/10
Started HS in Fall'12
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Betsy
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| Posted: Nov 29 2012 at 4:40pm | IP Logged
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Like with learning almost anything new there is a learning curve. NFP is somewhat involved to learn, but over time it really does get easier. 
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When handcrafting my work, I always pray that it will raise your heart to all that is true, modest, just, holy, lovely and good fame!
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Nov 29 2012 at 5:54pm | IP Logged
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I would learn some NFP method that will confirm if ovuation is actually happening on it's own before trying to clomid. My understanding is that the clomid is acceptable because it doesn't interfer in the normal mode of conception.. it just forces ovulation.. but I don't know what all they do with that to figure out how much to use.. it can force multiple release of eggs and you end up with multiples.
If you know you're ovulating.. then I might consider looking at the progesterone even though its within the range of normal. If you personal normal had been on the high end of the range.. being in the low end of the range could be, for you, too low. Some docs will do a trial run of it and prescribe it anyway.
But charting sympto-thermal should give you a much better idea if your levels are working for you. Creighton is much more specific in terms of mucus observation and should be a huge help since as we age our fertility windows may be smaller but the only way to be sure of actual ovulation aside from cameras showing it happening is the temperature shift. Plus the temperature shift can give you a lot of health info like if your temp is falling too early after ovulation then you likely have a progesterone problem regardless of what the tests say. Also hypothyroid shows up in consistently lower temps and is a more reliable marker than the standard test for low thyroid.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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JennGM
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| Posted: Nov 29 2012 at 7:07pm | IP Logged
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Clomid is the oldest and "safest" way to boost infertility and it does not go against Church teaching to use it. It merely stimulates the ovaries to help release eggs. The Clomid test isnt harmful, but sees if you are ovulating. But did your doctor run hormone tests on different days of your cycle? Did you ever learn the symptothermal method? Are you experiencing patterns that are the same as when you had your other children, or are you questioning whether you are ovulating?
Like Jodie said, Clomid can cause multiple eggs to be released causing twins or more (but not always). I took it several times. It causes raging hormones for sure. The first time I took it for 2 months and the second month I was pregnant.
A few years later I tried again but this time the Clomid caused ovarian cysts for months...very painful. So it didn't work for me the second round.
Diet, vitamins, exercise, relaxation, natural progesterone, the fertility monitors, charting... Also the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility were all helpful factors for me. (I was your age for my last son.)
I was very close to going to learn Creighton and going to Paul VI institute. If I could do over I would try that route first. But I think even they use Clomid for some cases.
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Family in Feast and Feria
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Betsy
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| Posted: Nov 29 2012 at 7:17pm | IP Logged
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JennGM wrote:
| But I think even they use Clomid for some cases. |
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They do, I have a friend that has had to go this route. I know that she didn't care much for using the Clomid because of the side affects, but she was able to conceive two children this way.
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TryingMyBest
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| Posted: Dec 01 2012 at 8:51am | IP Logged
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Is the only doctor you've seen about this an OB? If you read the infertility boards you will find many sad stories of women who stayed with their OBs too long before moving onto an RE. OBs are not trained in treating infertility. Many times they think know about it but most of them really don't understand it and can give very bad advice.
Clomid Challenge tests are somewhat old fashioned. My RE only did them if it was requested by insurance. The REs who are generally recommended for AMA women generally don't even use the clomid challenge test anymore. That your OB is recommending it would concern me if I were you.
Plus it is generally believed (who knows if really true) in the AMA infertility world that Clomid is not good for women over 35 and especially not for women over 40. In my case, my FSH skyrocketed in the one cycle after I took Clomid. And that FSH reading was used by my insurance to refuse to cover anything related to infertility ever again.
Now the issue with going to an RE is that it is very difficult to find one who will be respectful of your opposition to artificial reproductive technologies. One of the problems with IVF is that it has been so successful that REs have stopped trying to treat infertility because they don't have to if they can do IVF and then donor egg if that doesn't work.
Since your tests are fine and you've been trying unsuccessfully for so long, have you considered that there might be an issue with your husband? I learned that my DH is basically as "reproductively challenged" as I am. We often assume men don't have to worry about aging when it comes to fertility but that's not really true. I had an RE tell me in his experience about 50% of the time, the husband was really the problem but the doctors almost always assume it's solely the women's issue. The donor egg boards have many sad stories of women who went through years of infertility treatments and then finally moved to donor egg with the assumption that it would work as the last resort and but then they can't conceive even with the eggs of healthy young women. Only then do the doctors start to wonder if maybe there is something wrong with the husband or something other than issue with the women's eggs. When you're over 35, the RE world just automatically assumes that your problem is totally due to having old eggs. It's very frustrating. Unfortunately I don't know if there is a way to determine whether your husband has an issue without him committing a sin but you could maybe discuss that with a doctor or a priest.
If you are anywhere near Chicago, maybe you could see this doctor.
If you can afford it, I'd recommend going directly to the Pope Paul VI Institute in Nebraska. At your age, you should not waste any time in getting to the bottom of your problem. Unless you can find an AMA friendly local RE with a good reputation who will respect your issues with IVF, I'd go straight to Nebraska if I were you. I'm sorry if I sound like I'm lecturing you here but I've seen so many over 35 women wait too long to get treated and then it's too late.
If you can't go to Nebraska and are looking for a local doctor, this discussion board is a good source. It's geared towards women over 40 with high FSH which isn't you yet but this is a group that has a difficult time finding REs who will do anything other than recommend donor egg so it's good place to find REs who are both AMA friendly and willing to look at other options. Although please be warned that most of the women do IVF and there are very few successes so it's kind of depressing.
Good luck,
Jennifer
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JennGM
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| Posted: Dec 01 2012 at 10:18am | IP Logged
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Interesting, Jennifer. Those fora can be depressing!
My OB tried to keep up with the latest, but also in the forefront what a faithful Catholic could do. He did send us to an RE and it was an awful experience. While this doctor was going to agree to stay in our comfort zone, it felt so yucky working with him. He was like a used car salesman, changing his sales pitch to fit our needs, but had no qualms about anything. I just got the willies thinking that IVF was going on in the other room. My money was helping support this type of thing. Now I'm sure not all RE's are like this, but this was the only one nearby that could *Possibly* work for us.
The doctor was dismissive at first, because we had conceived 3 times, (2 losses), so technically we were not infertile. He didn't really provide much empathy.
But in the end dh and I had come to the same conclusion -- we were just too uncomfortable to do work with this doctor.
Another thing we examined was our disposition. We were not "entitled" to another baby. A child is a gift from God. That idea of "gift" gets lost once in a while. I did try to work out as much as I could to help my infertility, but in the end, when it crossed the line and it was just too stressful and invasive, dh and I decided we would just stop trying to force it and see what God sends us. In our case we had one more, but I know that's not always the case.
I have a few few friends that followed the same path and same approaches as we did. It's really easy to start navel-gazing and fretting over the not getting pregnant. It can become all consuming, and life passes you by. God has His reasons why, and we'll find out when we die. In the meantime, I was much happier when I did small things to aid fertility and put my trust in Him than focusing on my myopic vision of my cycle.
My two boys are miracles and blessings. Do I wish I had more? Most certainly! But God knows why I am only blessed with two, and I must learn to say "Deo Gratias!"
Not trying to preach...I'm just sharing part of my journey. My personality may be different from yours.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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4Real Forums : Our Lady of Good Remedy and Care
Topic: Clomid, Creighton, and other fertility ?s
