7th M/C... This is my last year.

Well, I have just recently suffered my 7th M/C in 9 years, what a great start to the new year. This will be mine and :dh:'s 10th and final year of TTC.
I was diagnosed with PCOS in 2002 and have never made it past 7 weeks. Last week I found out I was pregnant again, this time it felt different... I thought this time, this one was mine... I was wrong. On monday I was taken to hospital and after waiting two and a half hours in the emergency room (along with a woman whose water burst all over the floor about 5 meters away from me) I was finally taken into the general emergency treatment room and then shifted to the gyno room AFTER they moved THE MALE PATIENT OUT OF THERE. I was examined and told that my cervix was open slightly and I would miscarry in the next 24 hours. At 2.10pm yesterday it happened... I was 5 and a half weeks. This is my 7th miscarriage. As this will be my last 12 months of TTC, does anyone have any tips that may help me? Please...

Oh Shannan, what a terrible journey for you. My heart goes out to you and your DH.. I dont have any tips for you but there are lots of wonderful women on here that will be able to offer you support and fantastic advice. I will have my fingers crossed for you and will look forward to following your story.. hopefully with a happy ending for you.

Oh Shannon - how heartbreaking. I am so sorry you have had to go through this for so long.

I assume you have had the barrage of blood tests to work out why this might be happening.

I recently read an article about a lady who had 18 miscarriages. She could never make it past 7 weeks. Eventually they found that her body had lost the ability to store folate so the developing embryos never stuck around because they couldn't develop properly. Forget what the treatment was - probably folate injections or something similar.

Hope you find your answer soon,
TICKLISH

Thank you Meegs and Ticklish.

Ticklish - Because I have PCOS all I ever get told from the specialists and doctors is lose weight and you will be able to conceive with less chance of miscarriage. Its frustrating as the weight gain was caused by the PCOS. :wall:

With so many m/cs you should have more tests than that. Weight is one thing but there are a lot of antibodies that can be causing issues for you which should be investigated. I would be changing specialists.....

I think you should find a new specialist and insist on tests. Maybe compliment it with natural remedies like herbs or acupuncture. Anything is worth a try.

good luck and I hope 2009 is your year.

Oh Hun I am ever so very sorry for all your precious angels... you and your DH seem like such strong people..... I have a friend who had trouble holding onto her precious bubas and was told it was due her body not storing enough folate and she had a blood disorder - she was told to double her folate and take a asprin and is now 11.5 weeks and all seems ok.... I would be demanding all tests under the sun as there could be anther reason other than PCOS that is causing this.... There are many incrediable women her who can give you more information that me ... best of luck and I look forward to reading your birth story xxxxxxxxxx

you poor thing- are you on meds?? met or clomid??

I am sorry to hear the hard journey you've been on shannan. Have you done any tests or insist on finding out what's the reasons behind 'recurrent m/c'? I think 7 miscarriages are more than qualified to demand an answer from any Doctor, GP or FS. Don't let them to brush you off saying its just 'bad luck'.

I hope you will find an answer and achieve a success this year.

Shannan,

I have PCOS too!

I'd better searching for another specialist too! Weight is not the only answer. There can be immunological reasons for it in addition to the hormonal ones.

I have tried acupuncture and naturopaths with success in my second and third pregnancies.

TICKLISH

Shannan, what a tough ride yours has been, my heart goes out to you.

As stillhoping said... maybe look at chinese medicine, I saw an Acupuncturist on Monday who said they have specific herb combinations they can use to increase the sticking factor along with other things. Maybe this could help... And the AP would also be good for the stress which is such a strong companion along this journey.

Hi Shannan,
I dont have any suggestions but I just wanted to wish you luck.

Sjl

I have seen numerous doctors, 2 PCOS specialists, a so called genius chinese medicine man and a naturpoath who used to have a 100% success rate until she met me. Every single one of them told me to lose weight and come back later. Normal doctors will only recommend me to specialists who wont help until I lose weight. I have dealt with Dr McKenna at Murdoch, Dr Hart at FSWA, A chinese medicine man in Northbridge, A naturopath in Rockingham, a dietician who was no help what so ever, plus the many "general doctors" along the way. Both PCOS specialist put me on Metformin which actually makes me gain weight. The most recent doctor told me to go running to lose weight, I have size 20 E breasts and I'm sorry, but I just can't run with them. So she told me to get a breast reduction. If I have a breast reduction I cannot breast feed later (if I ever carry to full term) because I will lose most of my milk ducts. Can anybody recommend a practise or specialist in Perth that will run tests without telling me to go lose weight first?

Oh Shannan, I am so sorry for all your losses and that you've had such a hard journey so far. I don't have PCOS but one of my best friends has, and she has piled on stacks of weight when she was finally diagnosed a few years ago ( she is only 29 ). She went to a very well known IVF specialist ( she's got to do IVF as she has only one ovary and it's blocked so she's not ovulating on her own ), and he told her flat out, lose the weight or you'll never get pregnant. She was furious. She used to bleed 3 out of every 4 weeks of the month, very heavy.
She did a program at the Royal Women's Hospital here in Melbourne last year, and took meds to get her glucose levels under control. They are now good, but then becuase her lining has always been on the thick side, she's had an implant put in her uterus, and now the lining is a normal thickness and the implant is coming out. She's hoping to do an IVF cycle mid month. I don't know if I helped you at all, but I wish you much success in achieving your dream soon.
Good luck hun.

shannon,
my sister has had 10 m/c- she had testing and i think it was a autoimmune prob (body attacking the baby) she got treatment (not sure what-il ask her)
she then got pregnant again with twins - miscarried one but went on to have a healthy little boy who is now 15 months. she was on complete bedrest all through but she now has a beautiful son.
you need to get testing huni to find out why it is happening - pcos is not a reason on its own and weight isnt either.
my thoughts are with you huni.
if you want to ask anything else just ask.
love rach xxx

Shannon - have you had your progesterone tested throughout your cycle?
Low progesterone was the cause of my M/C's and i had to go on pessaries during my cycle than progesterone injections for 6mths of my pregnany with regular blood tests!
Just another suggestion as its something that is not usually tested for!

Hi Shannan,
I dont know any specialists in Perth but I was thinking about you last night. A friend of mine has PCOS and was told she had to loss the weight before she would have a successful pregnency. She recently started cohens to tackle the weight. She was told cohens is meant to be very successful for people with PCOS for fast effective weight loss.


I am not sure how long she has been on it but she has already lost 20kg.

Hope this helps. I know my friend was ready to give up until she heard about cohens and decided to give it one more go after 6 months on cohens.

If this isn't the kind of info you are after then just ignore it, just thought it might give some hope from adifferent angle.

Good luck

Sjl

Sorry I can't recommend any one in Perth because I am not from WA. I found that drs weren't much help and what helped me most was finding out about things for myself.

I lost 28kgs before DS#1 was conceived. It is possible to lose weight with PCOS. I know there has been quiet a bit of advice here already but there are some diet specific books about PCOS - I'll post details here only if you want me too.

Another cause of weight problems and recurrent miscarriage can be an intolerance to gluten - not something commonly tested for but it was something I found out about after my misc and it also causes me to put on a lot of weight.

There are other things too - have you have your thyroid tested too?

Really insensitive of that dr to suggest running. There is no way I could run for exercise. I started with walking - just building up slowly but for me diet is most important in keeping the weight under control - not too many carbs!

Wishing you success in your journey,
TICKLISH