BG.

You may remember that one of the things I was most scared of is that my clinic wouldn't acknowledge the early losses as being pregnancies that were lost... I did find that the nurses just wanted to write it off as "just a negative", but I was relieved to find that my FS was more than willing to acknowledge them as lost pregnancies.

As for testing... you have EVERY right to demand further testing! I had testing after the first because I just knew something wasn't right. More testing came later because I knew that we still didn't have the big picture and there was something else going wrong. Some doctors will insist on waiting until you've had three losses before doing any investigation, but they certainly can't use that argument on you.

If we look at the facts here... you KNOW something isn't working right in your body. There's ample evidence of that. You know from riding along with my tests and investigations and random thoughts that the main causes fall into two categories - autoimmune and clotting problems. I recall that there's a fair bit of family history and other evidence to suggest that the autoimmune thing could be a problem. Your FS may not be up on the fancy tests of the likes of Dr S, but he can still test for the basic autoimmune problems, and the blood clotting problems.

Even if the testing shows nothing, there's nothing to say that you can't jump up and down and scream at your FS and demand something be done differently, that you use a different protocol "just in case". Aspirin and prednisone aren't all that invasive, aren't expensive, don't go too far in terms of nasty side effects (although I do half suspect I've been on prednisone so long I've forgotten what's normal and what's a prednisone side effect), and aren't going to do any harm if they aren't needed in the end. There are more than likely other options that I'm not as aware of as well. I believe there's some evidence that they can improve outcomes even when tests show that there's no medically verifiable need for them. I know of clinics (usually in the US) that use aspirin as standard procedure regardless of what testing may show.

I know it's scary to approach your doctor and tell him that you're not happy with how things are going and that further investigations need to be done, but I seriously doubt that he'd be turning you down if you asked for further testing. Perhaps this is why he has insisted on another consultation rather than back to back IUIs this time?

I've always been the kind of person to spring into action and do something rather than take the time to deal with the emotional aspects of things, and I can see where that has caused me problems in the past - but I think I can quite happily say that you are NOT nuts (the title belongs to me, remember?).

Hang in there... see what the FS has to say for himself, see what he says to further testing and possible reasons for this to keep happening. You know there's loads of people behind you every step of the way.

BW