New - need advice, pregnancy loss!

Karissa83 · 04-03-2006, 11:54 PM

HELP! i need some advice!
I live in Los Angeles (south bay area) and need to find a new doctor.... does anyone have any reccomendations??

I recently (last week) had my 3rd miscarriage (at 13 weeks) and a D&C, my husband and i DESPERATELY want a baby! My OBGYN took me off metformin when we found out i was pregnant.

Is there anything i can do that will help me carry the baby until birth!!??

Thanks
-Karissa

seawen · 04-04-2006, 12:25 AM

Hi Karissa
I am so sorry for your loss. I can't help with finding a new dr. as I am on the West coast but I know that other women with multiple miscarriages have had "RPL" testing (recurrent pregnancy loss) testing. There are some autoimmune issues that are either heriditary or can be acquired. Also, there has been some research that women with PCOS should stay on their metformin until wk12 to prevent m/c but not all docs agree.

Again, I am sorry for your loss!
Wendy

LaurAnnHere · 04-04-2006, 12:33 AM

Hi Karissa. Welcome to Soul Cysters. I'm so very sorry for your losses. I have been through multiple m/c myself. I really believe that you need to stay on your metformin when you get pregnant. One thing that I really believe helped me carry my son was staying on a fairly low carb diet during my pregnancy. Another thing, did they check your progesterone level? Low progesterone is common among women with PCOS. You may need supplimentation. I would recommend getting the RPL testing. Sometimes the answers are hard to find, though. I can only speculate to the cause of the majority of my losses. I think that low progesterone was the main cause. I also have an incompetent cervix, which is the cause of my second trimester loss. Repeat losses are discouraging and heartbreaking. (((hugs)))

Karissa83 · 04-04-2006, 12:45 AM

Thankyou so much! That was exactly what i wanted to hear! My current OBGYN knows NOTHING about PCOS - so i am trying to find a new doctor!
He didnt check ANYTHING except the regular pregnancy things - and told me it "wouldnt make a difference" so to stop taking the metformin!
How many times did it take before you were able to carry a baby full-term? i dont know how many times i can go through this (though i tell my husband i'll do it as many times as it takes)!
Thankyou so much for your reply!!!

SABTeacher · 04-04-2006, 03:22 AM

First of all, I'm so sorry for your losses. My heart goes out to you and I pray that you find some answers. I recommend that you find either an ob/gyn with an infertility specialty or an RE. They are usually much more aware issues surrounding PCOS and recurrent miscarriage.

Please make sure they run a full recurrent pregnancy loss battery of tests on you. The following is what I had done:

1) An HSG and saline sonogram to make sure everything is normal anatomically.
2) All day 3 hormone tests to look at LH, FSH, testosterone, estrogen, etc.
3) Thyroid tests; fasting glucose; fasting insulin, general health tests like cholesterol.
4) A progesterone test around CD 21-23
5) An endometrial biopsy at the end of your cycle to test endometrial lining and rule out luteal phase defect
6) Karyotyping for you and DH (they draw blood and look at all your chromosomes to make sure there's not something wrong that you're passing along)
7) Semen analysis on DH (there can be a link between certain male factor issues and RPL)
8) All the bloodwork for the inherited and acquired blood clotting problems including APA, ANA, ACA, Lupus anticoagulant, factor v leiden, MTHFR, prothrombin, protein c/s deficiency.

Also, check out the following website http://www.fertilitynetwork.com/arti...iscarriage.htm. It has a great flow chart at the bottom to let you know different causes/treatments of recurrent pregnancy loss.

Best wishes,
Shari

LaurAnnHere · 04-04-2006, 05:38 AM

The number of m/c I had might sound discouraging. But the fact is that despite so many losses when I thought surely it just couldn't happen for me, it did. I lost twins at 17 weeks several years before we began TTC, then I had 6 first trimester losses during the 3 years before we had Jamie. I've had 2 since having Jamie, but not while I was on my diet. You can read my story on my website if you want to. It's www.mypcosbaby.com. Warning, you will be bombarded by pictures of my baby who is 20 months old today. If seeing other people's babies is difficult for you right now, you might want to skip it.

Kristina921 · 04-04-2006, 04:41 PM

I'm so sorry for your losses....After 3 losses, you should have no problem getting tested for RPL. I've had 4 and I am currently doing the rest of the tests. I too suggest staying on the metformin through out the pregnancy. Also, demand that they check your progesterone soon after ovulation. We are thinking that my cause for RPL is a LPD which should be fairly easy to treat with progesterone supplements after O. If they test your progesterone after you are already pregnant, it can be too late to save it with supplements.

SABteacher - That is a great list!