Back in May I went to see the fancy reproductive immunologist in NYC. I was upset bc he basically told me that it was my endo and that I should stop all medications. Then he noticed that he forgot to run one test on me. I decided to get that test done. It has to do with HLA matching.
Have you ever heard of when people want to donate bone marrow and they get tested to see if they are a match? My dh and I had that test to see if we are a match. This is important to fertility bc if your immune system matches your dh too much then this will cause auto immune problems and infertility.
It took over a month to get the results back. I found out yesterday and it took me all day to process the information and my emotions. It turns out that we have 7 matches in common. The dr said that 5 is borderline and 7 is a real problem. He said the most he has ever seen was 10. This must be a big deal bc he changed his tune about not taking any medication. He actually seemed very confident that this was my problem and that he could treat it.
The only treatment that he uses with success is neupogen. I have been taking that for a while now. So at first I was really upset that I have this issue and the only treatment is not working. Then I was calm about it bc this could be the last piece and maybe I just have to stick with it long enough for a good egg to come along. I have been going naturally with only one egg a month. So it is like pulling a slot machine to see which genes will match up. What are the odds that my dh would match my immune system so well that we could not reproduce.
From what I can tell by looking at the report we there are 9 different categories. Each person has two possible genes in each category to donate to the embryo. So I guess there is a chance that things could line up but with only one chance a month this may never happen.
Now I have to decide how much longer I want to try the neupogen. The Dr said to give it two more months. Then I am going to try the LDN. This RI has no experience with LDN. Since LDN works with people who have autoimmune diseases, it still makes sense that it would help me with my matching issue.
I am going to try some mild stims called menopur. I have been very cautious and have not taken stims due to my lufs, but that seems under control and maybe if I can get a few follicles I will have a better chance at getting a good egg to pop out. At this point I have nothing to lose. I have had my lufs under control for over a year and that clearly was not the main issue.
Was the MD Dr. Sami David? I heard a lot about him and I met a couple (in person) that had the SAME problem and he got them preggo in 3 months!
ReplyDeleteNope it was Braverman. Do you know what treatment they had?
DeleteNo, and we lost touch- I can try to find their email- why am I thinking they put the husband on high dose of steroids, would that make sense?
DeleteHave you done LIT? Dr. Jerome Check, my RE does think it DOES work...as does Dr. Beer. Trouble is: it has to now be done out of the country.
ReplyDeleteI know...not what you want to hear.
Prayers for you---tons of prayers for you!!!
I've heard of lit but you have to go to Mexico which is not something I want to do. Thanks for the idea though.
DeleteYou have never taken any stims? Wow! I only get pregnant with them...I use a very mild dose of them. Very mild.
ReplyDeleteI did take them a few years back with the RE> They gave me cysts, later I found out through napro that I had lufs and stims made it worse. Now that my lufs is under control I thought maybe I should try it again.
DeleteI wish the results were better for you both. :-(
ReplyDeleteI didn't know about the immune test and your DH vs. your results being so similar would cause a problem.
We haven't had this test done but wanted to and got talked out of it a few years ago. It isn't done much in Australia I don't think, and the treatment is almost impossible to get hold of here. My DH is thinking of emailing Dr Braverman on Monday, and maybe seeing if we can get a skype consult, and maybe post our bloods over to him. I'd just really like to rule this out before we stop trying at the end of the year. I don't want any stones unturned.
ReplyDeleteWe had the test done at labcorp so it may be something your local Dr could order. I agree about ruling it out. Once I found out it all made sense about why I never got a bfp ever. I am pretty sure Dr. B does do skype consults.
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