Thinking About Seeing Dr Kwak Kim

Has anyone gone to see Dr Kwak Kim? I have heard great things about her on the immune forums. I did a search for her and I cannot seem to find a website for her office to call and make an apt. I am also wondering if there is anyone out there like me who has never been pregnant and saw her with success.

I started thinking about it today. I know from the forums that she requires you to see her in person first, so I checked plane prices and they seemed reasonable. I also checked and she is in my network. So I started to think why not? I have two weeks off in December so I thought that maybe if I called now I could get an apt then.

I saw Dr Braverman without success. He was also not nice, not in my network and very expensive. I think my problem is that his specialty is miscarriages. Since I cannot seem to  get pregnant I don't think he really knew what to do with me. He kept changing his mind about what my issue was and ultimately blamed my Endo.I did try neupogen which is his miracle drug without success. I was able to lower my NK and my TNF.I also took lovenox for my many blood clotting issues.

I have had every immune test I could find in Dr. Beer's book and on the immune forum. I also consulted Dr. Karen Pace who suggested more. Dr. Kim may have others or she may interrupt them differently. All immune tests have been covered so that is not an issue.I also read that Dr, Kim does work with US for uterine blood flow. I have many blood clotting issues so I am thinking that maybe she could be on to something with me.If possible, I would like to contact their office, send them my records, get a list of blood tests needed, so I can go over the results while I see her.

It is hard to give up and stop searching for possibilities. I started to look into adoption. I requested an info packet which was  a big step for me, but I have not told DH. I thought that maybe I would start the process slowly and pursue Dr. Kim at the same time.

New Test Results

If you follow the world of reproductive immunology you know what NK and TNF are. I have been on LDN for 2.5 months so it was time to get another round of immune tests run. LDN is supposed to be anti-inflammatory so I was hoping for great results.

When I got my results: The first one was great. My NK went down to 11. BUT, my TNF went up to 39. YIKES. This is bad. Since I cannot believe that the LDN increased it,  I started to think about all my previous tests. I had 6 done in all. 2 of the 3 times when my TNF was normal I was on progesterone. Then 3 times when it was high  I was always off of it. Now I am not sure if the progesterone was keeping the numbers down. Progesterone is supposed to also be anti-inflammatory.

My napro Dr has been very supportive with helping me get these tests run. I don't want to push my luck, but I think I want to get the test repeated while I am on progesterone. That would be the next two weeks. I am not sure if I can get it scheduled.

ERGH.........................................................

Treatment Options

The next day dh was feeling more rational. He was just overwhelmed by everything. Even though the look on his face still haunts me, at least we got the discussion going. After the way he reacted, I started to doubt whether or not I should give up. I told him that we need to have a serious plan.

We spoke about treatment options. LIT seems promising but it is not a guarantee. We would have to travel to Mexico to get it. DH was all on board to do it until we starting checking prices. It would be a few thousand to get plane tickets, hotel rooms, treatment etc. From what I read most people get it done twice. We could do it if it were a sure thing. But the thought of gambling all that money is tough when adoption is so expensive. We are not risk takers in general.

Then there is IVIG which is given in the USA but it is very expensive. I am not sure if my insurance will cover it. I  could try and see. But again we would be gambling a few thousand dollars. This also requires a blood transfusion which make me uncomfortable.

Then I went back to research LDN. It seems that IVIG and LDN treat 8 of the same diseases. In fact, based on my google research, LDN seems to treat more things than IVIG . LDN also treat endo and some GI issues, which I have. It started to give me back some hope that the LDN could be the trick. Here are the diseases. Please let me know if there are any to add. I hoping that if there is some mystery disease that I have but do not know that it will be covered.

Today is P+7 so I have one more week to go.

IVIG

Alzheimer's Disease

Dermatomyositis

Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
Myasthenia Gravis(MG

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)

Sjogren’s Syndrome

Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS)

Systenic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE)

Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP))
Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS)
Autoimmune Diabetic Neuropathy
Polymyositis
Multifocal Motor Neuropathy (MMN)
Common Variable Immunodeficiency (CVID)
Hypogammaglobulinemia
Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID)
Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome (WAS)
X-Linked Agammaglobulinemia (XLA)
other connective tissue disorders

 

LDN

Alzheimer's Disease
Dermatomyositis
Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
Myasthenia Gravis (MG)
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Sjogren’s Syndrome
Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS)
Systemic Lupus (SLE)

ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease)
Autism Spectrum Disorders
Behcet's Disease
Celiac Disease
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
CREST syndrome
Crohn's Disease
Endometriosis
Fibromyalgia
Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
Parkinson's Disease
Pemphigoid
Primary Lateral Sclerosis (PLS)
Psoriasis
Transverse Myelitis
Ankylosing Spondylitis
Sarcoidosis
Scleroderma
Ulcerative Colitis
Wegener's Granulomatosis

Long Talk with DH About Moving on

I have been dreading having the talk with DH about moving on to adoption. Last night I finally did it and I was very surprised at his reaction.

Two years ago when the RE told us that it was IVF or nothing, we spoke about it. He said he was fine. Then we found Napro and have been doing that ever since. He has supported me with the big items like taking care of me when I had my surgeries, but I have always felt alone emotionally. He only went to two dr apts in 5 years. Those were consults and I had to persuade him to go. Every month when I get a BFN we don't usually talk about it. I don't even always tell him. He just figures it out. I feel the constant pain of failure alone every month and I feel that this burden has been building up in me.

He freaked out when I told him that I wanted to stop. I told him that I am tired of all the Dr apts, medications etc. Once the RI told us about our HLA matches, I really lost hope. I thought he understood what the test results meant. For the past 5 years, I have been able to push myself to do things that were very unpleasant in hopes of success. I could never tell myself when I should stop bc I always had hope. Now that's gone.

My dh got mad bc he said that the RI told us neupogen would solve the problem. I reminded dh that this is the 4th month on it. Last year I took it for four months, took a break. Four months again and then took a break. That was 8 months in all. Then I had polyps removed in Feb so I thought maybe that was the issue, but who knows. Neupogen raises your white blood count, so I am not very comfortable with the idea of taking it for months without end.I think the standard is to try something for 3-4 months.

I asked him how much longer he wanted to try. He was not happy with that. He said maybe 3  months. It made me so sad to see him get so upset. I guess he had not gotten to the acceptance stage yet like I had. I told him that I was the one taking the physical burden and I am burned out.  We agreed to still try the naltrexone for a few months.

I told him how I felt so alone bc he never talks about it. I told him how I think about it daily and I cry often. He said he also thinks about it daily. I never knew that.

My Head is Still Spinning

My head is still spinning from that last test result. Of all the people in the world that I could end up marrying I have to find someone whose immune system matches mine. UGH The crazy thing is that my dh grew up about 3 hours from where I grew up. We met in college and then I moved up here. I know that there is nothing that I could have done bc there is no way to tell. There is no fault we did nothing wrong. It was just chance.

It does bring me some peace to know that the main issue is shared between us. I have always felt guilty about not being able to give him children.

I  created a packet of info to send to my napro dr. I  can only imagine what he will think. I almost did not believe it myself. I copied a chapter from Dr. Beer's book to send with my lab report.

The RI said to give the neupogen two more months. This is my fourth perfect cycle in a row on neupogen and I think I am done at the end of this cycle. My LDN arrived in the mail so I am going to try that for a few months starting next month.

My cycle has been textbook again this month. I am just at peak day. I went in for my us and had a nice 18 mm follie and took my trigger.

My favorite nurse C was there and she asked me if I was mad at her bc she did not see me last time. I was so flattered that she really remembered me and thought about me. I told her that I did request her but another nurse came in. She said that when she does that they get mad at her, but if someone takes her request she does not make a big deal about it. I get the feeling that the other nurses are not totally nice to her. She is a little older and has a lot more experience. She came to my clinic about 8 months ago when another clinic run by the same Dr closed. I told her that I was so happy she is not sick of me yet. I did not tell her that some of the other nurses rush me and give me looks like I am wasting their time.

We had a nice talk and she said that she loves getting requests bc she gets to really know her patients. I want to get her something but I know that if it is public that the other nurses will make a stink about it. Women can be so mean. I have to get her a gift card and sneak it to her. She always takes her time with me and will explain everything. She always tells me how nice my lining is and she is very optimistic. I also copied the same chapter about my HLA matching to give to her next time. I know that she will be interested in this.

Back from the Wizard

Today I got back from my big apt with with wizard or more like the man behind the curtain..............

Before I get into that. I had to go to an event at school tonight. At the end you have to stand by your room and greet the parents. Well, my coworker ignored me as usual. I decided that since she wrote in her last email that I misread her body language,  there should be no issue. I made two comments and she ignored me. Then I walked over to her and said that I was leaving and that I hope she has a good night etc. She turned to me and spoke. I could tell that she did not want to. I am going to make her talk to me. I am not going to let her intimidate me anymore.
......................................................................................................................
I am sad to report that this was a huge disappointment. I am glad that I went though bc if I hadn't then I would have been playing the what if game and regretted not going. We get there and there is nobody in the waiting room but us. Then I see many women come out but none go in. We waited for an hour. My DH goes up and asks about the ETA etc.

We finally go in and I see the packet I sent him on his desk. He says something about just getting it. REALLY??? I'm sure he got it a few days ago. I asked him if he read it, he said no. Then he asked me to  tell him what's been going on. I asked again if he read my report he said no, just tell me. OMG My heart starts to beat, I turn to my DH and say, "I don't know what to say" At this point I am stunned that he could not take 5 min to read it before I walked in. OMG OMG. OMG. At this point my DH sees my face and jumps in. He asked him to take 5 min to read it now. Which he did.

He reads through it, but at this point I'm not sure how deep bc he gave me the same diagnosis and basically the same treatment plan that he did last year. REALLY????? This makes me think that his treatment plans are more generic than I thought. Maybe he did not read over my report bc he knew what he wanted to recommend no matter what was wrong with me personally.

He said that my main problem is endometriosis and that is causing poor egg quality. He said that Endo also attacks sperm so it cannot fertilize the egg. Of course if I did IVF then he could test this hypothesis and help me out....................OMG REALLY? I had already made it very clear that I was not interested in that.

In fact, he suggested that I stop all the immune treatments and just by some fancy supplements that "are only 60 a bottle". He said that he does not make any money off of them, but it felt like he was making a sales pitch. He also recommended that I take melatonin for my poor eggs. I am not sure about that. I have to do my research first.

He saw one weird thing in my report. There is a test called a LAD and it measures your body's immune reaction to your husband's. We both got our blood drawn and they mix it. I had a good result. He said that since I have never been pregnant I should not have that result. He thinks it means I have some other immune disorder. Then he said there is a new test coming out next month that could give some more info on this LAD mystery.

He also suggested that my DH and I get our HLA matches tested. I had never bothered bc I was already taking neupogen and that is the treatment for matches. So there could be a breakthrough with these new tests or this could all be nothing.

He was much nicer in person than he was on the phone. He did spend almost an hour speaking with us. He  answered all of our questions. I am disappointed that he did not take the time to read over my report and really spend some time thinking about how to help me.

After we left, I got thinking about how they would charge me another 350 to go over the test results. My DH came to the rescue again. He asked at the front desk about the charge. Megan, the nice woman at the front  told him that it would be covered bc he would just call me quickly to read the result. My DH asked them to put it in writing and she did!!!! Then she said to call asap to make an apt bc they are already booking for June.  Even though it was a major hassle to drive down there with the traffic and pouring rain I am much happier with my service in person.


I am not sure what to do. I don't agree with stopping the immune treatments and just taking supplements. If it was just poor egg quality I think I would have gotten pg at least once in 5 years. Once I left, I felt so defeated and wanted to just cry and give up. He made it sound like the endo was a death sentence to my eggs. I had a long car ride home to think it over. I guess I have to wait and see what these next two tests reveal.

Off to See The Wizard

Next week I am finally going down to NYC to meet the famous Dr. Braverman. I made the apt two months ago. I had been his patient last year but  I always spoke to him on the phone. He is smart, but his office is overwhelmed with patients. I always felt rushed on the phone. This time my DH is going with me to make sure things go well. I also have my large binder full of test results and notes to bring.

I started to look back into my files and I could not believe that it has been a year since I last spoke to him. I left last May bc he doubled his price on me without warning. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise bc I met Karen Pace who is an immune consultant. She is wonderful and I highly recommend her. She ran 20 tests on me that he never did. It was because of her that I discovered my blood clotting issues and vit d deficiency.

I gathered all of my test results and I made a 7 page packet to send him in the mail. I figured that he needed to be reminded of my old issues and updated on my new tests. I made sure to use bullets or tables since he is always in a hurry. I decided to mail it today so that he would get it a few days before my apt. I put it in a large envelope and wrote on it. Please review before our apt on May 21. I might email him a copy the night before.

I am not sure what I will gain, but he is the one who came up with the miracle treatment for my lufs which was to use a lupron trigger. Who knows what tricks he will have up his sleeve this time.

We are going to drive down the night before and stay in a hotel. We have an early apt the next day. Then we will drive back that day. My husband started to look for hotels. He told me that he found one that had themed rooms. I started to get nervous. He said they looked really cool except...............they rent by the hour........OMG so that is not for us.........After the experience in Georgia with that crazy hotel, we are more cautious now.

Update CD9 May 2012

The  (4.5 hours over 3 days) math test is over. What a hassle. My students worked very hard and I am so proud of them. I have no idea how they did score wise, since they change the amount you have to get right every year. This year they also embedded field test questions into the test, so some of the questions do not even count. The results are supposed to be back in June.

Last week in the afternoon of each test day I had a different reward for great test taking behavior. We planted seeds, made playdough and had game time. The playdough was a big hit. It is amazing to see kids who are so high tech all day fall in love with something simple like playdough. It was easy to make and it came out really soft and smooth just like the real thing.We used unsweetened koolaid to color it.

Since last week was the test, my schedule was all crazy. I was supposed to go in for a baseline US but could not. This week I went in on CD8. I figured better late than never. I am very happy to report that my ovary behaved last month. I did not have a cyst!!! This is a huge victory for me. The lupron trigger works like magic. We saw two follicles on the left forming. Most likely only one will be the dominant one. I go back on Friday to check out their progress.

I had some immune tests run last week. I had natural killer cells and cytokines. This was the first time I had the immune tests run while on lovenox, neupogen, and piroxicam. The results were interesting. I have an appointment with my immune consultant next week. The big surprise was my TNF. It has always been in the 20s and under 30 is normal. This time it was 11. So something lowered it. Then my NK came down, but not as much as the last time. That was a bummer. The normal range is 15 or under. Mine only came down to 16.8 so I do not know if that is close enough or a big deal.

Getting Back Into the Game

After sitting on the bench for the past three months, I'm finally going  getting back into the game. In case you are just tuning in, I took off some time to get more tests run and had a hyteroscopy where they removed tons of tiny polyps.

Today is CD3 I had my baseline US apt. My favorite nurse was there so I was able to request her. She is so wonderful and it makes such a difference. She takes her time with me. There are some nurses who are tired of seeing me and rush. She is thorough and respects that I am going natural etc. I have a big history with lufs and cysts. I was worried what crazy stuff my ovaries had been up to since I had not seen them in 3 months.

She took a good look and then did not see any cysts. I was so excited. This is a rare treat for me. YEAH. That probably means I ovulated on my own last month, which is huge since I did not take a trigger.....YEAH. I am so glad that I am starting off right. She checked both ovaries and they both have some small buds. My right ovary that is covered with an endometrioma and only has a sliver of tissue left also had some buds. I cannot express how thrilled I am that my ovaries behaved.

This week I will take antibiotics. I started taking them for my TEBB. Even though it  has not returned in the last 3 months, I decided to take the ab just in case. I start neupogen for my NK cells and lovenox for my 5 blood clotting issues this weekend. So two shots to the belly. ugh. I go back next week for a follicle check. Then we see when I take my trigger.

I can't help getting my hopes up. It is nuts,but this is such a good sign that I have to go with it.

I wanted to schedule a follow up with the fancy reproductive immunologist in NYC. I have had lots of new tests run since last June when I last spoke with him. Since I live hours away, I always did phone consults. He would charge 350  but then only speak to me for 5 min.This time I wanted to get more time to go over them properly. Plus, I would be able to see what he is doing. Is he reading my chart, or staring out the window? I figured I would get better service face to face

I had my DH call bc I cannot stand dealing with his office staff. Well, it seems that this Dr has decided to drop out of network. This means that now I will have to pay the same amount if I go in person or not.  I told my DH that I still want to go face to face to get the most out of my money. Also if I go in person my dh will go with me.

I know it sounds nuts that I would put up with all of his nonsense, but he is brilliant and is up on the newest stuff. He is the one who suggested a lupron trigger which was a huge breakthrough for me. I am at the end of my road here, so I need someone who is willing to try anything. My napro dr found inflammation in my uterus so I need to address that.

Traffic Ticket and Blood Tests Results

My speeding ticket:
I got a speeding ticket at the end of December. I had to go to court this week to speak to the ADA to see if I could get it reduced.  When I got there and saw that the room was already full of people I knew it would be a long night. You sign in and then they call you up to speak to the ADA for like a min in the corner but it was still in front of everyone. I sat there and watched everyone go up and listened to see what kind of deal they got. It seemed that everyone got a large reduction on their pts but had to pay $150 fine. Then it was my turn. I got up there and I was all set to plead my case but he already had a deal without hearing any info from me. He reduced it from 6 pts to 2 pts. Then I had to also pay a fine of $150 plus the state surcharge of 85. So for my first offense I had to pay a large fine and also get two pts. I am not complaining bc it could have been 6 pts plus at least $300. So this is ok with me. I am just glad that this two month drama is finally over. I can go to a defensive driving course and remove my pts.

 TTC:
My blood tests came back. I have to speak to the dr but I have some ideas on the results thanks to the Internet and my past experiences.

I tested positive for another blood clotting disorder.  That puts my total up to five  which includes  PAI-1 4G/5G that is mentioned below. I think I have been tested for 9 or ten, so I have about half of them. Sometimes it amazes me that I even walk around. It seems that I really need the blood thinners. My hematologist upped my dose to 40mg once a day. It is hard to know if this is enough, bc she said I am her only IF patient. Her others are all pg women with RPL and she wants to give me the same dose as them.

 My natural Killer cells were high, but about the same as usual. This was what I expected to see. When I start TTC again, I will go back on the med to lower this. My  TNF was a little higher than my usual but still in the normal range.

My Vitamin D level is getting better each time. I am very pleased to report that it is now up to 46. It is so great when something works correctly. 1,000 equals 10 pts and that is what has been happening with me. I have been taking 3,000 so now I am going to add another  1,000.

My ferritin level was low. It was 37 which seems normal  in the lab's range, but everything I read online stated that under 40 caused fertility issues. Some sites mentioned wanting a level near 60. So I am going to slowly ease in some supplements in order to prevent GI distress.

My folate level is still really high but it came down a lot since the last time I was tested. A few months back, I was taking  a high dose folate supplement for my MTHFR. I reduced the dose after the test came back much higher than the range. Since it is still outside of the normal range, I am going to reduce it some more. I eat a lot of salad so I guess I do not need to supplement that much.

Here is something I found online. 
http://www.rbmojournal.com/article/S1472-6483%2810%2961004-8/abstract

While the role of inherited thrombophilia has been accepted as a cause of recurrent late pregnancy complications, the contribution of mutated thrombophilic genes to implantation failure has not been studied. Proteins involved in fibrinolysis are necessary for trophoblast invasion into the endometrium. This study compared the prevalence of 10 thrombophilic gene mutations among 42 women with a history of recurrent implantation failure after IVF–embryo transfer with 20 fertile control women. Buccal swabs were taken from all of the women for DNA analyses. Women with a history of implantation failure after IVF–embryo transfer displayed a higher prevalence of PAI-1 4G/5G mutations than controls (P = 0.007). No differences in the frequency of the other specific gene mutations were detected. However, the prevalence of total gene mutations among patients with implantation failure was significantly higher than among controls. More than three gene mutations among the 10 genes studied were observed in 74% of women with implantation failure and 20% of controls (P = 0.0004). 

It is concluded that inherited thrombophilias are associated with implantation failure. This association is manifest by total number of mutations as well as with PAI-1 mutations.

Lots of Blood Tests

This is the time of year that school budgets get discussed. It is so sad that schools have to make so many cuts. Everyone is sad at work. I cannot believe that the president would make huge education reforms, make teacher evaluation tied to the test scores at the same time that  most schools are cutting tons of teachers and increasing class sizes. Nothing is set in stone yet. It is just so stressful and I try not to think about it. The other day they mentioned that the music teachers might get  cut. One of them has a small baby with major health issues. She is having trouble paying her bills and now she may lose her job. I started to wonder if I should be so greedy and want kids and a job. I have been blessed with a job when many do not. I started to feel guilty about it.ugh. My dh said to keep trying and not give up.

I am getting closer and closer to going back into the fight. It has be awesome these past few months not doing any shots. I have to admit that I still had TTC on the brain, but that is less painful than injections to the belly. I spoke to the hematologist last week. She upped my dose of blood thinners to 40mg. I waited all week to get a call from the mail order pharmacy. When I called today, the guy told me that my prescription came in and started to set up the order. I went through almost the whole thing and even paid for the medicine. He does the recap and mentioned 30mg.I said oh no she raised it to 40mg and then my cell phone died. Ugh so I panicked and ran to find a phone. I called back and got a different rep. She said that my prescription did not come in. She said that my last script was from December and that must have been what he saw. HMMM I told her that he set up the whole order. She was able to fix it and then said she would fax my Dr to get the script. One of the many lessons I have learned is to start setting up the meds a month or two before you want them. If they get the script  then they can mail it to me on Thursday.

I also got some more blood drawn for immune tests. Two of them are repeats since I have not had them done in 6 months and there is one new one. I had 9 vials of blood drawn. Thankfully I got a great nurse and it did not hurt when she swapped the vials. I was able to go down there on my break and get back on time. Those tests will take about a week to come in. One test was sent out to Colorado to be tested and the others went to Illinois.

I also requested to have some tests run locally and I hope to get those done tomorrow. So in about a week, I should have lots of test results to go over, and some medicine. The last part of the puzzle is to speak to the Reproductive Immunologist. I have not spoken to him in months. I do not like talking to him bc he charges and arm and a leg, is  two hours late for the apt and then he hurries you along. I know that he is very intelligent and I just have to deal with him so I can make a plan. I want to get all my test results in before I speak to him.

Vitamin D

Have you had your level tested?
I was only tested for the first time about 6 months ago because I read that a deficiency could cause infertility.  My level was only 24 which is deficient. I was shocked bc that was during the summer when I was going outside. I started taking 2,000 units a day and got retested 3 months later. My level went up 10 points. At this point, the lab said it was normal. The Vitamin D council says it is still deficient so I added another 1,000. I am now up to 3,000 a day. I got retested 3 months later and it is now 46.  I have been learning so much about Vitamin D and how it is so important to your overall health. I  signed up to get the Vitamin D council's newsletter. I also decided it was time to give vitamin D its own page. 



___________________________________________________________________________________
The Vitamin D Council
 http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/

The Vitamin D Council is a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) educational corporation in the State of California, founded in 2003 by Executive Director John J. Cannell, M.D., on the conviction that humans all over the world are needlessly suffering from vitamin D deficiency. Their mission is to end the worldwide vitamin D deficiency epidemic by means of outreach and awareness, treatment, research and activism.
 The Vitamin D Council produces summaries on a wide range of health conditions. 
Vitamin D and infertility 
Vitamin D and pregnancy
  ________________________________________________________________________________
World's Healthiest Foods Vitamin D Information


 ________________________________________________________________________________

The following info below comes from Dr.  Donald Miller who is a cardiac surgeon and Professor of Surgery at the University of Washington in Seattle. He is a member of Doctors for Disaster Preparedness

Vitamin D regulates the expression of more than 1,000 genes throughout the body.  Vitamin D switches on genes in macrophages that make antimicrobial peptides, antibiotics the body produces.

Vitamin D also expresses genes that stop macrophages from overreacting to an infection and releasing too many inflammatory agents — cytokines — that can damage infected tissue. Vitamin D, for example, down regulates genes that produce interleukin-2 and interferon gamma, two cytokines that prime macrophages and cytotoxic T cells to attack the body's tissues.

A growing body of evidence indicates that rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults  are just the tip of a vitamin D-deficiency iceberg. Tuberculosis and various autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, lupus, and type I diabetes have a causal association with low vitamin D blood levels. Vitamin D deficiency plays a causal role in hypertension, coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, peripheral vascular disease, and stroke. It is also a risk factor for metabolic syndrome and type II diabetes, chronic fatigue, seasonal affective disorder, depression, cataracts, infertility, and osteoporosis. 

Experts reckon that an optimum blood level of vitamin D  is 50—99 ng/ml. (Children need a blood level >8 ng/ml to prevent rickets. It takes a concentration >20 to maintain parathyroid hormone levels in a normal range. A level >34 is needed for peak intestinal calcium absorption. And in elderly people neuromuscular performance steadily improves as vitamin D blood levels rise to 50 ng/ml.) 

The government's recommended daily allowance (RDA) for vitamin D is 400 IU (international units) a day, an amount sufficient to prevent rickets and osteomalacia but not vitamin D's other gene-regulating benefits. To achieve all of vitamin D's benefits one has to take an amount ten times the government's RDA — 4,000 to 5,000 IU a day.  

Food contains very little vitamin D. Federal regulations now require that some foods, like milk, be fortified with vitamin D. But one would have to drink 200 glasses of milk to obtain the amount of vitamin D a light-skinned person can make in 20 minutes sunbathing. 

The majority of Americans are vitamin D deficient, with a  blood level <20 ng/ml,  Vitamin D supplements (D3, ) provide the only way most of us can maintain a year-round vitamin D blood levels greater than 50 ng/ml. That requires taking 4—5,000 IU of vitamin D a day 

What a Great Day!

Yesterday I had a great day!

I woke up and had a pos OPK. I love seeing those two blue lines bc they might just be the only ones I ever see. It is also a reassurance that part of my system is working. This happened on CD15 which is great. That is back to my usual. Last month it was much later due to stress. I took my trigger.

Later on that day my dr's office called and made an apt for next week. I was happy to hear back and have something written down. It was Friday, dress down day, and a pay day, so that just made it even better.

My work situation continues to improve. My boss gave me a compliment on something I did. I had to work on something with the teachers that I had an issue with in Sept. I did a great job collaborating and then I came up with a great idea and everyone loved it. I was so happy to hear that. I enjoy working there and I want to be able to move forward.

After school I was just cleaning my room when my cell phone rings and it was my napro Dr. =)   I told him that I just made an apt to talk with him next week. =)  He is so great. I love the compassion and positive energy in his voice. We spoke about doing the lap surgery. He said that there is a possibility that if he takes away too much tissue I could go into early menopause. Yikes. At this point I am not willing to risk that. Then we talked about how all my napro stats are great. I mentioned the polyps and how I was worried that they may have come back in the past 3 years. He agreed to do the hysteroscopy and also check my tubes. I am so thrilled. I told him that I need to know that my uterus is in top shape before I get into any more medications. The dr that did the last one 3 years ago was not napro so I am excited to have my napro surgeon get a good look and give me his expert opinion.

We also spoke about using nsaids to calm down inflammation. I have heard many people talk about using them. I have always avoided them due to my lufs, since nsaids can make it worse. My Dr said that there is some research that a specific nsaid can help with implantation. He suggested that I only use it post peak after the threat of lufs is over. I also have thick blood, so this will thin it also. I did a google search and found an article on  piroxicam and implantation rates    The implantation rate was 12.3 vs. 7.7% (p-value = 0.04) and the clinical pregnancy rate was 25.5 vs. 10% (p-value = 0.015) in the piroxicam vs. control groups, respectively.  

Even though the article is talking about IVF, we can use this information for non ivf too. It mentioned  prostaglandins which is something people like me with endo have issues with. It said that they can increase uterine contractions and decrease receptivity of embryo and nsaids block prostaglandins. I am going to try this after my procedure.

Foxp3 Cells

 

Yesterday was p+7 and my bw was average. I am happy with average. My estrogen was 98 and my progesterone was 14.4.  I am taking supplements of both, so I know without them, my levels would be terrible. I am taking a tiny amount of estrogen which is half of a pill twice a day. I am glad to see that the number is low enough to indicate ovulation but not too low which could cause trouble. I was cautiously optimistic yesterday but today I started to talk myself into doubt.


Today while I was driving I saw a fox walking down the road. I had never seen one in the wild like that before. It reminded me that I need to deal with my fox cells. In Sept, I had a uterine biopsy and the results show that my uterine natural killer cells were fine but my Foxp3 cells were low which is bad. These cells turn off your body's immune response. I left the immune dr in June, bc he charged too much and did not provide good service. The consultant who I hired and suggested the test told me I am her first client to have this issue. I waited for her to find the treatment but she just wrote me back today to say she is still not sure. She even contacted Dr. Winger at the Beer center where the test was run but he never got back to her. UGH I am trying not to get annoyed. I thougth about contacting him myself or asking my awesome napro dr to contact him, but he will probably want a  lot of money and make me become his patient etc which is not what I want.

I went back on the internet to do some research. I could not find a treatment. I found some research articles but I could only see the abstract  and most of them were way above my reading level. I saw the same name pop up a few times. I googled it and found out that she is a Dr in Australia who does research. I got the nerve to email her and ask her if she knows of any treatments. I figured that I have nothing to lose. I am hoping that she will take pity on me. Maybe she will be flattered that someone read her research and is interested. Maybe she will ignore me. Who knows? I had to take a chance. When I contacted the Dr in Japan last Nov he wrote me right back and helped me move along. Now it is a year later and I just contacted a Dr. in Australia.

I still have a lot of neupogen in my fridge. I also saw this pop up in my research. I am hoping that it will be a treatment. Right now, I am taking it subcutaneously. I have read about uterine washes and wonder if this could help get to the area better so I asked her about that too. I told her that I need some research to back my up before I ask my napro Dr to try it.

I have one more week until I find out if this worked. I need to try to get some answers on this low foxp3 cells so I can have peace of mind that I am doing everything right. My DH tried to remind me last night that normal people can take up to six months. I reminded him that I don't know if am normal yet bc I have so many issues that I am trying to fix. This foxp3 is the last one that I know of that needs to be addressed.

So if anyone out there has the same issue or knows of any research, please let me know.