Infertility Treatment

Last week we discussed the friend referral.  This week we will be discussing how to pick a clinic based on your diagnosis.

If you have already have a diagnosis, such as high FSH, blocked tubes, fibroids, endometriosis you will want to find a clinic with a specialized doctor for your situation.  Remember to ask your referring doctor if the clinic has experience handling your type of diagnosis.  If you decided to use the clinic referral, go to their website and read about their doctors training/experience.  If you have endometriosis, pick the clinic doctor who has the most experience with the diagnosis.  When […]

Last week I discussed the “doctor” referral, this week it’s the “friend” referral.

When it comes to a friend’s I notice two potential problems:

1) Your friend got pregnant on first cycle of IUI/IVF and LOVES their clinic.  When your friend has the great experience of conceiving on the first cycle, their journey with a clinic was short and not complicated.  With multiple cycles many patients start to feel like a widget in the machinery.  Some clinics are worse than others and the friend’s clinic might be one of these places.  Remember your friend is on a high from her pregnancy test and […]

The majority of couples are referred to their first reproductive clinic visit by a gynecologist. 

 What you should take into consideration at this point? 

• Your referring doctor may have only been marketed by local clinics.

• Some doctors only meet with one clinic and refer all their clients to that one clinic. 

• Clinics located farther away may never set up a meeting your doctor, thus your doctor may not learn about these facilities. 

• I know from my own experience, some doctors meet with a variety of clinics but can’t break the habit of referring to one clinic, which could be the wrong match to […]

I thought it may be helpful to describe everything I have learned about assisting clients in picking a clinic that matches up with fertility health.

First – ALWAYS REMEMBER – BE AN EDUCATED CONSUMER.  I cannot emphamize this enough.  Fertility treatments involve so much emotion that it is easy to lose perspective.  Read, research and understand EVERYTHING BEFORE you start your journey. 

Every couple hopes for only one fertility treatment, but the reality could be much longer and more involved.  LEARN WHAT YOUR INSURANCE WILL COVER.  Most insurance plans limit the coverage for IVF cycles.  If you only have coverage for 1 […]

I’m sure you are familiar with the stress of conceiving – the drugs, timed sex, being surrounded by pregnant friends and the nosey relative.  I bet you have been told to “just relax” or “take a long vacation”.  Yes, stress has a big impact on reproductive health, but “just relaxing” does not solve the whole problem.  Stress is coming from conflicting feelings, emotions that need to be acknowledge and released.  Meditating can be helpful, but it doesn’t cut the muster when you are at the mall surrounded by baby strollers.  Well, I was reading the June issue of the Oprah […]

This article has been making its way around the internet.  First of all, it’s great that the guys are getting some of the focus…and the blame.  Fertility comes from two places, the women and the man.  Yet guys get little focus or demand to step up and take some reasonability in changing their diet and lifestyle.   As Western medicine learns more about sperm health new guideline will be developed. 

By the way if your guy has sperm count issues, do not follow the article’s suggestions.  Daily sex is only for 7 days back to back…not every day for a month.  Remember […]

Endometriosis is a painful disorder, presenting with red inflamed tissue that causes the immune system to overreact and complicate conception.  When diagnosed surgery is the common treatment to remove as much of the inflamed tissue and freeing any organs ensnared in it.  Surgery can not completely resolve the issue and endometriosis can be hard to remove entirely.  One concern with endometriosis is the toxic byproducts produced by the inflamed tissue and the over responding immune system.  The toxic fluid can enter the uterus via the fallopian tubes where it can have an effect on sperm and an embryo.  Currently modern […]

Metformin (Glucophage) is the drug of choice for polycystic ovary syndrome, since it can encourage ovulation and decreases cyst production.  Yet many ladies have ton of problems taking it, such as nausea, diarrhea, intestinal pain, bloating and gas.  The fabulous website for PCOS (http://www.ovarian-cysts-pcos.com) recently mentioned a new way to get metformin – in a cream.  The cream is applied to the ovarian area of the belly, the lower quadrant (alternating right and left) and dosing typically starts at 50mg twice daily and is increased as needed.

When metformin is used topically it is absorbed directly into the blood […]

One common problem I treat is estrogen dominance (ED).  The ED I discuss in this article will focus on ovarian produced estrogen.   ED arises from 2 common scenarios: 

• Over producing ovaries leading to high levels of estrogen in the blood.  The biggest culprit is ovarian cysts – such a PCOS or functional cysts (functional cyst produces estrogen – something not all cyst do).  In this case the ovarian cysts manufacture estrogen which can suppress FHS and stop ovulation.  This presentation will have clinically high levels of estrogen in their blood work.

• Poorly functioning corpus […]
  

Many of my clients have the diagnosis of unexplained infertility, the big mysterious void of fertility.  This common diagnosis causes women to feel helpless and confused – “how can everything be ok but I haven’t gotten pregnant?”  Western medicine has made huge leaps in assisting couples in conceiving, but they don’t have explanations for many of the irregularities in the female body.  Western medicine is very good at examining the single pieces of the puzzle, such as testing FSH, LH, E2 and thyroid levels.  When a woman is tested for all possible single puzzle pieces and everything is normal, she […]