CD 5: Started 5mg of Letrozole. No issues. No side effects. (I was on Letrozole for two cycles back in what? Oh gosh, 2007? I didn't have any issues with it then either.)
CD 6: Another day, another fight with my RE about Intralipids. This has turned into WAY more than I ever thought possible. As a last ditch effort, Dr. B agreed to call my RE directly and see if he can talk some sense into her. At least I have one doc trying to help me. I have agreed to let this go, though...once Dr. B tries, I'm giving up. It's not worth the stress it's causing at this point. I've done some digging into Intralipids and I see the reasoning for it. It IS a more holistic/nutritional approach to fighting inflammation (with NO effect on baby) and that's probably why my RE won't agree to it. She sees no benefit....and that's the way Western medicine seems to go my friends. Dr. B has been looking at the whole picture and DOES see the benefit of lowering the ratio of omega 3's to omega 6's (He published a study on it in fact). The intralipids seem to help do that, which in turn lowers inflammation that is caused by my endo as well as helps to reduce the miscarriage rate. I have a video conference with my RE in 2 days but at this point, I'm done pushing.
Current list of supplements:
Multivitamin: Standard stuff with as much non synthetic as I can get
Fish Oil: 3000mg for Omega 3's/DHA (which does NOT smell or taste good)
Myo-Inositol: for blood sugar regulation since I can't take Metformin
Vit C: 500mg-1g a day made from berries (some days I take more...I felt a cold coming on and I upped my dose and BAM, no more cold)
Folate/B12: When I remember to take it. I've heard that isolated B12 can cause a decrease in potassium and I don't want that.
Calcium Pills: (they also contain 400mg of magnesium and trace minerals like Boron and silica) I'm supposed to take 1200mg per day since the Prednisone and Lovenox leech calcium from my bones. I found a non synthetic form but it's only about 900mg. I'm hoping my body can use it easier since it's algae based and not from rocks-so the lower dose won't matter?
Ginger: 1100mg for lowering inflammation (I do think it helps as the pain in my hand/wrist has gone down significantly since taking it twice a day-I started ginger about 6 months ago)
Brazil Nuts: I eat 2-4 a day for the selenium (It can maybe help with implantation too)
Probiotics: either in pill form or gummies or fermented food/Kombucha. I like to switch it up.
Whole Food Zinc: immune support
Resveratrol
Acai Berry
L-Arginine
And sometimes a Cayenne pepper capsule to round it all out
 |
| I had to write it all out so I remember when to take everything! |
I'll start a turmeric/bromelain cap + 81mg of aspirin once I trigger. (Bromelain can be found in the core of a pineapple. I REALLY don't like pineapple so I'm taking the pills instead). These are all in addition to the prescription medication/Benedryl for this FET. I take between 25-30 pills a day right now...it's a little much. I also still try and choke down a wheat grass/green veggie drink but I've eased off on that some. I've been trying to see if I notice any changes since starting that many supplements....my hormonal acne is almost non-existent for the first time ever. That and the reduced wrist pain. Maybe it's helping balance me out a bit? All I know is that my water intake has increased too...gotta get all those pills down!
CD 7: I graduated from twice a week acupuncture to only once a week! Annnndddddd, I still hate every minute of it. Hats off to all of you out there that love it.
CD 8: I had a video conference with my local RE today. I thought it would most likely be pointless and it pretty much was. I did learn that she thinks our embryo is "excellent quality" and gave us a 70% chance of success-but said but most likely it's really 30-40% based on my history. She gave a 90% thaw rate and didn't think I'd have lining issues since I never have in the past. And that was the end of that. (I never brought up the Intralipids with her as I just couldn't go there again.)
I did call a local functional medicine doc to see if he'd be willing to write the RX for the Intralipids. I was told someone would call me back. It hasn't happened yet. I have given it to God to figure out. I've done everything that I can think of to try and make this infusion work. If He wants it to happen, He will have to make it happen. The end.
CD 9: Last day of Letrozole. Yay! But...my ovaries are not doing anything yet. And I'm having some odd cycle issues that I've never dealt with before. It's kind of weirding me out.
CD 10: No changes. I'll be shocked to see a lead follicle on Sunday...I'm feeling nothing. That could mean bad things to come for this FET. I'm trying not to think too much about it and wait to see Sunday's scan.
I've done quite a bit of reading about the Intralipids and omega 3's. As of right now I'm eating a decent amount of omega 3's in plant form (nuts, flaxseed, chia seeds) and seafood (salmon and oysters). I'm hoping that'll be enough.
CD 11: Negative OPK
CD 12: I woke up this morning with slight twinges in my ovaries. Hummm....Had E2, P4, PTT, and a CBC blood work in Birmingham. Y'all. Y'ALL. My u/s today showed that I have six growing follicles. S.I.X. The u/s tech asked me, "Do you normally have cysts on your ovaries?" I thought to myself, "Oh no. OH NO." But I said out loud, "No ma'am. Does it look bad in there?" She then showed me that I have five follicles on my left ovary, four of them tracking together at 14-15mm! (My right had one at 10mm so that one won't count.) The goal was ONE follicle! Apparently Letrozole and acupuncture agree with me. My u/s today looked like my IVF cycle after stimming for 8 days. Amazing. (And now by the end of the day, I feel my old familiar friend, ovulation pain)
Estrogen: 140's
Progesterone: .4
Uterine Lining: 9mm with a "beautiful" triple stripe (I can transfer with anything over .8mm!)
I do have to go back tomorrow morn for a recheck. They want one follicle at 18mm before triggering. The nurse was once again a bit passive aggressive about me and this protocol. Yes, I get it. This is not a typical protocol and God forbid I do a cycle without synthetic estrogen/birth control/Lupron! She mentioned not once but twice that they don't want me transferring on the weekend...goodness. All I can do at this point is shake my head.
CD 13: All looks great today! Lining is 11mm now (perfect!) and I have 2 follicles over 20mm! Thank you Jesus! I should trigger tonight, start progesterone on Wednesday and have my transfer on Tuesday (2/12). The u/s tech bugged out when she saw my follicles which made me giggle! "Wait, you're doing a transfer next week and you're on Letrozole!? Your follicles look great!"
Love you all! I'll be journaling all through this so I'm sure I'll be updating again soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment