Can you lower your FSH? Can you improve your egg quality?Doctors will say you can't.
Tour eggs are as old as you are, and nothing you will do will make any difference.
You will be told,
Your eggs are too oldand
You are a poor responder,
Even
2/3 of women over the age of 35 require medical intervention in order to conceive.
Yes, some women will need help to conceive.
But
keep in mind there is a large financial incentive for you to believe these demoralizing prognoses – reproductive medicine is an ever-growing multi-billion dollar per year cash industry, whose financial rewards grow exponentially when you submit to the belief your only chance of becoming a parent is through medical intervention. They make no money when you conceive on your own. They make a maximum profit when multiple women are involved in helping you achieve a pregnancy at all costs.
So what CAN you do to help yourself?
Ovarian health depends upon three factors – nutritional status, blood flow, and the balance of reproductive hormones with stress hormones.
1) Nutritional status – the reproductive system, like the rest of our body, has certain nutritional requirements. Most of my patients are asked to avoid sugar, wheat, and dairy. They take nutritional supplements specific to their Traditional Chinese Medicine pattern of imbalance. Most women with high FSH or poor ovarian reserve take super greens like wheatgrass, royal jelly, and Co-Enzyme Q-10, to name a few.
2) Blood flow – a woman of age 40 typically has five times less blood flow to her ovaries than a woman of age 20. This dramatically impedes the attention the ovary requires during the follicles' all-important growth phase, the 90-day process before ovulation in which the quality of the egg is determined. The follicles insist upon adequate oxygenation and circulation to function efficiently (i.e., with a healthy egg, capable of fertilization and implantation.)
3) Hormonal balance – the endocrine system is a delicate interplay of the reproductive hormones, stress hormones, and emotions, in symphony with each other. This system operates via feedback, which means anytime you introduce an outside hormone into its influence, it shuts that system down. Synthetic hormones can't cure hormonal imbalances, they can only override them. The endocrine system is the most sensitive bodily system which requires the perfect balancing act of multiple factors, inside and out. Like all other mammals, our bodies do not want us pregnant when our endocrine systems are stressed.
Photo credit: How did I ever get stuck with *two* kids?, by Ed Yourdon
TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
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| Taking Charge of Your Fertility |
by Toni Weschler
-- Clear and comprehensive, yet warm and approachable, Taking Charge of Your Fertility is one of the most universally lauded health books on the market today. It is an essential reference for every woman of reproductive age.
For any woman unhappy with her current method of birth control; demoralized by her quest to have a baby, or experiencing confusing symptoms in her cycle, this book provides answers to all these questions, plus amazing insights into a woman's body.
Weschler thoroughly explains the empowering Fertility Awareness Method which, in only a couple minutes a day, allows a woman to:
• Enjoy highly effective, scientifically proven birth control without chemicals or devices
• Maximize her chances of conception or expedite fertility treatment by identifying impediments to conception
• Increase the likelihood of choosing the gender of her baby
• Gain control of her sexual and gynecological health
📚 Paperback: 512 pages
Click to order/for more info: Taking Charge of Your Fertility
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| Photo credit: Mom and gram, by Marya/Emdot |
Here is an oversimplified and unscientific definition of FSH: FSH stands for the follicle-stimulating hormone.
It is a hormone produced by the pituitary gland which, in the female, stimulates the ovaries to develop a follicle – the housing surrounding the egg prior to ovulation – each month.
It can be thought of metaphorically as the gas pedal which causes the ovaries to ovulate each month.
As women age, it becomes more difficult for the ovaries to ovulate, so the level of FSH rises (in order to push down the gas pedal further) over time.
When a woman enters menopause, her ovaries are depleted and the gas pedal stays depressed permanently; that is to say, the FSH level remains high.
If you've ever been told you have High FSH, Bad Eggs, or Diminished/Poor Ovarian Reserve, then you will want to read this: High FSH and Infertility
Includes an overview of meds used in ART, high FSH-friendly REs and research articles on high FSH.
TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
Perfect Hormone Balance for Fertility: The Ultimate Guide to Getting Pregnantby Robert A. Greene M.D. and Laurie Tarkan
-- You have more than one hundred hormones circulating in your body – reproductive hormones, pregnancy hormones, sex hormones, metabolic hormones, and stress hormones – relaying messages from tissue to tissue, organ to organ, brain to body, and body to brain.
An equilibrium, a perfect balance in both partners, often determines your ability to conceive and support a pregnancy.
When your body is imbalanced, conception becomes very difficult. Luckily, hormonal imbalances can be corrected.
Drawing on the latest research in this field – which links underlying hormonal issues with infertility in men and women – Dr. Robert Greene, fertility specialist, OB/GYN, and reproductive endocrinologist, has created the Perfect Balance Fertility Program to help patients attain the optimal hormonal health necessary for conception.
Paperback: 352 pagesClick to order/for more info: Perfect Hormone Balance for Fertility
Start reading Perfect Hormone Balance for Fertility on your Kindle in under a minute!Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
Researchers are testing a new treatment for fertility – it's a kind of pregnancy patch.
Melissa Willmarth describes her 6-week old son Brook as her
little miracle.She said,
It was a long journey... a few years of infertility.
Willmarth credits her
miracleto a team of reproductive health specialists led by Dr. Mike Thomas.
He's part of a national team conducting one of the first trials in the country on a patch to help prepare the body for pregnancy.
It's a patch that pumps hormones into the system every few minutes, primarily for women who have low hormone function, or a condition called polycystic ovary syndrome -- which can lead to irregular cycles,Thomas said.
The patch is being studied in healthy women between the ages of 18 and 38 who want to become pregnant.
There are very few restrictions with the trial, with the exception of not being obese or having a body-mass index of greater than 35.
Thomas's team is comparing the patch to other approved fertility treatments, which means all women who qualify to be part of the study get free fertility care.
Willmarth said,
I couldn't imagine my life without him. He's the best thing that ever happened.
TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
Pregnancy After 40: 40 Things No One Told You About Being Pregnant Over 40 (Pregnancy Plan Series)by Jill Conrad, Pregnancy Support Institute
-- So you're over 40 and you've decided to get pregnant. You are not alone.
A growing number of women are waiting to have a baby until they are over 40.
This book will reveal:
♥ How you can have a healthy baby in your forties (in spite of all the warnings).
♥ What the biggest risks are and what you can do about them (it may not be as bad as you think)
♥ The 3 most important things you can do to have a healthy baby after 40 (you might already be doing some of them)
♥ Why older mothers often make better parents (the surprising reason)
♥ The one thing you should do every night to keep you fertile and able to conceive naturally (it takes 5 minutes)
…and Much More!
So get started and discover how to have the safest pregnancy and the healthiest baby when you are over 40 and pregnant.
Start reading Pregnancy After 40 on your Kindle in under a minute!Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
The luteal phase of the menstrual cycle spans from ovulation at midcycle until menstruation.
The luteal phase should last for at least 12 to 14 days.
A luteal phase which is less than 10 days will have difficulty producing an environment favorable for implantation.
The luteal phase derives its name from the fact the luteinized cells from the collapsed follicle undergo a structural transformation in response to increased vascularization, a process known as luteinization.
Thereafter these two cell types produce progesterone; one of which is dependent on the secretion of luteinizing hormone.
When a pregnancy occurs, and the developing blastocyst burrows into the uterine lining, the embryo will secrete hCG [Human chorionic gonadotropin], which stimulates the ovary to produce more progesterone.
This process is called luteal rescue.
If this process happens too late or if pregnancy does not occur, LH [Luteinizing Hormone] stimulation decreases, progesterone levels decrease and uterine prostaglandins are released.
This causes the corpus luteum to shrivel.
The uterine lining, because of lack of progesterone stimulation, is shed.
Read more: Luteal Phase Defect
TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
Hot Flashes Warm Bottles: First-Time Mothers Over Fortyby Nancy London
-- The first prescriptive and anecdotal guidebook for the multitudes of older moms, and distills the wisdom, insight, and practical advice gathered during her years as a therapist and support group leader.
With tips for renewing physical and sexual energy, parenting after infertility and adoption, balancing career and family, and caring for elderly parents, the personal stories from these older moms are often humorous, sometimes surprising, but always reassuring.
Without exception, the reader will be left with the comforting knowledge that she is not alone on her journey.
Hot Flashes fills a much-needed place in the parenting field, at a time when more and more women are embracing motherhood later in life.
Paperback: 192 pagesClick to order/for more info: Hot Flashes Warm Bottles
The following is a breakdown and explanation of what we would call a - three-month cleansing/ovulation shutdown/restoration and weight loss program.According to Dr. John R. Lee, MD it is sometimes necessary to shut
offthe ovaries for a few months to allow the body to heal.
PCOS, PCOD, short luteal phases, ovarian cysts, and other similar fertility issues will impede the bodies ability to conceive.
Add to this the need for cleansing the liver and colon, according to traditional Chinese medicine and herbal medicine wisdom through the years, and you have a powerful plan to achieve fertility naturally AND safely.
We have put this together over eight years through the study of alternative medicine and traditional folk uses of herbs and for restoration and building of the body.
In this case, of course, we focus on finding information to support these actions in the reproductive
department.
It is our wish to help you conceive, as many others have, naturally.
The purpose of this program is:
A: To cleanse the major organs of the body which in some way will affect the reproductive system and often allow the body to produce life again.
This does not mean it takes only three months, but it is a good amount of time to make changes.
We will target liver cleansing and colon cleansing for this, and provide tips for healthier eating to support this effort.
B: To restore cyst covered ovaries by shutting off FSH and LH surges for these three months.
This focuses on PCOS, PCOD and the potential for cysts due to an imbalance of estrogen and progesterone or testosterone and estrogen.
The hope is to restore the ovaries, for cysts to atrophy and for proper ovulation to resume without ovarian cysts preventing it. (see disclaimer.)
Since elevated prolactin, testosterone and estrogen levels affect FSH and LH balance AND cysts, this is important for overall hormonal health NOT just for the cysts.
Many say
I don't have cysts.
This may be true but shutting down is a natural way to prevent conception during this time while building the body into a healthy home for your baby to come.
This is not recommended as a method of birth control in the BCP [birth control pill] sense.
It is also NOT natural family planning.
C: Lastly, to lose weight or change eating habits and to give the body proper nutrition which again can make for a better ovulation and a healthier baby.
We believe the true love of a mother and father is to love their baby before conception even occurs; enough to give the baby a healthier start in life.
The healthier the start, the better the health after birth.
This is at the Shared Files at InfertilityWorkshop as well.
Full article and products: Natural Progesterone Cream Ovulation Shutdown
TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
The Infertility Cleanse: Detox, Diet and Dharma for Fertilityby Tami Quinn and Beth Heller
-- Women who are trying to conceive will find a holistic approach in this hands-on manual.
Step-by-step guidelines help implement a three-part program — of yoga, hypoallergenic and anti-inflammatory nutrition, and stress-reduction techniques — to cleanse the body, mind, and spirit in preparation for pregnancy.
In addition, this program draws on cleansing methods from traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda and has been specifically designed for women who are trying naturally or with assisted-reproduction plans.
Also based on new clinical research that suggests that gut health, chronic inflammation, and environmental toxins may be root causes of infertility, this important book offers all women a natural, holistic approach to readying the womb for a child.
Paperback: 192 pagesClick to order/for more info: The Infertility Cleanse
Start reading The Infertility Cleanse on your Kindle in under a minute!Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
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| Photo credit: Alan Betson - All rights reserved |
1. THE MIND
It is a vicious circle: fertility problems lead to stress and stress exacerbates fertility problems. In The Fertility Code, Dermot O’Connor and fertility counseling psychotherapist Ann Bracken outline ways to reduce stress and anxiety, adopt a more positive outlook and enhance sleep – seen as a vital factor in improving your chances of conception.
O’Connor regards the psychological aspect as the pillar of the programme, because
if your mind is not in the right frame, it makes it difficult to implement all the other parts.
2. NUTRITION
Changing from poor or even average eating habits to optimum nutrition are
probably the most powerful thing you can do to enhance your fertility, says O’Connor. His recommendations include 10 portions of fruit or vegetables (organic) a day and eliminating dairy from your diet, as well as avoiding refined carbohydrates and eating
hormone-balancing phyto-estrogens, such as beans, lentils, and chickpeas daily.
The nutrition plan should not just help you to achieve your optimum weight, but also smooth out blood-sugar levels, improve insulin sensitivity and have an anti-inflammatory effect on the body. It is designed to promote healthy ovulation and improve the quantity and quality of sperm.
3. DETOX
Decreasing exposure to toxins should not only improve fertility but also benefit the foetus if you do conceive. Top of the list of toxins to avoid are the obvious ones of nicotine, alcohol, and caffeine. O’Connor also recommends clearing your kitchen of all canned and processed food, as well as popcorn, cheese, salted nuts, jam, and marmalade, to mention just a few on the
food detox list. You are advised to choose chemical-free skincare products, and avoid household cleaners containing toxic chemicals.
4. EXERCISE
Forget the
no pain, no gainmantra – when it comes to exercise to maximize fertility, balance is key and overheating is to be avoided. However, regular exercise will help control weight and reduce stress – both key factors infertility problems. Walking, yoga, gentle swimming, and the Chinese exercise system chi gong are what O’Connor recommends.
5. MEDICAL SCIENCE
Although this is not part of the
codeper se, it is the fifth dimension that O’Connor advocates for couples with fertility issues because his programme is complementary and supportive rather than an
alternativeto assisted reproduction.
For their part, mainstream fertility clinics have moved in the past five years, he says, from putting no emphasis on the mind-body element to putting some emphasis on it,
but are yet to put a huge emphasis on it.
Read more: Increasing the odds for your family
TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
The Fertility Codeby Dermot O'Connor
-- The Fertility Code program delivers a powerful and practical step-by-step approach for those who wish to give themselves the best chance of starting a family.
As many as 500,000 couples in the UK and Ireland actively seek help with fertility, such as IVF treatment each year. While some are legitimate candidates, many have been proven to just need proper lifestyle and fertility advice and assistance in order to conceive.
The Fertility Code is designed for these people, and for those who need more serious intervention, to optimize their fertility. There are a variety of factors that can contribute to preventing a couple from having a baby.
This is why it is important that a fertility plan should address as many of these potential issues as possible. Through many years' experience of helping thousands of couples to become parents, Dermot O'Connor knows that such a plan must be easy to understand, easy to implement and genuinely effective.
The Fertility Code combines the best of both Eastern and Western medicine to provide a comprehensive guide to conceiving successfully and carrying a baby to full term.
It details the optimum plan to enhance fertility, and delivers a proven strategy, incorporating the key elements consistently utilized by the couples Dermot has helped:
• Fertility Awareness Strategies
• The psychology of fertility
• Optimum nutrition for conception and pregnancy
• The importance of detoxification
Paperback: 224 pagesClick to order/for more info: The Fertility Code
Start reading The Fertility Code on your Kindle in under a minute!Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
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| Clearblue® Fertility Monitor |
Healthy couples only have a 25% chance of conceiving each month, and it can take on average 6-18 months to get pregnant.
But new research proves one at-home fertility predictor, in particular, can significantly improve the odds of a quicker conception.
The study has shown use of the Clearblue® Easy Fertility Monitor can dramatically increase a woman's chance of conception over two cycles of use. The results of this controlled study are being published in the February issue of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine's publication Fertility and Sterility. Clearblue® Easy Fertility Monitor is manufactured and marketed by Inverness Medical Innovations, Inc.
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| Clearblue® Fertility Monitor |
Findings revealed approximately 23% of women who took part in the research using the monitor became pregnant during the first two cycles of use, compared with 14% of the women who were not using the Monitor.
This indicates over a third more women conceived using the Clearblue® Fertility Monitor. Additionally, product feedback was overwhelmingly positive with 90% of participants agreeing the Fertility Monitor was easy to use.
Read full article
TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
Pregnancy Miracleby Lisa Olsen
-- A 279-page, instantly downloadable e-book presenting a 5-step, sure-fire, 100% guaranteed, clinically proven holistic and ancient Chinese system for permanently reversing your infertility and your partner's infertility disorders and getting pregnant quickly, naturally and safely within 2-4 months without drugs, dangerous surgeries, side effects, or expensive infertility treatments.
It's probably the most powerful infertility reversal system ever developed, and currently the best-selling e-book of its kind on the entire Web!
Here's what the author Lisa Olson had to say about her incredible program:
After 14 years of trial, error, and experimentation, I finally discovered the answer to infertility and developed a fool-proof system to getting pregnant the natural way - no drugs, or surgery necessary.
It took a lot of research to get to where I am today, to know exactly what works and what doesn't. Yes, after desperate trial and error, countless of useless treatments, disappointments, and agony, a simple holistic system opened the door to my new and much brighter life of motherhood.
I was also excited to see that my other infertility related symptoms had diminished. After years of waiting, I was finally free from Infertility! I have become a proud mother of two.
And now I'm finally revealing my secrets in this new 'encyclopedia' of pregnancy called, Pregnancy Miracle.
I will be your own personal coach, take you by the hand, and lead you through the lousy advice, hype and gimmicks... and directly to the sort of inner balance perfection that will end your battle with infertility forever and help you become a proud mother of your healthy children.
Click to order/for more info on this helpful program:
Pregnancy Miracle
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| FERTINATAL |
The launch took longer than expected, because Fertility Nutraceuticals, LLC - which developed the supplement - made unusual efforts to ensure that FERTINATAL™ DHEA for women would fulfill all of the required specifications which the product was designed for, with consistency across every tablet, according to Fertility Nutraceuticals.
The required repeat rounds of quality-assurance testing at independent laboratories delayed the launch, initially scheduled for January.
It was extremely frustrating, especially since we have seen increasing demand since we announced FERTINATAL last December,notes Yu Kizawa, the company's Director of Marketing and Sales.
Now, we are excited to be able to offer probably the most reliable micronized DHEA product on the market, and the only one specifically designed for women who have a difficult time conceiving.
FERTINATAL™ was developed with strict adherence to the specifications of the Center for Human Reproduction (CenterForHumanReprod.com), a research-driven fertility center in New York City that introduced DHEA supplementation for women with diminished ovarian reserve.
Because of the high-quality standard of FERTINATAL™, CHR, the only holder of female fertility-related U.S. patents for DHEA supplementation, endorses FERTINATAL™.
Over-the-counter DHEA products can be very inconsistent in quality, even within the same brand,explains Norbert Gleicher, MD, medical director of CHR.
Based on the unique quality control process of FERTINATAL™, we are confident that this product will deliver the kind of consistency and quality we, up to this point, have been able to achieve only through pharmacy-compounded DHEA by prescription. We, therefore, feel confident in endorsing FERTINATAL™.
TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
50 Things You Can Do Today to Increase Your Fertilityby Sally Lewis and Nim Barnes
-- Practical advice and a holistic approach to help you conceive, including simple dietary and lifestyle changes, and do it yourself complementary therapies.
In this accessible and informative guide, Sally Lewis explains how age, sexual infections, diet, excess weight, stress, and anxiety affect fertility.
Teaching how to discover the best time for conception; understand the link between body, mind, and fertility; and manage stress and relax to prevent anxiety, this is the ultimate guide to increasing the likelihood of conception at any age.
Paperback: 128 pagesClick to order/for more info: 50 Things You Can Do Today to Increase Your Fertility
Start reading 50 Things You Can Do Today to Increase Your Fertility on your Kindle in under a minute!Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
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| Photo credit: Grapefruit, Pomelo, by Victoria Rachitzky Hoch |
In a test tube study, quercetin was found to change estrogen metabolism in human liver cells in a way that increases estradiol levels and reduces other forms of estrogen.
This effect is likely to increase estrogen activity in the body.
However, the levels of quercetin used to alter estrogen metabolism in the test tube were much higher than levels found in the body after supplementing with quercetin.
There is evidence from test tube studies that another flavonoid in grapefruit juice, naringenin, also has estrogenic activity.
It has yet to be shown that dietary or supplemental levels of quercetin (or naringenin) could create a significant problem.
Grapefruit - In a small, controlled study of women with surgically removed ovaries, estradiol levels in the blood were significantly higher after estradiol was taken with grapefruit juice than when estradiol was taken alone. These results have been independently confirmed, suggesting that women taking oral estradiol should probably avoid grapefruit altogether.
Source: Interactions with Supplements
How the Drug/Grapefruit Interaction Works
Cytochrome P-450 is a group of enzymes located throughout the body, with the largest concentration found in the liver and the intestinal walls.
This family of enzymes is responsible for triggering the chemical reactions required to breakdown (metabolize) many different compounds, from food to drugs.
CYP3A4 is the most abundant member of the cytochrome P-450 enzyme family and is responsible for breaking down approximately 60% of the drugs we take.
Grapefruit — more specifically a compound in grapefruit that has yet to be identified — inhibits the activity of CYP3A4.
This means that when grapefruit or grapefruit juice is consumed, a compound within the grapefruit disrupts the CYP3A4 enzyme’s ability to metabolize a drug.
If a drug is not adequately metabolized, higher levels of the drug than intended may enter the bloodstream, which can lead to a potentially dangerous situation.
Grapefruit/drug interactions have been observed within a few hours after consuming grapefruit and may last for up to 24 hours.
As little as eight ounces or 250 milliliters can have an effect on the metabolism of some drugs.
Drugs that Interact with Grapefruit Juice:
Hormone replacement: cortisol, estradiol, methylprednisolone, progesterone, testosterone
Source: Is Grapefruit Dangerously Interacting With Your Medications?
TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
The Fertile Kitchen Cookbook: Simple Recipes for Optimizing Your Fertilityby Cindy Bailey and Pierre Giauque
-- Are you one of the millions of couples desperately trying to conceive a baby? Are you aware that diet plays a critical role in fertility? Would you like to unlock the secrets to changing your diet and potentially increasing your chances of success?
Co-authors Cindy Bailey and Pierre Giauque -- when confronted with Cindy's medical prognosis of a two percent chance of conceiving a baby on her own -- unlocked those secrets to develop a fertility diet that four months later produced a viable pregnancy, and soon after a healthy baby.
The Fertile Kitchen™ Cookbook includes a variety of simple-to-make tasty dishes that make the diet easy to follow. In this cookbook, the authors share these flavorful recipes, along with the dietary guidelines that helped them succeed. Additional tips and even a section on cooking basics are included.
You will learn: The importance of diet in conception and pregnancy, what foods you can and cannot eat to enhance fertility, how to identify and shop for healthy ingredients and food items, how to prepare the nutritious and fertility-enhancing recipes included.
Paperback: 185 pagesClick to order/for more info: The Fertile Kitchen Cookbook
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| Photo credit: Yvonne, by Duane J |
She may fail to respond as favorably to the gonadotropins as her younger counterpart because her eggs have become less responsive to hormonal stimulation.
She may produce few numbers of eggs, whose outer capsule is tougher and thus less capable of fertilization.
Those eggs which do become fertilized may have more inclusions during early embryologic development, meaning there are more waste products put out by the mitochondria.
Less make it to the blastocyst stage, even fewer are capable of implantation and fewer yet make it through the full embryonic development.
That is why a woman over forty is statistically less likely to give birth and is encouraged to find alternative ways of becoming a mother. She will be told she has poor quality eggs.
Her reproductive endocrinologist will strongly suggest she consider using a younger donor's eggs.
This makes her chances of having a baby, and thus her RE's [Reproductive Endocrinologist] statistics, much higher.
The reason for the lower chances of assisted reproductive success in older women is because the only portion of the hormonal process that is manipulated is the last few weeks of this many months' process.
Massive doses of gonadotropin hormones are given to the women in order to (hopefully) recruit more follicles.
This doesn't, however, make them of better quality.
Experience has shown that if the hormonal system is in perfect working order and a woman has clockwork menstrual cycles, no matter what her age, a healthy egg can be released on time.
It then has a good chance of becoming fertilized, implanting, and making it through embryologic development to become a child.
Read more: Advanced Maternal Age and Egg Quality
TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
The Fertility Guide: A Couples Handbook for When You Want to Have a Baby (More Than Anything Else)by John C., II Jarrett and Deidra T. Rausch
-- This Fertility Guide provides a concise, sensible, appropriately scientific, but yet easily understood approach to modern fertility diagnosis and treatment.
Dr. Jarrett and Dr. Rausch have translated their vast and highly successful clinical experience into a
mustfor the couple who
want to have a baby more than anything else.
The most important contribution of this book is that it translates the
high techinto common sense and fills an important void in the specialty... -- E.P. Peterson, MD, Past President of American Society of Reproductive Medicine, Clinical Professor Dept OB/GYN University of Michigan.
Paperback: 200 pagesClick to order/for more info: The Fertility Guide
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| Photo credit: Bundle of Joy - my baby boy Kian, by Bianca Venter |
In four minutes it begins to be excreted rapidly into the urine.
The most efficient route to take the progesterone to ensure the best blood levels and the longest survival of the progesterone in the blood is to use vaginal suppositories.
The next best route of administration is to take injections of progesterone.
The least effective is to take the progesterone by mouth.
Full article: Progesterone Levels During Pregnancy
More:
A prospective randomized comparison of intramuscular or intravaginal natural progesterone as a luteal phase and early pregnancy supplement
-- A luteal phase defect has been demonstrated in cycles stimulated using a protocol including a gonadotrophin-releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa). We have conducted a randomized prospective study of luteal and early pregnancy supplementation in 262 women selected for in-vitro fertilization (IVF), gamete intra-Fallopian transfer (GIFT) or zygote intra-Fallopian transfer (ZIFT). Either intramuscular progesterone in oil (50 mg/day) or intravaginal micronized progesterone (600 mg/day) was used as a luteal supplement. In association with oestradiol valerate, progesterone administration was initiated from the day before oocyte retrieval until the 12th week of pregnancy. The implantation rate just failed to reach statistical significance (P = 0.07) in favor of the group receiving intravaginal progesterone. In the latter group, we observed a higher clinical pregnancy rate (33.6 versus 26.7%, not significant). Despite lower plasma progesterone levels, a lower first-trimester abortion rate (P greater than 0.05) was found in the intravaginally treated group. Intravaginal micronized progesterone was well tolerated by all patients and appeared more effective than intramuscular progesterone in improving the implantation rate, and in decreasing the incidence of abortions in stimulated cycles including GnRHa.
A prospective randomized comparison of intramuscular or intravaginal natural progesterone as a luteal phase and early pregnancy supplement
Comparison between different routes of progesterone administration as luteal phase support in infertility treatments
-- Different routes of natural progesterone supplementation have been tried as luteal phase support in infertility treatments. Orally administered progesterone is rapidly metabolized in the gastrointestinal tract and its use has proved to be inferior to i.m. and vaginal routes. Progesterone i.m. achieves serum progesterone values that are within the range of luteal phase and results in sufficient secretory transformation of the endometrium and satisfactory pregnancy rates. The comparison between i.m. and vaginal progesterone has led to controversial results as regards the superiority of one or the other in inducing secretory endometrial transformation. However, there is increasing evidence in the literature to favor the use of vaginal progesterone. Vaginally administered progesterone achieves adequate endometrial secretory transformation but its pharmacokinetic properties are greatly dependent on the formulation used. After vaginal progesterone application, discrepancies have been detected between serum progesterone values and histological endometrial features. Vaginally administered progesterone results in adequate secretory endometrial transformation, despite serum progesterone values lower than those observed after i.m. administration, even if they are lower than those observed during the luteal phase of the natural cycle. This discrepancy is indicative of the first uterine pass effect and therefore of a better bioavailability of progesterone in the uterus, with minimal systematic undesirable effects.
Comparison between different routes of progesterone administration as luteal phase support in infertility treatments
TODAY'S BOOK SUGGESTION:
You Can Get Pregnant Over 40, Naturally:
Overcoming infertility and recurrent loss in your late 30's and 40's naturally
by Sandy Robertson
-- Feeling physically, emotionally and financially drained after years of fertility treatments, Sandy Robertson started researching natural methods to enhance fertility.
This led to a specific pregnancy protocol which includes how she conceived multiple times over the age of 40 with only one fallopian tube, overcame recurrent pregnancy loss, balanced hormones, increased pelvic circulation, practiced visualization and meditation, reduced stress, and found support.
PaperbackClick to order/for more info: You Can Get Pregnant Over 40, Naturally
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Photo credit: Day 183/365 Doing nothing, by Daniel Oines |
Before this, she had lived through painful and heavy menstrual periods that lasted two weeks each time. Occasionally, Ms. Kyobe felt pain in her lower back. According to Dr. Rhona Mijumbi of International Air Ambulance, Ms. Kyobe exhibited
typical signs that one could be having enlarged fibroids.
Ms. Kyobe says that she had scanty knowledge of fibroids so there was no way she could suspect anything was wrong just because her periods were painful and heavy.
There are many women who have heavy or painful periods so I thought it was normal,she says. Dr. Mijumbi describes fibroids as non-cancerous swellings that grow in, on or around the walls of the uterus.
They could grow to as many as 20 or just one in varying sizes: they can be as small as a pea or as large as a basketball. The size, number, and location determine the severity and what effects they will have on their victims.
The most severe of effects are reproductive-related. They include birth by cesarean section, pregnancy loss, or failure to conceive in the first place. Frequent urination, a feeling of fullness in the lower abdomen, bleeding between periods and painful sexual intercourse could also indicate their presence. If they are growing on the outer lining of the uterine walls, the fibroids could cause the stomach to bulge.
In school, we were taught that fibroids affected women above the age of 35 but the reality in the field is that although it is prevalent (in that group), even women as young as 20 are diagnosed with them,says Dr. Mijumbi.
According to Dr. Charles Kiggundu, a gynecologist at Mulago Hospital, the prevalence rate for fibroids among Ugandan women is 30 percent. This accounts for three out of every 10 women in their 30s and four out of every 10 women in their 40s.
These are however based on the women that have been diagnosed, excluding those that have not gone for a medical check-up,he says.
Dr. Mijumbi says although over time, black women have been found to be more prone to developing fibroids than their white counterparts and 20 percent of sufferers worldwide are above 40 years of age. Kiggundu further explains that women who give birth late or have few children are more prone to fibroids.
This highlights the fact that the more affluent woman who takes a longer part of her life studying, making money and thus gives birth later in life to fewer children is at a higher risk of suffering from fibroids.
A hormone, estrogen favors the growth of fibroids while another called progesterone, which is produced in large amounts during pregnancy helps counter the possibility of developing fibroids. The earlier one bears children, therefore, the more progesterone they produce in their bodies which helps reduce their chances of developing fibroids,explains Dr. Kiggundu.
Having this in mind, many women have been driven to seek male companions in a rush to stop the hand of nature. Ms. Julia Nabunya says that when her 42-year-old aunt found out she had fibroids, she advised her to get a baby as soon as possible to avoid developing them as well.
Thus, at 22, Ms. Nabunya got pregnant, not caring much about who she picked for her child's father. Although early birth may reduce the risk of getting fibroids, there is no definite way to prevent them.
At best, the doctors advise medical examinations if any of the symptoms are experienced so that if fibroids are found early, one can plan on how to manage pregnancy, for example.
There are cases where we advise women to give birth early, but not to prevent them as some women think,Dr. Mijumbi says.
It is instead to ensure that one gives birth before the fibroids are too big to interfere with pregnancy.
In other cases, the fibroids are cut out if found severe and causing a lot of complications. At worst, the entire uterus is removed. According to doctors, fibroids are not known to have any direct effect on fertility but rather interfere with conception and pregnancy depending on their size and location.
If a fibroid is located at the entrance of the uterus or is blocking the fallopian tube(s) and is big enough to cause blockage, the sperm and ova might not get to meet and thus there is no fertilization,Dr. Paul Ssemugoma of International Medical Centre says.
Dr Mijumbi adds that in cases where a fibroid grows at the entrance to the womb, sex could be painful and delivery complicated resulting into birth by cesarean.
This is an example where we would need to operate and remove the fibroids but we can't operate when one is pregnant so we wait and see whether the foetus survives long enough to be delivered by caesarean then operate later before their next pregnancy,she explains.
The other instance where they are removed is when a swelling twists on its stalk. Fibroids have a stalk attached to the uterine wall. When one of the fibroid swellings begins to twist on its stalk, it causes unbearable pain. In that case, surgery to remove the fibroid has to be carried out.
Fibroid swellings thrive on estrogen - a female hormone produced by the ovaries which increases in the body during ovulation, menstruation, and pregnancy. They enlarge during heavy surges of the hormone in the body causing heavy and painful periods as they expand and contract.
Some patients are in fact injected with estrogen free hormones to hinder the development of the fibroids but this hormone impacts negatively on their fertility rates,says Dr. Mijumbi.
During pregnancy, they enlarge and if they are growing on the inner walls into the uterus, they compete for space with the fetus and usually win thus causing pregnancy losses or premature births. In most cases though, even when the doctors diagnose fibroids, the patients are left to live with them.
They are usually small and harmless save for the painful and heavy periods that most women can live with taking painkillers,says Dr Ssemugoma. Otherwise, the fibroids die out with menopause because the ovaries stop producing the estrogen they thrive on.
REAL LIFE EXPERIENCE:
It happened to me: Grace Areymo a 49-year-old mother of five shared her experiences with Winifred Agudo. When I was growing up, this complication was attributed to women who decided not to give birth. This was to change drastically in 1998 when my menstrual cycle became constantly heavier, more painful and would last two weeks.
I immediately sought medical help and fortunately, a female doctor attended to me. She recommended antibiotics for one week, thinking it was an infection. A week later, with no improvement, I was forced to see the doctor again, this time around however, it was a male doctor.
He prescribed pills for my pain for 30 days, thinking it was a hormonal imbalance. I was fooled into thinking the problem was gone when the bleeding stopped, but my next period was very painful so I was advised to see a gynecologist.
After several tests and sound scan in 2000, I was diagnosed with fibroids. My first reaction was shocked because society always had it that fibroids exist among Nuns and women who deliberately refuse to give birth, besides I am a mother. Since then my abdomen has gradually expanded so much, that it is uncomfortable.
People who knew me before keep wondering what happened and this has put pressure on me to look like did before. Thinking back now, remember this complication could have started when was in my 30s, though I ignored it then.
I have tried some preventive methods like herbal medicine, which has slightly reduced the size of my tummy. I am still hesitant to have an operation because of the side effects.
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