DIagnosis : Peri-menopausal - help!

[gumblossom]

Hi. I’ve recently had a diagnosis of high FSH and wondered if anyone has some suggestions about how I might improve this, and my chances of getting pregnant with my result.

I’ll give you some background:

I’m 44. I had my last baby at almost 42, after 7 months of trying after a vasectomy reversal. My husband and I have never had trouble conceiving the previous 4 pregnancies.

In the last 12 months I have miscarried twice – in December 2010, at 9 weeks. My baby boy had trisomy13. In June I miscarried again, at 9 weeks. This time there were no obvious chromosomal defects ( the test ruled out trisomy 21, 13 and 18, but it could have been another one).

After the second miscarriage my doctor ran some blood tests ( I am in Australia). She found I was a little low on vitamin D, and my DHEA was 3.7 umol/L (normal is 1.0 – 7.0), and testosterone was on the low side : 0.3 (normal is 0.3 – 1.8 nmol/L).

My FSH was 2, LH 1, Oestradiol 210 pmol/L (normal is 200 – 800), progesterone 35 nmol/L (normal is more than 11). Test was done 25 days after the miscarriage. It took 70 days before I had a bleed.

Since then my period has been extremely light – less than 3 days and not much more than spotting. So I had day 3 blood tests recently, and they came back:

FSh : 11, LH 5, Oestradiol less than 100 ( which is considered peri-menopausal), progesterone 1.

My doctor said with the FSH this high and the estrogen so low, I’m not ovulating, so can’t get pregnant. However, I have been charting and have had a positive opk the last three cycles, and an obvious temperature rise, with a 13 – 14 day LP.

I would love to hear what others think. Am I still ovulating? Is it impossible to get pregnant with these numbers? Is there something I can do to improve my estrogen and FSH numbers?

I started taking DHEA (25mg) this cycle. I also take nettle capsules (I found the infusions too strong, and gagged on them). I also take maca, royal jelly Co q 10 and aspirin.

I have acupuncture, and my practioner thinks I am probably just readjusting after the miscarriages, and that it may take about 6 months to get back on track. I’m so worried that it is all over for me. I really did hope to have one last baby.

Sorry for the long post.

Here is a link to my charts: http://www.fertilityfriend.com/home/186327

Edited by gumblossom - 11/3/11 at 11:56pm

[gumblossom]

I forgot to say that donor eggs and IVF is not an option for me.

[Jaimee]

I don't have any advice about what you can do hormonally other than what you've already mentioned and the obvious good diet, exercise, sleep, etc.  But I did want to say that your charts look quite ovulatory!  I know there are rare cases of women where they appear to have biphasic, ovulatory charts and are not actually ovulating.  In one case, the woman had PCOS and said that it was hypothesized that corpus luteum cysts were releasing progesterone, mimicing a normal cycles.  But I think this is not common at all.  So I would assume that you are in fact ovulating.  In which case your estrogen and LH don't seem to be a huge issue!  But I'm no expert!

Of course at your age the time to conception is usually quite long- I believe the stat is in years, not months and then there is the increased risk of chormosomal abnormalities as you experienced once already- I'm so sorry for your losses!   But I also had a 45 year old woman in my prenatal group, so you never know!

[KodyAnn]

It looks to me like you are most definitely still ovulating based on your temperatures.

[krunchyk]

Hi gumblossom.  I think your charts look great, and it appears as if you are definitely ovulation. I've utilized the following web site a lot for natural fertility solutions http://natural-fertility-info.com/.  The site has a list of fertility problems linked to pages with more detailed information and natural fertility solutions.  For example, they have an FSH page and an egg health page, which may be useful for you.  In addition, the site managers have started a online community.  There may be women within the community with similar stories that may have additional thoughts, as well.  Best wishes!

[Buzzer Beater]

Hey Gumblossom,

Is there any way you can do an antral follicle count? It's really the way to tell if you are ovulating.

(Seems like you are?)

Been entirely in your shoes....

[Mittens]

Thanks for this thread gumblossom. I relate to some of your concerns.

KrunchyK, thanks so much for sharing that website. It has changed my life, and it's only been a couple of days! I'm not even on a detox, but changing little but very important things in my diet is making me feel much healthier already.

[gumblossom]

I just wanted to update.

I have had all the blood tests again, and last month my estrogen was low again, and my FSH had gone up by 1. But my doctor said she wasn't concerned, as it would go up a lot more if I was menopausal.

Then I had my progesterone tested on day 21. It turns out that it was 20 (anything over 11 is normal in Australia). My doctor considers this normal and it indicates that I'm ovulating. I am glad to have that confirmation, it gives me a little bit of hope.

I'm still having a temp shift, and opk's that are positive, so I'm hoping to show the medical establishment that a mama can get pregnant and have a baby at the age of 45.

Recently I've changed to a Paleo diet, as I've heard it makes women quite fertile, so maybe that has helped.

I'd love to update with a pregnancy soon. Fingers crossed.

[Shawnamarie]

Gumblossom, I'm 34 and TTC #1 as of last month. I've been eating a paleo/primal diet for just over a year now and am hoping that will help things more along. I feel better in so many other ways, I'm confident that it will!

Congrats on your recent test numbers. I'm still learning about the ins and outs of such things but it sounds like things are moving in the right direction. Hoping to hear about a pregnancy for you soon!