March Support Group for Those Who *Want* AF

[chrissy]

Thought I'd start a new thread for us since the old one was 6 long pages!

Andra, I am glad that you are going to the doctor on Monday. I hope s/he has some good answers or ideas for you. As for the EPO, it hasn't worked for me so far. I just got the book "Fertility, Cycles, and Nutrition" and it says that Flax Seed Oil is better than Evening Primrose Oil. So I just bought some of that and we'll see how it goes....

I am, once again, wondering if I could possibly be pregnant, while logically knowing that I'm not. I just can't seem to fully convince myself though. My symptoms are:

- a weird heavy uncomfortable feeling in my lower belly when lying on my back,
- extreme extreme extreme fatigue,
- very full and heavy feeling breasts but very little actual breastmilk,
- extreme thirst,
- passing waves of nausea, and
- an urge to eat more healthily than I normally do.

However, I don't have any nipple or breast tenderness and my son is still nursing.

How are you other mamas doing?

[coolermama]

For what it is worth...

My understanding was that it was good to use evening primrose until ovulation, but then you should switch to flax seed oil. Why that is, I cannot remember. Anyone know?

[EnviroBecca]

Okay, I'll join! After 3 months without a period, my midwife and I decided it was time for me to take a round of progesterone and hope that "jump starts" me. I've done this many times before and usually started bleeding very early (sometimes before I could take all the doses!) but other times it's taken longer. It's supposed to start within 10 days. It's now been 7 days since my last dose, so I'm getting antsy.

I had just a little pink stuff 3 and 4 days after the last dose, nothing since. That's never happened before. I often get a day or two of pink, but it's always been immediately followed by the full flow. Trying not to fret over what this might mean.

Normally I suffer horribly painful breasts during PMS or when I take progesterone supplements. However, I've been taking vitex for months, and one of its effects is supposed to be reducing breast pain, so maybe that's finally working!

I've had a yucky taste in my mouth constantly since yesterday afternoon. It doesn't go away for more than a few minutes after brushing my teeth. : No nausea exactly, just yuck.

I quit checking my estrogen level (Ovulens) in an effort to stop obsessing. I think it's still high, but midwife says that doesn't mean anything in a ridiculously long "cycle" like this one.

I'm thinking about trying flax seed oil on this next cycle. Am I supposed to take it every day, or only sometimes?

I hope to see dear Aunt Flo sometime this weekend. It's been too long! After a nice long chat w/her, I feel certain I'll be able to get pregnant....

[Jodie]

I too would love to see AF soon. This is day 40. Last bleeding was very light more like spotting that lasted 5 days. Going to the doctor's on Mon. to have an ultrasound and some bloodwork done, per my request. Hope I get some sort of answers. I stopped temping last weekend and am just watching fluid and cervical position.
The temping was begining to stress me and DH.
Good luck to everyone, hope the hag shows up soon!

[Mommiska]

Chrissy - I just wanted to say that I didn't have sore/tender nipples until several weeks after I got a positive pregnancy test...so you never know.

[chrissy]

Thanks Carolyn! It's possible. I guess we'll see.

Today is the official start of ttc for me! I am so going to try not to freak out, we'll see how that goes. I'm planning to start temping and charting tomorrow morning, hoping that will help me see if I ever do ovulate.

This is the first time I've ever tried to get pregnant. With Noah, I got pregnant while using birth control.

EnviroBecca, I hope you do get your period this weekend and then get off to a wonderfully lucky cycle!

NotaMamaYet, good luck at the doctor's and keep us posted, okay?

Happy Weekend Everybody,

[citizenfong]

Well, here's my crappy story. I was so excited to start temping and charting. We've been avoiding it cause why make yourself miserable? But after all that interesting activity that made me think my fertility was trying to return last month we decided to start charting. Two days into it I broke my thermometer. Of course I haven't gotten around to replacing it yet. Have to figure out what category to take it out of in our super tight budget:

But...we've decided to put some limits on nursing. The bored nursing during the day is really getting to me as is the "Oh, you're going to do something without me?" nursing. But we've also decided to try cutting out night nursing. We've had several indications that ds might be ready/open to that. We've thought about it before but there was no way I wanted to nightwean just to get pg (no matter how badly I wanted it). Besides, there was no guarantee that that would bring af visiting. But we have a lot more reasons now, so we're going to at least see how it goes, take it slowly. We'll see!

Tracy

[EnviroBecca]

Aargh! Still no bleeding! I'm beginning to really wonder what's going on here!

I'm feeling horrible right now, but interpreting it as pregnancy symptoms or even PMS probably would be wishful thinking, because I have a serious problem with headaches and all of these symptoms are things that have been connected to headaches at least some of the time in the past, and I do have a major headache now. I know migraines can be connected to hormonal changes, but mine usually haven't been.

So, tho I feel nauseated and the reason for that seems to be hyper-sensitive sense of smell (compounded by gut-wrenching PAIN), I can't really separate that from the headache, because hyper-sensory awareness is a migraine thing too.

I'm thinking that if I'm still not bleeding tomorrow, I'll take a preg test and then contact my midwife. If it's negative, I'll ask for an ultrasound to check the thickness of the lining, and maybe some bloodwork. I'm wondering what's going on in there! :

[chrissy]

Wow, EnviroBecca, that just sucks- unless you're pregnant and then, wa-hoo, it's great! I am so hoping that all your symptoms are pregnancy symptoms. You will certainly be in my thoughts.

Tracy, sorry about your crapp-o thermometer. I can't seem to remember to take my temperature in the morning. Perhaps it's my subconcious trying to protect me.

Currently we're sleeping in a queen bed (dh, Noah, me and our bossy beagle). Lately it's not big enough. Brian, dh, has been cramped since day 1 of this co-sleeping scenario and now Noah and I need more space too. We're planning to put a twin bed right up next to our bed for Noah. I'm kind of hoping this will reduce his night waking and nursing (though it's really not too bad) and maybe will be the push I need to ovulate.

[lucina3]

I saw my doctor yesterday and she gave me a script for provera - to be filled once my bloodwork comes back. She said the tests will show what's happening. She said that if that doesn't start a period it's possible my ovaries have just decided to quit altogether or what's happening. It better not be that they just decided to quit altogether!! I'm a wreck, have been since I saw her

[chrissy]

I hope you don't have to wait very long for your test results and that they show that everything is fine.

[mommybritt]

I'll join I'm waiting for AF after my m/c last month. I started charting this week but don't expect to o for another week at least!

Shall we think bloody thougts for all of us? Or is that just too gross!!

[chrissy]

Hi milkfacemama! I think bloody thoughts are entirely appropriate for this thread. I did, however, realize that they are no longer appropriate for me so I better scoot onto a new thread. March is here so we've ditched the condoms so now I'll just be hoping for some obvious ovulation and or pregnancy signs.

Good luck to all the AF wanters out there. I will be checking in on you! Andra and Envirobecca, I'm thinking of you!

[citizenfong]

lucina3-
Sometimes I think doctors do not think for one minute about what they say to patients. Why say something so disheartening as "maybe they've quit working altogether"? *sigh* Can't she wait til she knows something before making a casually cruel comment like that?

I once went to the ER years ago with a swollen lip (uh hmm, not on my face--long bizarro story) that turned out to be a hive. The doc came in and said to the nurse in front of me, before he'd even LOOKED at me, it's probably a cyst, we'll probably have to open it up and drain it.

Good luck to you!

[Jodie]

After much thought I have decided to try the clomid.

Went to the doctors on Mon. to get some tests done and just ended up talking in his office. Basically he said the tests I'm asking for are not warranted at this time. (wanted an ultrasound and bloodwork) We talked about clomid and how it works and what our plan of action might be. At this point I am going to take the clomid as a test to see if it will help my body to ovulate. On day 21 of my cycle on clomid I go back in for a blood test to see if I ovulated. If it works great, I will use it for 3-6 months. If it does not work than we will up the dose a little or do some more tests(probably blood tests).
This was a hard decision, but the right one for me right now.
I almost cried in the doctors office. I never thought that I would need help starting a period, or getting pregnant.
In the meantime I'm going to focus on getting healthy and maybe losing some weight(hey couldn't hurt).
So now I am taking progesterone to bring on my period. Last time it took ten days of progest pills and 7 days after that before AF showed up. So I have a while to wait.

Good luck to everyone else out there waiting for the hag or the BFP!!
~lucina3 hugs to you

[EnviroBecca]

Well, I am not bleeding and not pregnant. I spoke to my midwife yesterday, and we concluded that the most likely explanation is that my progesterone suppositories (left over from almost a year ago) had lost potency and 6 doses weren't enough. The way to test this hypothesis is to take more prog. and see what happens, but because I have in the past had serious side effects from too much prog. I'm wary of that. I asked about bloodwork or ultrasound, and midwife said a better option would be endometrial biopsy. (A small amount of uterine lining will be removed w/catheter thru the cervix and sent to a lab for analysis.) This will provide a history of what's been going on in there in the 4 months since my last period.

I never knew this was an option before! I had seen the term "endometrial biopsy" but assumed it was a test for cancer. I have seen 8 different doctors about my menstrual problems, including 2 REs, and none of them ever mentioned this relatively safe, easy test that provides some history of uterine function and hormone levels! They would rather guess (often incorrectly) or stuff me w/drugs just to see what happens (often bad stuff, including some reactions nobody could explain) or just tell me to stop bothering them!!!

So, has anybody here had an endometrial biopsy before? It sounds like it will be uncomfortable but probably no worse than the sonohistogram (fluid injected into uterus thru catheter for an ultrasound) I had when I had a fibroid. Midwife recommended taking a bunch of ibuprofen before and after. Any other tips?

Jodie, I think it's pretty sad that your dr. refuses to do the tests he really ought to do before prescribing Clomid. He would rather let you suffer side effects--possibly serious ones if you have a problem that contraindicates Clomid, like an ovarian cyst, uterine fibroid, or liver dysfunction--that do tests that are inconvenient for him or expensive for your insurance! I respect your decision for yourself. I know it was difficult and that you probably don't want to second-guess it. I wish you minimal side effects and a healthy happy pregnancy!

Andra, I hope your tests come back with encouraging results! I think it's unconscionable for your dr. to suggest ovarian failure on so little evidence! That's happened to me too! What are they thinking?!?! In my case, I didn't get upset because I KNEW I'd ovulated 2 weeks prior to that annual exam. The dr. snorted derisively and rolled her eyes when I told her that!! I got my period the next day, and the test results came back showing my hormones had been at perfect "Day 28" levels, but did she apologize? NO!!! This was the same dr. who brushed off symptoms that turned out to be caused by a fibroid for 10 months by telling me that I'm "just not normal" and therefore everything that happens w/my reproductive organs is explained by that and doesn't need further investigation! This is why I switched to a Certified Nurse Midwife.

[EnviroBecca]

Bumping the thread....

My biopsy went well. I got some bloodwork as well. Results will come in early next week....

[Spark]

Oooh, I've just been lurking on these threads, reading and reading. I have a 15 mo nurse junkie of a son. I love nursing him, but am really ready to see AF again. This board has had such wonderful luck. I hope you all can carry on the traditions of pregnancy or fertility signs returning.

I haven't had a period since Feb 2001 and went in for my yearly gyno appt this week. My doctor (used midwife for homebirth) read my chart and missed the year. She said, "Oh, I'm so happy your cycles have returned." I cleared my throat and said, "I wish." Just as so many of you do!

I'm ready. I'm just ready to see AF again. I'm glad that natural child spacing works, but, I don't want kids 25 years apart!

Best of luck to all of you. May AF or an extra pink line show up for all of you!

[Jodie]

~Envirobecca, I'm glad your biopsy went well, did it hurt? Keep us posted on the results.
I appreciate your concern. DH and I have talked about it and I will only be on the clomid for three months(if it works). After that I would like to see if my body will start O'ing again on its own. If clomid does not work or if my body doesn't O on its own, I will seek out someone willing to give me some tests. I called around today to get some different opinions, and I seems this is the way the docs around here handle this. I am still searching for someone who will investigate this. :No CNMs here. The funding was cut to the only group around, so they are gone.
~I long for the day I have some sort of consistant cycles again.

[EnviroBecca]

Yes, it hurt!!! The tool used was a very thin plastic tube with a thing inside it that can be slid out--like a syringe but about as big as 2 strands of spaghetti. Looking at it, I thought this wouldn't be bad at all. Well, when it went into the cervix I had the kind of sharp pang I expected, but then in addition to that pain continuing, when the slider was slid I could feel the suction which I didn't expect (it seemed like it would be so little...) and that hurt a LOT. It was like having a fishhook hooked up there and being pulled on! And he had to do it twice because the first one pulled out mostly mucus! Luckily, it didn't take long either time, and 90% of the pain was over as soon as the tube was out. The residual cramping ended after about 2 hours, and I've felt fine since.

He didn't mention that there would be bleeding afterward, but that makes sense to me (poking around in there is bound to stir things up) so I'm not worried, esp. because it's been very dark and brownish and only "spotting" quantity. I will ask about it when he calls w/results.