Just when I thought I was safe from obsessing...

[EnviroBecca]

My midwife prescribed 10 days of progesterone to bring on a period, because I haven't had one since Nov. I figured I'd have a nice vacation from obsessing about being pg, from the time we decided on this course of action until at least CD14.

Well, there was some difficulty getting the Rx filled, but I finally got it Sat. and started taking it. Last night I realized, wait a minute, shouldn't I have taken a pg test before starting this? That's what I get for being so laid back! : I mean, this is natural progesterone, not one of the synthetics that can cause birth defects, but if I'm pg I don't need to be doing this to bring on a period. So, this morning I was going to do the test.

I was having trouble waking up but did really have to pee, so I got up at the snooze alarm, did the test, and set it on the bedside table thinking I'd look at it when the alarm went off again, which would be about 5 minutes--perfect. Well, I was so disoriented, and so upset about being so cold after getting out of bed, that when the alarm went off I had only the slightest feeling of having meant to do something, and then I went into the shower. It wasn't until I came back from the shower 20 minutes later that I saw the test and remembered! :

It showed a very faint positive. But the directions say that if you wait >10 minutes, it may look like a faint positive but that really doesn't mean anything. I know I shouldn't take it too seriously.

But...I feel so queasy today, all day so far. Every artificially scented hygiene product I have is repulsive--I actually had to remove my deodorant w/alcohol because I couldn't stand it; every tiniest whiff seemed to be grabbing that hangy-down thing at the back of my throat and shaking it. (I always thought that deodorant was too strong-smelling, but it never nauseated me before! It's almost gone, so I just threw away the rest.) I ate nothing but salsa for breakfast. I just ate my lunch, and once I started eating it felt like a good idea; in fact, I feel like I didn't bring enough lunch and it didn't have enough protein, tho it had both tofu and cashews. Hmmm...

I often have salsa cravings during PMS, but there's only been one other time I had nausea (other than my horrible experience on the Pill) so this is unusual.

Midwife prescribed 2 doses of progesterone per day. It's in suppository form and 50 mg per dose. This seems like a lot to me, and when I took 2 doses each of the first 2 days I felt there was no way I could be absorbing all of it--falling out all over the place! So I didn't take the morning dose today, and what's left of last night's seems to be staying in there. I don't understand why such frequent doses when I've taken 1 every 2 days in the past. : Midwife said this was what the dr. who writes midwife's prescriptions recommended.

So, what do you all think? Am I feeling side effects of the progesterone already? Could I be pregnant? My instinct is to stick at 1 dose per day (maybe call midwife and discuss it) and take another test after a few days, and if I am pg then it's probably best to continue progesterone for a while to prevent miscarriage.

Thanks for reading my long ramblings!

[Oceanone]

OMG, you could be pregnant! I would test again before taking anything else and then determine the course of action to take.

I don't know anything about pregesterone suppositries though, so I can't help with any of that or it's effects etc. I just like to think people who want to be are pregnant. :

Hope so, good luck. Can't hurt to call your midwife right and just tell her everything?

[dharmama]

Hey!

Can't really answer your questions but just wanted to say hi. I was thinking about you yesterday and wondering how things were going!!


I think you should take another test asap (hee...hee)!!!!!!

~Erin

[naturegirl]

You should really take another test ASAP! Then contact your midwige to determine the safety and necessity of the progesterone!

Wishing you well! Good luck.

[sweetfeet]

I am having the same problem with having no period. I did the week of provera and it brought about nothing so I called my doc today and talked to the nurse and they are trying it again. I told her that we are ttc and she said to me that a lot of women get pregnant when on BC and its almost the same as having to take provera because it's hormone related. She said that the babies all turd out wonderful without problems. So if you are pregnant I would call your doc right away. Just know thats what my nurse told me this afternoon so try not to worry too much.

[Christy1980]

I've had to take oral Prometrium (200mg) twice now for lack of period, one every day for 5 days. Before I took the 1st round of prometrium, it had been 7 months since my last period....and i prolly spent $200 on home pg tests in that time! : My MW has it set up so that I can get a refill every 3 months if I don't have a period during that time. Make sense?: Anyway, MY problems stem from being on the pill for 5 years, then when i stopped taking them, I stopped having a period.

I was hoping for a babe so badly, too....and I still am.

But to get back to side effects of progesterone, mine are/were depression, anxiety, frustration, sleepiness during the day and sleep-less-ness during the night, light nausea that usually goes away after the 1st 2 days, sensativity to certain smells, (I was washing dishes and had to stop because something smelled fishy in the water and i almost hurled. Then one of my dogs had an "accident" in the hallway, and that just made it worse! And I couldn't even go into the room where the cat's litterbox is!).

My biggest problem with it is how depressed I stay after I stop taking it. For 2 weeks after I have ended the prometrium, I just sit and sulk and think awful thoughts about how miserable and worthless I am... So many tissues, so little time! This, for me, is what i hate the most about it. I have one more refill on the prometrium, but I am thinking about not taking it. I've been trying Vitex, but that hasn't really helped me any that I can tell.

As for the pg test, , I would definately take another! Just to be sure, yk? I wouldn't take any chances! I take one 1 week before I start the pills, then another the day before I start them.

HTH! I'll listen to you if you listen to me!

[EnviroBecca]

Well, this morning's test came out clearly negative. I'm not surprised. Now I can focus on making this cycle be the one that works!!!

Meanwhile, I've got all this other stuff to obsess about. See, my midwife had mentioned acupuncture as a possible treatment for irregular periods, but at first I was reluctant. Then I talked w/an old friend who felt it had really helped her, and also after months of TTC fruitlessly I was more willing to try stuff, and also I heard that acupuncture can help headaches. So I asked about it last time I was at midwife's and got all the pamphlets he had from acupuncturists; he said something about one he didn't have a pamphlet for, too, but I didn't write it down.

After reading the pamphlets, I picked one of the acupuncturists and went in for a consultation. This cost $90 and consisted of 90 minutes of asking me questions, feeling my pulse, examining my tongue, and pressing on my abdomen. Then he said he thought acupuncture "might help, but not much" because it's for unblocking energies, and what I need is to build energies, so it'd probably be more effective to take Chinese herbs, which are the other thing he deals with. He said he'd have to think about exactly which herbs and how much and would call me. I got kind of a funny feeling about this; he seemed sort of depressed or freaked-out by what he'd learned about me from the exam, and I felt like there was something he wasn't telling me.

It took him a whole week to call back. He sounded even more depressed or freaked-out, and he said he'd decided Chinese herbs weren't the best option for me because they'd take a long time to work and might not work, so he recommended that I call a friend of his who does "natural hormone therapy". I first called midwife, who found acupuncturist's behavior as weird as I did. He recommended that I call a different acupuncturist who works in the same center as the first one--this was what he'd told me that I didn't write down, that I should call the center but ask for this other person instead of the one whose name was stamped on the pamphlet.

Acupuncturist #2 said Acu #1 normally treats menopause and doesn't have much if any experience w/infertility (Great. Would've been nice of Acu #1 to tell me that!: ) but even she was surprised he didn't recommend it for headaches. She also does Chinese herbs, but in addition she does general herbalism, hormone therapy, and nutritional therapy, and she used to be an ob/gyn. She seems very much like the person I should've called in the first place!! But a consultation w/her is $100, and I'm afraid to spend that and have it not turn out to help. But if it helps my fertility or headaches or (dare I hope?) both, it'll be totally worth it. When she called me back last night, I was in the throes of one of my worst headaches, so I was tempted to say yes right away, but I figured it was a bad idea to make decisions when so discombobulated--I mean, there were several awkward pauses in our conversation when I was trying to reconnect my tongue to my brain groping frantically for the plugs thru a thick haze of pain--so I said I'd call her back.

Today, Acu #1's hormone friend called back. She's a pharmacist who specializes in individual compounding. She says I should have a saliva test of hormone levels on CD21 because usually the problem behind infertility is insufficient progesterone, and CD21 is the best time to measure because that's when hormones should be right for implantation. Okay, but I don't have a regular cycle; on CD21 I usually have not O'd again yet. "Well then, that's what the test will show us!" Uh, yeah, but I know that already! I'm not going to pay $60 (not covered by insurance) to confirm it. She says her usual treatment for infertility is to suppress O for a couple months by giving progesterone CD5-26, and then when that stops it tends to trigger O on the next cycle. :

My feeling at this point is that I should wait and see what happens w/this progesterone-induced cycle, and then if I haven't O'd within a month, THEN have the consultation w/Acu #2, who seems to have the most knowledge to offer. What do you all think?

Thanks for listening again!

Luv4sophie, good luck w/your Provera! Are you trying a higher dosage now? Did they test to see what your levels were after the first round?

[EnviroBecca]

Christy1980, I just saw your post. I had wondered what was happening w/you. Taking progesterone every 3 months if no period is right. It's not a good idea to go long stretches without periods, pregnancy, or breastfeeding because the lining can grow in weird ways leading to cancer or other problems.

I think your depression is coming not from the Prometrium, but from the drop in estrogen that comes w/your period. When you go a long time without periods, typically what happens (they tell me, and my test results sometimes agree) is that your body "tries to O" from CD14 on, so you have plenty of estrogen all that time and get very used to it. In a normal cycle, est's going down while prog's going up, and it's the est drop that produces most of the emotional effects of PMS. When you don't O and take prog, your body eventually responds to the prog by cutting off the est, so by the time bleeding starts all the hormones are where they're supposed to be at that point. So, you might be having your PMS late, basically. I think.

Anyway, I advise getting especially good nutrition and exercise during that time and trying to plan some activities to distract you from feeling worthless.

[naturegirl]

Have you tried chiropractic? Chiropractic care gets great results with regulating your periods as well as helping with headaches. Acupuncturist #2 really sounds like she would be worth it also. I hate to see you on anything that manipulates your hormones...

[Christy1980]

post menstrual syndrome! LOL

That makes sense! *wow* I never thought about it like that! you're one smart cookie, EnviroBecca! Thanks for thinking about me! As far as exercise goes, i live on the beach ( ag to all of you living up north!) and since it has warmed up, i've been out walking more. It seems to help, but as soon as I would get a quiet moment to myself...BOOM...instant depression. I feel tons better now that I have gotten over the post-menstrual syndrome...back to my old cheery self.

Yeah, i don't like the idea of taking the hormones, either, but the way my mw talked to me the day she saw me, i was a wreck and willing to do anything to "make it not true," yk? then mom pressured me to take them for the 2nd time...for the cancer prevention as she had a partial historectomy in her 30's for that very reason. I just don't think I can handle the depression again, and I think I am going to skip them in June if I don't have a pd by then....just wait it out til I go back to my mw in september.

I don't know if I am ready to put my faith into acupuncture or chiropractics. I've tried herbal thereapies, such as vitex, but it hasn't really worked for me either. Although I must admit that I am not the best at remembering to take it every morning...

I guess I am afraid of setting myself up for failure, ykwim?

thanks ladies~~you guys are awesome and oh-so-supportive!

[EnviroBecca]

I have tried chiro, but they didn't say anything about it regulating periods, and it didn't--I had a bunch of adjustments in Jan. and Feb. and no periods then or since. It did help w/headaches, by making it POSSIBLE for me to maintain good posture, by loosening some spots so that when I feel neck muscles tightening (which leads to scalp muscles tightening and changes in bloodflow in brain which cause headache) I can "pop" my neck and stretch the muscles farther than used to be possible, and by just making me more aware of which muscles are responsible for pain where.

Christy, another thing you could do is eat more soy in that post-menstrual phase, to boost your estrogen. Also, calcium supplements are supposed to help w/PMS.

Sounds like it's going to take you a while to recover from the Pill. But if you were born in 1980 (?) you have plenty of time! Patience.

[Christy1980]

yes, born in 1980! What a great year! LOL

:binky But I want one NOW! :binky LOL

I've got a feeling that I have "temporary" infertility, which can last up to 12 years! So what the heck is so "temporary" about it? I guess cuz it's not "permanent," meaning "life-long?"

Argh!!

I'll go shut up and make that butterfinger cheesecake now....MMMmmmmmmmm That'll calm me down!

[Clarity]

i would try #2...skip the herbs for now...And yes, it can regulate your periods (or it has for two people I know.) I really like an acupuncture tradition called 5-element. If you were getting that kind of vibe off guy #1...run away.

Here's a practitioner directory

http://www.taisophia.com/find_acu_practitioner.html

[naturegirl]

EnviroBecca, if you are "popping" your own neck to feel better, your probably, no definately, doing yourself harm. Chiropractic is a lot more than "popping" backs and/or necks. Popping your neck vs a good, specific chiropractic adjustment is analagous to blood letting vs brain surgery. You need to find a better chiropractor, in my opinion. Plus, two months of care may not be enough if you have had years and years of problems. Which most adults have...

[LisainCalifornia]

Have you had your Midwife (or OB/GYN) blood test your hormones levels? It does NOT matter what day of the cycle this blood test is taken, any experieced doctor should be able to determine what is wrong just by looking at those tests.

I missed my period for 4 months when I was 33, and called the doctor. We tried a cycle of progesterone which brought on a slight bleed. Then I skipped my period again, and called her to tell her that I was still missing my periods and was also having hot flashes. She had me come that day to have my blood drawn (much more accurate than saliva testing) and I was post menopausal. I actually have a condition called "Premature Ovarian Failure" which is like a very early menopause. I worry that is what the acupuncturist suspected in you--and if this is the case you can find out if you have this with one simple blood test. You will need to test your FSH, LH and estrogen levels.

There are other ovarian conditions that can keep you from having a period too--like PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). This condition causes women to make too much testosterone, gain weight, and grow cysts on their ovaries rather than ovulate. Often the only way they can ovulate is with a fertility med like Clomid.

I took Clomid and progesterone suppositories (100 mgs morning and night) to get pregnant with my first 2 kids. I had a condition then called Luteal Phase defect which meant very short cycles (21 days long average) and very low/or no progesterone. Having accupuncture or going to a chiropractor would have been useless for me--the only reason I got pregnant was getting the right meds. I have gone to accupuncturists and chiropractors for other issues, and had a great experience--just not for fertility.

I worry when I read many of the messages here because I feel like for whatever reason many women are reluctant to go to a reproductive endocrinologist when they are unable to get pregnant. I personally LOVED my doctor that I had at UCSF, and would not have either Matthew or Samantha without her help. And it was quick--once we figured out that I could ovulate on Clomid and needed progesterone support for the first trimester, I was pregnant within 2 cycles with my son, and one with my doctor. I am so grateful that I was very swift with seeking treatment--I knew something was wrong when I did not get pregnant after trying for 6 months.

Good luck,
Lisa

[EnviroBecca]

Naturegirl wrote:

EnviroBecca, if you are "popping" your own neck to feel better, your probably, no definately, doing yourself harm. Chiropractic is a lot more than "popping" backs and/or necks. Popping your neck vs a good, specific chiropractic adjustment is analagous to blood letting vs brain surgery. You need to find a better chiropractor, in my opinion. Plus, two months of care may not be enough if you have had years and years of problems. Which most adults have...

I don't mean I am grabbing my head and applying a lot of force like chiro does. I mean that when my neck gets tight pre-headache and I stretch, now it makes a popping noise and I am able to stretch more than before chiro. This helps a LOT and I see no evidence that it's doing harm. I think this chiro is pretty good (highly recommended by everyone I've talked to) and I'm not sure why you think otherwise. I don't intend on never going back again after those 2 months of treatments, but he felt I had improved enough to come in only for "maintenance" adjustments and I don't think I need one yet. My insurance will cover only 25 chiro visits/year, so I want to use them wisely, and I used up a lot going 3x/week for a while.

The fact that my headaches are not totally gone, only less frequent, to me indicates that skeletal alignment is not the only factor behind the headaches. I would have been very surprised if it was, because I'm pretty sure there's some kind of metabolic thing going on, which is why I think nutritional analysis is a good idea, but my insurance won't cover it ("only diabetics need to see a nutritionist" : ) and until recently the only option I'd found was to see someone who does ONLY nutrition and charges $$$ and didn't seem likely to be helpful.

Lisa in California, I appreciate your advice, but I'm NOT someone who avoids conventional medical care. Clearly you haven't seen previous posts of my saga, so I'll tell some of the basics :

I first saw an RE when I was 16, had been menstruating for 4 years but never >2 months in a row, and at that point had had no periods for 8 months but lots of cramps, nausea, fibrocystic breasts, and hallucinations. He told me I had a hormonal imbalance (true, but the details of what he told me were not only wrong, but impossible!!) and must take Provera 2 out of every 3 months or I would die of hemorrhage. Didn't seek a second opinion; he was a Specialist and must know what he was talking about! : A year later, he told me that because I was now sexually active, I couldn't take Provera because it can cause birth defects, so I'd have to take prog injections (VERY PAINFUL!!) instead. He never gave me the patient leaflet, required by federal law, which says that the injections also can cause birth defects and indicates that the recommended dose is 1/8 what he prescribed for me. I don't know if he had stock in the company or what.

After 3-1/2 years of these injections, which I was getting at Student Health after I got to college, the new dr. at Student Health was reviewing everyone's file and called me to ask about this. She suggested a second opinion. When I got one, I learned that this aggressive treatment was totally unnecessary and that it would be fine to induce bleeding only every 3rd month, using a small dose of Provera, after taking a pg test. Within 6 months of backing the heck off and letting my body do its thing, I began to have more regular cycles: 1-4 months in a row followed by 2-3 months without. I took Provera only when I had >3 months without.

When I was 25, suddenly and inexplicably I had an overdose reaction to my very low dose of Provera (5 mg/day for 5 days)! At that point I went from the regular gyne I'd been seeing to an RE who bullied me into trying the Pill. I'd always resisted the Pill because the argument that it would make me "normal" by replacing my wacky cycles with a totally artificial cycle struck me as completely insane. But I finally gave it a try...and it's a good thing I was unemployed that summer, because I was so sick I often couldn't get out of bed. This is when I developed my salsa fixation, as it was the only thing I could eat that didn't make me feel worse. My periods were MUCH WORSE on the Pill: heavy flow, incapacitating cramps, PMS from hell including breast swelling that left stretch marks. After 3mo RE switched me to a lower-estrogen Pill, which was less nauseating, but I never stopped bleeding or cramping during 2mo I was taking it. In that second month I had the worst migraine I've ever had in my life. My primary care dr. told me in no uncertain terms to get off the Pill right away.

Then I returned to inducing an occasional period w/progesterone, only now I was using Crinone gel, which RE recommended because of lower side effects (true). When I was 28, a couple days after a spontaneous period ended I had a little more bleeding, and a couple days later a little more. Nothing like that had ever happened before, so I called RE, who said, "Oh, Crinone is very uneven in its effects." I said, "But this isn't a Crinone cycle," and she brushed me off. For the rest of the year, this extra bleeding followed every period, whether induced or spontaneous. I called again a couple of times, but she was just irritated w/me.

However, when my bleeding patterns for the whole year were laid out in front of her at my annual exam, RE saw a problem. Her response: "You're in ovarian failure. I'm going to put you on hormone replacement therapy until you're ready to get pregnant." She made this pronouncement WITHOUT RUNNING ANY TESTS OR EVEN HAVING DONE MY PELVIC EXAM!!! Now, I told her that I'd had 3 spontaneous periods in the past year and that I was pretty sure I'd O'd before each one. I told her I'd O'd 13 days earlier and expected a spontaneous period any second. She just laughed and said she didn't think I'd ever O'd in my life. I refused the HRT Rx and demanded bloodwork, and she reluctantly agreed. I said, "Isn't there anything else that could cause these weird bleeding patterns?" and her expression changed slightly and she decided to send me for an ultrasound. Meanwhile, my period arrived the day after my exam, just as I expected.

Ultrasound showed a fibroid hanging into my uterus on a stalk of blood vessels. It turned out that this was the source of the extra bleeding. Had I not stood up to the RE, she'd have put me on hormones that would've made it worse, + who knows what side effects! She surgically removed the fibroid and did a good job of that, but at my followup visit when I told her we were going to start TTC later in the year, she wanted to prescribe Clomid immediately. I told her we wanted to TTC naturally first, and she snapped, "If you think you can get pregnant without my help, you're delusional."

I'm now seeing a certified nurse midwife who is not at all opposed to conventional medicine. In fact, he made me aware of a test (endometrial biopsy) that I'd never had or heard of before, even tho it's by far the best way to get a history of what's been happening in the uterus since the last period. What I'm going for now is a combination of conventional and alternative medicine.

Do you see why I feel that doctors are not necessarily trustworthy and have an agenda of pushing drugs?!?

I have had my blood hormone levels tested many, many times. It's not true that it doesn't matter what day of the cycle! The test shows what hormones are in your blood NOW, which changes over the course of a cycle. It would be nice if any experienced dr. could tell what's wrong just by looking at those tests, but all they've been able to determine so far is what's NOT wrong:
*I don't have PCOS. My levels have never matched the criteria, I've never had any cysts, and I don't have any of the other symptoms other than a little facial hair.
*I don't have Luteal Phase Defect. When I do O, my period never comes until at least 12, usually 14-18, days later.
*I don't have POF. My most recent bloodwork shows high estrogen. When I do O, I make scads of progesterone.
*I don't have a thyroid, insulin, or prolactin imbalance.

So, that's the story. I am not opposed to taking Clomid if it's really necessary. But I am very disturbed by the "Never mind what's wrong w/you, just take these drugs and see if they work" attitude I've encountered from most conventional doctors. They DON'T know what's wrong w/me, and they don't CARE. They just want to drug me until I stop complaining!

My mother, her cousin, and her aunt all had similarly wacky cycles until after weaning their firstborns and were totally normal thereafter and conceived subsequent babies easily. Mom and her cousin both resorted to Clomid after a few months of TTC #1, but her aunt simply had a few years of unprotected sex and eventually conceived. I think it's just a matter of catching the rare O when it happens.

I'm almost 30, and that's getting me anxious, but I've only been TTC for 6 months. I will give it a full year before I resort to drugs. In that time, I intend to give my body every chance I can to work as well as possible.

[chrissy]

Just wanted to give you a big ol virtual Envirobecca! Hang in there mama.

[LisainCalifornia]

Hi Becca,
I am sorry--you are right, I did not know your whole story. I am pretty new here and have only read a few posts on this particular board. Thank you for telling me your whole story! Wow--you poor thing! You have been through the hormonal wringer and then some.

When I said it does not matter what time of the the month you take the hormone blood tests--what I mean was that most doctors like to see a "day 3" blood draw, or day 21 to check progesterone levels. I had lots of blood work when I was trying to get pregnant the first time (9 months of monthly blood tests). But if you have something wrong with your endocrine system that is not related to just trying to get pregnant (a bigger issue like you have) then the doctor can check your blood levels at any time to diagnose other hormonal problems.

For example, when I stopped my periods and got my blood drawn to diagnose my POF--I could not wait for a certain day of my cycle...because I would have waited forever. So I went in and had my levels checked that day, and my FSH was over 100 and my estrogen was less than 10--these are abnormal numbers any day of any cycle in any woman...and post menopausal no matter the day of the month. So waiting for the right day would have been useless for me. That is all that I meant. It was my RE that said you don't have to wait for certain days of any cycle--any competant RE should be able to read your tests.

I can see you have had some very bad medical treatment, and that is horrible! Yikes about that doctor that wanted to give you injections to avoid the Provera--that is just bizarre.

You are right--if your estrogen level is high then you DON'T have POF. I did not mean to freak you out about it. It was obvious to me that you have some major ovarian problems, and I just wanted to point you in the direction of a RE in case you have not been to one. I hope you are not offended by me suggesting you may have POF or PCOS--I have learned quite a bit about ovarian problems since my diagnosis and can go overboard with my advise, I know. I have had so many problems with my freaky ovaries in the past that when I see someone else that is having issues too I immediately want to help them.

I don't think meds are always the answer either. I resisted the Clomid for a year before finally giving in and trying it. I felt very nervous about it--you know all the scary things you read about it. But for me it was not bad--it only took 50 mgs days 5-9 of my cycle, then 200 mgs of micronized progesterone to get pregnant. In hindsight I am very glad I went for it, but I also have 2 kids to show for it and I might be telling a different story if it had not worked. I also spent many nights worrying over the Clomid--nothing comes without a price, you know?

Please take care and I hope that you are able to get pregnant very soon.

Hugs,
Lisa

[Clarity]

A lot of us have gone the high tech route too (IVF with PGD for a recessive genetic condition, after several failed IUI attempts using sperm seperation for gender selection...) I think an only-natural approach is preferrred by some people, and there are few places other than here you'd get much support for it. I prefer a combination. What I hate is a mediocre medical approach...so many people get mediocre care from their OB who hands out clomid, or even injectibles without monitoring (! - that's where septuplets come from!) and don't consult an RE...and at least Becca found out her RE was doing the wrong thing. A nice switch for the normal practitioner to realize her specialist was on crack! I know people that seriously lost most of their fertile years by not knowing there are other approaches or opinions.

[EnviroBecca]

Thanks, Lisa. I wasn't offended by your suggestions of possible diagnoses--just wanted to let you know that I had had the tests to rule them out. The closest to a diagnosis I've gotten is that they think the problem is not in my ovaries but in my brain ild i.e. in my hypothalamus or pituitary.

Nobody worry if I disappear for a week or so! My office is moving and will have new net connections, and I don't know if they'll be ready right away...and I rarely get on here from home because my connection's so slow.

Thanks for the hugs! It's nice to have somebody listen.