I had my 4th miscarriage on Nov 4, I just finished all my infertility testing and the only problem I have is the mthfr. I have a healthy son who is almost 3 and never had any problems concieving him. My doctor has said the only thing we can do now is to get pregnant and try the baby aspirin and blood thinner injections and see if that works. I wonder how many have had a positive result using these drugs also has anyones insurance covered lovenox for them or have they had to pay for it. I have no idea how much something like that will cost to use for at least 3 months. I am willing to try it and hope it works. It's really hard to deal with this as after having had my son I never anticipated any problems this time. look forward to any advice. ↓
Hi bibi1388. I too had my 4th miscarrage but on December 4th. ( a d&c at 11 weeks) I am sorry to hear what you are going through as I know and can relate. I have a healthy 4 year old son as well. My doctor told me I have mthfr homozygous after my third miscarrage. I went to a fertility specialist next who put me on folgard (supplement for folic acid and B vitamins), progesterone, prenatals, baby aspirin, and lovenox. Unfortunately, I had my 4th miscarrage while on all of these meds. I have read about other people who have been successful. Many others... so keep your chin up! My chin is still up(well... i try to keep it up on most days!!!) and I hope to try again in a few months. As for the lovenox... my insurance covered 80%. It cost about $815.00 a month. (for 1 shot a day) I was reinbursed for all but about $250.00. Which was still a lot of money in a one income home. Shop around at different parmacies for the best price. The company who makes lovenox named Santa Fe will only give you lovenox for free if you make less than the poverty line. The cost of lovenox, progesterone and co-pays for the specialist put quite a financial burden on us. But we had to take the chance and would do it again if it means having a chance for another baby. Good luck with getting pregnant again and keeping any new babies healthy and alive. I cry for both of us as I read and write about this. ↑
hi bibi, like laura my insurance pays 80% of mine. I pay about $200 per month of my own money. I am heterozygous MTHFR and I don't know if it contributed any to my previous miscarriages, but this one is the first time I 've used the injections and I am almost 16 weeks. I never made it past 6-8 weeks before. Definitely try it! It is good that you have a child too because then you know your body CAN do it. Keep your chin up and keep trying :) ↑
Thanks laura32 and stefkay I'm trying to keep my chin up but like you laura 32 the cost of all the fertility diagnosis etc does take a strain on a family with one income, I have surgery next thursday the 7th to make sure my uterus has no abnormalities. just one more thing to rule out. If that's ok then the only treatable thing left is the mthfr. I will also have to change doctors after my surgery as the doctor I see now is no longer covered by my insurance and it's too exspensive to keep seeing him. I didn't want to change before the surgery as I'm comfortable with him.Have you been told how long you will need to take lovenox as my doctor is not sure he said a min of 3 months or maybe the whole pregnancy it's upto us he said. Congrats stefkay its great that your past the first trimester hope all goes well for you. ↑
If I had made it through my pregnancy my doctor would have had me take it through the whole thing as well. I would be trying right now to get pregnant but we are still trying to recover financially from the last time. (Also emotionally as well) But the financial part is still a big hurdle. So I hear you bibi and can relate to your situation. I go Friday to my fertility specialist to ask him a whole bunch of questions I still have about my last pregnancy loss. I'm kind of nervous... not sure why. Good luck with your surgery... is it a hysteroscopy that you are having? If so, I had one of those also... they scraped away scar tissue probably from my c-section and d&c's. It wasn't too bad. ↑
laura32 Yes it is a hysteroscopy that I'm having done. Thanks for letting me know it's not too bad as I am a little nervous. I keep hoping that there is something small he will find that will explain my M/c's and he can then fix it. I was going to try again as soon as the surgery was over but have since decided to wait a few months and give my body a chance to get over everything having 4 m/c's last year was extremely emotionally taxing so I'm sure it took a toll on my body too. I've also just started to take more folic acid around 3400mg a day as recomended by my fertlily spec. I will start the baby aspirin after the surgery. So I want to give my body chance to build up the folic acid etc before trying again. Stefkay, my doc is unsure of how long to take the lovenox he said it's our decision, what a decision to have to make if I stop taking it and m/c I'd never forgive myself. although there are no guarantees whatever you do. ↑
I think it is a good idea to give yourself a break after 4 m/c in one year. It is soo emotionally and physically exhausting. I went Friday to my fertility specialist to ask him all my questions and talk about what he will change in my meds before and after pregnancy. He did increase my folgard to about 8 x's the recommended daily dose. (Double what I was taking) He said he will double my lovenox shots for my next pregnancy. Basically he said that my last loss was unexplained.(no chromosomal abnormalities) My homocystene levels were good and it wasn't likely that I had a blood clot with being on the lovenox. I also asked if it was considered high risk to go on clomid to try for a multiple birth. He said that it was not high risk and okay to do. He also said that most likely women with MTHFR go on to eventually have a live birth. Sometimes it just takes quite a few tries. He said he had one woman with 14 miscarriages before having a live birth. I know I couldn’t emotionally go through that many miscarriages. I can't do that to my son and my husband not to mention myself. I think I will give it one more try and hope for the best.... then look into adoption for sure. I also need to see a counselor for some support... I’m having a tough time dealing with all of this. I will make an appointment tomorrow. I have plans to start to try again next month to get pregnant. I want to make sure I deal with and morn the loss of my last pregnancy before moving on to another. Bibi and Stefkay it is good to talk to someone who understands what I'm going through. Stefkay I hope everything is still going well with your pregnancy. Bibi... good luck again on Thursday... let us know how it goes. ↑
Thank you so much Laura! It sounds like you have a great plan...but just don't give up, ok :) Good luck to you and I hope you have a successful pregnancy next!!! ↑
I had my hysteroscopy yesterday and as we suspected there was nothing to explain the previous losses. The doctor did remove some polyps and skin but he said that he did not think these were the cause of my losses. My next app with him is on the 20th so I am trying to get as much info on mthfr as possible so I am ready with all my questions. He did say he would prescribe folgard for me to take I already upped my folic acid by 3 times what I was taking. Thanks for the support it helps to have someone else to discuss this with someone who is going through the same thing. Thanks ↑
I'm new here and just wanted to chime in. I recently learned that I have the MTHFR gene mutation (compund hetero I believe) and have been taking the B vitamin mix (B6, B12 and Folic Acid) for the past month and baby aspirin. I tried taking all the vitamins alone for awhile but just got the prescription for Folgard. Hopefully this is the answer. After 4 m/c in 18 months, I have to believe this will be it. ↑
I am now taking extra folic acid, started baby aspirin after my hysteroscopy. I will start lovenox once i get a positive pregnancy test. I really hope this helps as I'm not sure how much more I can deal with, my twin sister just gave birth to her second baby after a normal pregnancy and I didn't realise how much that would affect me I really felt the loss of my pregnancy's I was actually physically aching for days and cried nonstop. maybe I hadn't let myself grieve before. laura32 did you meet with a conselor and has it helped you deal with the loss?
Stefkay hope things are still well with you're pregnancy.
betty G did your doctor mention putting you on lovenox injections. My doctor said there is no proof that it helps but I've read alot of posts online and a lot of women believe it helped them. He said the only things he knows will help is the increased folic acid and baby aspirin.
I had decided to wait before trying again but I can feel my resolve weakening. Its so hard because it consumes your whole life its all you think about. I know I'm extremely lucky I have a healthy 3 yr old boy but that doesn't take away the longing for another baby. ↑
Hi Bibi / Laura - I am just having my tests done after 2 m/c's (2nd still needs to pass thru). I see they are testing me for mthfr also and will get results in a few weeks. I hope more folic/ folgard, etc helps with this!! Stefkay/ Bettyg - Hi again from the other thread... I guess Stefkay - I thought you had a baby girl, but I see you are in 2nd tri - COngrats on that. So exciting and hopefully you feel calm and relaxed now being in 2nd tri.. Here's hoping for good results from my fert spec tests.... ↑
Thanks bumblebee! Yep, 22 weeks this Friday and still a worryin'
every day, lol. BIBI, it sounds like you are on the totally right track! I'm always glad to hear when someone is put on the lovenox. It is really safe and at least for me, I'm on a relatively low dose so it's not like it's really thinning my blood too much to cause complications. Just praying and keeping my fingers crossed that everything will continue nicely. Good luck to you and keep us posted here! I hang out on this board (m/c and loss) and then on the 2nd tri board. This is my home base though on the clean slate thread. ↑
Hi everyone,
Glad to hear that you are still doing well stefkay! Hello Bibi. I have an appointment on April 2nd with a high risk doctor for a second opinion. (previously I was working with a fertility doctor) I still plan on working with the fertility doctor after I talk with the high risk doc and get his take on things. I don't think he will change any of my meds because the fertility doc. is pretty liberal and doing everything possible as far as that goes. I do want to talk to the high risk doctor about some immune disorder testing. I'm not sure if i'm grasping at straws for that one. But hopefully a second opinion will help me feel a little bit better. My sister in-law just had her fourth child... that was really rough. (and they weren't planning on having a fourth) Yes, I do see a counselor to help me with my loss... it helps to talk about it. I also belong to a mom's club and one of the moms from there has invited me to a pregnancy loss support group that she goes to which meets next month. Having a baby does seem to consume your whole life... i feel like a baby addict instead of a crack addict! lol Good luck bibi... it sounds like you will be trying to conceive soon. I might be after seeing the high risk specialist in April. Talk to you later. ↑
Laura - I am also seein a fert spec and he's running a bunch of test for chromosomes, immune sys, infec diseases, and some others. He said sometimes these don't show anything and in which case it is unexpl. mc. In any case, I am wondering if I should also see a high risk doc. I don't know what they do differently. Any light you can shed since you've seen them, will help me. Thanks so much. And very sorr you had to go thru your s-i-l's 4th - I can understand how difficult that is. I just went thru similar and it is really hard to show the happiness on my face and voice, even though in my heart and on my own, I am really happy for them. It's strange... but it is as if seeing a family mem or close friend with a baby suddenly feels like a black hole sucking life out of me and it is hard to breathe. :) Never thought this would happen to me. In any case, I do know and realize it is normal for these conflicting feelings to show up now when we're really wanting a baby and instead keep going thru m/c's - which no one knows about. ↑
hi everyone... just checking in to see how everyone is doing? i'm still waiting in limbo to see my high risk doctor on april 2nd. Bumblebee, i'll let you know if i have any words of advice for you after my appointment. Stefkay... how are things going with your pregnancy? bibi1388... where are you at with things? keep us updated guys! we need each other... we are the only ones who know what we are going through.... not many others understand. ↑
Hi everyone, I'm not sure at the moment where I stand. I am 3 days late getting my period, I took 2 hpt both came up negative. but I have felt like I should be getting my period for the last 3 days cramps etc but nothing. Also I don't feel quite right in myself. I was going to call my doc but since 2 test came up negative I don't know if I should or not. I was trying not to get my hopes up but you know what it's like when your periods late you begin to hope for the best, now I just don't know what to think! I keep reminding myself that if 2 tests came up negative then I cant be pregnant. But everyday that passes and I don't get my period I wonder whats going on! Any advice? Good luck with your app Laura. Hope everyone is doing okay. ↑
Hi! I'm doing well and just about at 25 weeks. I had a regular OB appt. today and all was well. Just kind of waiting to get to the third trimester at this point. I'm really ready for my baby girl to be here :) Don't get me wrong, I love being pregnant, but I worry about things going wrong all the time. Bibi, I'm not sure about the tests, i'd say it could be too early OR you are using tests that aren't very sensitive. The most sensitive pregnancy test out there is the First Response Early Results (often referred to as FRER on these threads)....good luck!!! ↑
Today I am 7 weeks pregnant and I just started the Lovenox shots. Boy did the first one leave a bruise. I didn't know my skin could even turn that shade of purple. For the 2nd shot, I used a cold compress and it made a world of difference. My doctor was hesitant to put me on Lovenox because the only thing showing up for me is MTHFR and there are no studies to prove it helps...yada yada. But the way I'm approaching this now is that I want to try all of my options and hope for the best. I don't want to have any regrets. Part of me wants to try Folgard alone but I just wouldn't be able to live with my self if I had a 5th m/c knowing there was something else I could have tried. Who knew having a baby was so freakin' difficult? I'm hoping to have twins so I can just stop after this pregnancy :-) The furthest I've gotten was 10.5 weeks so I still have a ways to go. ↑
I couldn't wait any longer, the waiting for my period and still hoping I might be pregnant is killing me! I used the FRER and the result was negative. So I called my doc today and they said to give it until wednesday, its going to seem like forever. Then they will do a quant and give me something to bring on my period. I just don't understand why i'm late and have had all the symptons of a normal period just no blood also my breasts are swollen and sensitive like when I'm pregnant. It's all so frustrating and depressing. As soon as your late you start to hope and to find out your so late and still probably not pregnant is just crushing. I don't know how much more of this longing, hoping and waiting every month I can take. It seems to get harder and harder. People who haven't been through it have no idea just how difficult every day becomes. I try to talk to my sisters but neither have been through this kind of thing and have no understanding of what I'm going through. ↑
Hello everyone. How are you all doing? bibi how did you make out? stefkay... hope everything is going well, and bettyg I hope everything is going well with your lovenox shots. I had my appointment with the high risk doctor yesterday. Basically he tells me that MTHFR didn't cause my miscarriages. All my miscarriages took place before 10 weeks and that MTHFR has proven to not cause miscarriages before then. He said that I don't have a particular pattern in my miscarriages to prove what is causing them. He went through each pregnancy and explained why the miscarriage probably happened. He also said that something like 1 in 20 women who deliver babies have the MTHFR factor and don't even know it and have no complications because they are just carriers of MTHFR and the gene is not active. He doesn't think the gene is active for me because my homocysteine levels aren't high. He doesn't believe in using Lovenox unless you have high homocysteine levels. He was the first doctor to take the time and actually sit down and explain things at length which was nice. He pretty much told me that I need to try again even though that probably isn't what I want to hear. He was very compassionate. He said to go back to my fertility specialist and get pregnant again and then go to see him. He would keep me on the Lovenox if I wanted to be on it. I really wanted things to be cut and dry... I wanted him to tell me what was causing the miscarriages and fix it. But of course that didn't happen and realistically never will. So, I am back to square one and just have to try again... ↑
Hi everyone, hope your all doing well. I'm doing okay although I turned out not to be pregnant, which was really disappointing since I was over a week late. The whole thing is so depressing, you have to wonder how long you can let it consume your life. It's not as if you can even relax once you are pregnant thats when the real stress begins! Laura32 sorry the specialist couldn't give you more hope, my doc also said that there is no proof the lovenox actually does anything to help maintain a pregnancy, but he will put me on it when I get pregnant if I want to. What reasons did your doc give you for the previous miscarraiges? I haven't made it past 7 weeks for my last 4 pregnancies and the doctors have no explanation, not even an educated guess. It would make it a little easier if they could tell you why it happened. Are you going to try again soon, If so good luck. Stefkay, Bumblebee and bettyg hope your all doing well. Talk to you all soon. ↑
hi girls, bibi I'm sorry :( Laura, also bummer about the specialist, but I had my first 2 doctors tell me the same thing. Some are just more conservative then others. I've found there is a LOT doctors don't know and I'm a lot less accepting of what they say as gospel. They have to watch their asses and really most don't want to go with certain treatments unless there is hard evidence out there about one thing or another. Makes sense, but there are also doctors willing to try therapies if you want it badly enough. That is how I got on the lovenox. I have no idea if it helped me or not as I didn't start it until 8 weeks, and it was more of an afterthough. I'm doing so many other things along with it and before it that I'll never know. I told the specialist that it's gonna be tough if I want to do it again (have another) someday because then I'll feel like I have to do all of these things again(whew...it's exhausting!). Me and the baby are doing fine so far and are at just past 27 weeks! I'm in the 3rd trimester now which is a dream for me :) Just want to keep adding weeks from here.... ↑
I'm so sorry Bibi. It sounds like you don't have too much trouble getting pregnant since you have had 5 pregnancies. Keep that in mind! :0) I'm sure it is frustrating anyway... I’m sorry. The doctor said that the first two pregnancies were "chemical pregnancies" and a lot of women have these and don't even know it and then go on to have a full term baby. He said that they see higher instances of this in women trying to conceive because they test early for pregnancy. So the first two losses didn't concern him. The third pregnancy was basically a "blighted ovum" he said. And the baby doesn't develop in these cases almost always because of genetic abnormalities. Women usually go on to have a full term baby after this. The third one concerned him the most because there was a heart beat and everything was developing on track. But he said that even so, miscarriages still happen at this stage. Basically he felt that if I had multiple miscarriages after a seeing a heartbeat then there would be a problem. He said that if I were his wife he would tell me to get pregnant again. I felt better in a way after talking to him but still terrified that my next pregnancy will turn out like the last one. I really think the next pregnancy will be my last! I can't do this anymore. So, Stefkay... would you mind telling us your whole pregnancy plan? I think I know the gist of it as I have been reading your posts on this and the other thread. I would appreciate it! Thank you!! ↑
Hello, my name is Amy and I just found this thread today. I just got home from a Dr.'s appt. with my fertility specialist and I am so confused and frustrated. I have read this whole thread and I am going through exactly what everyone else on here is going through. I have had 3 miscarriages-2 were at 6 wks., and one was at 11 weeks. I have had tons, and tons of blood work and everything comes back normal. I also had a larparoscopy, D&C, and a hysteroscopy. Well, after all this....they still can't give me any answers. My doctor today told me that I have mthfr (hetero), but that he does not think it is causing the problem. He prescribed me metaformin (spelling?), folic acid, and progesterone and also referred me to a hemotologist to talk about the mthfr and see if I should go on lovenox. I have also decided to start acupuncture and herbs. Does anyone have experience with this? Anyway, I am so sorry for all of your losses and I wish you the best of luck. I am going to start ttc again soon, so I will keep up with this thread. Best of Luck to you all!!!
Amy ↑
Hi Amy and welcome. I don't have any experience with acupuncture but am very interested in it. What do you know about it? How often do you go? Does insurance pay for it? How much does it cost? When I try to conceive next it very well may be my last attempt. So I want to make sure I’m doing all that I can to make it successful. Stefkay... yes, I meant what was your whole plan for your current pregnancy? I want to know everything you did from prior to conception to now. I want to know all the details from prescription medications, to over the counter meds, to herbal supplements, to acupuncture... whatever it is that you did and are doing for your pregnancy. Thank you for being so willing to share your experience and for keeping those of us still struggling so informed . You are awesome! ↑
No problem! Ok well, I started on the prenatal and folic acid early on after one of my earlier losses (about January 07). I added most of the other things shortly after and kept taking everything jp to this day (even with losses and ttc, etc). So this pregnancy I started acupuncture (I'll give more details on that later) 3 months before I got pregnant with my current one. She specialized in fertility acupuncture and not only treated me with the needles but with chinese herbs. At the same time I started seeing her (July 07 -- I conceived this pregnancy in Oct. 07) I went to a homeopathic doctor to explain my whole situation and he tested my iodine levels. They were low which can indicate a subclinical thyroid issue (as in doesn't really show up in normal thyroid tests that the doctor's office runs). He put me on an iodine supplement called Iodoral. I started that a couple of months before I got pregnant. This is everything else that I took: Omega 3 fish oil supplement (contains EPA and DHA only), 5mg folic acid, 100mg B6, 500mcg B12, baby aspirin, calcium, prenatal. I also was on 300mg prometrium vaginal suppositories from 4 weeks to about 14 weeks ( was told to quit them at 12, but I weaned off the last 2 weeks to prevent spotting). I started 40mg once daily of Lovenox injections at 8 weeks and will do those until the day before I deliver. I also continued taking the iodine supplement (still do) and also the chinese herbs along with the acupuncture treatments. My acupuncturist saw me once a week for the first few months but now I only go once every 2 weeks and the treatments are less involved and shorter. I cut out caffeine about 2 months prior to getting pregnant too. I sip some soda here and there, but that's about it. I drink TONS of water. I also put my significant other on 1000mg daily vitamin C supplement and a men's multi vitamin to help out if there were any sperm issues (some dr's will tell you that bad sperm CAN'T get you pregnant. Not true, the fertility specialist I saw said they can get you pregnant but can lead to m/c. Mainly in women who tend to get pregnant easily like me--theoretically somethign to do with my eggs will accept bad sperm where others may not--again, just another theory). I think that is it! lol.... ↑
Oh, on the acupuncture....some insurance will cover it so check with yours. Mine did not cover acupuncture but it did cover chiropractic (they do that at the same office), so I got really lucky in that my acupuncturist offered to file it as chiropractic. I never would have asked them to do that, but since she offered, I told her to do whatever she wanted to do, but that i was willing to pay if need be. I did pay for the first few sessions and I've always paid for the herbs. It ran about 30-60 each time depending on what I was having done. The pre-pregnancy ones are more involved because she is helping get the body ready for ovulation. My situation was also different though in that we got to be pretty close especially when I had a chemical pregnancy the cycle before I got pregnant (current one)--so that was in September. She really saw how much I was sturggling and told me it was her job to get me pregnant and keep me pregnant so she actually had me come in a lot of times (since I was going weekly) and didn't charge me. I couldn't have afforded it any other way so it was really a God thing for me. I don't think anyone needs to go that often though. 2 times a month in getting started i'm sure is enough. I just looked in the yellow pages, that's how I found her because the ad mentioned fertility acupuncture. I plan to continue seeing her after the baby too just for overall wellbeing. ↑
Oh geez, sorry....I meant to say early on that the only thing ever found by my doctors in all the testing was that I am heterozygous MTHFR C677T. My homocysteine levels were never elevated or anything. The last dr. I saw agreed that there is just not a lot known about it and that is why I pushed the lovenox. I don't think they really KNOW for a fact that only those with homozygous or compound hetero or elevated levels need blood thinners. ↑
