Infertility and Bacteria

Lately I've been reading about a fertility doctor over in New York, Dr. Atilla Toth.
His big claim is bacteria is the major cause of todays infertility.
In his (expensive) clinic he boasts a 60% success rate with treating "infertile" couples, which is huge when compared to IVF stats.
I ordered his book Fertile vs. Infertile on Amazon, but you can read it online for free. Definitely worth a read.
Here is a link to two case studies of women with POF. One woman is found to have chlamydia, the other E. Coli. Of course it is not just these two forms of bacteria that can cause infertility. He speaks about bacteria being transferred between sexual partners, so your partner needs to be tested and treated also. His other important theory is what he calls "vertical transmission" of bacteria, so even if you're a virgin, you can be contaminated from your mother during your vaginal birth.
It's a very interesting concept and he's certainly been having success with it for many years. I think it may be difficult to find a doctor who will work with you on this, unless you go to Dr. Toth in NY, and pay the big bucks.
Here is a link to woman's success story posted on fertilethoughts.com
You'll find mixed reviews of him on yelp.com, some swear by him, others say run.
I'd love to hear anyone's opinion on this one.

Best
Mary

Chinese Medicine for fertility

Many women have found their answer with traditional chinese medicine (TCM). Chinese herbs and acupuncture have been used for thousands of years and are still widely used today.


For me, chinese herbs have really helped getting my cycle back after it had stopped for several months.


In my little nutshell this what TCM can do for you: chinese herbs can help increase blood flow, increase estrogen, and encourage proper ovulation. Acupuncture increases blood flow to the pelvis, helps regulate the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Ovarian axis, and reduces stress.


The first book I recommend is "The Infertility Cure" by Dr. Randine Lewis, (yes, she's also an M.D.).  Carefully, she lays out how TCM works, and includes a lot of good information on diet, supplements, and lifestyle. She herself had trouble getting pregnant, western medicine wasn't able to help her low hormonal problems and irregular cycles, so she turned to eastern medicine and found success. There is also a chapter dedicated to POF. It has loads of success stories in it of  women who were considered infertile by their western doctors, and there's a few specific success stories dealing with high FSH and diminished ovarian reserve. 
Dr. Randine Lewis also has a website The Fertile Soul worth a read. And there is a list of practitioners around the country who practice her method of treatment for fertility.


A website worth checking out, especially if you're in the L.A. area, is Dr. Daniel Lee, who seems to specialize in treating women with POF. Read some of those success stories!
A women in San Francisco, Angela Wu, has a practice in San Francisco, and her book "Fertility Wisdom" tells of a woman with an FSH over 100 getting pregnant. Her program is known to be very strict, and she's not cheap, but she boasts a 50% success, which is more than IVF does.
Just google TCM POF and if you have the patience to sift through it, you'll find loads of information and success stories out there.
These days, chances are, if you live near any major city, you have access to a good selection of chinese doctors. They specialize in different fields, so go with recommendations or the one most experienced with fertility.
If you're unsure, I think you have nothing to lose with TCM, maybe a bit of money, but it is really nothing when you think of what it can do in terms of turning your current state of health and fertility around.

Supplements

Though food, real wholesome organic food, is our best medicine, supplements have done a lot to help women on their road to fertility.  There are many different causes of POF, but most women with POF need to take their nutrition to a new level.
Read in the POF forums online and women describe how adding a different supplement or two aided in tipping their fertility chances.


Remember, I'm no doctor, so do what feels right for you. Everything you put in your body has an effect, so consider carefully before you do.


Co-Enzyme Q10 - helps oxygen utilization on a cellular level. Improves egg quality and fertilization. Ubiquinol is a more potent form, said to be 40% more effective, though more expensive.


Omega 3 - too many benefits to mention. for healthy cervical mucus. acts as an anti-inflammatory which is very important if you have an autoimmune disease.


Wheatgrass -cleansing, highly alkalizing, high in minerals


Chlorella - very nutritional, helps in cellular repair, binds and helps remove heavy metals


Probiotic - supports digestion so you absorb more nutrition from your food. 


Vitamin D - most of us are low in this. Works directly on the ovaries, regulating how estrogen is used to help egg follicles mature and grow. May also help uterine lining.


L-arginine - an amino acid that helps increase blood flow to the uterus. It's a common one doctor's recommend for a more successful IVF.


Also, I've been reading about Inositol improving egg quality. I don't really know too much about this one and encourage you do some research if interested.
There are a few academic articles on it, mostly related with PCOS. Here is one:
http://humrep.oxfordjournals.org/content/17/6/1591.full


Let me know if you have anything else you thoroughly recommend!
Best
Mary

A workshop with Julia Indichova, author of "Inconceivable"

A couple of years ago I stumbled across the book "Inconceivable". I'm sure a lot of you high FSHer's have read it or know of it, it's been mentioned on so many forums, a real high FSH story of hope. I remember ordering it on Amazon, waiting for it in the mail, then devouring every page. Here was living proof that a 42 year woman with an FSH of 42 could actually conceive a healthy baby. She was told by five top fertility doctors in New York City to forget about it, move on to donor eggs. It really got me thinking about how the food we eat and how treat our body can really alter the chemistry within us. I then bought "The Fertile Female" her second book, which focuses more on her workshop teaching methods and exercises.  But honestly I didn't get it at the time, I wanted quick fix stuff, science stuff. I didn't want to go into the thinking about my dreams, or my fears, I didn't want to do visualizations! But hey, I've tried changing my diet, doing yoga, wheatgrass, I do all that, but it hasn't got me pregnant, so what am I missing from her teachings?
I have always been a fan of Indichova, even if she is a new-agey hokey pokey, you can't deny it, along with herself, she has helped hundreds and hundreds of so called "infertile" women conceive healthy beautiful babies. Her successful booked out workshops, have been running for about 18 years now, she's still going strong.
I was checking out her website the Fertile Heart, which I do from time to time, and saw she had a workshop on in San Francisco! She normally runs the workshops in her hometown in Woodstock, NY. I emailed and booked my place. One of the amazing things about Indichova is, that unlike many other fertility type workshops, her prices are very reasonable.
So, I finally got to meet my guru in person. There she was, shorter than me, 60 years old, and looking amazingly youthful. She's an absolute charismatic natural, full of endless energy and compassion. The workshop went for 7 hours and I could have stayed in there for days. The first thing she asked us was what we were thinking, and she demands an honest answer, so I said "I'm wishing on this sunny day that wasn't at this workshop and I was home with my child, I'm thinking why me, why when all my girlfriends are home with their babies, I'm at a workshop!"
The women in the group (and some of the husbands who came too) were amazing people, and I'm not someone who gets chummy easily. It was so comforting to share struggles, and bond with women who are in similar situations, and really understand where you're coming from. There were lots of tears and heart-breaking stories, but a whole new way to see and approach this journey of fertility we're on. It's hard to explain what happened in the workshop but she talks about how thoughts, beliefs, imagery can be our medicine, about how our thoughts and feelings are stored within our body's tissue and we need to work through this to clear way for conception. My explanation is not doing it justice, but I know I need to now go back and re-read the "Fertile Female" and practice all it says and really give it a whole-hearted go, I have nothing to lose.
There was a local San Fran woman in our workshop, assisting Indichova.  She was diagnosed with high FSH, low ovarian reserve, has had 5 miscarriages, and all the doctors told her she would never deliver a healthy baby. After following Indichova's exercises for several months she conceived and delivered a beautiful baby girl! This woman was sitting right next to me, I couldn't stop staring with delight and asking questions. These women you hear about with high FSH and babies, you think they're urban myths, but they're so real!
Anyhow, as ongoing support, Indichova is offering to do continuing workshops with our group in her "phone circle" meetings. I'm so glad that I'll have future contact and support with Indichova and all the inspiring women I met.
For anyone who is curious, I really recommend the Fertile Heart workshops. If this isn't possible, she also runs phone circles, but read her books first so you have an understanding of her approach.
While I will continue with my diet, supplements, and research for anything new out there, here's to a new approach.

Circulation and FSH

Every acupuncturist I've seen (and there's been a few) mentions that my circulation needs some help. I believe them, my feet, hands and nose are usually cold. Read any website for fertility acupuncture and you'll read about how herbs and acupuncture help increase blood flow to the reproductive organs. When an acupuncturist has success with lowering high FSH, they always mention one of the things they did was aim to increase blood flow in the patient. It makes sense, the ovaries need a good supply of healthy blood, oxygen and nutrients delivered to them so they can do their thing. Good circulation is a big factor in healthy eggs and a healthy uterine lining.
Here is a great article on reversing the clock on fertility, by Dr. Randine Lewis, and the importance of good blood flow.

 In Dr. Randine Lewis' The Infertility Cure, she speaks of the femoral massage, where you press the large artery in your groin to direct more blood flow to the pelvic area. Here's a link on how to do it.

What about good old exercise? It's something I've always struggling with, it doesn't come naturally to me, and my work is quite sedentary. My friends in their late 30's, who are easily popping babies out, are all sporty, fit women. I don't mean exercise junkies, just healthy regular exercise. I'm trying to do at least 30 minutes of walking a day every day.

Google natural ways to boost circulation, and you'll see there's lots of suggestions like cayenne, garlic, ginger and rosemary. L-arginine, an amino acid, causes the blood vessels to open up and allows more blood flow. I see lots of talk about L-arginine being suggested as a fertility supplement by both western and eastern doctors. It's supposed to improve success rates in IVF also.
Also, drink plenty of water as dehydration isn't good for blood flow.

May the blood flow!

More articles:
How to Naturally Lower Your FSH
How to Improve Egg Quality

The Autoimmune's relationship with Fertility and looking for Balance

I was diagnosed with high thyroid antibodies and Hashimotos thyroiditis a few years ago. The levels go up and down, something I really need to get retested for... When I first asked my doctor for the test she refused, I had to beg, “it’s my money, my thyroid!” I’m so glad I put my foot down with this.

It’s very common for women with POF to have one or more auto-immune diseases. So maybe for those of us with POF, auto-immune diseases are another sign that things are off balance in our system? Is there are relationship between the illnesses? I ask doctors these questions and they often say they just don't know yet. Looking at the body as a whole, Hashimotos could be causing more problems then is currently known, and the thyroid is such a huge thing with fertility. Many people often have two or more autoimmune diseases concurrently.

There is a lot of info on the web about the close relationship between autoimmune diseases and POF. I definitely recommend getting your thyroid antibodies tested. 

Do you know about anti-bodies that attack the ovaries? Many women with POF are found to have these anti-ovarian antibodies.

There's definitely a lot more to say on this subject so I'll be doing more posts on it.

I’ve just recently started taking colostrum. It is supposed to do wonders for restoring balance to the body, including healing autoimmune diseases. It contains: proline-rich pol-peptides which modulate the immune response; cytokines regulate intensity and duration of immune response and are antiviral and anti-tumorous; interlukin- 10 reduces inflammation; and lymphokines regulate the immune response. Enough scientific talk from here, here are some good articles:

Colostrum and the Autoimmune Diseases

Colostrum and Autoimmune Disorders

I’ll let you know if I have any success with this colostrum, but many people have with all kinds of illnesses, so it’s worth a shot. Can only make me healthier!

Can good DHEA levels be your missing link?

Was it mine? No I don’t think so. I had my DHEA levels tested (saliva test) and my levels were really good. Blah! I really wanted them to be low as this would have been an answer, but am grateful to have a normal lab test result, it’s been awhile! 

Many women with with POF have had been able to successfully get pregnant, but it's not for all of us.

DHEA is produced in the adrenal glands. It is often seen as the “hormone of youth”.

Many women with high FSH are low in DHEA. About 2-10 percent of all women with POF have adrenal insufficiency, and among these women about 70 percent have adrenal cortex antibodies.

The Center for Human Reproduction in New York is having some wonderful success using DHEA for women with POF.

Here is a link to a woman’s story on using DHEA.

Here's a link on DHEA and the risks written by a health practitioner. 

Another thing I would consider is magnesium oil. This is the only natural product I can find that has been proven to raise DHEA naturally. It’s estimated approximately 80% of us magnesium deficient, our soils are depleted of it. Could this be a major contributor to POF? In many of the articles and books I have read, low DHEA means low magnesium. 

It works much more quickly than taking magnesium orally. Transdermal application definitely seems the way to go. It definitely is a safe option, as you cannot over do it if taking magnesium through the skin. Taking too much orally can give you the runs! Here’s an interesting article on magnesium and DHEA, showing the power of magnesium oil.

I've been using magnesium oil for a month now, no side-effects at all, except when you rub into broken skin, oowww!

Any thoughts?