To Acupuncture or Not & Hormone Update

So it has been a little more than two months since starting RHT and I am feeling good. My emotions have leveled off and my energy levels are up and I am sleeping well. All that is great news for me and I have started back to eating Paleo again to help my hormones stay at the levels they need to be at and keep my PCOS and Hypothyroid symptoms at bay thus increasing my chances of a successful IVF.

I am debating adding in Acupuncture because I am thinking that if it IVF doesn't work this next round I won't know if it was the acupuncture that wasn't helpful or the Hormones. If it does work I would have the same issue that I wouldn't know which was the helpful one. The other side of that logic is that if it doesn't work with Acupuncture and Hormones than neither were effective and I wouldn't do either again if we continued with IVF or if it does work who cares what the contributing factor was. My only thoughts about that is if it did work and then we wanted to do IVF again I would feel like I would need to do both again and if the Hormones and eating Paleo was what did it then I would save about $6,000. What are your ladies thoughts, experiences, etc??

Hormones Rising

I did finally get my blood work done and my estridol and Fee Testosterone levels were still low so I had them put in one more pellet of each to hopefully maintain the higher levels. I do feel better emotionally the past few days which has been nice. I am back to being motivated and alert, so I am hoping that it isn't just the upswing of my emotion cycle!!! Another nice thing is the Dr. put the incision higher up on my butt so when I am bending or sitting or climbing into the 4-runner it doesn't stretch it like the last time.

Hormone Update

So I don't know if it is the extra hormones but I am super emotional lately. I feel like crying most days and when I do man the water works are hard to stop. I am struggling to hold it together most days and am feeling super overwhelmed and jealous of all those people that have babies. I am sure it is just a phase but it is an annoying phase to say the least, I hate crying about a lot of nothing!!
I am supposed to go get my hormone levels checked but of course I have now lost the blood work order so I will have to locate the dang thing before getting my blood drawn! So we will see how high my levels are and if they still aren't high enough get more pellets put in.

The Hormones Continue

I am still feeling great and energetic which is wonderful. I am back on BCP's which I don't like because it is just one more pill to pop. funny how I have to take preventive measures to not get pregnant when we are unable to get pregnant, just in case. Oh the oxymorons of infertility!!! It would be a miracle if we did but if it was a female fetus it would be masculinized due to the high levels of testosterone that I am on. I would hate to do that to my miracle baby!!
AF arrived, with a little help from our friend Progesterone, and I definitely felt more hormonal swings. I think always being so low on hormones I never felt the hormonal swings that women feel during their cycles. It was an interesting cycle to say the least but I will take a few mood swings, bloating, yucky feeling during AF to the energy I feel every other day!!

On other news my third niece is being born today, my SIL is going in to be induced and hopefully all will go great. I have been knitting up a storm, I made three pairs of booties and a sweater for her arrival. Hopefully they will all fit at some point in her baby stages.

Hormones Are Great

Credit

I can't say enough about how great I am feeling the past two days. The first day after getting the pellets in I felt super weird, my equilibrium felt off and was a bit nauseous. Thursday morning, I woke up before my alarm at 6:00 am and was ready to go for the day. I didn't have the usual tiredness starting around 2 in the afternoon and wasn't starving during that time either. Last night I was actually alert and not fighting falling asleep by 10 pm while hanging out with some friends, usually I am nodding off while people are talking to me!! With going to bed around midnight I was still awake and energized getting up at 6:00 am again. I packed Mr. Explorer Bud and I's suitcase for our little weekend trip down to visit his Grandpa, got ready for the day, actually remembered to bring stuff to work and was off to work on time. Maybe it is the placebo effect but I am loving it either way.

Pellets Are In

Yesterday I went to the Dr. to get the bio-identical hormone pellets put in my side. I had my mom come with since Mr. Explorer Bud was in class, so that way I would have someone to remind me what the Dr. said. I really enjoy the nurses there, they are all so nice and say the right things instead of stupid things. I met with the Dr. first and he went over what he was going to do, how to care for the incision while it is healing, the symptoms that I will see relief from and answer any questions. Then off we went to an exam room to have him cut open my side. Originally he was going to put the pellets in my hip area but then asked if I would rather have it in my butt and I chose the butt because it is fatter and probably would be less annoying. He numbed me right up and then made about a 2 inch incision and put the two pellets of Testosterone and Estrogen into the incision and closed it up. He also gave me a shot of amino-acids that have shown to help your liver process the fat in your body to aide in weight loss. I have to come in weekly to do the shots so I figure I will give it a month and see if it helps at all. Then he gave me an adjustment that was just what I was needing. Seriously he is a one stop shop there. My bum is a bit sore from putting in the pellets but it will be healed soon and I am hoping to feel like a new woman soon.
This morning I noticed I was able to wake up better and have been more alert throughout the day which has been nice. I did feel a little like my equilibrium was off this morning and a little nausea this afternoon before I ate lunch. I am hoping the energy level continues to rise and feeling sick goes away!!

Hormone Blood Work In

I finally got a call back about my hormone levels and it looks like I am way low on my total Testosterone (26 ng/dl), Free Testosterone (0.2 pg/mL) and Estradiol (24.7 pg/mL). Being so low in the Testosterone can explain many of my symptoms of being tired, spacey, low sex drive, dry skin, weight gain, etc, etc, etc!! My other hormones seem to be in good order. FSH (5.8 MIU/mL), Prolactin (10.5 ng/mL), TSH (2.01 uIU/mL), T4 (1.09 ng/dL), Triiodothyronine Free (4.0 pg/mL). My Sex Hormone Binding Globulin was high (165.6 nmol/L).

So I will go in and get the pellet inserted in my side Tuesday at 9:45 in the morning!! I am excited to start feeling better. I hope this works in getting me balanced and preparing my body to have a successful IVF in the summer.

Hormone Replacement Therapy

So with the New Year, we have a new plan. We are going to Hormone Therapy for the next 4-6 months, I am going to lose the extra weight, get in shape and try another IVF cycle at the end of our hormone treatment cycle. This is something I can do to try and improve our chances and something I have control over so pretty much it will keep me sane, for awhile! :)

I met with the RE today and talked about what Hormone Replacement Therapy ("HRT") could do for my "issues". The RE said that HRT has shown to improve egg quality, help increase insulin sensitivity and balance my hormones to treat my PCOS symptoms, increase my sensitivity to the fertility drugs in future IVF cycles and help me feel better overall. I did appreciate this statement from the RE "You deserve to feel good after all the stuff you have been through". Amen to that!! With treating the PCOS and Hypothyroid symptoms I should be losing this lovely extra 15-20 pounds I am carrying around, have more energy, clearer mind, sleeping better, better sex drive, stronger nails, less dry skin and better muscle tone (I used to have amazing muscle definition before all these problems started).
I had my blood drawn to test my thyroid levels, total and free testosterone, FSH, progesterone, estradiol, and prolactin. My veins are a nurses nightmare because they are by feel only and like to disappear and it seems my left arm is really the only one nurses can find. I had to drink 32 oz of water, eat some crackers and be stuck four times to get enough blood to run the tests. PURE JOY :)
We will wait and see what all my levels are looking like so the RE will know the dosage to give me of hormones. The procedure sounds pretty simple, the RE will make a small incision above my hip and place a pellet of natural testosterone and estrogen mixture that will sit and be absorbed over the next 4-6 months. Every day 14-28 of my cycle I will need to take natural progesterone to make sure my lining is shedding properly. The effects are supposed to be noticeable from 1-4 days of putting in the pellet. If they are not then they may need to add another pellet due to my hormone levels being depleted for so long that they need an extra boost.

After 4 months the RE will test my Testosterone levels to see if they are down to a normal level and if they are we can do another IVF cycle then or we will need to wait till about month 6 when the hormones have completely left my system.

I am going to also start talking with acupuncturists in my area that specialize in infertility to see what they recommend for someone with my problems doing IVF and what they charge.

I am getting tired of the emotional roller coaster and am ready to do all that is available out there. I am not sure how much more I can handle of failures, it is just so depressing and long and stressful and tiring and emotional and, and, and...