endometreosis

[Anonymous]

Has anyone been treated for endometreosis and gotten pregnant? What is the testing and the treatment? I am between REs but I have an appointment with my OBGYN next week and I want to ask about this. I am AMA but have never been officially pregnant. Several months I am positive the egg fertilized but no BFP. I have regular 27-29 day cycles.

[Anonymous]

I had a laproscopy 2 months before my first IVF, which worked. They found stage 2 endometriosis around both of my ovaries and elsewhere...my original RE, (Dr. Abbassi) was emphatic that I did not need a lap, especially since she knew for a fact that it was not around my ovaries since she did not see it on ultrasound. I really feel like it had a ton to do with my IVF success. There was just a thread here talking about which docs are the best for the procedure if you decide to go forward with it. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Hi,

I had one IUI and 3 IVF cycles with unexplained infertility and 2 more IVF cycles while I was diagnosed with severe endometreosis & fibriods. Six years later, I became a mom via surrogacy with help from a family member. My most recent RE recommended a myomectomy to remove fibriods that other REs thought were too small to make a difference. We were going to do a FET cycle next month but the ultrasound shows there's another fibroid or polyp... *sigh*
I'm told this disease (endometreosis) has no cure. On the bright side the oncologist who removed the fibriods also removed lots of scar tissues caused by endo, relieving some of the constipation I was having.

[Anonymous]

Have you had the HSG? I never got pregnant in 2 years of trying. I had this test, and I got pregnant right away.
Unfortunately, I had a miscarriage, but I was able to get pregnant again 4 months later.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks everyone for responding. Yes, I had an HSG- everything is open and clear. My uterus looks good on the sonos and I have no issues with lining thickness.

[Anonymous]

Hi OP, this is 9:32. I just wanted to say that in my opinion, at least, endometriosis can make a huge difference. At least a few years ago when I was going through deciding what to do, most RE's said it didn't matter, especially if you did IVF, and most of my googling said that endometriosis was a huge factor in fertility although it was unclear why. For me, I had suspected I had this since high school, duw to horribly painful periods, later helped greatly only by birth control pills. Throughout my adult life (pre ttc) I mentioned this to my OBs and they all dismissed it. Had I realized it could impact fertility I would have pushed harder long ago.

A PP is definitely correct that it won't be cured, but if you have endometriosis cleared out, it should stay away for a year or two, and ironically I was told that the best help to clear emdo is pregnancy. One thing I also tried before working on #2 (which seems to have worked, after 4 IVFs and 2 m/c...skipped the lap that go round) was a Pycnogenol supplement. Its an antioxidant and supposed to help clear the cobwebs so to speak.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/64791.php

[Anonymous]

Yes I have 2 kids.

I had at least stage 3 or 4, 4 yrs of IF, 2 surgeries to clear it out,IUIs and 1 IVF, 3 miscarriages before stayed pregnant with 1st child (who was an IUI twin-lost other one very early). Now we have a pre-teen and a 13yo. Went to Shady Grove for IF treatments.

Did follow a diet for 2nd pregnancy - some British book from 11-12 years ago - from what I recall it was low sugar, pretty gluten free, no dairy or meat - just veggies, rice and some fruit.

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Different people seem to respond very differently to treatment. Some women with endo go straight to IVF and get pregnant immediately. Some respond well to laparoscopy. Some have endometriomas that create big problems with egg quality. Others have big issues with implantation. A lot seems to depend on the luck of the draw.

I was like you in the sense that I felt strongly we were conceiving on our own but nothing ever seemed to stick. I tried having a lap but it didn't help. My RE wanted me to go straight to IVF but I refused because I was so sure we had an implantation problem and I didn't want to waste the money. Ultimately, I was diagnosed with immune problems and a beta-3 integrin deficiency (both issues that inhibit implantation). When both were treated, I got pregnant on our first IVF cycle.

[Anonymous]

I responded above at 9:41. I'm on my second shot of Lupron Depot to suppress further damage while waiting to start the FET cycle. I read about lots of side effects but I personally haven't experienced it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I responded above at 9:41. I'm on my second shot of Lupron Depot to suppress further damage while waiting to start the FET cycle. I read about lots of side effects but I personally haven't experienced it.

This is 10:48. FYI, two-three months of Lupron Depot is also the treatment for beta-3 integrin deficiency. I just finished my 3 months and we're doing a frozen transfer shortly. You're sooo lucky to have escaped the side effects. I had horrible hot flashes. Last I heard, CCRM was using LD routinely with almost all their endometriosis patients to preemptively address implantation problems. Good luck!!

[Anonymous]

My endo was not diagnosed until I had an ectopic after 1.5 years of TTC (after many years of NTNP). I, too, suspected we had long been having fertilization but no implantation. Tube ruptured with the ectopic and I had a laparoscopy that turned into a laparotomy, and my OB/GYN found the "moderately severe" (I am assuming stage 3 or 4) endo then. Lost my left tube in the surgery, and the right one was in poor shape. Was advised to go directly to IVF, which we did at SGF. Got pregnant with twins in the third cycle (first cycle was a neg, second a chemical), then lost one at 8 weeks. Had a complicated pregnancy and emergency c-section at 38 weeks, but delivered a healthy baby boy in January. We are far from well-off and had no insurance coverage for the IVF, but he is worth every penny we spent and every day of tears and stress on the road to his arrival.

[Anonymous]

My story -
Tried to pregnant for 2yrs - no luck
Dr suspected endometriosis -- no real symptoms but got tired easily
Laparo--found endo -- stage 2 -- zapped out
Pregnant immediately- miscarriage
IUI -- pregnant, miscarriage
IUI -- pregnant with twins, carried 37 weeks, healthy babies
Today -- on pill to help regulate endo
Thinking of those trying to get pregnant -- you will get there - try not to think too much about it -- it is so hard, I know.

[Anonymous]

I have posted about this here on these boards before- I have stage IV endometriosis and did a LOT of research. Essentially the best way to treat this is to find what people call "true" endometriosis doctors. Not normal OB/GYN's, not a gynecologist oncologist or whatever they are called, definitely not an RE. There are doctors out there who do endometriosis ONLY. None of these doctors are in the DC area.

One of the above posters mentioned Dr. Seckin, he is one of them. Dr. Sinervo at the CEC in Atlanta is another one who is fabulous. (Google him, their website will give you a ton of good information). Most of these doctors will not take insurance - they will work with your company to submit receipts after the fact but you are on the hook for it, ultimately. I had no out of network coverage so this was a big deal to me. I ultimately traveled to see Dr. Patrick Yeung after someone on this board gave me his information. At the time he was with Duke in NC and is now in St. Louis at St. Louis University, where he runs a whole center for endometriosis.

Anyway, I could not have been happier with my decision and if I ever need surgery again, I will go back to him. He did take my insurance at the time but I am not sure if the move to STL changed that. I had to travel to him once for an easy consult, and once again for the outpatient surgery (stayed in a hotel). He basically went in not knowing what he would find, found a ton of the endo, cut it all out, and that was that. I was totally fine up and walking around two days later, was at work 7 days after surgery.

In the three cycles I had post surgery, I got pregnant twice. Once ended in a chemical pregnancy and the next one ended in my now 12 month old! This was after a long year of other interventions that did not result in a pregnancy, including another laparascopic surgery by a respected DC ob/gyn who was not a true endo specialist. My advice, go right to the best and get this taken care of if you think you have it.

[Anonymous]

I have stage iv endometriosis that went undiagnosed for too long. My and my husband's fertility testing came back all clear so we were categorized as unexplained. After a couple rounds of clomid and timed intercourse they found a huge cyst on my ovary that wouldn't go away. They didnt know what it was and when I had surgery to remove it it turned out to be stage iv endometriosis. They cleaned a lot of it out then I had a successful IVF on my first cycle. I wish they had a better way of diagnosing endometriosis, could have saved me a lot of trouble. At my first appointment with an RE i told him that I thought I might have it and he completely dismissed me. Needless to say I switched REs when this all came to light.

[Anonymous]

Had stage 4, 2 laps, 1 IVF w/miscarriage, got PG naturally next month, miscarried again, followed by several IUIs, got pregnant with twins, delivered one. Also had all the usual other treatments, Clomid etc, HSG etc. Got PG with second the month I was to begin IVF. Seemed to get and stay PG when sick with colds/flu etc. Don't know why but that immune response seemed to help. Also did a gluten free/dairy free diet before getting PG with second birth but wasn't on it a month or two before getting PG.

It can happen but it can also take a lot of time and effort. Took 4 years to get and stay PG the first time. Started down IF path at age 30.

Hang in there and educate yourself.