Shadygrove vs GIVF

[Anonymous]

Dr Levens with SHady Grove or Dr Udoff with GIVF? I'm a very complicated case with a long history of miscarriages and need an out of box thinker.

[Anonymous]

I went to Dr. Levens at SGTFC. I can speak from experience and miscarriages that Dr. Levens is a one-size-fits-all doctor. You will not get any "customization". You will get several different medical assistants calling you with test results without context and that's why you'll have difficulty attaining a pregnancy. I compared notes with three other former patients and they all had the same IVF protocol despite having different infertility issues. For example; everyone gets progestrone in oil injections prescribed even though it is not that much more successful than nasal sprays or suppositories. After the first round of injections I told the nurse I was itching at the injection site. The solution - keeping injecting for the second round. It wasn't until I called the pharmacist that I found out there were cheaper, pain-free alternatives. Dr. Levens is an absolute sweetie, nice guy and soft spoken. Results though. . .nope. Customization? Nope. Just keep handing over 12 K at least 6 times and you'll have your baby via IVF.

[Anonymous]

OP Have you looked at Dominion? I started at SGF, but after 3 m/c's I needed a different approach and Dr. Waud at Dominion has been great so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP Have you looked at Dominion? I started at SGF, but after 3 m/c's I needed a different approach and Dr. Waud at Dominion has been great so far.

I had multiple chemical pregnancies and a m/c while a patient at GW and also switched to Dominion (Dr. Gordon) --> very happy with the change (now in 2nd trimester)

[Anonymous]

Used GIVF/Udoff. Like the practice and size (felt known but not too known!!) I was at least on paper a difficult patient but had success with first transfer and very much wanted twins. I think GIVF is missed as a great fertility clinic.
Not a fan of Dr Levens. I only met him but a friend confirmed my sense that he’s a bit ‘off’ and not someone to count on when things get tough

[Anonymous]

Interesting on dr levels. I thought he seemed very smart and willing to prescribe depot Lupron for elevated bcl6 levels and willing to do immune protocol of steroids lovenox and aspirin and open to intralipids but doesn’t prescribe them but will support them. Seems to be a very quiet person with a calm demeanor and very intelligent. Dr. Udoff seems very intelligent as well and out of box thinker, not into immune protocols and not sure how aggressive he is with protocols as thinks less meds are better for me but I worry bc have thinner linings. Hmmmmm

Person who wrote about dr Gordon, what kind of protocols is he into? Does he believe in immune treatments? What did you like about him ?

[Anonymous]

Feel same re: Levens. I was at SG at age 37-39. He was very sweet, but over time I realized he didn't know what he was going. Kept chaining my diagnosis... gave me the DE speech after 1 IVF. He can not handle anything other than check-in-the-box infertility. MOVE ON OP. I moved to GW and had a DS. Best of luck!

[Anonymous]

1:36 poster what did gw do differently when you had your ds

[Anonymous]

Re. progesterone in oil. Shady Grove just published a major prospective randomized study showing that the shots are far more effective than suppositories. So they were trying to help you achieve your goal. https://www.shadygrovefertility.com/blog/treatments-and-success/asrm-2017-new-progesterone-study/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Person who wrote about dr Gordon, what kind of protocols is he into? Does he believe in immune treatments? What did you like about him ?

I'm the PP who recommended Dr. Gordon. I was on Synthroid and aspirin when I conceived at Dominion, and started on Lovenox the afternoon they confirmed my positive beta. I'm not sure how to answer your question about what kind of protocols he is into, but I'll give you my backstory as to how I wound up with him and on the drugs I just mentioned...

I had 2 chemicals and a m/c in 7 months, all natural conceptions; the 2nd chemical and miscarriage happened in back-to-back cycles immediately after we'd been diagnosed with unexplained infertility (go figure) at GW. After the 2nd chemical, I asked my GW RE about progesterone and aspirin-the aspirin because I had read it may help with recurrent losses and because it was determined during my infertility workup that I have elevated platelets. I started progesterone, but she was resistant to aspirin unless I had a confirmed clotting disorder (and didn't offer me any of that testing). I saw a hematologist for workup on my elevated platelets just days before I miscarried. No clear answer to explain the platelets was found, and was again not tested for clotting disorders, but the workup also revealed I had/have an elevated CRP (general inflammatory marker). My PCP followed the CRP for months after the m/c, and although it dropped some, it continued to remain elevated, so it was likely not solely due to the m/c. After the m/c, my GW RE changed my diagnosis to RPL, ordered 4 tests related to that, and advised us to keep trying on our own without providing guidance on how long to continue that before moving on to IUI (utterly terrible advice, considering it was her job to help us get pregnant!). The 4 tests she ordered were normal. One tested for anti-phospholipid antibodies, which can contribute to clotting. I asked about testing to rule out inherited thrombophilias and was told it's not "standard of care". She also disregarded further evaluation of my thyroid (my TSH was above 2.5) and said I'd need solid diagnoses from the hematologist or other specialists on the platelets and CRP before she would even do a literature search to see if any of that may have factored into my losses. This was exceptionally frustrating considering I found a 2017 published study from the NIH saying aspirin could reduce pregnancy loss in RPL patients who had high CRP! It took me awhile, but I eventually realized she was not going to give me the care/help we needed in order to successfully conceive.

I wound up making appointments with an endocrinologist and different hematologist, who were both in support of investigating the aspects the GW RE overlooked. I was negative for all clotting disorders BTW. I wound up on Synthroid and aspirin, and the hematologist also suggested I could try Lovenox the next time I conceived, despite there being literally no scientific evidence to support that it would help me. I then saw Dr. Hamersley (maternal fetal medicine) for a pre-conception consult. She also supported me being on aspirin and strongly recommended doing Lovenox for both its anticoagulant and anti-inflammatory properties given my platelets and CRP. We then had consults with both Dr. Abbasi at CFA and Dr. Gordon at DF in order to choose who to go forward with. Dr. Abbasi sent us away with pages of additional lab testing to do for immune issues; however, we didn't do them because after all the stress I'd been through, I knew I wasn't psychologically strong enough to handle her brusque demeanor. Dr. Gordon, on the other hand, earned my trust and confidence shortly upon meeting him. He was on board with the aspirin and, while not thrilled about the plan to start Lovenox upon positive pregnancy test and constantly referred to it as "voodoo", but was more-than-willing to go along with it. I was up-front from on our initial consultation about the fact that if he didn't prescribe it for me, I would get it from Dr. Hamersley or my hematologist. I don't think he likes his patients on empiric Lovenox because it significantly complicates things if there is an ectopic pregnancy or a threatened miscarriage.

In working with him, I truly appreciated his straight-forward demeanor, his extensive experience, and his sense of humor. He's one of the best doctors I have ever seen. He reminded us that we were RPL, not infertility, patients, but outlined how the various ART options might be of benefit to us. His advice was spot on--we conceived the first treatment cycle we did with him (unmedicated IUI w/ trigger shot) and I'm now in 2nd trimester. I also found that the way monitoring, appointments, procedures, etc. ran at DF was a much better match for me compared to GW. There are lots of discussions about him on this board, and the whole Dominion team puts a lot of effort into sharing information by social media. If you want to get a sense of Dr. Gordon's personality, check out the videos on the Dominion Facebook page.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for providing your full history and explaining!