Lovenox?!

[Anonymous]

I've had 4 pregnancy losses before eight weeks and recently found out I have two different MTHFR mutations. I'm allergic to aspirin so an injectable is my only blood thinner option. I also have a serious needle phobia and the idea of a shot every day for 40 weeks sounds... terrible. My RE doesn't really believe in MTHFR but will put me on lovenox for my next cycle if I want to (she has a general attitude of not pushing for anything outside of the standard of practice but she's down to let me try things). We are also looking at trying prednisone for my next cycle, and I'm thinking about sticking with prednisone and trying lovenox if I have another miscarriage. What do you think? Have you used it? What would you do? I'm also interested in prednisone thoughts and stories.

I'm already on a prenatal with methylfolate, so that's taken care of, and I'm actually not a good candidate for IVF (I seem to get pregnant just fine) so I know a lot of folks here already have to put up with so many needles that one more isn't a big deal, but this is my first injectable on this road.

[Anonymous]

Do the lovenox. No question. These issues are not going to just disappear and Lovenox will likely work. There is no use just continuing to have miscarriages. Save yourself the agony.

Ask your RE what the protocol will be though. For example, will they do another blood work-up after you've been on for a couple of weeks?

[Anonymous]

I did lovenex injections daily with my third pregnancy. I discovered the clotting disorder after having serious complications during the previous pregnancy. It was really no big deal. Fourth pregnancy with new doctor and they insisted I didn’t need the injections. My baby was born 5 weeks early....I realize this could be totally unrelated, but I wonder if not doing the injections made a difference.

[Anonymous]

I’m homozygous for MTHFR C677T, the “worst” for MTHFR. The two times I was on a blood thinner (baby aspirin in my case)when I got pregnant, I lost the pregnancies with massive, massive bleeds from hematomas. While I’ve had one additional miscarriage when I wasn’t on baby aspirin (and didn’t bleed at all, but sac looked odd from the beginning), I’ve carried three babies to term with no additional support other than methyl folate. I guess what I’m trying to say is that a blood thinner isn’t the answer- or fix for miscarriages- for everyone, so while it may be worth trying, it also may not be the thing that fixes everything. I assume you’ve had your progesterone tested and your thyroid, ovarian reserve, FSH, etc and your partners sperm tested?

[Anonymous]

I don't know what the downside would be in trying it. I've used it throughput the first trimester in both my successful pregnancies. I'm not saying that's the reason they were successful, I have no idea, but I'd do it again without hesitation on the chance that it prevented a loss. It's just subcutaneous (not intramuscular), so while it does sting it's relatively quick and easy. In the scheme of things, I'd rather a few months of injections to see if it corrected the issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've had 4 pregnancy losses before eight weeks and recently found out I have two different MTHFR mutations. I'm allergic to aspirin so an injectable is my only blood thinner option. I also have a serious needle phobia and the idea of a shot every day for 40 weeks sounds... terrible. My RE doesn't really believe in MTHFR but will put me on lovenox for my next cycle if I want to (she has a general attitude of not pushing for anything outside of the standard of practice but she's down to let me try things). We are also looking at trying prednisone for my next cycle, and I'm thinking about sticking with prednisone and trying lovenox if I have another miscarriage. What do you think? Have you used it? What would you do? I'm also interested in prednisone thoughts and stories.

I'm already on a prenatal with methylfolate, so that's taken care of, and I'm actually not a good candidate for IVF (I seem to get pregnant just fine) so I know a lot of folks here already have to put up with so many needles that one more isn't a big deal, but this is my first injectable on this road.

After four pregnancy loses I would definitely try it, but that's just me. I used lovenox (and prednisone) in both of my successful pregnancies. I got bruises all over but other than that, NBD. I stopped lovenox when graduated from RE to obgyn. I had non successful cycles before, even with PGS embryos. It could also be the rest of the protocol though, the only one that work for me was natural cycle (+ prednisone, + lovenox).

[Anonymous]

Lovenox is not too bad to use and your doctor may have you stop after the first 12 weeks should you get pregnant. It doesn’t burn or sting like some fertility drugs do. Honestly, after so many heartbreaking losses, if you’re really aiming for as successful an outcome possible you will take the script and do the injections. I totally get the needle phobia, but not taking it could mean more loss, more complications, more time and money, and less chance of taking a home a baby.

[Anonymous]

It's not bad at all. I was on it + prednisone and also on progesterone shots (latter for 12 weeks only, lovenox - all pregnancy). Needles are not so bad, you get the hang of it very quickly. I was doing progesterone in the butt myself, and even that didn't hurt so bad. Lovenox doesn't hurt at all. I guess it depends on your age and how you deal with losses. I had a bunch of unsuccessful IVFs and one loss, so I was at my wits' end, if they told me to inject something in my eye, I would consider it Seriously though, the needles are not so bad.