recurrent miscarriage

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone and a big thank you to those who replied to my request for help for a patient with chronic bloating - this has given me some new angles to work from. Any more insights greatly appreciated.

This is the second case that I needed help with but haven't had the time to post until today.

43 year old woman with history of recurrent miscarriages. Most of the miscarriages have occured at about week 4. She has had one successful pregnancy, a little girl who is now 3, conceived when patient and husband had really given up hope. Prior to her daughter's birth she had had 3 or 4 miscs and after the birth she's had about 3. In her own words, she stopped keeping count and when the miscs do happen she manages at home as much as possible because of the variable treatment (sometimes very humiliating) that she has received in hosp. She has been diagnosed as carrying the Leiden V gene and this has been suggested as one of the possible causes for her repeated miscarriages as it means she's more likely to form blood clots, so she's taking Aspirin. She would desperately like to have a brother or sister for her daughter.

In April this year her hormone levels showed that she wasn't perimenopausal, however, prior to conceiving her daughter she had tests that showed she was perimenopausal. Her periods have always been irregular, she is overweight and has a very stressful job. She has always had cystic acne. She has had scans of her ovaries which showed no cysts. Her fallopian tubes are patent. No sperm abnormalities have been found in her partner. She usually has fertile mucus, but hadn't had this for a couple of months prior to her first appointment with me in May of this year - and had been unable to become pregnant again. There is no family history of infertility. She doesn't know at what age her Mother went through the menopause. Her GP told her (earlier this year) that she probably only has a year or so window of opportunity for pregnancy. She has never received any fertility treatment. She was brutally raped whilst at University - all STD tests were negative.

With herbal treatment her periods settled down to a 26 day cycle and she had two months with fertile mucus, her "fiery" (I could kill someone) PMS also settled down. Then the cycle lengthened to 6 weeks with no fertile mucus, then a very short cycle. At this point I stopped the Vitex for a month with a view to reintroducing after a months break - I sometimes find this works.

Last month she had a positive pregnancy test, but miscarried at week 5. I had to suspend herbal tx as she was due to go into hospital to start injections as soon as she conceived to manage the Leiden V - however, this never happened as she started to miscarry. She has requested an appointment with her gynaecologist, who has been very supportive in the past - the appt is not until March next year.

20 days after the miscarriage she had blood tests (requested by her GP) which showed FSH of 29.4 (in contrast to April this year when FSH and LH were both within normal off-peak range - FSH was 4.0 and LH was 5.8) - my reading of this latest test is that although it wasn't taken at a specific, known point in the cycle, it's still approaching the level of 30 plus that's considered consistent with menopausal levels. However, could this be due to the recent miscarriage?

I feel that she has a lot of factors against her - her irregular cycle (I do wonder if she has got PCOS although scans showed no cysts), stress levels, the clotting issue, her weight (her diet's not bad, but not great either). I've tactfully discussed these issues with her - she's well aware that her weight won't be helping. I really can't see the stress in her life changing, she has a very challenging job, is the main earner in the house, and is quite a self admitted workaholic.

When she became pregnant most recently she was having 15 drops of Vitex 1:1 mane

Her day time mix had been

Verbena 20

Hypericum perforatum 20

Chamelaerium 20

Trigonella 15

Carduus 20

Eleutherococcus 10 7.5ml bid ex aq ac I had also used Paeonia, Withania, Vib pru with her at other times.

She'd had a chest infection, so she then had

Echinacea ang/purp 35

Grindelia 15

Inula 20

Chamelaerium 20 (kept this in for the week she had this chest mix)

Thymus 15 7.5ml bid ex aq ac for one week

She then went back to the first mix for 2 weeks, she had 2 weak positive pg tests.

I would really appreciate some help with this patient. Is there any hope of her conceiving? I don't want to give her false hope. She already knew that the high FSH wasn't a good sign. If you think there is still hope - suggestions for prescriptions would be much appreciated - I feel a bit at sea here.

My apologies for the length of this post - hard to know what to leave in and what to leave out.

With best wishes and thanks in advance

Sue Salmon

Huddersfield

[Guest guest]

Dear Sue,I don't know if this is at all relevant, but I was taking a case history a few years ago and my patient disclosed, that she had had an irregular cycle and  14 miscarriages during her marriage, and was very anxious to conceive. After tests she was told that she was lactose intolerant which she was completely oblivious to. 20+ years ago had no idea of dietary connections to her health. As soon as she cut out lactose she went on to have two healthy pregnancies, even though she did not conceive her first child until the age of  37 then the 2nd five years later!

RegardsCaroline

 

Hello everyone and a big thank you to those who replied to my request for help for a patient with chronic bloating - this has given me some new angles to work from. Any more insights greatly appreciated.

 

This is the second case that I needed help with but haven't had the time to post until today.

 

43 year old woman with history of recurrent miscarriages. Most of the miscarriages have occured at about week 4. She has had one successful pregnancy, a little girl who is now 3, conceived when patient and husband had really given up hope. Prior to her daughter's birth she had had 3 or 4 miscs and after the birth she's had about 3. In her own words, she stopped keeping count and when the miscs do happen she manages at home as much as possible because of the variable treatment (sometimes very humiliating) that she has received in hosp. She has been diagnosed as carrying the Leiden V gene and this has been suggested as one of the possible causes for her repeated miscarriages as it means she's more likely to form blood clots, so she's taking Aspirin. She would desperately like to have a brother or sister for her daughter.

 

In April this year her hormone levels showed that she wasn't perimenopausal, however, prior to conceiving her daughter she had tests that showed she was perimenopausal. Her periods have always been irregular, she is overweight and has a very stressful job. She has always had cystic acne. She has had scans of her ovaries which showed no cysts. Her fallopian tubes are patent. No sperm abnormalities have been found in her partner. She usually has fertile mucus, but hadn't  had this for a couple of months prior to her first appointment with me in May of this year - and had been unable to become pregnant again. There is no family history of infertility. She doesn't know at what age her Mother went through the menopause. Her GP told her (earlier this year) that she probably only has a year or so window of opportunity for pregnancy. She has never received any fertility treatment. She was brutally raped whilst at University - all STD tests were negative.

 

With herbal treatment her periods settled down to a 26 day cycle and she had two months with fertile mucus, her " fiery " (I could kill someone) PMS also settled down. Then the cycle lengthened to 6 weeks with no fertile mucus, then a very short cycle. At this point I stopped the Vitex for a month with a view to reintroducing after a months break - I sometimes find this works.

 

Last month she had a positive pregnancy test, but miscarried at week 5. I had to suspend herbal tx as she was due to go into hospital to start injections as soon as she conceived to manage the Leiden V - however, this never happened as she started to miscarry. She has requested an appointment with her gynaecologist, who has been very supportive in the past - the appt is not until March next year.

20 days after the miscarriage she had blood tests (requested by her GP) which showed FSH of 29.4 (in contrast to April this year when FSH and LH were both within normal off-peak range - FSH was 4.0 and LH was 5.8) - my reading of this latest test is that although it wasn't taken at a specific, known point in the cycle, it's still approaching the level of 30 plus that's considered consistent with menopausal levels. However, could this be due to the recent miscarriage?

I feel that she has a lot of factors against her - her irregular cycle (I do wonder if she has got PCOS although scans showed no cysts), stress levels, the clotting issue, her weight (her diet's not bad, but not great either). I've tactfully discussed these issues with her - she's well aware that her weight won't be helping. I really can't see the stress in her life changing, she has a very challenging job, is the main earner in the house, and is quite a self admitted workaholic.

 

When she became pregnant most recently she was having 15 drops of Vitex 1:1 mane

Her day time mix had been

Verbena                      20

Hypericum perforatum   20

Chamelaerium              20

Trigonella                     15

Carduus                       20

Eleutherococcus           10                7.5ml bid ex aq ac                              I had also used Paeonia, Withania, Vib pru with her at other times.

 

She'd had a chest infection, so she then had

Echinacea ang/purp             35

Grindelia                             15

Inula                                    20

Chamelaerium                      20  (kept this in for the week she had this chest mix)

Thymus                               15          7.5ml bid ex aq ac for one week

 

She then went back to the first mix for 2 weeks, she had 2 weak positive pg tests.

 

I would really appreciate some help with this patient. Is there any hope of her conceiving? I don't want to give her false hope. She already knew that the high FSH wasn't a good sign. If you think there is still hope - suggestions for prescriptions would be much appreciated - I feel a bit at sea here.

 

My apologies for the length of this post - hard to know what to leave in and what to leave out.

 

With best wishes and thanks in advance

 

Sue Salmon

Huddersfield

[Guest guest]

Had the same happen with a person when they discovered they were gluten intolerant! 2 healthy pregnancies after 40 years... J Fidler, MCPP, (RH) AHGHerbalist To: ukherbal-list Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2012 5:31 PM Subject: Re: recurrent miscarriage

Dear Sue,I don't know if this is at all relevant, but I was taking a case history a few years ago and my patient disclosed, that she had had an irregular cycle and 14 miscarriages during her marriage, and was very anxious to conceive. After tests she was told that she was lactose intolerant which she was completely oblivious to. 20+ years ago had no idea of dietary connections to her health. As soon as she cut out lactose she went on to have two healthy pregnancies, even though she did not conceive her first child until the age of 37 then the 2nd five years later!

RegardsCaroline

Hello everyone and a big thank you to those who replied to my request for help for a patient with chronic bloating - this has given me some new angles to work from. Any more insights greatly appreciated.

This is the second case that I needed help with but haven't had the time to post until today.

43 year old woman with history of recurrent miscarriages. Most of the miscarriages have occured at about week 4. She has had one successful pregnancy, a little girl who is now 3, conceived when patient and husband had really given up hope. Prior to her daughter's birth she had had 3 or 4 miscs and after the birth she's had about 3. In her own words, she stopped keeping count and when the miscs do happen she manages at home as much as possible because of the variable treatment (sometimes very humiliating) that she has received in hosp. She has been diagnosed as carrying the Leiden V gene and this has been suggested as one of the possible causes for her repeated miscarriages as it means she's more likely to form blood clots, so she's taking Aspirin. She would desperately like to have a brother or sister for her daughter.

In April this year her hormone levels showed that she wasn't perimenopausal, however, prior to conceiving her daughter she had tests that showed she was perimenopausal. Her periods have always been irregular, she is overweight and has a very stressful job. She has always had cystic acne. She has had scans of her ovaries which showed no cysts. Her fallopian tubes are patent. No sperm abnormalities have been found in her partner. She usually has fertile mucus, but hadn't had this for a couple of months prior to her first appointment with me in May of this year - and had been unable to become pregnant again. There is no family history of infertility. She doesn't know at what age her Mother went through the menopause. Her GP told her (earlier this year) that she probably only has a year or so window of opportunity for pregnancy. She has never received any fertility treatment. She was brutally raped whilst at University - all STD tests were negative.

With herbal treatment her periods settled down to a 26 day cycle and she had two months with fertile mucus, her "fiery" (I could kill someone) PMS also settled down. Then the cycle lengthened to 6 weeks with no fertile mucus, then a very short cycle. At this point I stopped the Vitex for a month with a view to reintroducing after a months break - I sometimes find this works.

Last month she had a positive pregnancy test, but miscarried at week 5. I had to suspend herbal tx as she was due to go into hospital to start injections as soon as she conceived to manage the Leiden V - however, this never happened as she started to miscarry. She has requested an appointment with her gynaecologist, who has been very supportive in the past - the appt is not until March next year.

20 days after the miscarriage she had blood tests (requested by her GP) which showed FSH of 29.4 (in contrast to April this year when FSH and LH were both within normal off-peak range - FSH was 4.0 and LH was 5.8) - my reading of this latest test is that although it wasn't taken at a specific, known point in the cycle, it's still approaching the level of 30 plus that's considered consistent with menopausal levels. However, could this be due to the recent miscarriage?

I feel that she has a lot of factors against her - her irregular cycle (I do wonder if she has got PCOS although scans showed no cysts), stress levels, the clotting issue, her weight (her diet's not bad, but not great either). I've tactfully discussed these issues with her - she's well aware that her weight won't be helping. I really can't see the stress in her life changing, she has a very challenging job, is the main earner in the house, and is quite a self admitted workaholic.

When she became pregnant most recently she was having 15 drops of Vitex 1:1 mane

Her day time mix had been

Verbena 20

Hypericum perforatum 20

Chamelaerium 20

Trigonella 15

Carduus 20

Eleutherococcus 10 7.5ml bid ex aq ac I had also used Paeonia, Withania, Vib pru with her at other times.

She'd had a chest infection, so she then had

Echinacea ang/purp 35

Grindelia 15

Inula 20

Chamelaerium 20 (kept this in for the week she had this chest mix)

Thymus 15 7.5ml bid ex aq ac for one week

She then went back to the first mix for 2 weeks, she had 2 weak positive pg tests.

I would really appreciate some help with this patient. Is there any hope of her conceiving? I don't want to give her false hope. She already knew that the high FSH wasn't a good sign. If you think there is still hope - suggestions for prescriptions would be much appreciated - I feel a bit at sea here.

My apologies for the length of this post - hard to know what to leave in and what to leave out.

With best wishes and thanks in advance

Sue Salmon

Huddersfield