Hi Everyone!
I just got back from an appointment with my primary care physician to talk
to her about my cycles. I understand there isn't anything my ob/gyn can
tell us about why we miscarried in December. My husband and I were sad,
we've grieved and now we are ready to get pregnant again.
I've been charting since the miscarriage and noticed that last cycle I
ovulated on day 19 and started spotting 10 days later with my full blown AF
starting 13 dpo. According to "Taking Charge of Your Fertility" (TCOYF), if
you start spotting BEFORE your real AF it could suggest a luteal phase
defect. I've also noticed that my temps run on the low end of the range
that TCOYF states is normal for most women (this morning my temp was 96.6 -
how do you chart that?).
So armed with all of this information and my "bible" I made an appointment
to see my primary care physician.
Well, although she is a very nice woman I left her office frustrated and
crying (I made her cry too). Her first question was, "Is this your first
miscarriage?" So immediately I knew where this was going (come see me after
you've had two or three). She gave me the usual statistics - 30% of first
pregnancies end in miscarriage usually due to chromosomal abnormalities. She
said that if I had low progesterone I would have miscarried much later like
4 - 5 months. Huh?? Tell me if I'm wrong, but from what I've read can't low
progesterone cause implantation problems which happens a week after
ovulation?? She said, "I'm sure you want to know why it happened but there
is nothing we can really say." I cut her off and said I don't so much want
to know what caused my miscarriage as much as I want to know what I can do
to PREVENT another one. I quoted from TCOYF and she said "I'm sure that's a
great book but..." and then said that nothing I've told her really indicates
a hormone problem to her and she isn't concerned with my luteal phase
possibly being only 10 days ("it's different for each woman and there is no
set rule"). She told me that she had a miscarriage and knows how I feel. She
said, "Maybe you just need to take time to grieve and feel what you are
feeling." (this is when I started to cry) I'm sorry she went through a
miscarriage - I wouldn't wish it on anybody - but you know what I felt like
telling her? I wanted to tell her "I don't want your sympathy - I want your
HELP!" So she said "there are a million tests I could run on you but I don't
think they would tell us anything and I don't know if your insurance will
pay for them." So I said "basically you are telling me I should just wait
and see what happens next time?" And she said "yes". She didn't even give me
a referral to see my ob/gyn.
I can understand the miscarriage happening for reasons unknown such as
chromosomal abnormalities if my charts looked good. But there are things on
my charts that lead me to believe I might either have a luteal phase defect
or insufficient progesterone. Are there any risks to giving me progesterone
supplements to take after I ovulate just in case that is the problem?
I don't know what to do. I don't know if switching doctors is the best
option because I might just get the same advice again. I guess I will just
continue to self-treat by taking B6 supplements throughout my cycle and
applying natural progesterone creme after I ovulate and of course "wait and
see". I just know that I will be devastated if I miscarry again and they
determine that I did have a problem. One that COULD have been prevented!
Am I being too emotional? Am I going off the deep end? Has anyone else had
this frustration?
I'm sorry this is so long and somewhat depressing. I needed to vent and I
knew you all would understand. I appreciate you reading this far!
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