To a woman wanting to try the natural route with a large fibroid...

I tried the natural route and had some success with acupuncture and chinese medicine. But, when I did finally get pregnant my fibroid doubled in size. You think you are uncomfortable now, just wait as 80% of fibroids will grow during pregnancy.

I really think you should have it out, as scary as that might seem. After they get larger than 4cm they have a hard time getting rid of them through alternative therapy, though I'm sure there are exceptions. It is only because you are already uncomfortable that I'm telling you to have a myo, not every woman with fibroids has ones large enough, or positioned in way that set them out on a bad footing for pregnancy and yours sounds like mine.

I had mine removed in November and it was the size of a grapefruit (ack!) It is a big relief to have the fibroid out of there. Just the psychological stress of managing this fibroid that was going to keep doing its thing was a big burden. When I thought about getting pregnant with it in place again I just about had a panic attack, it was really uncomfortable and mine didn't have any degeneration.

I wish they would give out MRIs more easily as I think if I had seen how it was really positioned I might have had the surgery sooner. My fibroid was located right up against, but not engaging with, the endometrium. I don't regret waiting though since my miscarriage experience helped prepare me mentally for the surgery.

Here are some quotes from Johanna Skilling's book Fibroids about how fibroids can contribute to infertility:

"If a fibroid causes a miscarriage it's more likely to happen in the first or second trimester; in fact, fibroids can cause miscarriage so early on, you migh not even realize you are pregnant. Later in pregnancy, fibroids tend to cause pain or preterm contractions rather than miscarriage"

"How can fibroids cause miscarriage?...either by distorting the uterine cavity or by altering the blood flow that would normally be needed to nourish the growing fetus."

"Fibroids can release chemicals called prostaglandins, the hormone that triggers pain...Prostaglandins can also induce contractions of smooth-muscle tissue"

"...the cells of a fibroid divide faster than the "normal" cells in your body...This rapid cell division can trigger a response from your immune system--sending the body's natural defenses to try to deal with the perceived invader. This reaction is bad news for another "alien" in your body -- your fertilized egg."

My SIL went into labor yesterday evening and our little 2 1/2 yo nephew spent the night at our house. I went to bed late and after reading him 5 books, one of them twice, turning the light off and singing to him, we both fell asleep in our bed. My partner was upstairs finishing some work and came down later. Little Alex is a hogger, he totally hogs the bed. My partner and I were both laying on the edges of the bed and Alex just rolled around between us, grabbing at pillows, kicking the covers --- all while he was sound asleep. At 2am he started shouting in his sleep and with that I was wide awake. I got up and watched TV and the movie Little Women and knitting until 6:30 am when I went back to bed in our spare room. I had about 3 1/2 hours of sleep last night.

On the plus side, Alex did really well on his first night away from his parents, he gave me a hug and a kiss when he left after telling his dad that he wanted me to come too. I finished up the baby cardigan and booties that I was making for his little sister and sent those off with him as well (he helped me wrap the package, you could totally tell as I let him stick stickers on it and draw on the paper with crayons and the folds were all lumpy).

The baby is named Camille (ka-Mee is the French pronounciation they
are using) and she came out this morning without complication
weighing in at 7 lbs 6oz, a good pound less than her brother.

We'll see them later tonight at the hospital. I will probably cry as
Sunday was my EDD for my failed pg. I would probably cry anyway and I just need to let it out. I already cried today. I'm just feeling so emotional. They are dropping babies around us like they are going out of style or something like that.

I'm going to start posting links to some of the postings I've found on other blogs by women who have had fibroids and myos and pregnancies, etc. It's amazing how many people there are.

Enough Already: I'm Never Right About A Damn Thing...

So Close: Natural Schmatural -- scroll down to Rachel's reply post.

Dirty Words

LaLa Blog-o-Rino

memage

Almost Faemist

Nancy's Blogger

The Road to Sleeplessness

Menstrual Irregularities

Here's a page which illustrates/explains different types of menstrual irregularities:

http://www.femalehealthmadesimple.com/FileTwelveFinal.html

"Any woman of childbearing age who has missed more than two consecutive periods -- but was not pregnant -- needs to investigate it and possibly have her period induced. Preventing the development of hyperplasia is the reason."
From: Endometrial Hyperplasia, WebMD

"Excessive estrogen stimulation can lead to significant increases in uterine lining thickness. The tissue becomes hyperplastic or atypically hyperplastic . It may become cancerous."

(and)

"Inadequate ovulation may cause excessive, irregular, or frequent menses recurring less than every 3 weeks. Inadequate ovulation leads to an excess of estrogen, which stimulates growth of the menstrual lining, and a decreased level of progesterone - which normally would be present in levels that would adequately thin the menstrual lining and prevent excess or irregular bleeding."
From: Dr Decker, Heavy Menstrual Cycles Management Options

"We like to see a lining of at least 8mm in thickness when measured by ultrasound at the time of maximal thickness during the cycle (see above ultrasound images of an 11.5 mm lining). There is some ongoing debate as to "how thin is too thin", as well as to "how thick is too thick". In general, 8-13 mm is good, less than 6 is potentially a problem, and greater than 15 or so could possibly reduce chances for a successful pregnancy."
From: Uterine problems causing infertility or miscarriage

About My Retained Tissue Experience

(to a woman dx with retained POC)

I had retained tissue for certain after my d&c, it was due to my uterus being wrapped around my fibroid so the RE had a hard time reaching all of the tissue on the far side of the fibroid. My doc left the clinic a week after my procedure and I had to have a different RE pick up my care. She said that we could do a repeat d&c but the risk was that they might overdo the scraping; methotrexate which would require taking a break for a few months (and it isn't like that's not a pretty hardcore drug on its own -- it affects all the tissues in your body), or wait it out.

Since my beta was dropping she and we decided to wait it out. It took forever and I was having cycle weirdness and finally my body got fed up and did some really crazy things like not letting me sleep for more than 3 hours for over two weeks and then when AF arrived I was hemorrhaging, losing at least 2 pints of blood in 2 days. And then the bleeding continued on and off for another month up until my repeat d&c. I even asked the RE about all the bleeding I was having and she didn't have anything to offer me. I did see my acupunturist during this time and he was a huge help with symptoms like feeling like I was full of cold water, and feeling like I was drinking 3 triple espressos a day.

The only thing that caused any changes though during that time though was that I went to a health spa with a friend at the end of October. The first day of classes I took Feldenkrais, trancendental meditation, qi gong and walked a labrinth. That evening, 3 months after my first d&c, I passed a large chunk of tissue. There had to be something to all that meditational-like movement practices that caused things to shift. Still there was more left, and it was due to the fibroid preventing my uterus from contracting it out properly on it own, so I still had to have the surgery.

Oh, and to just make things feel freakier, I think the retained tissue continues to grow inside of you, though slowly dying off at the same time. Hence you get a larger mass of tissue with slowly lowering beta levels.

Your doc might consider using a hysteroscope while doing the repeat d&c to better see what they are doing though this requires a visit to the OR under general anesthesia for certain. I used cytotec to dialate my cervix for the repeat d&c.

If you do in fact have retained tissue take care of it sooner rather than later to save your body a lot of struggle and your heart a lot of pain. You want to end this physical connection to the miscarriage as soon as possible.

Hope this helps.

Progesterone Affects During Luteal Phase and Into Pregnancy

I've been researching the affects of progesterone in our bodies, particularly focusing on the affects during the luteal phase. Here is a compilation of the things I've read it does (note that some of the pages I’ve linked to are long, to find the references on the individual pages use your browser’s search function (CONTROL+F in Windows/IE), to locate key words. I suggest starting first with “progesterone” and then going for specifics such as “endometrium”)

Affects of Progesterone During Luteal Phase

• Maintains endometrial lining during luteal phase, and into pregnancy in the presence of a fertilized egg (blocks collagenase from breaking down endometrium(PDF))


• Changes endometrial lining surface to be more receptive of the fertilized egg; causes the surface to have a more mucus like coating; causes glycogen bubbles to occur in endometrium which provide energy for the fertilized egg


• Promotes the endometrial glands to become enlarged, undergo maximum secretory activity and its blood vessels become coiled and enlarged.


• Prevents the woman’s body from rejecting the fertilized egg, stops rejection of fetal (foreign) DNA


• Reduces certain types of prostaglandin production to reduce uterine contractions making the uterus more hospitable to the fertilized egg/embryo (“progesterone block”)


• Affects blood sugar levels


• Affects zinc and copper levels (1),(2)


• Stimulates growth of breast tissue


• Facilitates thyroid function


• Raises body temperature about .5 degrees Centigrade (0.9 degrees F.)


• Causes relaxation of smooth muscle cells throughout the body (1), (2)


• Facilitates egg transport through the fallopian tube

Another list of functions of progesterone

So, over the past couple of years I noted that a couple times a year I was in a lot of pain around ovulation. At first I thought it was my fibroid causing it, actually it was partially due to this pain that my fibroid was diagnosed. It it focalized on the right side and if I press on the area it feels worse. In the past I've noted that ibuprofen wouldn't help the pain at all.

When I had u/s to check it out after the fact and always they have seen that I have ovulated on the opposite side (which was opposite from my fibroid as well) and that there was some fluid in my cul de sac consistent with ovulation, but nothing else.

Last night I was in so much pain that I couldn't sleep and I finally broke down and took some percocet I had left over from my surgery in November. I fell asleep around 3am. This morning I still have dull pain, but it is a lot less intense then last night. I put a call into the REs office for advisement, it seems like I should at least ask since it was painful enough to keep me up.

Part of me wonders if it was an ovarian cyst rupturing and not just a regular follicle. I didn't have such a great ovulation last cycle -- hardly any EWCM, and dry generally -- I wonder if I didn't actually ovulate or else just had a cyst. Still, the u/s when I've had this pain before showed just a single ruptured follicle on the other side.

The moon and cycles

I'm trying to help a perimenopausal friend of mine eek out a few more cycles of fertility so she has a chance to have a kid. I was just reading some info about Lunaception and pulled up the lunar calendar and saw that my cycle is already synched up with the full moon. Coincidence or by design?

My friend is just 42 and she just got back blood results showing her body is menopausal. It's sad because I'm not sure exactly how it was that she waited so long but the window to have children may already be closed.

Fibroid Research Study

I sent my blood sample in to this study last summer; my sister and I are both doing it. If you know any sisters with fibroids please tell them about the study.

What: The Center for Uterine Fibroids is currently enrolling families in the "Finding Genes for Fibroids" study. This is a clinical research study, aimed at identifying the causes of uterine fibroids. This study has been reviewed and approved by the Human Research Committee at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Why: We hope that information gained from the study will provide future generations of women with non-surgical treatment options. This is not a treatment study. We hope that your generous efforts will make a meaningful difference in the future treatment of fibroids.

Who: In order to be eligible for this study, your family must have at least two women who are full sisters and have uterine fibroids. Sisters with a past history of uterine fibroids are also eligible. The sisters may be you and your sister, your mother and her sister, two cousins who are sisters, or any other sisters in your family. Once your family meets this minimum requirement, we encourage other family members with or without fibroids to participate. This includes men. The more family members who take part, the more powerful our data will be.

How: You can participate from anywhere in the world; all study procedures are completed through the mail at no cost to you or your family. The study involves filling out a consent form and a survey and sending us a small one-time blood sample. The consent form discusses the risks and benefits of the study. We ask you to read and sign the consent form and fill out a medical records release form. We request only medical records having to do with fibroid diagnosis and treatment. The survey can take from 15 to 45 minutes to complete, depending upon your medical history. Once these forms are sent back, we send all participants a blood sample kit. The kit contains directions about how to get your blood sample drawn and reimbursement procedures. Once this sample is returned to us, your participation in the study is complete.

I had Qi Gong practice last night and my instructor explained how to use the five elements. It was very interesting to learn how each organ system is associated with colors and elements and I think this will really help me out with my meditation. Here's a great page that explains the basics of the Five Elements.

Then this morning I had my acupuncture appointment. Some things had markedly improved from my treatment last week but I had some other things that needed adjusting and he totally knew what to do. I had swollen glands in my neck from my cold that were bothering me and now they feel clear and normal. From the moment he put in the first few needles I felt my body start shifting my energy around, it felt like I was going from disorganized to synchronized in a matter of minutes. Now I feel warm, smooth and even more happy. I have a faint headache just behind my eyes though, I bet something is still kinked up somewhere.

I'm doing both Qi Gong and acupuncture to try to regain health, rebalance after all of the health problems from last year and also to try to get my body to be stronger and less flimsy in general. Meditation is more sporadic but I do it with a friend of mine when we get it together. Improved health is going to take a lot of ongoing practice but I'm hopeful that I'll get balance someday.

Epididymitis

Any infection of the reproductive organs has the capability to interfere with fertility, though it looks like this infection doesn't usually lead to lasting fertility problems when it is treated but there is a chance of obstruction or antisperm antibodies.

"Unilateral or bilateral obstruction of the genital tract (either congenital or acquired), epididymitis and varicocele are also sometimes associated with an autoimmune response against spermatozoa."
from: Antisperm Antibodies

Here are some links about epididymitis, and fertility for your reference:

What is Epididymitis and how is it treated?

Epididymitis And Orchitis

Orchitis and epididymitis

bacterial epididymitis

If your partner has this infection currently or he did previously I would suggest that after treatment by a doctor (probably with antibiotics), if you are TTC he should have another S/A to make sure everything is working properly.

Treatment for a Bloody Nose

My cold has freaked out my nose and I've had several bloody noses today. I had these a lot when I was a kid, but not for years. Luckily I know what to do, now here's the real trick (and I haven't seen this written down elsewhere)... when you have a bloody nose don't tip your head back as it makes the blood run down your throat and that gives you a stomachache. What you need to do is take a piece of absorbant paper and fold it up and place it under your upper lip, on top of your gums right below your nose. There are blood vessels here that go up to your nose and the paper will dry them out and reduce the flow of blood to the nose. Your bloody nose will stop within 15 seconds. Really, it works. Now stopping the reason you are prone to bloody noses is another thing -- vitamin C and vitamin K will help with that some though, plus iron if you are anemic.

You must have heard about all the babies that got conceived during WWII when the husbands were on leave. Evidently enough interest and excitement can cause our bodies to break with the standard cycle. Even if you have regular cycles your ovaries are constantly recruiting new eggs into the maturity cycle so with proper motivation (husband back in town) there is a chance that things might be able to happen regardless of where you are in your cycle (except maybe during your period, it seems less likely).

Fertility Enhancing Diets

I just posted some general tips here but note that while these tips work for both men and women, but there are some additional supplements that each gender should have such as selenium for men and iron for women:

Diet Tips
Dietary changes will depend on your individual constitution but generally these are good things to do and will help with your general health as well as your reproductive health -- I've read a lot of books over the past couple years about hormone balance, fertility, stress, fibroids, and alternative medicine:

Increase consumption of leafy greens -- these help your body with hormone balance and production and contain calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and vitamin d plus folic acid all of which are excellent for your fertility and the combination of them is easier for your body to digest.

Cut out simple sugars -- don't eat sweets and cut back on simple carbs as well as these foods are just empty calories and lack nutritional value. Too much sugar can affect your immune system and increase stress on your adrenals and all cells throughout your body. Have a piece of fruit instead. My acupuncturist has told me that even fruit juices contain too much sugar unless diluted.

Increase dietary fiber -- this helps to get rid of excess estrogen which takes a burden off of your liver.

Increase healthy fats in your diet -- more unsaturated fats and less saturated and hydrogenated fats.

Increase anti-oxidents -- Vitamin E and Vitamin C both help to fix cellular damage and heal tissues.

Cut out caffeine -- another adrenal stressor and can impede fertility.

Cut back on dairy -- we're not baby cows and the calcium in cow milk isn't easily absorbed without magnesium (and Vit D but they add that in). This is more controversial, my doctor told me that I would need a lot of calcium if I got pg but my acupuncturist says that the milk causes pelvic congestion and I got pregnant after following his directions and not after following my MDs so I've made up my mind. I just have a little dairy when I'm craving it.

Eat organic, whole foods as much as possible -- Processed foods and regular animal products are full of additives and chemicals which interfere with the endocrine system.

Here are some books you might want to refer to for more information about fertility/diet/hormonal and reproductive health:

Healing with Whole Foods

The Infertility Cure The author hosts fertility retreats and has a website with some recipes on it.

Healing Fibroids

Thyroid Power

Encyclopedia of Nutritional Supplements

Inconceivable -- I haven't read it but it is supposed to be hardcore into diet and lifestyle changes. The author has a website with some recipes on it: http://www.fertileheart.com/foods/p.fd.soups.html

About Ovulation

The ovaries are full of thousands of eggs held in hormonal stasis in their "primordial follicle" which is a androgen dominant environment. This is the pool from which follicles are constantly being recruited into the maturation process which can take 3 months from early maturation up until the time of ovulation. Maturation of the egg/follicle requires changing the environment within the follicle from androgen dominant to estrogen dominant.

Not all eggs that start the maturation process are developed all the way that you might see them on an u/s prior to ovulation, these ones were lucky and their development synched up with the hormonal cycle perfectly so they could mature up to the point of ovulation.

Ovulation itself is a series of hormonal events the LH, a little progesterone to ripen the follicle, a drop in estrogen are some of these changes. Hormonal imbalances can interfere with this process, as evidenced by women with PCOS whose follicles don't properly mature.

So, if there are imbalances that are interfering with hormones on subtle levels it can throw off the follicular development and you might end up with an functional ovarian cyst, a partially ruptured follicle, no ovulation, or maybe delayed ovulation. If ovulation doesn't happen normally then there's a good chance that even if you release the egg then the follicle isn't going to change over as well into the corpus luteum, the structure that produces the progesterone which causes a lot of changes in our bodies that make it receptive to accept a tiny embryo (I have a lot of information about progesterone but that will have to be a different post if you are interested)

Here are some links about ovulation, you also might check out The Infertility Cure by Randine Lewis which has an interesting chinese medicine explanation of ovulation through the cycle phases that I enjoyed.

http://www.merck.com/mrkshared/mmanual/figures/234fig4.jsp

http://www.merck.com/mrkshared/mmanual/section18/chapter234/234a.jsp

http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic1340.htm

Advice to someone trying to build their iron stores before surgery...

I've been working on building my blood over the past months, I had some bleeding problems related to my miscarriage that have left me anemic once again.

Here's a totally wacky suggestion but since I was just up in the Andes you should know that your body will produce more red blood cells at higher altitudes. You could plan on spending the next month up at a higher elevation.

I don't have it in front of me but the book Healing with Whole Foods (Pitchford) had suggestions for what to take for anemia. You might check it out at a book shop if you have time; I love this book as it provides information on how to correct illness and various conditions through diet. B6, B12, Magnesium, Vitamin C and of course Iron work together to bolster blood development. There was some other theory about transmutation or something where one other nutrient turns into iron into the body but I don't remember what it was you have to read the book.

There are also blood building herbs you can take, from what I recall these are yellowdock, nettles, and dong quai but I wouldn't use them on my own -- better to work with an herbalist, naturopath or chinese medical specialist than dabble. Also, since surgery is so close at most you might be able to use them for a couple of weeks.

If you are still bleeding in the meantime Potassium is supposed to help control bleeding so make sure you are getting enough in your diet. Also, things like garlic and onions are blood thinners so you will want to be careful of that.

I just wanted to show you this quote that I just found which explains from a chinese medicine perspective why just eating iron rich foods might not help treat anemia:

"Of course, knowing that a patient suffers from a specific type of anemia may influence the treatment strategy as a whole, i.e., if a patient suffers from iron deficiency anemia, iron rich foods and possibly iron supplements should be consumed. However, even in such a scenario, if the patient suffers from the spleen and stomach vacuity weakness pattern of blood vacuity, iron supplementation plays only a secondary role; the fortification of the spleen and stomach are primary. As long as foods are not absorbed correctly, no iron supplement will be of any help. This explains why certain iron deficiency anemia patients fail to improve even though they are on megadoses of iron." (from A Clarification of Andrew Gaeddert’s Article Key Blood-Building Strategies)

I've been eating lots of iron rich foods, even more so since I've been back from vacation and I'm still ailing -- pale gums, pettichae (little red spots on my breasts that are associated with anemia in Western medicine). When I went to see my acupuncturist yesterday he said I had blood stagnation and qi depletion and already after one treatment I'm feeling a bit better though we still have a ways to go. He's going to treat me with herbs after this period (which started today) is finished. Hopefully I'm not going to be hemorrhaging again, so far so good.

Anemia & Iron Rich Foods

Here are some links to pages with information about iron rich foods and some others about anemia generally. B vitamins are also important in healty blood production so make sure you eat a balanced diet with enough B vitamins.

Rules about iron include - take it with vitamin C, don't overcook foods (steaming is best), antacids, calcium (dairy products) and caffeine all block absorption so definately don't take at the same time. Iron from red meat and liver (heme iron) is more easily absorbed than from plant sources (non-heme) though taking non-heme foods at the same time as heme foods can improve iron absorption.

Here's a great link about iron absorption

Also, since some of the iron supplements are hard on people's stomachs I though I would share what I'm taking which hasn't caused me any difficulty (although if you are severely anemic this probably isn't strong enough) -- Nutrition Now Chewable Iron (25 mg of elemental iron per tab -- though they recently changed their formulation to ferric pyrophosphate and I don't recommend it anymore. Others I've met online have had good luck with Slow FE or Floradix.

"Which forms of supplemental iron are best?
All iron supplements are not the same. Ferrous iron (e.g. ferrous sulfate) is much better absorbed than ferric iron (e.g. ferric citrate).13 14 The most common form of iron supplement is ferrous sulfate, but it is known to produce intestinal side effects (such as constipation, nausea, and bloating) in many users. Some forms of ferrous sulfate are enteric-coated to delay tablet dissolving and prevent some side effects,16 but enteric-coated iron may not absorb as well as iron from standard supplements. Other forms of iron supplements, such as ferrous fumarate, ferrous gluconate, heme iron concentrate, and iron glycine amino acid chelate are readily absorbed and less likely to cause intestinal side effects."
From: Vitacost's Iron Information page


What foods contain high amounts of iron?

Eat Iron-Rich Foods

Iron: Vegan Society

Menorrhagia Diet

Iron

How much iron do certain foods contain?

Iron deficiency anemia in pregnancy: a short account

Iron Deficiency Anemia

Iron Balance - explains iron intake, losses and affects of iron
deficiency in women

Anemia and Fatigue

Iron Deficiency

and kind of unrelated but interesting information:

Workshop on Maintaining Iron Balance in Women Blood Donors of Child-Bearing Age

Since I got pg last spring I've noticed some changes in my cycle. Some of the changes are hard to know if they are sticking around since I had retained tissue until my surgery and second d&c in November and my body is still healing from the surgery. Still, there are some things like fibrocystic breasts that I've not experienced since before my BFP.

Here's what I've noticed:

BEFORE AF is heavy but fluctuates between flooding, clotting, heavy flow and medium flow and lasts at least 7 days Goes directly from period (AF for Aunt Flo) into lots of cervical fluid (CF) Copious fertile quality CF for 5 days before ovulation Full, sore breasts during luteal phase (LP) Really moody during LP Pimples on chin during LP Nightsweats during LP Half day of spot before AF arrives

AFTER AF is really heavy and fluctuates between straight blood (bright red), little to no clotting, heavy flow and medium flow and lasts at least 6 days Slow start on CF after AF, definately drier CM for 5 days before ovulation, mostly creamy and not really wet Pimples on chin around ovulation Scant EWCF for a day or two at most Full breasts in the LP, they don't hurt Tired during LP Faint pimples on chin during LP Nightsweats during LP and throughout the cycle Several days of spot before AF arrives

I'm going to be working with my acupuncturist again starting this week, hopefully that helps out a lot. I've been trying to address my post-surgery depletion with my diet as well but I may have to meet with my naturopath if I think I need more help on that end of things. It's so wacky to have things be so different even though my diet and lifestyle isn't that different.

Pregnancy and infant loss in the news

I just wanted to make note of an observation I had while watching the news today. Both the case of the murder-kidnapping of that fetus as well as a big arson case in Maryland have suspects who are dealing with pregnancy and infant loss. It sort of points out to me the great anger, grief and confusion that losing babies causes; and the lack of something to help people cope with their loss.

The suspect in the arson lost a baby at the beginning of the year and said something to authorities that the person who lit the fires likely had suffered a great loss. If it is true he did this and the two instances are related I can only imagine how hard the past year has been for him -- not excusing the actions though.

And the murder-kidnapping suspect, going from murder to parading the infant around the next day. The fact that her family didn't know it wasn't hers, that she had a pg loss and then was able to convince them that it must have been a mistake...while what she did was awful and macabre, it is just an extreme action paralling the extreme confusion and grief that pregnancy loss can do. It's almost like the very bad and black thoughts overtook her.

It seems we need to do more to help support people experiencing pregnancy and infant loss -- yeah there are crazy people out there, but if there was a better understanding of what people go through when they experience this kind of loss maybe there will be less anger, hurt and depression and more healing.

Perhaps I'm rambling, I just needed to get that out.

Working on fertility and fibroid prevention post myo

I had acupuncture treatment for most of the year up until my surgery and I expect to start treatment again in the new year. Through my weekly appointments I learned a lot about symptoms and sensations and was amazed as my acupuncturist was able to move things around -- such as getting rid of a sore throat in seconds, dissipating heat and pain in my abdomen within minutes, adding heat to my lower back that lasted for days when I was feeling cold and watery with some hormonal disturbance related to my miscarriage.

I needed a break from medical care for a little while, with having retained tissue from my miscarriage I was so out of whack and I was starting to feel like a perennial patient -- like it was more normal to be unhealthy than healthy so I needed some time to just be me. Anyway, I've been noticing little symptoms of hormonal imbalance over the past couple weeks so I know that my body isn't "normal" yet. My basel temp has been a little high, I have pain associated with my gall bladder channel, I have light night sweats, vaginal dryness, acne, low back pain and my body is telling me not to eat sugar right now. I feel so bad that my body is struggling still but I'll continue to take care of myself and in January after I return from vacation I'll go see my acupuncturist again.

I just bought The Infertility Cure by Randine Lewis, a fertility expert who specializes in acupuncture and Chinese Medicine. It is so interesting to read, adding to my own experience with acupuncture treatment. Reading it I see more examples of symptoms of imbalance in my body, some of them part of the pattern of imbalance I have had over the course of my treatment (liver, kidney and spleen Qi stagnation and Yang Qi stagnation). While these things will interfere with conception when I'm ready to try to concieve again, they also are part of the pattern of imbalance that contributed to my fibroid formation. It only increases my resolve to make changes and adjustments to try to be as healthy as possible to try to counteract the pattern to try to prevent future fibroids from forming. I've already made changes since my fibroid was discovered, I'll just have to keep working equally as hard moving forward.