Thursday, April 24, 2014

Reproductive Immunology Vents

So, after a little research I'm feeling a little down in the dumps.

Backstory:
I decided to see a Reproductive Immunologist (RI) after my chemical pregnancy in September and I'm still not sure how I feel about it. Autoimmune diseases exist in my sister and half-sister- who are both roughly the same age as me- so I know there is a strong chance something autoimmune could be going on with me.
Because I am more of a scientific mind and there are fewer journal articles supporting some of the practices of the RI, I decided to find one that would work with my current clinic. This meant traveling to NYC to get a flight to Chicago to see this doctor. The testing was pretty thorough, but some of the diagnoses she gave me were based on previous tests- which I guess is fine.
Some of the medications, which I look them up, seem like they may be doing the opposite of what I expect them to. After some research I found out that Metformin (an insulin resistance drug used to treat diabetes) can be used to lower egg counts for women who have too many eggs (PCOS). I have like no eggs- so I am a little freaking out because less than like no eggs is no eggs at all... How can I have no eggs?? I am hoping that isn't the case and someone can explain a good benefit for this drug.
But the whole world of RI is so different. There are so many more drugs- like IVF alone doesn't have enough drugs?
Seriously my upcoming IUI has more drugs than any IVF cycle I've ever had (and I was on max doses for IVF).
And the diagnoses- I have a laundry list of them... All of that alone makes me feel so depressed.
I wish I knew more and I wish I could bother my RE about this- but he doesn't buy into all of this. (My RE and I talk in terms of medical journals- so if there aren't many journals on this topic- and if they aren't published in infertility journals- he probably couldn't answer my questions anyway.)

I just found an online group for patients of RI. Maybe this will help. Feeling alone is the worst feeling in the world.

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