Lab work Results

I feel so inadequate writing this post because I really don't fully understand the labwork results.  Anyone who thinks that chiropractors are quacks should meet with Dr. Jared Nielsen.  He is the smartest physician I've ever met and explained things we've been wondering for the past 5 years but no one has either known how to answer or run the correct tests to answer.  We are so lucky that he hired Dustin.  Of course smart people hire other smart people so... of course he would hire Dustin. :)
The results of my bloodwork showed some pretty serious things.  I might be saying them all wrong, but here's what we understand:
1. I have Hashimoto's Hypothyroidism.  We already knew I have hypothyroidism, but Hashimoto's is an autoimmune disorder of the thyroid antibodies (which had never been tested in me before).  The thyroid antibodies attack my thyroid, which is why it doesn't work right. 
2. My liver isn't doing it's job very well.  It's not filtering the toxins or something like that... which it makes me insulin resistant.  Which leads to...
3. I am hypoglycemic.  My body does not process insulin correctly.  I have too much insulin but my body doesn't respond to it and process it to get rid of the sugars.  Instead it just pumps out more insulin and stores the sugar.  So even if I were to live on a teeny tiny calorie diet, I would still gain weight.  It causes me to crave sugar because my body thinks it's low. Because it is low...
4. I am microcytic anemic.  Which means I'm not anemic because I have plenty of red blood cells, but they are very small in size.  Because of this they don't absorb iron or oxygen.  I have poor oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange which causes me to fatigue quickly with exertion. 
5. These things together cause me to be estrogen dominant.  In a normal cycle, there are 4 waves of hormones releases.  It starts with FSH in the beginning which signals the ovaries to start growing a mature egg.  Then estrogen rises before the LH surge which triggers the release of the mature egg.  After this, progesterone takes over to keep the uterus from shedding it's lining.  If the egg is fertilized, it will burrow it's way into the lining, releasing HCG and the corpus luteum will keep pumping out the progesterone until the placenta can take over.  If this doesn't happen, the corpus luteum dies and you get your period.  In my case, instead of having an LH surge, my hypothyroidism also produces an increase in prolactin which inhibits the surge and progesterone, and I don't ovulate.  But somehow I still have a monthly period so really, that's not fair. 
6. My body is in constant stress due to high cortisol levels from my Reverse T3 Serum that is high.  This explains why I get anxiety and overwhelmed at times. 

The good news is that all of these are treatable.  There are some supplements Dr. Nielsen would like me to be on to help treat my liver, which we think might be the main cause of insulin resistance and would help everything else out.  But since I am currently mid cycle on a round of clomid, he would like to wait until after we find out if this cycle is successful or not.
We are currently waiting on a blinking smiley face OPK which indicates  my estrogen rise and we are hoping to get that solid smiley face in the next few days to show that the clomid worked and I am ovulating this cycle.

In the mean time, I have started on some other supplements.
Nattokinase is to help with an antibody that is hanging out in my body from previous pregnancies.  This can cause scar tissue to build on my uterus, preventing a placenta to be able to attach. 
AdrenaCalm is a gentle, soothing cream with herbs and nutrients to support stress response through adrenal management.  It should help with my high cortisol levels and calm me down. 
Chaste Tree/Vitex is to help regulate my cycle and help with ovulation.
Inositol is used for treating conditions associated with PCOS including failure to ovulate, and high triglycerides.
X-Viromin is to increase the performance of white blood cells which will help with my autoimmune disorder.  Also, my blood worked showed I have systemic inflammation and this will help with that.
Glutathione is an antioxidant shot I'll get once a week for 6 weeks to help my liver and systemic inflammation.
Vitamin D, Fish Oil, and Glutathione are things I'll need to take for the rest of my life with Hashimoto's.
And of course, a daily prenatal.

The other big part of this solution is diet.  And guess what is recommended?  No sugar or caffeine, and eating lots of veggies, fruit, and meats.  Basically Whole30.  So at least we are happy with that and have seen the benefits from living a Whole30 life.  We were going to wait until after the holidays to get back onto a hard core Whole30 routine, but i guess this means we'll be starting back on it sooner than later.  I also need to eat breakfast every morning and should not be fasting due to the hypoglycemia.  It causes my body to stress, shake, and get really fatigued.  So, sorry first Sunday of the month... Doctor's orders. 

If the clomid doesn't take this month and we don't get pregnant, we will hold off on doing another round for a few months while we get my liver in check and everything else in check too so that I can be the healthiest me for a successful pregnancy.  Hopefully it doesn't take too long. :)

Back on the Meds

It's now been 5 years of infertility.  It's been 2 whole years since we went to the specialist (that I hated) in Portland.  Almost 2 years since my last miscarriage.  The last thing we did for my infertility was over a year ago when I did an HSG (the dye test) which once again revealed that everything looked just fine.   My infertility is unexplained.  All my tests come back normal.  But still, we just can't get a baby in me. 
Before I left Portland I had a visit with my lady doctor and he asked if we wanted to get started back on Clomid.  I said sure, knowing that I wouldn't start on it until after the move, but we were able to stock up on 6 months worth while on my previous insurance. 

In October I started back on Clomid and while my BBTs looked great and showed a definite pattern of ovulation, no baby for us.  We'll see how this month goes, but so far I'm not crossing my fingers.  I have added OPKs to this cycle too so we're doing all we can to optimize our chances!
The sad thing about getting back on Clomid is that this just means that I should be ovulating much better.  This puts us back in the range of "normal" couples which gives us still only a 20% chance of conception.  We've had luck getting pregnant with Clomid before, but we still have to figure out why they don't stick.  I'm pretty sure that the second I find out I'm pregnant I will call up my old doc here in Utah and ask to be put on progesterone and start on baby Aspirin.  Anything to help it work. 
We are also trying out a few other things to help with the process.  First, we are working on implementing Whole30 ALL the time.  Or at least most of the time.  We feel so much better when we eat clean and the food you eat can really affect your hormones.  With starting a new job, I have done a crappy job of making every meal Whole30.  We usually get one or two compliant meals a day, but definitely not completely clean.  The Whole9 group has recommended NOT doing a Whole30 during the holidays so I think we'll pick it back up hard core at the beginning of the year.  Life was so much easier to exercise and eat healthy when that's all I had to do all day!

I'm also trying out essential oils.  I do not think they can cure my infertility, but I think that they can at least help with my moods while on Clomid.  Clomid makes a lady CrAzY and I have found that these few cycles back on the meds I have been a little less crazy.  I really think that the essential oils have helped with that.  There are a few others I am going to try that help with ovulation and hormones so fingers crossed that I can become one of those essential oil loving people.  For now I'm still figuring out if I like them or not.

I did some blood work last week (ok, a LOT of bloodwork) for Dr. Nielsen, the chiropractor that Dustin works for.  He's done a lot of work with couples to help them achieve pregnancies that last so I am excited to see what he says when we meet with him this week and to get a plan going.  Dr. Nielsen does a lot of natural supplements so we'll see what he recommends. 

Hopefully we can get a baby in me that will STAY in me (for the regular nine months of course) and I can have a little one by the time I hit 30.  I know I shouldn't put a timeline on things, but I feel like I'm getting so old and just want to be able to start my family.  So many of my friends are done having kids and it seems so weird since we haven't even started yet.
Of course, moving to a new ward I get a lot of the "do you have any kids?" questions.  And when I say no it's followed by "and how long have you been married?"  Does it really matter how long we've been married?  Or are they just trying to find something in common with me when kids aren't in the picture?  The last time someone asked I just told them we were infertile.  Then they felt sorry for me.  So I don't know how to best answer the question but I think it's just easier to tell people and get the awkwardness out of the way. 
I feel like it's getting really close to the right timing for us to have a baby, but it's hard to say when it will really happen.  If nothing takes on these 6 months of Clomid, we'll probably go to a specialist in the spring.  We might have to do more IUIs, and maybe even IVF.  I just hate the thought of putting so much money into IVF and then have it miscarry.  With unexplained infertility we really don't know what the problem is so we are just trying out all angles possible.  We've fasted and prayed about adoption and it hasn't felt right.  As always, prays are welcome our way.  Maybe soon we can post that we are expecting a little miracle.