Today I met with the Naturopath and we had a long discussion about my experiences with Infertility, our treatments, as well as my Fibromyalgia symptoms including Chronic Fatigue. The discussion soon moved to how a lot of what I was describing matched Hypothyroidism. According to the Naturopath I have clear cut symptoms and she recommended having my thyroid treated.
Now, the tricky part is that my TSH levels have been within the 'normal' range (under 4 is deemed normal in Canada - as per my nurse). When we first had the discussion of infertility with my Family Dr. my thyroid levels were 4.9 (at this time under 5 was deemed 'normal'). My Dr. explained to me that although I was in the normal range he felt that it was too high for those trying to conceive and therefore he would recommend to treat it. We didn't end up trialing any medication for we had just started with the Fertility Clinic and my Family Dr. felt that he would leave it with them to follow up on. Just before moving forward with IVF we sat down and talked to our Fertility Dr. and I asked him about my thyroid. He explained that my levels at the last check (March) was around 3.2 (or 3.8, I can't remember what he said!). and that based on this I was fine. I had shared with him that I had read that thyroid levels should be at 2.2 (or at least under 2.5) for trying to conceive and he told me that was true, but only for those who had issues with their thyroid. For me it was not a concern and as long as I remained under 4 then I was considered fine. So we moved forward with the IVF and it failed. With Unexplained Infertility I feel that it is more challenging only in the sense of not knowing what the cause is. My husband and I question everything and more and more I kept going back to the thyroid ... could there be something there? I kept letting it go, because the Dr. had told me it was fine, but I couldn't fully get it out of my head. When I went in for blood work to start our FET (frozen embryo transfer) I got a call from the nurse stating that my thyroid had spiked and she requested that I go back for follow up blood work to recheck it. Turned out my blood work had gone up to 5. When I went back 2 days later she called and told me that it had gone down to 3.3 and therefore since it was back in the normal range it didn't need to be treated and we would continue to move forward with the cycle. I decided to get a copy of my blood work from the past couple of months to see where the levels have been sitting and now I am more concerned than ever. In March the TSH was at 3.2/3.8 (whatever the number was), in April it was 1.8, then in May it was 5, back down to 3.3, two days later. These are only snapshots from one day through my cycle but I am concerned that I have perhaps been fluctuating on and off throughout and it has gone undetected. I know the Dr. has said it's fine but that much fluctuation does not seem normal to me, even with stress present. Also, I feel that if stress was a contributor then April should have been higher because we just had 2 failed IUI's and were planning on moving on to IVF, which is incredibly freaking stressful!! May we were dealing with the loss of our cycle, although sad and stressful, I don't feel that it would have been more than what we were dealing with in April. I have 'Googled' a little bit about this (I know, I shouldn't be doing that!! But what else can I do??) and it sounds as though fluctuating TSH is common in a thyroid disorder called Hashimoto's disease. The TSH, although fluctuates, is typically in the normal range but the T3 and T4 ranges are the areas that are 'off' (apparently there are other factors related to the thyroid than just the TSH!). I contacted my nurse at the fertility clinic to discuss this, she said she would pass the info off to my Dr. but reiterated that they are not concerned due to my levels being in the normal range. I will be sure to follow up on this and I also booked an appointment with my family Dr. to discuss this further.
The second thing that came up with the Naturopath was the suspicion that I may also have a genetic mutation gene called MTHFR (Methylenetetrahydofolate Reductase Mutations). Apparently a lot of my chronic pain issues can also be linked to this gene mutation and in fact this mutation is very prevalent with Fibromyalgia sufferers. I have done a little bit of research about this gene mutation but there is so much info out there that it is hard to explain exactly what it is so I will include a couple of links for those that are interested (http://doctordoni.com/2014/04/folic-acid-and-mthfr-could-you-have-a-genetic-mutation.html; http://wellnessmama.com/27148/mthfr-mutation/). If I wanted to get tested to see if I have this gene mutation then I would have to pay yet another $200 out of pocket to order a genetic testing kit online. If I do the same test through the Naturopath's office it would cost $450.
So there are more questions, there are more frustrations. Who do I believe? What do I do? At this point we have already paid nearly $15,000 for treatments so what is $200 more to see if I have this gene mutation? Both the MTHFR gene mutation and hypothyroidism could be contributing factors to infertility so I feel that I need to at least move forward with investigations. If it turns out that these are not affecting me then at least we'd know, and if they were affecting me, then we could get treatment which could help us to be successful! I was chatting with a friend earlier today and I said that a part of me feels that Unexplained Infertility is slightly worse only in the sense that there are no answers. There is no 'treatment' to move forward with because everything is a gamble, we don't know even know what the problem is. There are no guarantees that anything would work once we do have answers, but then I feel we would at least have the peace of mind of knowing what our issues are. So, we are currently moving forward with our FET and just hoping to find some answers along the way!
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