I guess I should start with a disclaimer – I’m not a dr, DUH. I don’t know everything or even really that much about clotting issues but I have them so… take that.
I have been wanting to write about this for awhile now but today I read a blog that was the final straw. As you know, I have MTHFR which is short for Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase – not what you thought, ha! I am homozygous with the C677T variation. All a really long way of saying that my body has a hard time methylating b vitamins especially b12, b6 and folic acid. I can’t absorb most b vitamins unless they are in their methylated forms so I have to buy a b vitamin supplement that is already broken down. (It’s called Homocystex Plus.) MTHFR also causes blood clotting issues. It’s actually more common than you think but hardly anyone gets tested for it because A) they don’t know to, B) drs are pretty ignorant about it (sorry drs. study up on this please!) C) practically nobody understands it or how to treat it, D) it’s expensive to test for and it’s usually on a whole panel that requires 14 vials of blood. ( I also just found out the other day that I had actually tested slightly positive for a couple other clotting issues. Nobody thought it was important to tell me that but I read it in the report that I have a copy of from when I had that testing done. Thankfully, they are also treated the same as MTHFR.)
The fact of the matter remains, MTHFR causes infertility, implantation failure, both early and late term pregnancy loss and is incredibly easy to treat. Drs can disagree with that all they want but many other Drs agree with that statement. But you know what? It’s just one of a whole bunch of little known and “minor” issues that potentially cause clotting especially in the smallest blood vessels – in the uterus where the baby is trying to dig in and implant and where the placenta is drawing it’s life giving blood and oxygen from.
MTHFR and a host of other “minor” clotting disorders can be treated by injectable blood thinners such as Heparin and Lovenox along with low dose Asprin. The blood thinners and asprin are started after ovulation/egg retrieval or asprin can be used continuously (which it usually should be if you have a clotting disorder – check with your Dr) and blood thinner shots can be started with a positive pregnancy test. You should also be on a methylated b vitamin supplement (regular b vitamins are not usable by your body) if you have MTHFR. Most drs will prescribe you a high dose vitamin b compound but it’s not as useable as just getting a high quality methylated supplement.
So, back to the blog that was the final straw. A woman with RPL who’s latest loss was at 20 weeks! Finally, for her SEVENTH pregnancy, somebody had the brains to check her for clotting disorders and they found that she had a “minor” one and given her “history” they decided to FINALLY treat her with Heparin. (Ya think??) Carried that baby to term. Case closed. I could also tell you the story of my friend who had at least 9 losses but carried her last baby to term and used blood thinner during that pregnancy.
Obviously I’m not saying that blood thinners could prevent all loses. Definitely not!! There are genetic issues in the baby sometimes that cause losses, infections, incompetent cervix and a host of other reasons which I don’t really need to spell out, but clotting related issues can often times be treated!
My RE didn’t seem to consider my issues to warrant any action. I talked to my IVF nurse though and she said if I wanted to cover all my bases, I could go on a low dose of Lovenox. I think they were mostly just letting me use it so I would feel proactive and so that they could say all my bases were covered. Turns out, as it was quite obvious during my pregnancy with Truett, blood thinner was quite important! So much so that my dose has been upped for this pregnancy. Again, I’m not saying it is fail proof. But with Tru, thank You Jesus, it helped! I hope that this time, the blood thinners will help keep my baby safe in there. Please God, protect this baby according to Your will and help it to get all the blood and oxygen flow that it needs in my womb. I pray that it will be safe in there and live and grow and be well and strong and healthy. In Jesus’ name, amen.
All that to say this, if you have stumbled over this blog and you have had repeat failed IVF’s, RPL, or unexplained losses, please push your dr to test you for clotting and immune issues. And if they find ANYTHING, I don’t care how “minor” it is, (because let’s face it, when blood vessels are clogging, is there really anything “minor” about that?) and I don’t care how they feel about issues like MTHFR, get on Lovenox or Heparin and Asprin. If your dr refuses to treat you, see another dr! This is serious business. I have seen this happen SO MANY TIMES on SO MANY BLOGS. Women couldn’t get or stay pregnant, after tons of failed cycles or so many devastating losses, got treated and bam. Finally they have their baby(s).
Something to think about.
Which B Complex/Brand are you using? We’re planning a FET for #2 next year, and last time they just had me take higher doses of the regular OTC Bs and Folic Acid. Do you order yours online or are they easy to find in the store?
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I order them online. It’s Homocystex Plus and they are Seeking Health brand. They also have a prenatal variety. You can get them here http://www.seekinghealth.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=homocystex+plus but they were sold out when I went to order them so I found them on amazon.com. Exciting to hear about you trying again so soon! 🙂 I wish you all the best.
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Thank you for posting this! I don’t have it but know several bloggers that do
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You’re welcome. I hope it will help somebody!
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Reblogging! Thank you for this valuable information!!! 🙂
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Thank YOU for reblogging it! I really hope that it will help somebody.
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Reblogged this on OurGreatestDesire and commented:
There are a couple of you that I know are dealing with RPL and I thought this info may be interesting to you. Not sure if it’s something you’ve been checked for or not. Have a great day Everyone!
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I just followed this from “Our Greatest Desire” and I am floored. I had always heard of MTHFR, but never realized it was Vitamin B related…. I always just heard “clotting disorder”. There is 7 years between my brother and I and my mom only got pregnant with me after she started receiving vitamin b shots….. everyone in my family has chronically LOW vitamin B and D and normal OTC supplements don’t even touch our deficiencies. I have not suffered through RPL…. but I am wondering if my failure to conceive is related…. I will DEFINITELY be asking my RE to test for MTHFR before we get started on our IVF journey! Thank you for sharing!
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You are most welcome. It is definitely possible that your family could have issues with MTHFR. There are different variations of it, some being less serious than others but getting proper b vitamin support is key to feeling your best. With the variation that I have (2 copies of C677T) my body only absorbs vitamin b’s at about 7% which is why the methylated vitamin b supplements are so important because they are already broken down for my body to absorb easier.
My first RE refused to test me for clotting and immune issues after my first IVF failed. I know that the first IVF does fail frequently as it’s only a 50/50 shot but I still had a very strong sense that something important was wrong. So, I switched to a new RE and refused to start another IVF until I was tested. He complied to my request and of course we found a problem. Always trust your gut!
I really hope that you will be able to conceive soon and that you have a healthy pregnancy! 🙂
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Thank you! This information really is invaluable! I’m pretty lucky that my RE is willing to do whatever I ask her to- with a little coaching here and there. 😉
I hope so too…. thank you for the well wishes!
I’m looking forward to following along with your blog (and catching up on your past experiences!)
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You are most welcome. I will be so happy if this info actually helps someone. 🙂
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I just came across your blog through ourgreatestdesire.
Thanks so much for sharing this! We have gone through 5 consecutive miscarriages, and I always hope that someone will post the miracle answer to our unexplained RPL. Unfortunately, we know that I do not have a blood clotting issue, and even so our RE has put me on baby aspirin just in case because it also wont hurt. But, I appreciate you sharing and I appreciate anyone bringing awareness to this very serious cause of miscarriage.
I hope your current pregnancy continues to progress well! Wishing you the absolute best! 🙂
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Thank you so much! I am sorry to hear of all your losses. I have heard quite a number of times of successful pregnancies after using baby aspirin and/or blood thinner. I don’t know why that is helpful even when no clotting issues are found but the most important part is that it often times is helpful!! I wish you all the best on your journey and blessings for a successful pregnancy. 🙂
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What is the MTHFR test called?
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It was in a panel. I’m not sure what the panel was called. I think the dr just said a clotting and immune panel. A lot of times if you have one clotting issue, you will have another too. Like MTHFR along with Factor V Lieden for example. Sorry I can’t be more specific on the exact name of the test.
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Thank you!! This is always my first question now. Thank goodness my RE wanted to do the blood panel after my first two IVF cycles showed implantation but early loss. Pretty sure I was a little woozy afterwards (or that’s what I told my husband so he’d take me to lunch) but it was worth it! Then my first OB appointment, he said I wouldn’t stay on lovenox but he thankfully did some research and kept me on it the whole pregnancy.
Getting daily shots was no fun but a much better alternative to never getting pregnant. I just wonder now how many people in my family have this. My sister?cousin? Aunt who had recurrent miscarriages before my cousin was born?
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Oh I know!! It’s so much more common to have clotting and immune pronblems than people realize too! The first OB I saw wanted me to go off of my Lovenox right away and I told him no way (!) so he said I could wait till 14 weeks or so but there was still no way I was going to go off of it. The first MFM that I saw said “All pregnant women are at a higher risk of clotting during pregnancy but we can’t give blood thinner to the thousands of women!” I sat there thinking “Lady, I am not ‘the thousands of women’ and if you think I’m quitting my Lovenox, you’re crazy.” It took me awhile to find someone who would take me seriously!
Thank you so much for reblogging this. I am really hoping someone will benefit from this info so they don’t have to learn the hard way.
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So glad you stuck up for yourself!
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For the previous poster, it’s a thrombophilia panel, or at least that’s what my doctor called it 🙂
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Thank you. 🙂
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Reblogged this on random squeaks and commented:
Exactly what I would say, except I have MTHFR and PAI 4g/5g. I am absolutely positive that this knowledge saved my babies. Thank you God for doctors, their wisdom, and science!
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Reblogged this on Taking our family from 3 to 4 and commented:
I stumbled across this, while waiting for my baseline for my second ivf cycle (well this time will be a FULL one, not just an upsetting ER), and thought that it should definitely be shared. I know of some people close to me with blood issues, so I’m sure it’s more common than docs think.
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Thank you for sharing this! 🙂
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Thank you for this! I’ve literally just emailed my doc asking for a full thrombophilia screening as i’ve had three miscarriages in a row – thank you for sharing and good luck xx
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I hope that you will have a successful pregnancy very soon! 🙂 I would love to hear the results of the screening.
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Was just looking at this old post and pulled up your blog to see that you have a baby now! Did this info help you?
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