Good Tip

I ran into an old friend of mine today. We started catching up on his kids and my TTC ..... told him I'd be ready soon

Anyway, he said when I do decide to start to get tested for thrombophilia. He said that his wife recently had a miscarriage at 12 weeks. He also said when he started talking about it that SEVEN other women in our town around the same age, early to mid 30's, had been having the same problem. One if not more miscarriages.

His wife had bloodwork done and it came back that she had thrombophilia (spelling?) as a result of being on birth control for so long. It is a condition in which the blood clots. Anyway, long story short (kind of short), the other women tested positive for it as well. They had all been taking ortho tricyclen.

Once she was diagnosed she had to take injections everyday of a blood thinning medicine everyday, but gave birth to a beautiful healthy boy.

Hope this could possibly help someone. Any ob/gyn can test for it if you ask for it.

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This doesn't pertain to me but thanks for posting, I'm sure it will help someone!

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How long were they on it? I was on the ortho low for 4 years and came off in Sept...

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She was on it for close to ten years, the women varied though. Some as few as 5 years.

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Posted by WannaBbabyMama

Posted by kiwi86

She was on it for close to ten years, the women varied though. Some as few as 5 years.

Oh no now I am worried

Ill bring this up next time I have a dr appt.

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I was just diagnosed with the same issue as well as PCOS. Dr. B outright told me that it is not a problem and I will be able to have a baby.

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i was also just diagnosed with this - the specific one i have is PAI-1 P4/P5 Polymorphism.

i dont think this is something that a regular ob/gyn will test for. I got tested for it because i see an RE (dr. b also) and had a chemical pregnancy. i went on to have another early miscarriage last cycle. in my next cycle (i have to wait a cycle before i can TTC again post-m/c) i will have to do lovenox injections and prednisone to counteract the blood clotting.

i have PCOS which my RE says is likely the cause of this issue. i have not heard that BCP can cause this, although i was on BCP for 12 years. i had regular cycles prior to BCP and had no idea that i had PCOS until i went off to start TTC in May of 2009. i dont really ovulate on my own and when i do its usually very late in the cycle - like CD32+. so i see an RE for ovulation induction so i am already used to injections, so adding the lovenox isnt the biggest deal in the world for me.

i dont think that just because you were on BCP that you should stress about thrombophilia - i actually do not think thats a good tip for the average person TTCing after BCP. even my dr. b said that he wouldnt start a thrombo workup without cause (ie. miscarriage, chemical PG..etc.) - he said that would be over-treating everyone. most people will not have thrombo issues, but if you have irregular cycles to begin with - it might be worth getting looked at. also not sure the average ob/gyn would ever suggest this workup, since its more of an RE type workup. some of the thrombo workup wasnt covered by my insurance because according to them this workup is not yet PROVEN to relate directly to PCOS or infertility. when I told my RE that he said that the people doing the research on these issues are RE's like him, and there are too few of them who are too busy with patients to write in the medical journals and prove the case at this point. he even said if he wrote to the insurance companies about why they should cover this testing, they wouldnt even understand what he wrote because regular ob/gyns would be reviewing the documentation, and they dont have the background to truly evaluate the work of an RE.

anyway i went off on a tangent there but long story short - if you have been TTC post BCP for a short time and you have regular cycles and have never had cycle issues - i dont think you should go running out for a thrombo workup. if you have PCOS or irregular cycles (BCP or not) then it may be worth it but dont expect the ob/gyn to suggest it or offer it - go straight to an RE, since they will be the one to treat the issue if the tests come back abnormal.

Message edited 6/7/2010 7:57:57 PM.

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Thanks for the info FlowerWife. We started TTC 6 months after being off the pill and have been trying for 3 months, possibly moving onto our 4th month. This cycle and last cycle were crazy and I dont know what to make of it. I was always so irregular growing up which is why I went on the BCP. I wasnt going to run to the doctor just bc I saw this post, but it did make me start to think...

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