My hubby read that Iodine deficiency can cause infertility (I think too much iodine can also cause it, eeks!)

We both greatly failed a patch test (http://www.qfac.com/articles/august/iodine.html). Dh's faded within 4 hours (his second test took twice as long), mine under 2:neutral:. All my clinic thyroid tests were normal. Some sites say those tests aren't always reliable? They flux too much? And they don't account for iodine levels. I'm very suspicious of online medical advice though:???:.

Now, I'm not getting into round whatever round it is of "this is the answer!" and inevitable let down. If I can help it. God help me, lol. Maybe the hypo-thyroid-ish and pcos-ish symptoms can still be answered within the thyroid realm. BTW, Doctor cancelled the RE visit sometime after my blood tests came back normal w/ those few cysts on my ovary. So I'm cut loose there. :???:

Anyone had experience with this iodine business?

i do know that the thyroid can absorb fluoride from the water instead of iodine, which can make it sluggish. taking more iodine supposedly can help flush out the fluoride.

http://www.fluoridealert.org/health/thyroid/

I dont know how that works but sounds interesting, might be something :)

have you had your prolactin levels check?

"Prolactin is a hormone produced by the pituitary and it is well known that it is necessary for breast development during pregnancy to permit breast feeding. No one yet knows what Prolactin does in non-pregnant women or in men. What is known, however, is that elevation in the Prolactin level will create menstrual abnormalities."

thats why breastfeeding woman dont have a menstrual cycle because breastfeeding actually suppresses the prolactin levels enough not to ovulate and not to menstraute but some woman can have their levels off by maybe a small benign tumor and it just causes irregular periods and no ovulating. or producing to much androgen a male hormone we all have but those are normally easy to spot they have facial hair and lots of acne

I was reading some of your blog and sounds like you have it covered, your very smart lady :) I am sorry dont mean to offend you, I think I just try too hard in helping people(therefor come off annoying lol) I will pray for wisdom and pray for an answer, for a postitive sign :)

Thanks Cheese. They somehow managed to get the gov to remove the flouride here a few years ago. But I wonder what else it's been snuck into.

Thanks Melinda. I'll take note... from the symptoms list low prolactin would be more of a fit than high, which fits into what I suspect about my hormone levels in general--that they are low and sluggish (except maybe for estro..may be on the high end). I seem to have a lot of false starts trying to ovulate (like I have a patch of O symptoms incl. ewcm and then nothing for two weeks and then it starts again, sometimes the real thing happens and I ovulate-questionable egg quality at that point- or sometimes another couple weeks goes by all over again). I noticed thyroid was mentioned as a cause too, for prolactin issues.

I hope nursing my thyroid does change the whole game plan.

It'll be a little while before we ttc, if this isn't another wild goose chase.

What range are your temps in? Low temps (like consistently under the low 97's or so) can indicate a thyroid problem. Low thyroid can also cause long irregular cycles and long AF's.

I would recommend googling and reading about "Wilson's Temperature Syndrome."

I got homeopathic thyroid remedies from my naturopath and have also been taking a kelp supplement. My temperatures last cycle were about 0.2 degrees higher on average and I have a lot more energy and motivation.

Just because low thyroid isn't low enough to show up on the blood work, doesn't mean that it doesn't cause problems. I have had my thyroid tested, btw, and it is on the low side of normal.

Yes, as low as 96.9 and usually 97.1,2,3.. Sometimes I'd "spike" to 97.5 and the a couple weeks later to maybe 97.9 and think, Ah! Triphasic! It mirrored the O-false starts. Fooled me a couple times:/.

RIA/old test results
TSH 1.62 (normal is 0.30-4.70)
T4 Free 13.0 (normal is 0.1-23.8)
Free T3 3.7 (normal 2.5-5.7)

It sounds like some nutritional self help definitely might help raise the temps and regulate the cycle. Fertility, Cycles, and Nutrition by Marilyn Shannon also talks about the connection between low temps and slightly low thyroid and what nutritional self-help you can use to improve your cycles and fertility.

Have you ever tried a complete body cleanse? One that takes about a month? I know my midwife totally believes in them to restart your body when it goes a bit crazy. As a woman with PCOS and IR, I know so much abot it. I also know that everyone has waaaay different symptoms, and some women may even only show ONE type of symptom, but they actually have PCOS and infertility.

If you are interested in a cleanse, I can ask my midwife I used with Em who is now a good friend. She can probably give me some info on what to take to help thyroid and balance hormones. She will only suggest natural and usually VERY healthy choices so she is a great to to gal!

Also, even if your insulin levels are not elevated I would put yourself on a diabetic diet if you are not on one now. Many women with PCOS cannot regulate their insulin and sugar levels in the body and that causes issues all over. I should be on a diabetic diet but I have not been so good at it the past 4 months.

Have you also checked your progesterone levels after O? That was the biggest issue for me and the reason why I either didn't get preggo OR why I miscarried the 3 times I did. Once we figured out the progesterone issues we have been blessed by that knowledge!

Anyways, I hope you can find a reason for your ovulation issues and that the Lord blesses you!!

Amber

Sorry to change the subject for a minute, but Melinda I've never heard of this prolactin thing before. I always ovulate within a wwek of the lochia finishing even though I am breastfeeding 2 1/2 hr - 3 hrly around the clock. Do you know if that could be something to do with the prolactin thing? It would be lovely to not get my period so quickly after birth.

I dont know how that works but sounds interesting, might be something :)

have you had your prolactin levels check?

"Prolactin is a hormone produced by the pituitary and it is well known that it is necessary for breast development during pregnancy to permit breast feeding. No one yet knows what Prolactin does in non-pregnant women or in men. What is known, however, is that elevation in the Prolactin level will create menstrual abnormalities."

thats why breastfeeding woman dont have a menstrual cycle because breastfeeding actually suppresses the prolactin levels enough not to ovulate and not to menstraute but some woman can have their levels off by maybe a small benign tumor and it just causes irregular periods and no ovulating. or producing to much androgen a male hormone we all have but those are normally easy to spot they have facial hair and lots of acne

I was reading some of your blog and sounds like you have it covered, your very smart lady :) I am sorry dont mean to offend you, I think I just try too hard in helping people(therefor come off annoying lol) I will pray for wisdom and pray for an answer, for a postitive sign :)

Rachel -
I found out my TSH was on the lower side of normal a few weeks ago. Even though the doctor said it was 'normal', I knew from seeing my endochronologist that it was not normal for me. According to the endochronologist your TSH needs to be between 1 and 3 to hold onto a pregnancy. I believe this could be why I miscarried last year. If your TSH is below 1 then your body will 'reject' a pregnancy as it is in overdrive and can't cope with looking after anything other than yourself. If your TSH is above 3 (even though up to 4 is usually considered 'normal') then you often don't even ovulate.
BTW - recent studies have shown that too much iodine in your diet can actually cause hyperthyroidism (which is why I've cut down drastically on my salt intake) esp. if you have a predisposition to thyroid problems. Ofcourse, the opposite is also a problem - too little iodine and your thyroid can become sluggish; hypothyroidism.
Hope that helps somewhat. I was seeing an endochronologist until recently who was continuously doing research in thyroid issues and he's now been employed (after being 'headhunted') by a thyroid research centre in Sydney. So I know a fair bit (unfortunately more than most GPs).
Also, if you have thyroid issues only try natural remedies when you are not pregnant or breastfeeding as natural remedies are very difficult to do what is correct for your body, and you could end up miscarrying or losing your milk.

thats why breastfeeding woman dont have a menstrual cycle because breastfeeding actually suppresses the prolactin levels enough not to ovulate and not to menstraute

I think you have that backwards prolactin levels are raised during breastfeeding.

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/prolactin-levels.html
Erin

About prolactin levels

Kellymom is posted above :) and then here's another

http://breastfeeding.about.com/od/breastfeedingbasics/g/prolactin.htm

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prolactin

Hope that helps in explaining some :)

thats why breastfeeding woman dont have a menstrual cycle because breastfeeding actually suppresses the prolactin levels enough not to ovulate and not to menstraute

I think you have that backwards prolactin levels are raised during breastfeeding.

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/prolactin-levels.html
Erin

I believe you are right about having it backwards lol :)

"Any TSH above 1-1.5 with symptoms is a marker for hypothyroidism" I first heard that from Mercola on Youtube and then searched it and saw a lot of people saying the same thing. Mine was over 1.6 as posted above, so...

I am going through all your advice. I am cleansing altho I don't have the cash for any specific programs, I've done fasting/cleanses/et al many times and still have a lot of supplies from previous goes. I may get the book at some point! I have a lot of info to work with (who knows, maybe the bulk of it, thanks to Internet).

Hubby bought some iodine supps. My patch test went from 1 hr to faded to 5.. still working on it. Dh's raised much faster. Some sites say over 4 hours is good, some say 24 hours!

symptoms:

•Being more sensitive to cold - check, and constantly getting questioned for wearing cardis in the summer and for feeling like an ice cube to the touch.

•Constipation - I don't have this one, but I don't eat the American diet that probably makes it worse...

•Depression - check, mild. I haven't "felt like myself" since I was 14/15? I stay in the house almost 24/7 and I think that's the main contrib. So treatment hitting on this would be life changing.

•Fatigue or feeling slowed down - check.

•Heavier menstrual periods - all sorts of craziness in that area...

•Joint or muscle pain - Idk. Neck pain, but that's probably just posture.

•Paleness or dry skin - double check. Wonder if that ezcema patch of dry skin is from thyroid issues?

•Thin, brittle hair or fingernails - off an on.

•Weakness - ?? no?

•Weight gain (unintentional) - check.

So if over 1.5 w/symptoms = hypothyroid then this could be the start of a big change for me. C'Moms will benefit if my "brain fog" goes away too ;).

So I've been busy looking around the web for info. Ducking in here now and then.

video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNJI1MdGELQ

Oh Rachel, I hope that this clears up a LOT of things for you! [hug] I have heard that thyroid problems could cause infertility, so I'm praying that this will lead you to an answer and a solution. [praying]

Ok. So looks like the fact that all my kids started sleeping 6-8 hours through the night from 5 weeks onward explains why my period returned around that time.

About prolactin levels

Kellymom is posted above :) and then here's another

http://breastfeeding.about.com/od/breastfeedingbasics/g/prolactin.htm

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prolactin

Hope that helps in explaining some :)

You know my sister has a lot of those symptoms and she was recently diagnosed with endometriosis(sp) she had an mri to confirm it, that explained her infertility, she had surgery kind of like a d n c to scrap the uterine walls and her tubes flushed? Or something to unblock them, and then she got a shot that lasted about 3mos to shut her hormones down so she went thru a temporary menopause, so now she is coming off the shot and waiting for her period, but we live in tx and my sister always has a jacket with her, she wears it in the house and in the evenings and mornings outside, we pick on her and tell her she not a little old lady yet lol she has brittle thin hair, real painful heavy periods, very pale and dry skin brittle nails thought she was low iron but was tested and is not, she always tired too, and they said it was from endometrosis, it was confirmed on mri and then during surgery when he opened her up and also had every blood test in the world done lol and all is good and gyn/ob ordered a u/s and an mri and the mri is what showed endometrosis , so goofy question probably but have you been tested for endometresis? Maybe get an mri? Ot transvaginal u/s with a good u/s tech should tell if endo is a possiblity and that you need a mri to show more indepth, but endo can cause infertility if not treted but can be treated and then conceive, it can cause your uterine wall the thicken and hard so egg can't implant but they can go in there and scrap your walls just like a d n c,

I don't have the severe pain or discharge or fever.. and besides some cysts on one ovary, my ultrasounds (pelvic and trans) were clear. Another thing with similar symptoms is pituatary gland tumor, but I've been like this for so long I can't see it being a tumor.

My sister and dad are both hypothyroid. And unlike dh who's iodine patch test time has increased each time, mine went down from 5 to 3 hrs last night :/, when it's supposed to work up to 12-24 apparently. I've read to take a 12.5mg(?) supp for a year, suggesting it will take as much as a year to have a normal iodine level??? Going to look into it more before I go out and look for a supplement. Hopefully Healthy Cupboard has a thyroid health all in one w/ zinc, selenium, iodine, L-Thyosine and L-Arginine... have to pull out my bbts because that would be a huge help in tracking progress.

my sister didnt have discharge or fever just bad painful periods :) but anyways I hope hypothyriod is the answer and you got it figured out and get it fixed so you can conceive, I have been praying for you and wisdom on this and I will continue to pray, I believe God hears your prayers and you will get a bfp soon :)

Man... late in reading this one. But Rachel, this sounds like something. I am sure you've been *here* before too though... so I am praying that the Lord leads you and guides you.

You've been extra in prayers recently altogether, actually. Maybe this is why. Hope you can do your bbt's and see a change with the iodine.