You’re Wasting Money On Your Fertility Care. Here’s Why.
If you have PCOS and you’ve been trying to get pregnant, you know how frustrating it can be to get answers.
Maybe you’ve been to your doctor and she doesn’t even give you an option for any medication. She says weight loss will fix it.
Maybe you’ve been to a fertility clinic and you know how it feels like going to a baby factory.
You just want to get your periods every month so you can ovulate and have your baby.
Am I right?
As a doctor, I am hearing similar horror stories of women talking to their doctors about their PCOS fertility and getting dismissive information that leads them on a path away from getting pregnant.
It’s just not right. And that not only leads to a waste of money, but also time and energy.
You don’t need that!
You’re already overwhelmed and just so upset. You need something that will help you on the fastest track to pregnancy.
That’s why I’m here to tell you the shortfalls of common PCOS fertility treatments, why they waste your money (and sanity!) and what you can do instead.
So here’s a typical story of what happens with fertility care. Follow along with me as I talk about Marie (not a real patient name, this is a story loosely following common information I hear from patients)
Marie is 34 years old. She got married two years ago and they have been trying (unsuccessfully!) to get pregnant since then.
Her periods are really long. She has a period every 45 days. Six months ago she went in to talk with her doctor about her fertility options.
Her doctor gave her metformin and had her do a few rounds of letrozole. She started the metformin but after one cycle she was starting to have spotting before her period and she had never had that before. It also made her stomach upset.
She got the letrozole. Her doctor told her to try three rounds with timed intercourse. She took the medication and tried it. None of the three tries worked and with each period she was getting more spotting.
She talked with her doctor about her next options. Her doctor said IUI is next and if that doesn’t work then her and her husband will need IVF.
So that’s when she reached out to me. She was unhappy that her periods were now worse than they were before. She wanted to figure out more options to help her body naturally before she jumped to the fertility procedures like IUI and IVF.
When she started working with me, the only lab she had gotten done was progesterone. Her doctor had said her progesterone levels were fine, but when evaluating it through the optimal fertility range, it was low.
We ordered a comprehensive fertility health panel to look at her hormones and nutrient levels specific to PCOS and fertility.
Turns out along with her low progesterone, she also had elevated testosterone. Along with low ferritin (a storage form of iron) and vitamin D.
No wonder she hadn’t gotten pregnant yet!
When testosterone is elevated (very common in PCOS), that shuts down ovulation.
Low iron contributes to fertility struggles. In a recent study (done on mice) they found that low iron led both to eggs not able to mature and low estrogen. Those findings reversed when iron levels were restored back to normal.
Low vitamin D is associated with fertility and ovulation issues.
So now can’t you see how vital getting a comprehensive view of hormones and nutrients can be for fertility?
Okay, so based on her lab results and what she shared with me about her cycles and fertility journey, here’s what I did to help Marie:
—> Got her on a testosterone-lowering plan.
—> Supplemented her with an easily absorbable and non-constipating form of iron
—> Increased her vitamin D stores
—> Started her on my biphasic cycle protocol to help increase her progesterone and get her cycles regular.
—> Started her on an egg-quality boosting plan with targeted supplements that helped ensure her eggs were healthy and ready to make babies.
What happened after a couple of cycles? She was having 31 day cycles and she was getting a positive ovulation test. We ran her testosterone again and it had come back down into normal range. She was all set for fertility moving forward having regular cycles and optimal ovulation.
If Marie hadn’t have come to see me and discovered these hormonal imbalances and nutrient deficiencies, do you see how IUI and IVF could be a big waste of money?
IVF is not the #1 answer for fertility. If it was, no one would need multiple rounds and every IVF cycle would be successful. But it’s not.
If Marie had chosen to go to IVF without first discovering her elevated testosterone and low ferritin and vitamin D, no matter how many rounds of IVF she would have done, she would have other issues causing her to continue to have fertility issues.
So we will see how Marie’s fertility does over the next few months. Based on what’s happening with her cycles, she has a good chance of getting pregnant on her own.
If not, what’s her next step? It’s to try another round of letrozole before going to IUI.
But if she doesn’t get pregnant on her own and still needs some assistance with the medication, do you see how her chances are so much higher of those medications working?
For some reason doctors, and even many fertility clinics, are not going the extra mile to investigate common hormone imbalances and nutrient deficiencies that are contributing to infertility.
That’s a huge disservice to you because it overlooks the root cause of your fertility struggles. Leading you forward with treatments that may never work because you haven’t had the foundations checked yet. And it’s just a waste of time and money for you.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. There are options. You can be like Marie and get to a place where your body is ovulating naturally, you are having regular cycles and have the best chance at becoming pregnant.
These are the top most important steps to take in order to be on the fastest and most targeted fertility path with PCOS:
Find out your PCOS type.
There are 4 types of PCOS. Each type requires a different treatment plan. You may have just one type, or are a mix of a few. What matters most is you know your type so you can move forward confidently with a fertility plan that works.
Work with a doctor who can give you individualized care for your body, your fertility, your PCOS.
An individualized fertility plan is important because your fertility needs are going to be different then your friends fertility needs even if you both have PCOS. PCOS does not fit into a box and doesn’t respond to a one-size-fits-all-approach.
Get a plan that helps improve egg quality
On top of getting your hormones and nutrients optimized for fertility, don’t let egg quality get overlooked. Focusing on egg quality ensures your eggs develop as they should and are ready as ever to help make you a baby!
In summary, if your doctor is moving you along the conveyer belt of fertility care, recommending medication and then IVF without first checking your hormones and nutrient levels, you are missing out on a huge part of your fertility that could very well be keeping you from getting pregnant.
Don’t let that happen to you!
Book a complimentary 1:1 PCOS Fertility Breakthrough Session here with me today and I’ll help you get answers.
During your PCOS Fertility Breakthrough Session, you will discover:
How to turn around your PCOS frustrations and be closer to reaching your fertility goals.
Why what you’ve been doing is leading you away from optimal fertility and what actually works.
What’s been missing from your care that’s keeping you from seeing results.
Clear step-by-step guidance to have your best chance at becoming pregnant.
Don’t let any more time pass being in the dark about what’s keeping you from having the best chance at getting the family of your dreams.
