Adenomyosis, IVF and fertility and diet

[Nataliecox]

Hi everyone. I am happy that I have found this group as struggling to get information. I have been under investigation for fertility and it was found I had a low egg count. Following an X-ray it was also found I have Adenomyosis. This word was mentioned very quickly in the appointment and I was told there was no need to worry.

After spending a lot of time reading about the condition I cannot stop worrying about the affect it potentially has on carrying a baby full term. I am anxious at the moment that I have to get IVF to succeed and then there’s an increased risk of miscarriage. I have asked for a call back from the consultant as at the moment I do not know the extent of the Adenomyosis in the uterus.

Has anyone gone through IVF and had a baby with Adenomyosis and is there something they can do to support the pregnancy to reduce the risk of miscarriage?

I have read that gluten and dairy free can help and also reducing carbs and fats and sugars. A good healthy diet is good for fertility also but I just want to try my best to help myself

Many thanks 🙏

M

[HellyLlewelly]

Hello Natalie,

I can't give you any info in relation to IVF but I can tell you about Adenomyosis and pregnancy and menstruation and possible links....I hope this helps and very sorry for the hand you have been dealt in your quest for a baby 😔..you are very very brave and need commending.

I also believe my sister has the condition seeing as she has a low egg count and in ivf she had trouble with follicles and producing any eggs at all, I believe one ovary was redundant at both. She too has the terribly painful periods and bleeds and is my mother's daughter at the end of the day we come from the same cells. Unfortunately her IVF (the other one ICF?) Has not been successful but I in no way mean to dishearten you. I believe she went the turn on the NHS and then paid 2 x private rounds herself and hubby. She was EXTREMELY sensitive to the hormone treatment and decided she couldn't put her body nor marriage through another round of it given the poor results and hubby unfortunately has poor sperm mobility. Given her desire for a child she must have been going through torture in deciding to quit.

I have recently had a Hysterectomy so have a pathology report and a first hand eye view of the womb which my surgeon deemed as large and boggy.

I miscarried my first child and became pregnant with my second which was successful just after a laparoscopy to clear away a cyst and endometriosis, a little more than 1 year previous.

I had lots of pain carrying the baby, at 16 weeks I had pgd pelvic girdle disorder where my hips and back were in agony due to the hormone relaxin being released to soften bone joints in the pelvice to make way for baby. I can remember lying in agony of the floor. It's the unstable prlvice that created pain. I remember very shooting stabbing pains and the feeling of period pain for around 3 months comsequtive at the time my period would have been due. I had bad anxiety in 1st trimester and a great great run until the later days whereby I was heavy and suffering extreme shooting pain through my vagina that would stop me in my tracks and need assistance to resit or walk, it was like broken glass bottle being pushed inside me, truly horrendous.

Was it the effect of my Ademyosis womb stretching? Or was it my endometriosis cells around my ovaries and bowel getting a squeeze? We will never know the answers to these....

I believe the pain at the t.o.m was regrowth of endometriosis so those cells were still actively trying to shed though little is known about Adenomyosis and it's effect on pain during a cycle or pregnancy other than it increases miscarriage rate.

It's abnormal cell growth and a boggy spongy womb so doesn't sound like it's a tip top condition to grow a baby eh....sad I know...and why? What did we do to deserve this anomoly?

I also had another abnormal cell growth condition yet this would only be diagnosed in biopsy/pathology of the uterus so mine sounded all together shot(womb) and a miracle we had our child to say the least.

I know I peed so much pre operation and believe my bulky womb was pressing on my bladder. Why else would I now have this drastic change in urination. I pee no where nearcwhat I did before and had became a little urinary incontinent especially in bed after alcohol and deep sleep.

I was the one excusing themselves lots to use to the bathroom on dinners and nights out. Everything has a link.

What was said to me in April 2012 post lap post endo excision was "do not delay starting a family if you want one" I was pregnant in November 2013.

Our son is a disabled child. Again who knows and no one is going to explain a link ^ with all the above to his disability.

I wouldn't take my son back for the world but others may if they had information upfront consider their harrowing decisions to keep putting financial and emotional efforts into trying for a child. No one knows what they would do given the information they were carrying a child with a disability.

Where I live we don't get the option of tests on the NHS.

Anyway it's not meant to be negative its just my story of all the outcomes and possible effects Adenomyosis had on my fertility experience.

I wish you prayers, love, strength and courage to know what and when your journey should take a new chapter.

Good luck.

I believe Ademyosis significantly affected me in terms of menstrual pain, clots, blood flow, urination frequency, pregnancy conditions like pelvic girdle distinction and pain and possibly pregnancy outcome.

Best wishes.

H.

X.