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[Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or medical practitioner. Any medical information is strictly my opinion based on research and personal experience, and not to be taken as advice. Always seek the advice of a licensed physician for your medical needs. Read my full disclaimer here.]
I’ve always been convinced that my Raynaud’s disease was somehow impacting my fertility…or even causing my infertility. If you’re not familiar with Raynaud’s disease (though you likely are if you’re reading this), it is a condition where your fingers and toes turn white and numb when they get cold. (Or, if you’re like me, even if you get a little chilled! This is my experience– Raynaud’s can take on slightly different forms, too). Exhibit A of my hand after holding a cold smoothie:
In more medical terms, Raynaud’s is a condition where the body responds to cold (or, in some cases, stress), by constricting blood vessels to the extremities in order to send more blood to the vital organs. Everyone’s body would do this under certain extreme circumstances, but for people with Raynaud’s, it happens much more easily and often.
Raynaud’s + Infertility
I have never had any problem with ovulation. (Doctors get so excited when testing always reveal normal ovulation…”That’s half the battle right there!” Okay, I know that’s not my problem when it’s usually everyone else’s…but that problem seems easier to fix.) In the midst of a billion other test results coming back normal (“unexplained infertility”), I’ve deduced that my problem must come down to implantation. And I’ve read enough to know that implantation requires good blood flow and circulation. That’s where (I think) my Raynaud’s comes in.
Now, it’s worth noting that a myth about Raynaud’s is that people with it have poor circulation. That only happens when there’s an attack. (Read more on myths here.) But my attacks happen frequently enough that I have to imagine it could be hindering implantation for me.
Medical Research Surrounding Raynaud’s and Infertility
To be fair, the connection between infertility and Raynaud’s goes mainly back to a gut feeling I have, as well as the research and studies I’ve done on fertility. As far as medical studies regarding infertility and Raynaud’s go, there have been very few:
—This study surveyed 110 women with Raynaud’s, and found high rates of infertility (26%). There were other higher rates of pregnancy complications noted as well.
—Another study found a 6% higher incidence of infertility among those with Raynaud’s.
(Not noted are severity of symptoms, whether the onset of Raynaud’s was before/after trying to conceive, etc.) In reality, the medical studies on this don’t tell me a whole lot, but nevertheless (due to my own gut feeling and some testing that I’ll explain next) I am convinced my Raynaud’s and infertility go hand-in-hand.
L-Arginine
On my quest to determine the root cause of my infertility, I found I have a surprising deficiency in the amino acid L-Arginine (via the NutraEval test). This amino acid is naturally produced by the body, so it’s rare that there would be a deficiency, says WebMD (in my case, it’s probably inherited).
Your body converts the amino acid L-Arginine into nitric oxide. Nitric oxide makes your blood vessels open up, which is why it improves blood flow.
You can probably guess where this is going now. Here’s where everything comes together: L-Arginine is sometimes used as a treatment for Raynaud’s AND as a treatment for infertility. For both, it has somewhat mixed results…but for me, the connection seems too coincidental.
L-Arginine + Fertility: Medical Research
I’ll skip the research on L-Arginine and Raynaud’s. But here are a few medical studies on the connection between L-Arginine supplements and fertility:
—This study found that among IVF patients (who had previously had poor responses to the gonadotrophin drug used in combination with IVF), taking an L-Arginine supplement did help. There was a “lower cancellation rate, an increased number of oocytes collected, and embryos transferred.” 3 of 17 women taking L-Arginine got pregnant, while 0 of 17 got pregnant in the other group. Again, all 34 of them previously responded poorly to gonadotrophin.
–However, this study found that it had the opposite effect: In 34 women undergoing controlled ovarian hyperstimulation cycles, taking L-Arginine actually made pregnancy rates worse. This time patients had not previously responded poorly to IVF, however.
–This study, though not investigating pregnancy rates directly, found that taking 6g of L-arginine a day improved uterine radial artery blood flow in eight (89%) out of nine patients and endometrial thickness in six (67%) patients.
–Side note: Many studies on animals have had positive results with regard to L-Arginine and fertility. Check out these studies on horses and rats.
My Experience
I just started taking L-Arginine. I take 700mg a day in capsule form (best to start at a low dose — my functional doctor said too much can cause low blood pressure), as well as 600mg as part of a collagen peptide powder I take. (*If you think L-Arginine could help you because you have a similar story to mine, I would suggest getting a doctor’s recommendation before taking it. Alternatively, this is the collagen peptide powder my doctor recommended that you could try.)
Immediately upon taking it, I have already noticed an improvement in my Raynaud’s. (Granted, it is the summer in Michigan, so the winter will be the real test.) However, I have done several things that before have always caused a Raynaud’s attack– holding a cold smoothie, for instance– which made my fingers freezing and red like a “normal,” non-Raynaud’s person. I did have a small attack once after getting chilled at night — but just one of my fingers turned white, and it went back to normal very quickly.
As for my fertility, I’m still waiting to see if it has an impact, but I am optimistic.
Unanswered Questions
I still have a lot of unanswered questions about all of this. As I mentioned, there are a lot of unknowns– about Raynaud’s, infertility, and L-Arginine. For instance: Does low arginine cause Raynaud’s? Are people with Raynaud’s more likely to have low arginine levels? Is it the low arginine or the Raynaud’s that is more likely to be contributing to my infertility? Will reducing the frequency or severity of Raynaud’s attacks help my fertility? Why haven’t there been any studies done on unexplained infertility and L-Arginine? Still a lot of unknowns, but for me, this is worth a try.
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Very interesting, thank you for sharing! I have Raynaud’s but haven’t been tested for any auto immune diseases yet. However, I’ve just had my second pregnancy loss at 8w and suspect my Raynaud’s is somehow connected, so more testing to be done. I do take levothyroxine to keep my TSH down, now adding additional tests. I would be very interested if you learn anything further and happy to share what I hear as well.
Yes — please do! Thank you!! It is very interesting to me that you are taking levothyroxine for your TSH levels as well! It seems like my TSH level has fluctuated a lot, so my only recommendation is to keep getting that checked even on medication. I’ve known friends who have had to adjust their doses, and some doctors recommend increasing your dosage the minute you find out you’re pregnant! (I did not have to do that, but pregnancy can really affect your TSH very early on from what I’ve read!)
Hi,
I have had 2 miscarriages over 2 years. I have cold hands and feet and bad blood circulation. My acupuncturist is always complaining about this and telling me to improve my diet etc. I spoke to a fertility specialist recently who said I have reynauds which would be causing my infertility and possibly my miscarriages. I just googled reynauds and infertility and found your website. I see you wrote this in July 2020. Have you found out anymore?
Thanks
Not a lot — there is so little research that has been done it, unfortunately! BUT: Though I’m not a doctor and can’t say this for sure, I really think my Raynaud’s and poor circulation could have been a sign of a high TSH level (hypothyroidism). I wrote a little more about that here: https://contentmentandchaos.com/the-cause-of-my-unexplained-infertility-my-thyroid/.
I would highly recommend you have your TSH levels tested! Even if you already have, mine fluctuated quite a bit within a year. Since I went on thyroid medication, I got pregnant twice (the first ended in miscarriage — I honestly think because my thyroid wasn’t quite regulated yet — but I just recently found out I am pregnant again!).
I just called my Internal Medicine doctor and asked about this. He did say okay to take before pregnancy but not safe to use during pregnancy as harms the fetus. I will also ask my OBGYN and infirtility doctor too. I hope that helps!
Thank you!
Interesting! I haven’t found out much more, though I continue to research it — It seems there’s so little research done on this…it’s frustrating! I’ve also read some studies that point toward hypothyroidism as a possible cause of Raynaud’s phenomenon (and hypothyroidism can cause infertility). Although it ended in miscarriage, I got pregnant for the first time after just a couple months of taking a thyroid medication. My TSH level was not that high, either, but it was over the 2.5 limit that many doctors recommend when trying to get pregnant. It could be worth looking into!
I also have recently been prescribed levothyroxine for subclinical hypothyroidism. I have primary raynauds and never knew there could be a connection until I just had an appointment with the docto about my medical history yesterday (and this is my 3rd pregnancy!) I have had 3 babies total and but have 2 healthy kids at home and pregnant with the 3rd at 12 weeks. I’ll be praying for your fertility!!
Yes, I never knew there could be one either! And thank you so much! 🙂
I agree 100%. I actually stumbled across this post from reading that wombs are too cold on the Kindara app and people are trying ways to keep warm. I have severe reynauds disease and failed infirtility treatments as far as doing IUI. Since this post have you learned any more about this? I am taking a couple month break on the treatments due to side effects. Kind of just doing research at this point. Thank you!