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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.]
Unexplained infertility is so frustrating to me. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want PCOS or endometriosis or low ovarian reserve or any other painful issue…but at least then I would know what to do. Doctors would know what to do and what not to do to help me. At least I would know, “Okay, I need to go on this medication.” Or I would know, “I won’t get pregnant unless I do IVF.” No, I don’t want that either…but it’s the not knowing that gets to me. If only I knew what the problem was, then I could try to fix it!
According to the doctors, it doesn’t matter if I know. Since I’ve done all the routine tests and everything is normal, any other diagnosis I could get wouldn’t matter anyway:
“It may not be in the best interests of patients to be subjected to invasive and expensive tests in order to satisfy scientific curiosity, where new information does not directly contribute to better clinical decision making” (Siristatidis).
(And by the way, I learned that the hard way after insisting I find out my issue and unknowingly spending 2 grand on an “invasive and expensive” test.)
So if you aren’t going to get any answers, what should you do with your “unexplained infertility” diagnosis? Here are my recommendations:
(By the way, I am still committed to figuring out the cause…check out my list of 4 possible causes that my functional medicine doctor is investigating!)
Don’t:
—Just blindly do what the doctors tell you.
This should go without saying…but sometimes we think doctors have all the answers (when they don’t — and when a second opinion might disagree). One doctor prescribed me Clomid, and the next doctor said it wouldn’t help me at all, so it’d be pointless to even try it. (Turns out the second one was right, after doing my own research on Clomid. You can check out that post here.) Doctors don’t know everything. Going along with that point, don’t…
—Be afraid to change doctors — especially if you are unhappy with the care you’re receiving.
I’ve had three different doctors tell me three different things. I haven’t felt like I’ve received individualized care from any of them. Yes, seeing more doctors may lengthen the process, but I think it’s worth it in the end. (And I just saw a functional doctor — which I am VERY excited about — find out why here.) Speaking of doctors, don’t…
—Do something you’re not okay with or ready for.
A fertility specialist I visited told me I needed to start fertility treatments immediately. I wasn’t ready for that…maybe I will be in the future, but not right now. She almost made me feel guilty that I was wasting time and wasn’t ready to take action right now.
Do:
—Do your own research + take control of your own health.
Another doctor that I saw told me to do Clomid + IUI. Then I read about this study by Reindollar: Couples with unexplained infertility were given either Clomid with IUI, FSH with IUI, or IVF. Per cycle pregnancy rates were 7.6%, 9.8%, and 30.7%, respectively. So this prompts the question…if I decide to do IUI, why did my doctor not give me the option to do FSH with IUI? Maybe she has a reason, but it’s worth asking about. Side note: This study focused on how much money you could save if you went directly to IVF and skipped IUI (since pregnancy rates are so much higher with IVF). The average couples saved was $2,624. Another thing to think about.
—Consider all of your options.
Like I mentioned earlier, I am now trying functional medicine. Not all solutions require IUI or IVF or “traditional” medication — especially since doctors don’t know what the problem is anyway. In some cases, acupuncture + meditation techniques or yoga have been found to be just as beneficial — which can sometimes cost nothing. (Read my post on acupuncture here and on TCM here.)
—Go with your gut.
My gut all along has been telling me that my extremely poor blood circulation (Raynaud’s disease) could have something to do with my infertility. I still don’t know if it actually does, but I’d much rather try something like acupuncture (which I plan to do) before spending thousands on IVF (which also may or may not work). If you think you might have an idea of what the root cause of your infertility is, see what you can do about that first!
(Speaking of root causes, check out my list of 4 possible causes of unexplained infertility!)
