Friday, December 28, 2018
Early miscarriage - 25 things to know when trying to conceive
Dr Randy Morris MD teaches everything you should know about Early Miscarriage.
Stay tuned to the end for advice about getting pregnant again after an early miscarriage.
#earlymiscarriage #miscarriage #ttc
The first and maybe the most important thing to know about early miscarriage is that is extremely common. Between 50 to 60% of all pregnancies end in miscarriage. Of those, about half are very early miscarriages which often occur before a woman even knows she is pregnant.
An early miscarriage is defined as a pregnancy loss that occurs during the first 13 weeks of pregnancy. But really, most early miscarriages occur before your doctor can see a fetus with heart motion on an ultrasound which is typically around 7 to 8 weeks.
The good news is that if you have an early pregnancy and are experiencing vaginal bleeding, but your doctor can see fetal heart motion on ultrasound, 95% of those pregnancies will go on to result in a viable baby.
A slow heart rate on ultrasound, however, is a concerning sign. A slow heart rate is seen in nearly 70% of early miscarriages. Stated another way, the likelihood of having an early miscarriage is 30 times higher if the ultrasound shows a low heart rate. A slow heart rate in combination with vaginal bleeding is seen in 85% of early miscarriages. How slow is slow? If the measured heart rate is less than 110 bpm, then that is of concern
A number of things can cause an early miscarriage. The most common cause is the embryo or fetus does not have the correct number of chromosomes. A normal fetus has 46 chromosomes, 23 from each parent. 60-70% of early miscarriages are found to have an incorrect number of chromosomes. As women get older, this number gets higher. So older women are more likely to have a miscarriage and any given miscarriage is more likely to be from a chromosome problem.
Other things that probably increase the- risk for early miscarriage include:
-- Smoking
-- Drinking Alcohol
-- Caffeine
-- Obesity
-- Taking supplements (other than prenatals)
Things that do NOT cause early miscarriage include
-- Stress
-- Having sex during pregnancy
-- Exercise during pregnancy
-- Using birth control before pregnancy
-- Falling during pregnancy
-- Getting hit in the abdomen
-- Morning sickness
In fact, women with morning sickness have a lower risk of miscarriage.
The most common signs and symptoms of early miscarriage are vaginal bleeding and cramping. However, these symptoms are also pretty common in women who do not go on to have an early miscarriage.
If you are pregnant and have bleeding, please contact your doctor for further evaluation. Your doctor will want to get a blood test to measure your hCG levels and an ultrasound. This is important to do because some women with early pregnancy bleeding may actually have a tubal pregnancy which is less common but much more dangerous.
One of the most common questions I get asked is: Can an early miscarriage be prevented? The answer depends on whether your are already pregnant. If you are not pregnant and you are trying to prevent an early miscarriage in your next pregnancy, then there are a number of things you can do.
Stop those bad habits, Avoid alcohol, cigarettes and caffeine. If you are overweight - lose weight. If you are older, ask your doctor about IVF combined with testing the embryos for chromosome abnormalities.
If you have had multiple early miscarriages, meaning three or more, see you doctor to be evaluated for recurrent pregnancy loss. There may be treatable problems that can be found
If you are already pregnant, besides the things I discussed before, there is probably not much you can do. Bed rest will not help. Avoiding stress will not help though it may make you feel better. Taking progesterone supplements have been recommended in the past but there really is very little evidence that it will reduce the chance for an early miscarriage. But, it probably won’t harm anything.
Another question I get all the time is: How soon can you try to conceive after having had a miscarriage? In the past, doctors told patients, without any evidence, to wait at least three months. However, we have solid scientific data that shows; attempting pregnancy again right away, as soon as you start ovulating will increase the chance for a successful pregnancy. This could happen within a few weeks of an early miscarriage.
Finally, if you need fertility treatment to conceive, we recommend that you evaluate the uterine cavity before starting treatment again.
Dr Morris is a practicing IVF and infertility expert who sees patients at IVF! located in the Naperville Fertility Center.
Subscribe to Infertility TV now!!!
A new episode of Infertility TV is broadcast weekly every Thursday afternoon
or visit our website at IVF1.com
Do you want to become a patient at IVF1?
*******************************************
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https://patient.ivf1.com/PatientPortal/NewPatient
Or call:
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Thursday, December 20, 2018
Do cell phones or EMF affect your fertility or miscarriage risk?
Are cell phones a cause for your infertility or miscarriages? What is EMF? Find out from Dr Randy Morris MD-The BOARD CERTIFIED fertility expert with weekly TTC tips on InfertilityTV
Cell phones produce low level EMF or electromagnetic fields. We have cell phones on our body pretty much all day. Could that be the reason you are having trouble getting pregnant or staying pregnant?. Stay tuned to find out.
First, lets talk about the guys. Most of the studies on cell phones have studied men and their sperm. Many studies have found a link between cell phone use and some abnormality in a semen analysis. The trouble is not all studies have found an impact.
Studies that did show an impact on sperm, didn’t always show the same problem. For example, some showed lower sperm counts while others showed a lower percentage of moving sperm. One of the best studies to date, out of Boston, tried to account for as many cell phone related variables as possible like information on how much time was spent on the phone, whether a headset or earpiece was used, where on the body they carried the phone. They also tried to account for other variables like smoking, diet and obesity.
Bottom line? They did not find an impact of cell phones on any sperm numbers.
What about women? They use cell phones too. My research turned up four studies that all concluded that increased exposure to EMFs resulted in an increase in the risk for miscarriage. The more exposure the greater the risk.
One problem in looking at these studies is that there are so many sources of EMF besides cells phones from microwaves to vacuum cleaners. However, one study compared over 200 women who had an unexplained miscarriage to an equal sized group who did not have miscarriage. This study found a statistically valid relationship between cell phone use and miscarriage.
For example, women in the miscarriage group averaged 9 and a half minutes of talk time each day.. The non miscarriage group averaged only 3 minutes. The miscarriage group was three times more likely to keep their phones in their pockets and more than twice as likely to use their phone for other stuff besides talking.
Remember, that just because the cell phone use and miscarriage are linked does NOT mean that cell phones cause miscarriage. Finally, and I can’t stress this enough. There is no evidence that buying an expensive cell phone EMF shield does anything but make your bank account lighter.
So until we have better data, you could take some reasonable precautions and put away your cell phone but before you do, tap or click here to subscribe
Infertility TV is your weekly source for the best medical information if you have infertility, recurrent miscarriage or are just trying to conceive. (TTC). InfertilityTV covers infertility testing, fertility treatments such as Clomid, Follistim and Crinone and fertility treatments like IUI and IVF (in vitro fertilization)
One of the most popular playlists on InfertilityTV are the TTC tips which are great even you are not struggling with infertility
Dr Morris is a practicing IVF and infertility expert who sees patients at IVF! located in the Naperville Fertility Center.
Increase your "Infertelligence" ™
Subscribe to Infertility TV now!!!
A new episode of Infertility TV is broadcast weekly every Thursday afternoon
or visit our website at IVF1.com
*******************************************
Do you want to become a patient at IVF1?
*******************************************
Register online here:
https://patient.ivf1.com/PatientPortal/NewPatient
Or call:
630-357-6540
Friday, December 14, 2018
Testosterone TRT and Fertility - The 3 most important things to know in ...
Are you a bodybuilder? Or have you been diagnosed with Low T testosterone? Watch this video if you ever want to have kids
First, to produce normal amounts of healthy sperm, a man must produce the correct hormones from the pituitary gland and testosterone from the testicles. This is an extremely important point. Men need a really high level of testosterone INSIDE THE TESTICLES for sperm production but testosterone alone cannot start or maintain sperm production
If a man is taking #testosterone supplements by ANY method #trt patches, gels, shots whatever, they will suppresses the production of the pituitary hormones which in turn, causes the high levels of testosterone inside the testicles to plummet.
The resulting testosterone levels in the blood are not nearly high to produce sperm but even if they were - there are still no hormones from the pituitary gland to help out.
This results in a suppression of sperm production so pronounced that it can actually be used as a male contraceptive. Let's put that another way. If a group of men is taking testosterone supplements, the sperm production will drop to 0 in nearly 90% of them. That’s no sperm. At all.
#fertility
The good news is that most men who have no sperm will recover after they stop using. But most is not all. Even a year after stopping, some men will still have no sperm or very low levels of sperm leaving them infertile.
Rescue medications like Clomid, hCG and hMG may help speed up the time it takes to resume sperm production but it doesn’t work for everybody. The longer you used and the higher dose, the greater the chance that you might not recover.
What’s the take home? If you are thinking about having children in the future, try to stay off testosterone supplements. If you must take T. Use as low a dose as possible for as short a time as possible. Go off of testosterone several months before you want to attempt pregnancy.
You can get great videos like this one delivered to your phone or computer every week. For free! All you have to do is tap or click right here. It couldn’t be easier. Its like having your own fertility specialist in your phone. Go ahead, try it!
Thursday, December 06, 2018
Smoking and Infertility - 5 Things You Didn't Know
Its no surprise that smoking causes infertility. What is surprising is how much impact it has. I may have some good news at the end for you smokers
#1 Here’s a message I got from my website: Dr. Morris why do you have so much information about smoking? Nobody smokes anymore. Oh really? Even in 2018, about ⅓ of men and women of reproductive age in the United States are smokers. Despite all the warnings and public service announcements. One in three!
#2 Think cigarette smoke is only in the lungs? Think again. A recent study in IVF patients found breakdown products of nicotine in 100% of the follicular fluids of infertility patients undergoing IVF. The more they smoked, the higher the levels were found. In other words, if you are a smoker, your eggs are soaking 24 hours a day in cigarette smoke breakdown products.
Even more alarming? In that same study, 84% of women who were non-smokers and whose partners were non smokers, also had nicotine by-products in their follicular fluid. In other words, the people who smoke at your job are compromising your fertility!
#3 Smokers, you are going to run out eggs sooner. Cigarette smoking has been shown to accelerate the loss of eggs from the ovaries. One of the blood tests we use to measure how many eggs are left is the hormone FSH. Higher FSH levels mean less eggs remain. You commonly see this as women get older. Guess what? Smokers have 66% higher FSH levels than non-smokers. You are likely to go through menopause at an earlier age.-
#4 Smoking also affects IVF success. I know what you are thinking: I’ll just do IVF. Everybody gets pregnant with IVF right? Agreed, IVF is a very good treatment for most types of infertility. However, smokers doing IVF needed higher doses of those expensive fertility injections, but they still ended up with more cycles getting cancelled, less eggs when they weren’t cancelled, more cycles with failed fertilization and overall had a much lower pregnancy rate.
#5 Fine Dr. Morris. You have succeeded in stressing me out, I’m never going to get pregnant, I might as well just have another pack of cigarettes. Wait! Stop! I actually have some good news. Quitting smoking will improve your fertility. In fact, ex-smokers have similar fertility to non-smokers.
OK. That’s 5 things. For more information on smoking and fertility, go to my website at ivf1.com
But first, hit that subscribe button. Its right here! You’ll get fertility tips every week! Its like having a fertility specialist in your phone!
Thursday, November 29, 2018
This Is Us - Kate and Toby IVF analysis by Dr. Morris S3 Ep. 2-5
Recap
Kate and Toby had a miscarriage and then experience secondary infertility. They decide to do IVF. For my full analysis, watch my complete review of Season 3 Episode 1
Episode 2
So Kate and Toby have started the medical treatment phase of IVF. Kate is taking fertility medication injections. In the Uber on the way to Kevin’s movie premier, Kate gets hot flashes. Is this accurate? Well possibly… There are a few type of IVF medication protocols. In the older protocol, called a Down Regulation protocol, women take a medication called Lupron to suppress the pituitary gland. The reduces the chance of premature ovulation or ovulation before the eggs can be retrieved. Most women will need to take this medication for a couple of weeks before starting the actual fertility drugs which stimulate the ovaries. During this time, the estrogen levels from the ovaries get very low and this will commonly result in hot flashes.
These days, many IVF experts will use a shorter protocol in which the medications to prevent ovulation are given at the same time as the fertility drugs instead of beforehand. As a result, there is no decrease in estrogen levels so this protocol does not result in hot flashes
The big drama in this episode is when Kate’s mom, Rebecca discovers that Kate and Toby are doing IVF. This occurs, when Miguel goes into the refrigerator and accidentally discovers Kate’s medications. For this, the show gets good marks. Many of these medications have to be kept in the refrigerator. I know many stories of patients trying to hide the medications when guests are over.
The show also hits the right mark when dealing with Kate’s concern about her family finding out. Many of my IVF patients, do not reveal to their families what they are going through until after the fact.
Skip ahead to Kevin’s movie premier. Toby, who usually gives Kate her injections, is nowhere to be found. Kate is freaking out because she has been told that the medications have to be given at an exact time. A newly convinced Rebecca ends up giving the injection to Kate. The reality is that is overly dramatic. With one exception, these medications do NOT have to be timed to the minute. Generally speaking, we talk about these medications being given in the morning or the evening. There is a few hour leeway.
The one exception to that is that injection that is given before the eggs are retrieved. This is known as the trigger injection. This injection has to be given at a precise time according to the doctors injections. We know that this wasn’t Kate’s trigger injection however, because if it was, then Kate would have had the egg retrieval two mornings after Kevin’s premier - which she did not.
So Rebecca ends up giving Kate her injection in the bathroom of the movie theater. Love this scene! Many patients have told me stories about the odd places that they have had to given injections. Movie theaters, restaurants, weddings they were standing up at and even in airports and airplanes during flights. Where was the oddest place you gave or received fertility injections? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter #InfertilityTV and #milehighclub
I do have a bone to pick about the location of the injection on Kate’s body. Rebecca gives the injection in Kate’s thigh muscle. Almost all fertility medications these days are given with a tiny needle under the skin - typically in the abdomen. Plus, most women do these injections themselves. But I’’ let them slide on this one because I loved Rebecca’s turn around on this.
One thing I didn’t like. Kate was drinking alcohol at the movie premier. A number of studies have found that alcohol use is associated with decreased success rates with IVF. At IVF1, we recommend to our patients that both partners stop alcohol use a month before starting the IVF medications.
Finally, this episode brings up the issue of risks. Specifically, Rebecca asks “Have you guys really considered all of the risks?”. I think she is not just talking about IVF here but about the risks of pregnancy in general. The biggest risk that Kate face with IVF is simply that it won’t work. The other risks associated with IVF egg retrieval like all procedures include infection, bleeding, damage to nearby organs and most importantly for Kate, anesthesia risk.
However, there are many more risks to pregnancy. These risks are magnified in women who have a history of infertility and women who have a high BMI. If Kate gets pregnant it will be interesting to see whether she has problems with gestational diabetes or the high blood pressure problem known as pre-eclampsia.
Episode 3
In this episode, Kate finally gets to the point of having her IVF egg retrieval but not before getting into an argument with Randall in which he suggests that maybe she and Toby should be adopting instead of doing IVF. Kate hits him with my favorite line in Season 2. She states “How dare you throw adoption in my face right now, and how dare you make me defend wanting this.”
I love this because it is something that infertility patients hear commonly. It's an absurd comment to make because it implies that women who have infertility have a greater responsibility to adopt children than anyone else does simply because they have a disease process which requires them to have medical treatment to be able conceive on their own
Now on to the egg retrieval. I should point out here that 90% of the time, the anesthesia that is given for an egg retrieval is administered through an IV in the arm and that’s all. In Kate’s case, however, she gets Intubated. This means that the anesthesiologist buts a tube down her windpipe. This allows a deeper level of anesthesia to be given and at the same time allows the anesthesiologist to help her breathe if any problems come up during the procedure.
This is an excellent idea for women who are very obese, like Kate and at higher risk from anesthesia.
Next we learn that Kate’s IVF specialist, Dr Jasper, was able to retrieve 8 eggs and tells Kate that’s a good number. But is it? At IVF1, the average number of eggs retrieved for a 36 years is 14 but obese women do not respond as well to fertility medications and commonly get less eggs so 8 is probably doing pretty good
Incidentally, it seems Kate was lucky to get her own doctor to do the egg retrieval. It’s Dr Jasper who comes into the recovery room after Kate wakes up from anesthesia to tell her the number of eggs. We know from episode 1 that Dr Jasper is part of a larger group. With large groups, the doctors will commonly take turns each day. So one doctor would do all of the egg retrievals for a given day whether its for her patients or another doctor in the group. However, when we see the picture of Kate and Toby’s embryo later it says the Doctor was Dr. Arroyo. Production error ir was Dr Jasper trying to take credit for Dr Arroyo’s work?
Episode 4 is all about Jack in Vietnam so lets skip to Episode 5
This is the embryology episode. We learn that out of the 8 eggs, there were only 3 that fertilized. This seems a little low. An average fertilization rate is 70 percent. However, we are never told how many of the eggs were actually mature, healthy eggs that had Toby’s sperm injected. If we assume 5 mature eggs, then having three out of five fertilize seems closer to an expected number.
One confusing thing happens here. Dr Jasper calls Kate and Toby, the day after the egg retrieval to tell them they have three fertilized eggs but the picture they post on their refrigerator of the “Three Amigos” is of embryos at the 4 cell cell stage which is 2 days after the egg retrieval which is possible but most IVF labs don’t check or photograph embryos at that stage.
From the three fertilized eggs, only one embryo develops and is available for transfer. Is this typical? Actually, yes. Most of the the embryos that a woman produces either on her own or with IVF are not viable embryos that do not have the ability to produce a live born baby. In many cases, embryos will stop dividing or even degenerate.
The one embryo remaining, to which Toby sings, “One Singular Sensation” is an 8 cell embryo which means that Kate’s embryo transfer occurred on the 3rd day after the egg retrieval. The picture says its Day 9 which is impossible so this is likely just another tiny production error.
Finally, we learn that Kate had a positive pregnancy test. Before getting the official news from Dr. Jasper, Toby wisely tells Kate to avoid doing a home pregnancy test which is a great idea because as Kate says, these home tests are not accurate enough when done this early in pregnancy and could quite possibly cause “emotional chaos.
Yay! Kate is pregnant. Will she miscarry again? Will she experience pregnancy complications? Did the embryo split and produce twins? Or Triplets? And most importantly, will the medical information presented on the show be accurate? Tune in to This is Us and Click that notification bell so you dont miss any future episodes of Infertility TV.
Thursday, November 22, 2018
Does men's underwear matter for fertility ? - Boxers vs briefs - Inferti...
Today in InfertilityTV we are going to discuss underwear. Specifically male underwear. Stay tuned for 60 seconds to get my fertility recommendations
The following statements are well agreed upon facts. The testicles are located outside the body in the scrotum. The temperature of the testicles is a couple of degrees lower than inside the abdomen. When the scrotum is exposed to heat over a period of time, this will have an adverse of effect on sperm production.
Based on these facts, several practical questions comes up. Will wearing tight underwear increase the scrotal temperature? Several studies have looked at this but the results have been inconsistent.
The next question that scientists have tried to answer is - does the type of underwear that a man wears influence sperm production? Several studies have also looked at this but again there are conflicting results. Some studies say yes but other studies say no. A recent study, one of the largest ever performed, found a 17% decrease in sperm numbers when men chose non boxer type of underwear.
Why all the uncertainty? Well. for one, like most lifestyle questions, it’s pretty difficult to rule out all other variables and to say with certainty that one factor, such as underwear choice, makes a difference. Second, there is a huge variation in the type of underwear that mean wear. It’s not just a difference between boxers and briefs but the length of the underwear and how tightly fitting it is. The material is also important, cotton, nylon, silk, polyester, flannel-- all may have a different impact. Finally, studies show that up to ⅓ of men will change their underwear to a different type before going to bed!
Here are my InfertilityTV recommendations for men
If you like boxer shorts, knock yourself out. No one has ever suggested any adverse effect from boxers
If you like briefs, keep wearing them. There isn’t sufficient evidence that this one factor, by itself, will make you less fertile. In fact, the largest study to look at actual fertility potential found no impact of underwear type.
Friday, November 16, 2018
Essential Oils - Should you avoid them while trying to conceive - TTC ?
Should essential oils be avoided when you are TTC? Some essential oils are endocrine disrupters that may affect normal development or cause endometriosis. Listen in as Dr Randy Morris MD-The BOARD CERTIFIED fertility expert explains on InfertilityTV
#essentialoils #ttc #endometriosis
One of the latest fads to sweep the internet are essential oils. If you are not familiar, these are liquids that are chemically extracted from various plants and then released into the air through a vaporizing device and then inhaled into the body. In this respect, they are similar to E-cigarettes.
Hang on for another 45 seconds to hear my very important recommendations about essential oils for couples trying to get pregnant.
The first thing to understand about essential oils is that there is nothing essential about them. Your body does not need these chemicals as opposed to things it does require such as essential amino acids.
While these oils were initially utilized to provide a pleasant scent, more recently they have been promoted as healing therapies and are promoted on the internet as a cure all for everything from allergies and asthma to cancer prevention.
Although the names sound benign, these oils contain mixtures of dozen or hundreds of chemicals. These oils, and therefore the chemicals that make them up, are very concentrated and can have very real effects on the body.
Recently, scientists were investigating why some young men who were exposed to these oils grew breasts, a problem called gynecomastia.
They discovered that a number of the chemicals that are found in dozens of oils act as endocrine disrupters. This means that they interfere with the action of hormones in the body.
Hormones are involved in the process of reproduction and pregnancy. Studies of various environmental endocrine disrupters have found they can negatively affect the growth and development of eggs in the ovaries, interfere with normal hormone production and affect the development of a fetus in the uterus.
There is evidence that endocrine disrupters may lead to the development of endometriosis.
In men, it can interfere with normal sperm production.
Until we studies about the safety on these powerful chemical mixtures, it is my recommendation that both women and men avoid exposure to essential oils if they are now attempting to conceive or plan on trying to conceive in the near future.
Women who are pregnant or think they might be pregnant should also avoid them as well as women who are nursing.
Infertility TV is your weekly source for the best medical information if you have infertility, recurrent miscarriage or are just trying to conceive. (TTC). InfertilityTV covers infertility testing, fertility treatments such as Clomid, Follistim and Crinone and fertility treatments like IUI and IVF (in vitro fertilization)
One of the most popular playlists on InfertilityTV are the TTC tips which are great even you are not struggling with infertility
Dr Morris is a practicing IVF and infertility expert who sees patients at IVF! located in the Naperville Fertility Center.
Increase your "Infertelligence" ™
Subscribe to Infertility TV now!!!
A new episode of Infertility TV is broadcast weekly every Thursday afternoon
or visit our website at IVF1.com
*******************************************
Do you want to become a patient at IVF1?
*******************************************
Register online here:
https://patient.ivf1.com/PatientPortal/NewPatient
Or call:
630-357-6540
Thursday, November 08, 2018
Infertility Treatment for Women - IVF -
Dr Randy Morris MD-The BOARD CERTIFIED fertility expert with weekly TTC tips on InfertilityTV
No discussion of infertility treatment for women would be complete without a discussion of IVF or in vitro fertilization. IVF is a totally unique and successful infertility treatment for women
First off, many people confuse #IVF with #IUI. IUI or intrauterine insemination is when sperm is injected into the uterus at the time of ovulation. IVF or in vitro fertilization is when eggs are removed from the ovaries and fertilized outside of the body. Later on, embryos are placed into the uterus.
There are many different ways to do IVF. Today, we are going to discuss the most common method used by the most advanced IVF centers such as IVF1.
In order to obtain many eggs, women are first given injectable fertility medications for 10 to 12 days. During this time, she will visit the IVF specialist’s office for every few days or so to have blood tests and ultrasounds.
The results of these tests are used by the doctor to make adjustments to the treatment and to determine the appropriate time to remove the eggs.
The eggs are removed in a process called an egg retrieval. This is done under anesthesia by passing a long needle into the ovaries under ultrasound guidance. It takes about 15-20 minutes.
The eggs are then fertilized by adding sperm and then allowed to grow in the IVF laboratory for several days. The embryos can then be placed into the uterus or frozen for future placement. This is known as an embryo transfer.
The embryo transfer is an easy procedure which does not require anesthesia. In fact, at IVF, we set up a special ultrasound monitor for the patient and her partner so they can watch the transfer as it’s being done.
Then comes the longest wait of your life. It takes a while for an embryo to implant into the uterus and a little time after that before a pregnancy test will be positive.
So the final step is to keep your fingers crossed
Infertility TV is your weekly source for the best medical information if you have infertility, recurrent miscarriage or are just trying to conceive. (TTC). InfertilityTV covers infertility testing, fertility treatments such as Clomid, Follistim and Crinone and fertility treatments like IUI and IVF (in vitro fertilization)
One of the most popular playlists on InfertilityTV are the TTC tips which are great even you are not struggling with infertility
Dr Morris is a practicing IVF and infertility expert who sees patients at IVF! located in the Naperville Fertility Center.
Increase your "Infertelligence" ™
Subscribe to Infertility TV now!!!
A new episode of Infertility TV is broadcast weekly every Thursday afternoon
or visit our website at IVF1.com
*******************************************
Do you want to become a patient at IVF1?
*******************************************
Register online here:
https://patient.ivf1.com/PatientPortal/NewPatient
Or call:
630-357-6540
Thursday, November 01, 2018
Infertility Treatment for Women - Fertility Drugs - Infertility TV
This is part 3 in our series on Infertility Treatment for Women. This Episode covers Infertility Drugs. Dr Randy Morris MD-The BOARD CERTIFIED fertility expert with weekly TTC tips on InfertilityTV
Fertility drugs are the most commonly used #infertility treatment for women. Today, we are going to discuss how these medications are used.
Fertility medications are used for three purposes:
1) To get women who don’t ovulate on their own to ovulate
2) To increase the number of eggs released in women who do ovulate and
3) In preparation for IVF.
For inducing ovulation, oral medications are usually used first since they are less expensive, easier to use and don’t require as much monitoring.
#Clomid is the most commonly used medication. Typically, your doctor will start with a lower dose such as 1 or 2 pills a day for five days. After monitoring, if the doctor determines that you did not ovulate, then your dose can be increased by 1 pill per day. So if two pills a day for five days didn’t work then you go up to three pills a day and so on. You usually wouldn’t go higher than five days but in rare cases you might take the Clomid for 7 or 10 days.
Injectable medications are a more potent #infertilitytreatment for women. Typically, you will see a higher percentage of women who will ovulate and more will get pregnant. Commonly used brands of these medications are Follistim or Gonal F.
Like the Clomid, if you are trying to induce ovulation, the doctor will usually start on a lower dose and increase only if necessary. The exact dose is going to be determined by a number of factors however such as your age, the results of hormone testing and the response you had to any previous treatments.
Because they are more potent, the injections require closer monitoring with blood tests and ultrasounds in the doctor’s office every few days.
When being used to get multiple eggs in women who already ovulate, or for IVF, the dose of medications may be higher than when it’s used to induce ovulation.
There are side effects and complications that occur with the use of fertility medications so make sure you have an experienced fertility specialist to oversee your treatment.
Infertility TV is your weekly source for the best medical information if you have infertility, recurrent miscarriage or are just trying to conceive. (TTC). InfertilityTV covers infertility testing, fertility treatments such as Clomid, Follistim and Crinone and fertility treatments like IUI and IVF (in vitro fertilization)
One of the most popular playlists on InfertilityTV are the TTC tips which are great even you are not struggling with infertility
Dr Morris is a practicing IVF and infertility expert who sees patients at IVF! located in the Naperville Fertility Center.
Increase your "Infertelligence" ™
Subscribe to Infertility TV now!!!
A new episode of Infertility TV is broadcast weekly every Thursday afternoon
or visit our website at IVF1.com
*******************************************
Do you want to become a patient at IVF1?
*******************************************
Register online here:
https://patient.ivf1.com/PatientPortal/NewPatient
Or call:
630-357-6540
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Infertility treatment for women - Surgery - InfertilityTV
What types of surgery can be used as infertility treatment for women? Find out on this week's episode of InfertilityTV with Dr Randy Morris MD-The BOARD CERTIFIED fertility expert with weekly TTC tips
Infertility treatment for women - Surgery
Surgery, as an infertility treatment for women is not nearly as common as in the past. There are still some cases in which surgery is a good treatment for women with infertility. Make sure you stay to the end for the complete story.
#Surgery for infertility can be divided into two main areas. Surgery inside the uterus and surgery outside of the uterus
#Hysteroscopy
Surgery inside the uterus is performed with a fiber-optic scope called a hysteroscope. The doctor looks inside of the uterus through the hysteroscope which is attached to a video camera with a monitor.
The types of problems that can be fixed with a hysteroscope includes growths like fibroids or polyps, scar tissue and abnormalities in how the uterus developed. Once common example of this is something called a uterine septum in which tissue divides the uterus down the middle so that the uterus is split into two smaller halves.
Hysteroscopy is a non-invasive surgery. It does not usually require an overnight stay in the hospital and most women will be able to return to their normal activities by the next day.
#Laparoscopy
Sometimes problems can occur outside the uterus which can interfere with fertility. The most common problems are endometriosis, scar tissue and blocked fallopian tubes. Surgery for these problems can also be treated with a fiber-optic scope called a laparoscope.
Instead of going through the vagina, this scope is inserted through the belly button through a 1 cm incision. Additional instruments can be placed through additional incisions near the pubic hair line.
Depending on how much is being done, some women might end up staying in the hospital overnight but most of the time they can go home right after the surgery. The amount of time they will need for recovery is also going to vary on how long the surgery took and how much was done. Most women will need at least a few days before returning to normal activities and some might require a week or more.
Infertility TV is your weekly source for the best medical information if you have infertility, recurrent miscarriage or are just trying to conceive. (TTC). InfertilityTV covers infertility testing, fertility treatments such as Clomid, Follistim and Crinone and fertility treatments like IUI and IVF (in vitro fertilization)
One of the most popular playlists on InfertilityTV are the TTC tips which are great even you are not struggling with infertility
Dr Morris is a practicing IVF and infertility expert who sees patients at IVF! located in the Naperville Fertility Center.
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Thursday, October 18, 2018
Infertility treatment for women - IUI - 7 facts you should know
There are many infertility treatments for women. Is IUI the right infertility treatment for you? Dr Randy Morris MD-The BOARD CERTIFIED fertility expert with weekly TTC tips on InfertilityTV
#IUI #infertility #infertilitytreatment
Infertility treatment for women is a big topic to cover. I am going to break it down into some broad categories to make it easier to understand. In today’s episode, I am going to explain IUI.
IUI is also called intrauterine insemination or sometimes artificial insemination. It’s the process of putting sperm directly into the uterus.Why would this help you get pregnant?
When you have intercourse, sperm are deposited into the vagina. Most of them promptly die. Some leak out of the vagina. Most of the sperm that aren’t killed, get trapped in the sticky mucous of the cervical canal. The end results is that very few sperm make it into the fallopian tubes where fertilization happens.
With IUI, you put the sperm directly into the uterus. That way you get a lot more sperm into the tubes and the chance for pregnancy is higher. This is true even when a man has a normal amount of moving sperm on his semen analysis.
Of course, in order for IUI to work, a woman must ovulate and have at least one fallopian tube that is open.
Fertility medications are often used with IUI to further increase the chance for pregnancy.
Men who have really low sperm numbers, such as less than a million or two are not the best candidates for IUI and should instead consider IVF.
IUI does not increase the chance for a multiple pregnancy but the use of fertility medications will increase that risk.
Compared to other fertility treatments, IUI is pretty reasonable priced. Usually, it somewhere in the few hundred dollar range for each month.
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Friday, October 12, 2018
IVF Procedure - How Long Does It Take? | InfertilityTV
How long does it take to complete the IVF procedure? Find out from Dr Randy Morris MD-The BOARD CERTIFIED IVF expert with weekly TTC tips on InfertilityTV
#IVFProcedure #IVF #invitro
The IVF procedure - how long does it take? The answer is anywhere from a few weeks to a few months depending on what type of IVF procedure you do and what protocol you use.
To figure out the length of time that IVF will take, you first need to know what type of IVF medication protocol you are going to use. There are two main types: The long protocol and the short protocol.
The long protocol uses a medication called Lupron to stop you from ovulating during the treatment. Most women will need to be on Lupron for two to three weeks BEFORE they then start the fertility medication to stimulate the ovaries.
The short protocol uses a different type of medication to prevent ovulation. Two common brands are called Ganirelix and Cetrotide. The medications are given DURING the time that the fertility drugs are being given.
Most women will need to take fertility drugs for 10 to 12 days. At IVF1, we have seen some women who only needed 8 days and others who needed 16 days but most are somewhere between those extremes.
The egg retrieval is performed two days after the last dose of fertility medication.
So if you are doing the long protocol, you are up to 4-5 weeks. If you are using the short protocol, you are at about two weeks.
The next thing to figure out is whether you are doing a fresh transfer or a frozen transfer.
A fresh transfer is going to be performed three to five days after the egg retrieval. However, most of the really good IVF programs these days are no longer doing fresh transfers. At IVF1, we freeze all of the embryos and then put the embryos in the uterus at a later time.
Check out this video for more info on fresh versus frozen transfer.
Frozen embryos transfer will definitely add some time to the process. First, it will take about a week and a half for you to get your period after the egg retrieval. At that point, you will need to prepare the uterus for the transfer. How long this part takes will again be dependent on the protocol your doctor puts you on.
If you are using Lupron again, figure another 4-5 weeks. If not figure about two weeks.
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Thursday, October 04, 2018
This Is Us | Real Infertility / IVF Doctor Analysis
Are you a #ThisIsUs fan? We are! Season 3 Blockbuster: #katepearson has #PCOS! Toby has low sperm counts! They need #IVF! #DrMorris gives an in depth analysis of Episode 1. See what they got right! See what they got wrong. How did you feel as #infertility patients? Let us know in the comments #invitrofertilization #Polycysticovarysyndrome #RandyMorrisMD CAUTION: Spoilers!
Thursday, September 27, 2018
Fertility Diet: 7 science based food tips for TTC
Which fertility diet tips actually work? Which fertility diet prevents endometriosis? Or helps with sperm counts? Dr Randy Morris MD-The BOARD CERTIFIED fertility expert with weekly TTC tips on InfertilityTV
#fertilitydiet
Fertility diets - Are they fact or fiction? In today's episode, we will discuss whether fruits, vegetables, fast food, seafood, trans fats and carbs can help or hurt your fertility. Stay tuned to the end for my specific diet recommendations. (more below)
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First, don’t get confused. There are many different types of diets for a variety of medical problems. A diet to lower cholesterol, for example, won’t necessarily help with your fertility.
Second, if you are overweight, ANY type of diet that will allow you to lose weight will improve your fertility. Let’s get into some specifics.
Fruits and vegetables -- A new study found that women who eat fast food and little or no fruit take longer to become pregnant. For women who had with the lowest intake of fruit, the risk of infertility increased from 8% to 12%, and in those who ate fast food four or more times a week, the risk of infertility doubled from 8% to 16%.
Fast foods included burgers, pizza, fried chicken and chips that were bought from take-away or fast food outlets. These findings were true regardless of female weight (BMI ).
The LIFE (Longitudinal Investigation of Fertility and the Environment) study of 501 couples planning pregnancy shows that couples consuming two or more servings of seafood every week enjoyed more sex and got pregnant faster than those eating seafood less often. After 1 year, 92% of couples with a seafood-rich diet had conceived compared with 79% of couples with diets that contained less fish and shellfish.
Another study found that a diet high in trans fats were 48% more likely to develop endometriosis than those with the lowest consumption. However women eating a diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids, found in oily fish, seemed to protect against the disease as these women had a 22% reduced risk of developing endometriosis
A survey of women with and without ovulation problems found that women with ovulation problems were more likely to eat low fat dairy products, refined carbs, get their protein from animal products and consume trans fats. So if you have an ovulation problem avoid these things.
A typical Mediterranean diet contains a high amount of vegetables, fruits, olive oil, beans and cereal grains, moderate amounts of fish, dairy products, and wine, and only a small amount of red meat and poultry. A study from Greece of nearly 250 women found that those women who adhered most closely to this diet had 66% higher pregnancy rates during IVF.
Men who follow Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI guidelines) (a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products and a relatively low intake of refined grains, saturated fatty acids, and added sugars) showed significantly better results for concentration, total sperm count, and percentage of normal semen morphology compared with men who didn't follow such a diet.
So to put this all together. My recommendations for a fertility diet. It seems reasonable to eat some fruits and vegetables every day. Seafood at least twice a week. Stay away from fast foods and foods that are high in trans fats. If you have an ovulation problem, try to switch from low fat dairy to high fat dairy. Get more of your protein from plants sources that from animal sources. Swap out your current vegetable oil for Extra Virgin Olive Oil. The Mediterranean diet takes most of these recommendations into account already. If you follow that diet closely you should maximize your fertility.
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Music: Divider - Chris Zabriski
Friday, September 21, 2018
IVF Expert Randy Morris Performing IVF with low sperm counts
Randy Morris, an IVF expert, discusses how to do IVF with low sperm counts
According to Randy Morris M.D. if a man has very low sperm counts, then standard IVF may not work due to failed or poor fertilization.
Dr. Morris states that the technique known as ICSI or intracytoplasmic sperm injection can overcome these problems and result in normal fertilization and pregnancy.
#RandyMorris
##IVF
Randy Morris Endometriosis Surgery
Randy Morris is an IVF and Infertility Expert at IVF1 in Naperville, Illinois.
Endometriosis is a common problem which can cause both infertility and pain.
Dr. Randy Morris grades endometriosis based on how much of it is present in the body. Learn about the staging from Randy Morris M.D.
Also discussed in this video is the impact of surgery on the ovaries which can compromise ovarian reserve.
#RandyMorris
#DrRandyMorris
#Naperville
Thursday, September 20, 2018
Randy Morris Naperville Restaurant Fire
Randy Morris tells the story of how a special air filtration system protected his IVF lab from a Naperville Restaurant Fire
Thursday, September 13, 2018
Fertility pills to get pregnant - TTC - InfertilityTV
Which fertility pills to get pregnant work? More importantly, which ones don't work or are dangerous? Dr Randy Morris MD-The BOARD CERTIFIED fertility expert with weekly #TTC tips on #InfertilityTV
Fertility pills to get pregnant
The are several different #fertilitypills you can use to get pregnant. I’ll discuss the ones that work first but stick around to the end to hear about the ones that don’t work or are dangerous.
#Clomid, or clomiphene citrate, is probably the most widely used fertility pill in the world. Clomid is used to help women who don’t ovulate but also for women who already ovulate to produce more eggs at one time.
A typical course of Clomid goes for five days. Monitoring for ovulation is important. With clomid you can use a home ovulation predictor test or be monitored in the doctor’s office with blood tests and ultrasound.
Like all fertility treatments, the success rate with Clomid decreases as women get older. Plus, out of every hundred pregnancies on Clomid, about 15-20 will be twins. Triplets and more are pretty rare.
Clomid will not work for everybody. If clomid is going to work for you, you will usually get pregnant in the first four months. So if you are not pregnant by then, think about moving on to something else.
#Letrozole, also known as #Femara, is another fertility pill. Like Clomid, letrozole is also given over five days. Its most common use is to induce ovulation in women with PCOS. In fact, well done studies have shown that for PCOS patients, letrozole is better than Clomid. More women will successfully ovulate and more will get pregnant.
You may hear about women using letrozole for other reasons. But there is no good evidence that it works any better than Clomid in other instances.
The risk for multiples with letrozole is about the same as it is with Clomid.
#Metformin or #Glucophage is a pill that was originally used to treat people with Type 2 diabetes. Metformin helps treat a problem called insulin resistance. Insulin resistance in women can interfere with ovulation. The two groups of women are most likely to have ovulation problems due to insulin resistance are women with PCOS and very overweight women with a BMI over 30.
If your doctor wants to start you on metformin, here are some quick tips. The optimal dose of metformin is 2000 mg a day. But don’t start at that dose. Metformin can cause side effects such as bloating, cramping and diarrhea. Start on 500 mg or one pill a day and work your way up gradually. Also, there are long acting versions of metformin. These will have the letters XR or ER which stand for extended release. We recommend extended release to make your life a little easier and further lower side effects.
The biggest benefits to metformin are that it does not increase your risk for multiple pregnancy and even if you don’t get pregnant, it will lower your chance for getting Type 2 diabetes
Which pills don’t improve fertility?
First, although prenatal vitamins are recommended before you conceive, they don’t actually do anything to help with fertility. You should absolutely take them, however, because they will reduce the chances for birth defect and help with fetal brain, eye and heart development
Supplements such as #CoQ10 and #DHEA are often sold on the internet as fertility pills but there is little evidence for any benefit for fertility
Herbal supplements should also be avoided. A review of scientific evidence failed to find a benefit of herbal supplements. People using herbal supplements, especially women trying to conceive, should be aware of the possible risks associated with lead exposure from herbal supplements.
Exposure of a fetus to high lead concentrations in the uterus could result in neurological defects, lower birth weight, premature birth, and an increase in birth defects. Adverse effects may even occur at lower levels than previously thought. All patients should consult their physician before beginning any such treatment.
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Thursday, September 06, 2018
HSG blocked fallopian tubes - What now?
If your HSG showed blocked fallopian tubes could you still be able to get pregnant without IVF or surgery? Learn how from Dr Randy Morris MD-The BOARD CERTIFIED fertility expert with weekly TTC tips on InfertilityTV
You’ve just had an #HSG and your doctor told you that you have #blockedfallopiantubes and you can’t get pregnant on your own. What do you do now? First, don’t panic! There may be a number of options for you.
First step, get more information. How many tubes are blocked?
If only one tube is blocked, it is still possible to get pregnant on your own without any treatment. Although the chance for pregnancy is a little lower than for women with two open tubes, it is not 50% lower.
If both tubes are blocked, then the location of the blockage is important. There are two common locations for blockage.
-- Proximal blockage is where the tube is attached to the uterus.
-- Distal blockage is at the far end, near the ovary.
Proximal blockage may not even be a real blockage. Sometimes, during an HSG, the muscle around the tube may contract, pinching off the tube. This may look like a blockage but it isn't real. A repeat HSG will often be normal.
At IVF1, we can also put a catheter into the tube so the spasm doesn’t impact the dye flow.
***A real blockage can sometimes be fixed - without surgery.***
This technique uses a wire which is pushed through the tube to clear the blockage from the tube. This technique has allowed many women to avoid having the more expensive #IVF treatment.
Distal blockage cannot be fixed without surgery. Surgically opening the end of a tube is possible but the pregnancy rates are low and there is a higher risk for a tubal pregnancy to occur afterward.
If all else fails, patients with tubal blockage generally will do well with IVF.
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Music: Divider - Chris Zabriskie (CC BY 3.0)
Thursday, August 30, 2018
First Time IVF Success - More Tips From The Expert
Thursday, August 16, 2018
Thursday, August 02, 2018
Recurrent miscarriage? New testing may finally help you find the answer
Recurrent miscarriage - Dr Randy Morris MD discusses old and NEW recurrent miscarriage testing. -The BOARD CERTIFIED fertility expert with weekly TTC tips on InfertilityTV
Approximately 1% of couples attempting pregnancy will suffer from #recurrentmiscarriage.. Evaluation of the causes of recurrent #miscarriage is extensive and includes evaluating a woman for problems with her uterus, immune system, hormones, blood clotting system, and testing for possible systemic diseases such as infections, diabetes and Celiac disease. Both the woman and her partner also have a chromosome analysis.
However, roughly 50% of the time, the causes of recurrent #miscarriage are not found. Numerous attempts have been made to look for specific gene mutations that may cause recurrent miscarriage. Several candidate genes have been studied but definitive evidence that they cause recurrent miscarriage was lacking.
Recently, researchers found that women with variations in their #FOXD1 gene are TEN times more likely to have recurrent miscarriage compared to women without these variants. This is a more potent cause for #miscarriage than any previously studied factor. In fact, FOXD1 variants were found ONLY in women with recurrent miscarriage. They were never found in women without recurrent miscarriage.
Depending on the specific variant found, there are different possible treatments that can be employed to help reduce the risk for future miscarriages. Currently, this testing is only available at #IVF1.
This video focuses on:
#recurrentmiscarriagetesting
#recurrentmiscarriagetreatment
#recurrentmiscarriagesuccess
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Thursday, July 19, 2018
Hashimotos, Hypothyroid and Fertility| Finally! A clear and logical expl...
Hashimoto's or Hypothyroid? Dr Randy Morris MD-The BOARD CERTIFIED fertility expert explains the difference on #InfertilityTV
Few things cause more confusion amongst my patients than the thyroid. But its really pretty straightforward once you understand some basic points.
The thyroid is a gland that both men and women have that is located in the front of the neck. There are two major hormones produced by the thyroid. T3 and T4. When the levels of one or both of these hormones are low, it is called #hypothyroidism or an under active thyroid. When they are high, it is called hyperthyroidism.
#Hypothyroidism is common in women, get more common as they get older and can cause them to have difficulty in getting pregnant. This occurs because hypothyroidism can interfere with ovulation. Treating hypothyroidism is an effective method to restore ovulation and improve fertility.
#Hashimoto’s Disease or Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis is a condition in which the body has high levels of antibodies that attack and cause damage to the thyroid. A person who has elevated levels of thyroid antibodies might, at any given moment, have a thyroid gland that is producing too much, too little or just the right amount of thyroid hormones. So why bother measuring the levels of thyroid antibodies if the thyroid gland is functioning normally?
Well, we know two things about people who have high thyroid antibody levels:
First, They are mo re likely to develop thyroid problems in the future. So even if the thyroid is producing the correct amount of hormones today, these individuals are at greater risk than others for having hypothyroidism in the future. For women, this could happen during pregnancy or after delivery. So this helps doctors to identify women that need to be watched more closely for the development of thyroid problems.
Second, there is a fair amount of evidence that suggests that women with elevated levels of thyroid antibodies are at greater risk for miscarriage. One study found that the risk for #miscarriage was double in women with elevated thyroid antibody levels.
Do you have a topic or question you would like answered on Infertility TV? Let us know in the comments. You don't want to miss any episodes so subscribe to Infertility TV now and visit our website at ivf1.com
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