Is it me? Did I do something wrong? The question that haunts you after your first pregnancy loss and every loss thereafter.
The pain that you experience—no matter how far along or how many times it’s already happened to you—is utterly heart wrenching. Your hopes and dreams of a growing family instantly vanish, and you’re left feeling a mix of emotions: confused, hurt, angry, devastated, and broken. Is it me? Did I do something wrong?
No. You didn’t do anything wrong.
Diet and fertility
Recurrent loss is not your fault. It can happen for a number of reasons, including an underlying issue related to the food you consume. This doesn’t mean you ate something that caused you to have a miscarriage, but you may be eating certain foods that are contributing to underlying issues linked to recurrent loss.
Common underlying issues are:
- Blood sugar dysregulation
- Inflammation
- Unhealthy gut
*To know if any of these are contributing to your recurrent loss it’s important to work with a qualified practitioner that can help you test for these underlying issues.
Making your diet work for you
Tailoring your diet to fit your own bio-individual needs can help with managing the underlying issues mentioned above. There are two ways you can go about this.
- The first is to do an elimination diet like Autoimmune Protocol (AIP), Whole 30, low histamine, or any of the many options that work best for you.
- The second is to work with a practitioner who perform a food sensitivity test to figure out what specific foods are not working for your body right now. It’s important to note that while food sensitivity testing can be expensive, it does ensure that you’re only eliminating the right foods for your body.
Please know that even if something in your diet has affected your fertility, it doesn’t mean that it’s your fault. It is not your fault. The link between diet and fertility is not common knowledge in our society. Not to mention, it’s a combination of factors that add up to infertility issues. Eating one Oreo isn’t going to affect your fertility.
Investigating underlying issues
When you have experienced multiple losses it’s important to investigate whether an underlying issue may play a role.
Work with your doctor to consider tests like:
- Blood Sugar handling: HgbA1c, fasting glucose and Insulin
- Gene mutations: MTHFR and COMT (at the minimum)
- Nutrients: Vitamin D and B Vitamins (at the minimum)
- Sex Hormones: Testosterone, FSH, LH, Estrogen, Progesterone, DHEA, and Prolactin
- Thyroid: TSH, T4, T3, rT3, and Thyroid Anitbodies
- Blood type (look for rh-)
- Inflammation: Homocystine, C reactive protein
- DUTCH hormone testing
- GI-Map.
Don’t forget to have your partner get tested if they are the ones providing the sperm. Sperm contributes half the DNA so it’s possible that it may be a contributing factor in the losses. If you’re using donated sperm, make sure to ask about what testing has been done to verify the quality of the sperm and DNA fragmentation.
There are so many options to investigate any underlying issues related to recurrent loss. If your doctor hasn’t looked into any testing after multiple miscarriages, it may be time to seek a different doctor or find another qualified practitioner that can help you investigate any underlying issues.
Supplementing for fertility
If you’re considering supplementing to help with recurrent loss, note that the supplements will depend on the possible root causes of the losses are. One universal recommendation for recurrent loss is ensuring your pre-natal vitamins contain folate not folic acid. Folic acid isn’t usually well-absorbed by the body.
Other supplements you should discuss using with a practitioner are:
- Antioxidants like COQ10 for egg quality
- Vitamin E for uterine lining quality
- Anti-inflammatories like ginger and turmeric
- Supplemental bio-identical progesterone.
These are just some common supplements that may be helpful for women experiencing recurrent loss but there are many more depending on the root cause. It’s important to remember supplements are just that supplemental and DO NOT replace addressing the root cause, eating a quality nutrient dense whole foods diet, and lifestyle changes.
Addressing stress
On the note of lifestyle changes, it’s important to discuss stress. Hearing “just relax” for the umpteenth time is not helpful but since stress can play a huge roll in recurrent loss, it’s important to address. Take inventory of what may be causing you stress in your life and then change what you can or implement practices to help you handle the stressors you can’t get rid of.
Recurrent loss can leave you feeling lost and adrift and unsure what to do next. The first step is testing for both you and your partner if they are providing the sperm. Then, work with your doctors or other practitioners to create a plan. A plan of action and can help you go into your next pregnancy with the confidence that you’ve done all you can to be optimally fertile.