Herbal treatments for multiple pg losses

[shouldaeloped]

Hi everyone. . I have been referrred to an herbalist to discuss alternate means for prevention of further miscarriages (2 in six months). I spent about 30 minutes with her and she suggested I start taking Red Raspberry as it heals the uterus and helps to strengthen it for future pregnancies. It was also suggested that this is simply an addition to modern medicine as my doctor was unable to find anything causing the multiple pregnancies.

I was just wondering if anyone else subscribed to this theory or had heard any stories about red raspberry or any other herbal remedies.

[craftyT]

Hi Shouldaeloped - I'm sorry you have experienced these losses. I do not have any first hand knowledge Red Raspberry herbs but I do believe that herbs can create very positive effects for several conditions.

Here is a website that might help you do a little research www.herbalist.com (http://www.herbalist.com/)

ETA 1 more website to research:

www.vitaminsdiary.com (http://www.vitaminsdiary.com/red-raspberry.htm)

[shouldaeloped]

thanks Teresa. . I'll check it out!

[Soulmate]

The only thing I HIGHLY recommend is a baby aspirin (81mg) 1x/day. This must be checked and o.k.ed by your dr. though as taking baby aspirin can complicate already known medical issues (liver diseases, blood diseases, etc.). Many m/c's are due to clotting disorders (there are many) and the baby aspirin theoretically helps enhance the lining, increase blood flow to the ovaries, and reduces the tendency to clot. Baby aspirin will do no harm to the baby or to you as long as you are healthy otherwise. Anyone who is pulling up information regarding the harm to the baby by aspirin...note that the studies and info is regarding full strength aspirin...not baby aspirin.

When reading up about red rasberry leaf...I found this quote:It is the only herb recommended for, and totally safe to consume in the first trimester of pregnancy.Which leads me to believe other herbs are *not* safe in the first trimester.

[Scooter]

There's also the vitamin supplement Folgard, which is available OTC. It's a mix of folic acid, B6 & B12. Of course, with that and the prenatal you'll be taking 1600mcg of folic acid a day, which is 400% of the RDA, so I'd talk to your Dr about it before you try it. My Dr has had me on the baby aspirin & Folgard.

You could also consider trying accupuncture. I swear that helped me, and I only did it for two months! There are Chinese herbs that can go with it, but don't have to if you don't want to do that. There really is little to no Western medical info about whether those herbs are safe or even effective, so it's really got to be your decision whether you try them. You would have to see a TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) Dr to get those treatments.

[shouldaeloped]

thanks scooter and soulmate. I have had the battery of tests from my OB including the clotting disorder and they all came back negative. I've been talking to a grief counselor to help me deal better with the loss of 2 pregnancies so close together and she is suggesting alternative ideas. things that maybe a traditional doctor might not either think of or believe in.

yoga, pilates, acupuncture, herbs. . there are so many out there that it difficult to choose and to know what really works and what is more of a hoax. I know it has to do with the individual person but it's really great to hear what has worked for others. I'll try anything for a successful pregnancy.

thanks again.

[Scooter]

I had the full battery of tests, too, and nothing came up for us. My RE still put me on those 2 supplements because she said there are studies that have shown that in cases where they're not sure what's going on, those can help. And since they weren't harmful in my case, they were worth trying. Just FYI.

I'm not sure about how they relate specifically to RPL, but I do know that there are several studies on mind body connection (e.g. yoga) and on accupunture and successful pregnancies. So I wouldn't necessarily say that those two could be put in the category of "hoax." However there are no studies on herbs or pilates that I know of--and actually I hadn't even heard of pilates being considered helpful for this. :confused:

[Soulmate]

shouldaeloped First your OB would not likely know the full battery of immunological (antibodies and such) panels to run. I have thyroid antibodies and even my RE didn't know what they were let alone to run a test for them. There are also protein deficiencies (what Folgard is for) that most mainstream doctors do not know about or commonly run tests for. All of these cause miscarriages.

I have been lurking in the FP section for years and have absorbed so much data. I have also been through the FF boards (which are notorious for all the fad self-treatments). What really seems to work if you are going to look into treating yourself for miscarriages is the baby aspirin, folgard, and acupuncture. I don't know about red raspberry leaf tea (sites on the internet seem to favor it) but I haven't seen anything else that works so consistently.

And I want to say thank you to Scooter for being an impetus for my decision to do acupuncture. I have an appointment tomorrow :D I've been milling it around in my head for a while but seeing that it worked for you (at least a possible factor) really got my butt moving.

ETA: Scooter Where did you get the folgard OTC? I've only seen it by prescription.

[Scooter]

Soulmate, glad I could help! I really hope you have good luck with it. I've read that most people can get results within 2-6 mos, although I'd never have believed it after only 2 months. Between that, the folgard & aspirin, and in my case the injectible meds, I found a good combo. :) My accupuncturist was very invested, too, we would do 50-60 needles in one session--sometimes when I came home I felt like I'd been working out. My muscles and entire body felt the effects, it was intense.

I know Long's has the Folgard, although some places keep it behind the counter so you need to ask. I also found some at a health food store, labelled "Homocysteine Formula." Folgard has 10mg of B6, 800mcg of folic acid, and 115mcg of B12--I compared the labels and it was the exact same thing. So if you have no luck with finding any, go to a health food store with that info and see if you can find it under a different label. (it was cheaper that way, too)

forgot to add:
First your OB would not likely know the full battery of immunological (antibodies and such) panels to run.
ITA. I got the tests run by my RE, and still went to a Rheumatologist to run more tests. We were only going to try one more treatment cycle before going to a Reproductive Immunologist (Dr. Beer). Fad treatments don't usually have any effect, and sometimes you need more info/help than the other things Soulmate mentioned can give.

[shouldaeloped]

holy smokes. just when I thought I had a pretty good grasp on all of this. just goes to show you how amazing fertility really is.

I'm sorry if I indicated accupuncutre might be a hoax, I was just saying it's hard to decide what to pursue. I haven't ruled anything out. I am trying Yoga for the first time next week and now based on what you two have shared (and THANK YOU for that) I am going to seek out accupuncture. I definitely believe in the power to heal outside of modern medicine, I just needed to understand a little better where to go.

Scooter- are you taking the Folgard in addition prenatals? I take prescription prenatals and am a little nervous about over medicating? and did you decide to take baby aspirin yourself or did you doctor put you on it? I am starting to think my doctor is a little closed minded about alternate ideas.

thank you again for all of your comments- like I said, I had no idea this was all out there. I put my faith in my OB to ensure everything was running the way it was supposed to. I think I might have been a little short-sighted.

[Soulmate]

shouldaeloped I just got back from my acupuncture appointment and he lent me this book called "The Infertility Cure". It's been mentioned around here before but I never really gave it much thought (its the word Infertility that makes me think 'not me'). It is really amazing and talks about eastern applications for infertility as well as miscarriages. It probably also has herb and dietary suggestions.

I highly recommend acupuncture. He approached it much like a doctor would but dealing with specific points on the body and natural remedies. How he was talking was how Ying dominates the before O phase (like estrogen) and Yang (heat or progesterone) dominates the after O phase. People are deficent or dominant in one or the other (or both I guess). He is really focusing on my Ying and thinks he can get me ovulating around CD14 or 15 (I ovulate CD19 at the very earliest and never ovulated at that time unmedicated). As he put the needles in I could totally feel it in other parts of my body. He also gave me foods to incorporate more into my diet and they were very do-able...like beef, eggs, apples, etc.

Scooter I checked at the pharmacy for Folgard and it is only by prescription there...I'm going to try at the vitamin/health food store.

[shouldaeloped]

thanks Soulmate. it really is amazing to me how much there is learn and consider out there. I have decided that I am going to find an accupuncturist (is that the right term?) asap. MY OB wants me to believe that both miscarriages were just one of those things. . and I'm not sure I can do that.

how did you find a good accupuncturist?

ETA- it looks like you can buy Folgard without a prescription from walgreens.com.

[Scooter]

Shouldaeloped, I think it's a pretty common thing to just trust that your Dr knows everything about what you're going through, and that they have the best-informed perspective on it. The problem is that unless your Dr specifically specializes in what yo're going through, they might not be up on all the treatment options or info. No Dr can be an expert in everything! You can always go get a 2nd opinion, and if (heaven forbid) you were to have a 3rd m/c, I would hope your Dr would send you to a specialist.

I was/am seeing an RE, which is a fertility specialist. She is the one I mentioned who put me on the folgard and children's aspirin. I wouldn't have gone on either one without consulting her. Yes, that is definitely in addition to a prenatal vitamin.

I mentioned in my 1st post about the acupuncturists--you can go to someone who just does that or you can find a TCM Dr who uses herb treatments with the acupunture. You can ask around for acupunture referrals, call Dr's offices and find out if there's anyone they refer people to, call your insurance to see if it is covered and get referrals, try acufinder.com (http://www.acufinder.com/SearchForm.asp), or look in the phonebook for local TCM or acupuncture schools with clinics--they usually charge very low fees.

[silentbunny]

Bumping this up because I just tried acupuncture for the first time, but the acu isn't a fertility specialist, and I am wondering if I'm not getting the full benefit of acupuncture for MY issues. (i.e. fertility, as opposed to general wellness).

At my first appointment, I only had 8 needles put in, and they were left in for about 20 minutes. It sounds like others have had a very different experience.

1) About how many needles are you having placed, and where on your body?

2) About how long are they being left in?

TIA!

[Soulmate]

silentbunny I am trying to remember...it was so long ago. But the # and length of time the needles are in are dependent on where you are in your cycle and what your diagnosis is. Some of the points are "draining" so after O you do not want them in for a long time. I think he probably left them in for +/- 30 minutes or so. Common points were my ankles, shins, elbows (those were specifically for an autoimmune issue), between my eyebrows. I don't think 8 is too unreasonable. Again is depends on your diagnosis.

I think the most important thing about your accupuncturist is that he/she at the very minimum knows and asks where you are in your cycle. Mine knew charting and could read my charts with the best of them. Also, the treatment (needles AND herbs) needs to change dependent on the phase of your cycle. If you are going in and he/she gives you the same treatment every time and never asks anything about where you are in your cycle then I would find another acupuncturist. It is also important that *you* know about your cycle and charting is a very good compliment to acupuncture. Not only is it invaluable to the acupuncturist (helps with diagnsis and proper treatment) but you can also see how the acupuncture is helping as reflected by your temps (mine changed almost immediately).

[silentbunny]

Thanks, Soulmate! (BTW, congratulations on your little man!) It certainly is heartening to see a success story.

I don't think mine asked about my cycle...though I did offer up that I just finished a week of prometrium to bring on a period, and she asked if there was ANY chance I am pregnant before she began. Si, I guess she knew where I was at.

As for charting, I have been doing so for the last year and a half...could do it in my sleep. :rolleyes: (Probably have.) Once my period decides to come (53 days and counting) I will start again. She didn't ask to see my charts. Basically, I think that if I want to see an acupuncturist for fertility, I should probably go to one who specializes in it...which won't be covered by insurance, but the cost is not prohibitive.

I just feel so ignorant about this!

[Soulmate]

Wow! You are lucky you have acupuncture covered at all! That is very very rare (IME). Since it is covered by insurance maybe you can talk to her about how she will approach things, etc. My acupuncturist just started focusing on fertility but also had a supposedly amazing mentor (she is an acupunturist AND obgyn!). Also to add, pre-O, my acupunturist focused heavy on two points near my ovaries. He was trying to get me to O earlier.