From September 2022 to now, Adrien’s lab values and sperm counts have improved, and our doctors are confident concerns with Adrien are resolved. For now, he will continue taking Clomid and supplements- I’ll share more about his supplements later.
Before I go much more into where we currently are and how we got here, I feel there is some history of my health and life I should share now, for it to all make sense.
I am a Registered Nurse. I share that because there came a point in so many discussions about fertility that even as a nurse and medical professional, I realized I sometimes had no clue what we were talking about. I have been very humbled in how complex all of this is and can be to understand. I’m still learning! However, I have been very open minded (and surprised) as now a patient on the other side, more than I ever have been a patient in my life.
What I know: I have a very close family history of Autoimmune disorders, including Hashimoto’s.
I’ll cover the last 8-10 years briefly.
About 10 years ago, I began learning more about lifting weights and improving my nutrition- counting macros, prioritizing actually eating- vs. running on the treadmill only and eating salads. (We all start somewhere!)
About 3-4 years into this changed lifestyle for me, I moved from California at the time to Kansas. I was a travel nurse, and my shift work changed from night shift to a mid shift or day shift. Within 6 months to a year of living in Kansas, something severely altered with my digestion- bloating, discomfort, waking up full, foods not settling the same, you name it.
At this time, I had not established a doctor in Kansas yet. Adrien competed in body building and he had a coach, organizing his program- training and nutrition. He knew a female coach that worked with female clients. He introduced me to Lisa and I have been working with her for almost 6 years now.
I cannot express how much gratitude I have for this woman. She is intelligent, she is patient, she is real, she leads by example and she’s truly an inspiration to me. Every time I talk to her I learn something, and I’ve learned so much from her in the last 6 years. I would recommend her guidance to anyone & I am happy to answer more questions! Her instagram is linked here. @lisaespinoza_icon
Lisa and I have tried many things at different times to address my digestion concerns- some would work (mostly temporarily) and others would not work at all. Although through it all, I’ve learned so much about my body and have become very aware of how I respond to different things- foods, stress, sleep, movements, training, etc.
What all did I try? Timing of food, high fat, low carb, carb cycling, intermittent fasting, fasted cardio, trial and error with supplements (probiotic digestive enzymes, many more), cutting energy drinks and changing or eliminating preworkout supplements, adjusting my training around my work schedule and prioritizing rest differently. I did monitor my fasted glucose for sometime, and it was noted to be in the upper 90’s- low 100’s.
I’ll continue to update this section, if I think of other things Lisa and I trialed.
It was often that I felt good making an adjustment, or I enjoyed the change, but it never truly resolved the root of my digestion/gut issues.
Soon, I found my first GYN in Kansas. He was very thorough, very interested in helping resolve what may be the cause of my lower abdominal digestion/gut issues. Of course lab work was completed, and a pelvic ultrasound. Knowing my family history, my thyroid was always checked, and nothing was noted as abnormal.
We made a change to my birth control pill, and for a short time I took Metformin. I also took Linzess as needed. These were the only prescriptions I took, otherwise I used supplements.
A couple of things I’ve noticed.
One: I can never really push my calories. I’m always met with resistance by my digestion and it seems to set me back.
Two: I could never make the connection on this- For how consistent I was with my nutrition and training, my body never really made significant changes to reflect that. I do not mean drastic changes, but even just something in the composition of my body. My body composition has remained the same for awhile, unless I am in an extreme calorie deficit. Less food or no food used to be all that made my gut feel the most different, for the better. For awhile, week after week, I am just looking to see if my stomach is less bloated and if there is less inflammation in my body overall.
This continued for a couple of years. Somewhere between 2021-2022, I decided to eliminate gluten. I would consistently have a Dave’s bagel in the morning and a lighter Dave’s bread with eggs in the evening. I cut it all! Over 10 days, gluten free, I lost 14 lbs. 14 lbs of water! It was wild. This large amount of inflammation and just watery appearance fell right off of me! I could actually see some type of definition in areas of my body.
This was huge. I thought this was the answer, that I had a gluten sensitivity and/or intolerance. So, for some time I have been doing my best to eat gluten free. In the beginning, this was new to navigate. I had to change my routine meals up, and just pay attention to food labels much more than I already did. I did feel better.
Personally, as I know it is not an allergy, there are times that I do not 100% avoid gluten. Maybe going out to eat, if we’re doing something with family and friends, if my meals are not prepared ahead of time and I’m in a time crunch, or if I simply want to eat a donut! (LOL!) During these times, I just accept that there may be a short lived consequence.
Around the time of this gluten intolerance discovery, I established with a Primary Care Physician. Knowing all that I have shared above, he ran lab work a couple of times, again with a focus on my thyroid and antibodies due to my family history. All remained negative.
In 2022, he referred me to a GI Specialist. My appointment was in August 2022, just as we were beginning to discover all with my fertility concerns.
The GI provider suggested to not do celiac testing, and he did not have the capability to do a SIBO breath test, rather he wrote a prescription for Xifaxan (an antibiotic used to treat irritable bowel syndrome). The thought was if there was any type of bacterial or other overgrowth, the antibiotic should resolve it. Or, it wouldn’t.
I had the choice to fill the antibiotic and take it three times a day for three weeks, or take IB Guard (over the counter). My insurance would not cover the Xifaxan, as I was not diagnosed with IBS. The cost was somewhere around $1200.
I had just started a second or third round of Letrozole at this time, and was not loving the idea of taking an antibiotic that often for that long, much less both. So, I opted to take the IB Guard. It was peppermint based, and like other things, it did provide some symptom relief.
I’ll say it here, in hindsight now, I wish I would’ve stuck to getting to the root of the problem with my gut issues then, but I do know that everything happens for a reason. If anything, I may would have felt better sooner.
Overall, my gut issues have remained the same.
I just ultimately settled with the gluten intolerance finding and monitored my food. I have prioritized rest, movement and steps, hydration, good (whole) food choices in a 85/15-ish moderation, my supplements (recommended at the time), and my 3-4 day/week morning training. My priority was our fertility and that is what we proceeded to explore.
This is where things became interesting to me- as a patient, navigating referrals, tests, results, recommendations, answers, etc…
Talk soon!
xoxo- Kara
Our Waiting For Little Ouellette 