With looking at everything prior- lab work, procedure results, ultrasounds, etc.- Dr. Natalie requested I get new baseline bloodwork labs, for pretty much everything.
Kindly, my PCP (who I appreciate so much) saw me for a patient visit, listened to all we were navigating at this point, and he ordered my labs for me. This was a more cost efficient option at this time, and I am so appreciative of both provider’s willingness for us to have this option.
I had labs drawn on 11/10/2023; this was cycle day 7 for me (which was not ideal for some of the labs), and they were drawn fasted in the morning.
I met with Dr. Natalie on 11/16/2023 to review all of my results.
Below, I am going to comment her findings and feedback during this appointment.
First, I have to say- I have NEVER had a provider go through my lab work with me, line by line, and address each lab value. There were well over 30 lab values, plus some discussion of historical results for comparison.
Her feedback to me:
- LH strips can create a false positive if we are only seeing the LH result. The body can want to do all of the things and ovulate, but the brain could not have enough of everything (hormones) to actually signal the system to ovulate. She believed this to be true for me.
She recommended a monitor for tracking ovulation, the INITO. It measures the LH with a ratio of FSH, Estrogen, and PDG. PDG is an indicator of Progesterone, and we want to see that increase and maintain after ovulation.
It is very common (and sometimes missed) that Progesterone needs assistance early in pregnancy, as it is essential to achieve and maintain pregnancy.
I began testing ovulation and tracking with the INITO monitor following this visit.
I had my Pregnenolone redrawn on cycle day 21 and it was normal/okay.
She described Pregnenolone to be the higher tier to DHEA and Progesterone, so Pregnenolone needs to be optimal for sex hormones and for ovulation.
I stopped taking the DHEA I was taking after this appointment, but just to note: if my Pregnenolone had been low and I was only taking DHEA, I would not have been addressing the entire issue. I would have needed to also take a Pregnenolone supplement.
I find understanding this type of information insightful. - All labs related to my Glucose & Insulin: She indicated I could be borderline insulin resistant for a reason, or responding to an elevated cortisol for a reason, but ultimately we need to know more about my gut and potentially resolve what is going on there. We would revisit this after more evaluation of my gut health.
- Thyroid:
My TSH was low (within normal limits, but low).
T3 & T4 was low (within normal limits, but low). She felt this correlates to my gut and with my gut being corrected, we would see the thyroid correct.
There was one thyroid antibody low, but present- it could mean that I am prone to an autoimmune response, but she strongly feels all with the thyroid results is related to my gut. In the autoimmune world, I seemed controlled enough for now. Good news!
**My thyroid evaluation only raised additional questions because of my close family history of autoimmune disorders & Hashimoto’s. - My Ferritin level was low. She advised I eat more red meat; grass fed ground beef. Historically, I always did eat a lot of ground beef in my daily meals, but when I had recently transitioned to more of a paleo diet and began tracking my response to food, I ate less ground beef at that time because I could not pin point if it was causing some of my gut disturbances.
- She advised I needed to add Zinc rich foods- a large box of raw oysters from the Gulf will do! 🙂
- My protein level was high (within normal limits, but high). She thought leaky gut was in question with this, because the protein is getting into the bloodstream, and that would be from the gut.
- My Lipids and Total Cholesterol were low. I needed to increase my HDL, and we wanted to increase the “good” fats for my hormone health.
- A BIG ONE.
ALL OF MY HORMONES WERE LOW.
This just amazed me, because they’ve been within “normal” limits, but not normal for successfully achieving pregnancy (maybe for others too, but specifically for me).
Estradiol, FSH, LH, etc.- all low
Although I don’t necessarily realize this, she feels that my natural energy level is rather low. I have learned to manage it and maybe compensate for it, but that with improvement of gut health, hormones, and all of my lab work, I should see an overall improvement in my everyday energy. This was encouraging! - White Blood Cells (WBC) low; Red Blood Cells (RBC) low: She felt this was due to dealing with a chronic infection, likely in the gut.
- My Sodium was low: I needed to add sodium daily, with Keltic or Redman’s salt.
Overall, the plan is to improve my hormones and get my brain to correctly signal the ovulating system to function appropriately.
Plan:
Complete a GI Map (stool analysis) test.
Schedule an appointment with Dr. Jake Roland to review the results and address my gut health.
Jake is Natalie’s husband (a dynamic duo, really!) and specializes in Functional Medicine, Gut Health, and Men’s Fertility. He can be found at @drjakeroland on Instagram!
I’ll continue to take a 10-15 minute walk after each meal.
I began decreasing my caffeine intake prior to this, as I probably consumed 200 mg of caffeine each day.
She advised if I had any caffeine daily, for it to be a cup of coffee in the morning.
Recommended: Organic coffee beans
I previously ordered most, if not all of my supplements from Amazon. I stopped taking each of those, everything.
I began taking Dr. Natalie’s supplements from her personally formulated line, found on her website, https://pcosdocshop.com/collections/all.
I wanted to know this for myself, so I did the research, and the dosing & the cost was more optimal compared to what I was previously taking.
You may be thinking it, and I felt it- while this feedback was VERY hopeful and what I had been seeking/hoping for, it is not the “norm.” It is not what we normally hear from our OB’s or Reproductive Medicine doctors. I get it.
But, for me, I have known that my gut needed healing for a really long time and I am trusting there is a purpose in this plan. At this point, we are hopeful for:
Healing my gut, if it is found that we can; Improve my energy; Increase my hormones; and Achieve pregnancy
Thank you for being here,
xoxo- Kara
Our Waiting For Little Ouellette 