Fertility issues...

[Crystalight]

Thank you so much for all your replies of encouragement....its definatly helpful to find people out there who desire the raw foods lifestyle as much as you! My co-workers think i'm so strange when they see what i bring for lunch, and even my best friend thinks i've "lost it".....but at least i have the wonderful support of my husband! He's been so encouraging and supportive and eating everything i've made! He loves its all! Its hard to keep any food in the house....haha

I have to say the main reason i looked into Raw Foods is because my husband and i are trying so hard to have a baby. We have been trying for over 7 years now, and it just gets harder and harder. Awhile back I was diagnosed w/PCOS (polycystic-ovarian-syndrome). My Doctors all recommended a diet high in protein and very low carb. I was all gun-ho about the 'South Beach Diet' and went out and bought all the books and loaded my refridgerator w/all kinds of animal protein......I didnt understand how a diet that was supposed to make me have a baby was making me so sick! I could only stay on it for about 5 days and then the sight or smell of meat would make me so nautious! I tried my best to stick w/it and also some prescription meds (metformin) that was prescribed to me to help me ovulate, I continued to be miserable and suffered horrendous migraines.

After going thru many months of treatments thru the fertility clinic, w/no success i might add, my mother told me abouth what she was reading in her raw foods book and how i should really give it a try before my husband and i invest yet another couple thousand dollars in treatments.
I pray everyday that it is not impossible for us to have a baby!
One great thing that i've discovered from this diet is that i've made it to day 8....and feel wonderful and light! I dont have that miserable bloated, gassy, headache feeling from an all protein diet!

I just wondered if there is anyone out thee who have had a similar case as mine and was successful in getting pregnant?

Thankyou again for all your support and listening to my story!

[elian]

Hi Crystalight,
I too have been unofficially diagnosed with PCOS. My last dr (a new dr) told me that this is probably the case. I started this diet in Feb. I've been off and on from 50-100% raw since then. I've lost 30+ pounds and feel better than ever. When I'm at or close to 100% raw I feel the best and my cycle starts working some. I feel like I'm a clogged pipe... when I eat high amounts of raw things start working a little more correctly. I've never had a regular period except on birth control (which I haven't taken for about 5 years now). We do have an almost 7 year old. We've been trying now for 5 years. I'm not giving up. I just have to stay as close as possible to 100%.

Anyway good luck.

[trinity082482]

My cousin has this problem. She went to fertility doctors to have kids. She has 2 and 1 on the way. The first 2 were done by a doctor and I think back then stress, poor life style really got her down. Since then she has her own passion opening her own business and she is naturally preggers with her 3rd. She doesnt know how it was possible because she still has her health issues but I believe her changing her life style and taking control of her body is what helped.

[luna99]

one of my best friends has had two miscarriages and spent thousands of dollars on doctors for the last few years.. I kept thinking she probably had PCOS and come to find out, she does!

we were talking over the holidays and I told her about the raw food diet and she seemed interested.. I think it could help her and you too.. even though I don't really know anyone who's had PCOS do raw food.. I do know that some of the symptoms of PCOS have to do with being insulin resistant and I would think because of the low carbs/sugars in the diet.. it would be beneficial.

then again, I'm no doctor :p good luck with the baby making and let us know how it goes. I'd love to be able to tell my friend that the raw way worked for someone with PCOS.

[Crystalight]

Thanx alot u guys for the support and advice!! I will definatly let u all know how it goes!! I do believe the raw food lifestyle is as healthy as u can get!
Best of luck to all of you!

[Beckla]

I, too, am eager to begin a family and we've been trying for over a year. I know that's not too long. But I do hope that this lifestyle will help!

[luckitri]

I could never get pregnant. I had other problems. I was full of scar tissue. The only thing I can think is that over the years the scar tissue eroded and I was able to get pregnant. However, there was still so much scar tissue that I had a total placenta previa. My baby is now 12. It can happen when you least expect it.

I think that if you concentrate on getting healthy with raw that your system will have a chance to balance itself out and you should have a chance at having a baby. Besides, if you do get pregnant with some of their treatments you may end up with several babies - and you will need to be very healthy and energetic!

[RawFoodieMom]

Crystalight,

I feel for you, I know what it's like to want to have a baby and have trouble getting pregnant. It took 8 years for my husband and I to conceive our daughter. She is now 5. :) She was worth the wait! :) We're not positive what the trouble was conceiving as I didn't want to go through fertility treatments and have more disappointment. Although, when I turned 30, and we still hadn't been able to conceive, that's when my husband and I decided that it wasn't going to happen, and maybe we should see a doctor and find out exactly what the trouble was, and possibly look into adoption. Well, a couple of months later, I was pregnant! So we never did see a doctor, and never did start any adoption processes. This is my advice, and this is what I truly believe. I think the more you stress about it, and I KNOW it's practically impossible not to when you want it so much, but I really believe this is what causes a lot of the problem. When my hubby and I stopped trying, and had given up, that's when we got pregnant. And I know A LOT of other couples that had the same thing happen. My husband and I were on vacation when we conceived! :)

I suggest since you are just starting raw, why not just work on being raw for a little while and give your body and mind a break? Take a couple of months off from trying to have a baby (I know you probably think I'm crazy) and let your body detox and heal itself, and then try again? :)

We are starting to try for baby number two. So I'm there with you! Feel free to email me if you like. :)

Debra

[Snownoir]

trinity082482: A lot of the times the repro organs need an overhaul and prenancy does that. And thats why she was able to concieve naturally after the first two.

I'm taking an applied embryology class right now where we do micromanipulation, and embryo treatment and freezing and all this cool stuff but my professor was in the IVF field (just think fertility clinics) for over 10 years. She's always telling us stories about couples. The most important thing to realize is that your hormone levels play the biggest role. If those aren't in sync then your body can't maintain anything. Another thing to be aware of, is your uterine lining can be too thin to carry a pregnancy. Your colon may be sitting on your uterus and this one is why being raw may be the most benificial. By gettin all the junk outta your system, your colon will go back to its normal place and take the stress off your system. However, if this isn't the case, then you'd have to hope that your healing will be so extensive that it will thicken your uterin lining, open up your tubes if they're really thin (meaning the egg can't travel down it or the sperm can't get up it since that's where conception takes place), and hope that it helps balance out your hormones. Another problem might be with the egg itself. Your zona (think of that as the outter casing of the egg) may be too thick and the embryo isn't hatching (after so many cell divisions the embryo becomes what's called a blastocyst. At this stage it must escape the zona in order to continue to grow and implant itself on the uterine wall). There are SOOO many things that can cause you not be carrying to term.

I tell you all of this not to bum you out, but I don't you to have false hope either. There are a lot of things that have to go right to carry an embryo to term. In fact, for "fertile" couples, they only have a 20% chance of getting pregnant. 1 in 6 couples are infertile. Your peak fertility (on a SAD diet) is around 20 years old. I don't know how old you are, but age is an important factor too. At about 35-40, the quality of your eggs drops dramatically. Most of this has to do with the mitochondrial DNA breaking down and that means that there are a lot more problems as the embryo tries to make it the point where it can implant in the uterus, and then survive for 8 months. I believe that those who are 100% raw can maintain the quality of their eggs if they've been that way for quite some time and the body has healed itself to that point.

One last thing. With those that are an infertile couple (meaning you've tried for over a year with no success), 35% is the fault of the woman, 35% is the fault of the man (low motility and low count), 20% is the fault of both, and 10% is unexplained (this is where the colong and health and stress and environment and those who lied about how long they've been trying come into play).

Since you have PCOS I really believe that it is something you can heal. It will just take some time for you body to get to that kinda healing level. Good luck. I hope the info I wrote above may shed some light for you and everyone else who responded.

=]

[Naiad]

I too have hormonal issues and although I've never missed a period, it's always been wacky.

When I follow raw... it comes exactly when it should.

All hail raw food!!! :D

[mrsbrunette]

hi! i had pcos for a long time now.. started taking the herb chasteberry (vitex extract) in pill form for about a year.. it made me regular and now a year later.. my husband and i discovered a surprise! i am 9 weeks pregnant.. i know this isnt raw but a healthy/raw diet combined with taking this could very well lead you to the same results!! it is recommended for those with pcos to take vitex for a year at least.

[Marlie28]

Hi! I just got "Conscious Eating" by Dr. Gabriel Cousens yesterday. He's a raw foodist but the book is more about eating spiritually. Anyway, there is a chapter on it about pregnancy and preparing for pregnancy which is really interesting. He suggests eating raw foods, doing two fasts in the year prior to trying to conceive, and making sure your body is well equipped nutritionally to carry a baby. He goes into far more detail, obviously. Maybe you want to look into this? Best of luck :-)
Peace and Love,
Marlena

[elian]

Just so you know... we are 14 weeks preg tomorrow. As I stated in my first post on page one, we tried for 5 years. Last fall my new doctor unofficially said that I probably had PCOS. He offered for me to take drugs... but I decided to continue on my raw journey. I became pregnant after a month and a half of 100% raw (that followed by eating high to 100% raw since March of 2006... allowing me to release 30+ pounds).

I do think that raw can help clear things up. It will balance out your hormones.

Good luck.

[barose]

I'm glad I found this thread. I've been living with PCOS for years, trying to conceive since 1999 (with a long break) one stillbirth and now still infertile with long cycles and so on. I was able to lose weight and ovulate on my own on a non-raw foods, non veg diet (basically no refined sugar, processed foods, soy, non-organic foods, etc) the use of alternative medicine and being very active. I still feel "off" hormone imbalance, and I still need to lose a few determined pounds. I am also hypothyroid, gluten intolerant, with a poor digestive system. I'm hoping raw will be my last hope.

[kiropa]

me, sort of.

it took me 3 years, 3 devastating miscarriages and lots of infertility treatment to have my first daughter (she is 6 now).

borderline PCOS was all we ever found (all other testing was fine). i say borderline b/c i did not show insulin resistance & some tests were okay while others showed the tell-tale LH/FSH reversal.

i also say 'sort of' because i did not know about raw food at the time. but, i did exercise & eat a very healthy vegetarian diet.

interestingly, after my having my long-awaited dd, i conceievd my 2nd daughter naturally. they are only 20 months apart in age. i suffered one more miscarriage before having my last daughter who is now 2.5.

i recently had bloodwork & all hormone levels are right in line. i am raw now.

don't give up -- it is all well worth the struggle.

[GurlyGirlOne]

My humble opinion:
Raw food WILL allow the body to heal itself and you WILL have a beautiful baby no matter what the doctor says IF you believe with all of your heart, mind and soul.:)

[StarFire]

Amen! I agree with GurlyGirlOne! Blessings to you on your journey! And we'll have a survey to name the baby when you give us the good news!!

[barose]

Crystalight, do you have an update? (If you're still reading this thread). I'm curious to know how raw food has helped you with your PCOS.

GurlyGirlOne and Starfire, you are too sweet!