Zinc, chemical pregnancies, and ovulation

"According to The Centers for Disease Control’s Assisted Reproductive Technology Report, low levels of zinc have been directly linked to miscarriage in the early stages of a pregnancy due to an inability for cells to divide properly, making maintaining the level of this important mineral essential to a healthy pregnancy."

http://hethir.hubpages.com/hub/How-Essential-is-Zinc-to-Fertility

So, as you know, I regularly have chemical pregnancies.

I have had problems with my zinc levels for a long time. I've tried different types and as of a couple days ago, I was taking an amino acid chelated zinc with copper for the past few months. I couldn't seem to get my stretch marks to heal (they are 2 years old!) And have very slow wound healing as well as my hair comes out in handfuls.

So, I had found out how to properly muscle test, which is basically getting answers from your subconscious about the status of your body, and I found out I'm taking the wrong kind of zinc as well as not taking in enough magnesium and biotin. So I went out Thursday and got me some new vitamins that my body claims to be able to absorb better. The biotin one surprised me... very interesting.

As of Thursday, I was CD16 and thinking it would be an anov cycle because of the detox I was doing. My opks were stark white.

Took my new vitamins that evening and did a second dose the next morning to immediately up my levels. I've been having problems with parasthesias in my mouth and I want it gone.

Yesterday afternoon... opk is almost positive! My body turned itself right around and blam positive opk today, CD18.

Zinc plays a HUGE role in ovulation as well as implantation.

Now that I allegedly have the right zinc, maybe I'll be able to hold on to my babies...

I'm ovulating the exact same day as my last major pregnancy... it's almost like a do-over. Maybe this time the baby will stick if we catch it.

Means another bfp on my birthday... lol

We will see!

In the meantime dear reader... check your nutrient status if you are having problems conceiving!

Detoxification and What Vitamins Are Needed To Do This

So I'm currently in the middle of a pretty heavy detoxification protocol, using the super antioxidant alpha lipoic acid and chlorella.

Yes yes... they have warnings that chlorella should not be used for those with autoimmune diseases, I get it.

But... the fact that I am completely cavewoman paleolithic in my diet (no grains, no dairy, very little sugar) as well as no nightshades and no FODMAPs... I have removed from my diet anything that may set off my system and compete with the chlorella.

In fact, I've been doing this for 2 months now... and guess who has two thumbs and HASN'T lost weight?

This girl.  - _ -

NOT acceptable. I don't work my ass off eating the way that I do to get nothing out of it except an immune system that isn't being set off like the fire alarm all the time.

So I did some research... found that alpha lipoic acid does go through cell walls and also through the blood brain barrier, helping you FULLY detoxify, as well as re-energizing your mitochondria, which are responsible for your metabolism.

So while the alpha lipoic acid is washing out my cells that appear to be completely full of crap, the chlorella runs through my blood stream and picks up what was tossed out of the cells, binds to it, and sends it to the exit down south.

I have been on this for a week. I am on the weakest dosage possible of both... and holy crap, my system started right back up running, but I have the hugest hangover from it. I am drinking a ton of water and eating as much fiber as I can to keep the system running smoothly.

Anyway... so the full reason of this post (because I don't have real time for an update at this time) is that I had noticed, just this week while doing this detox, that my lip numbness, faintness, and anxiety returned after lunch for some reason, within an hour.

I have determined that my b12 levels weren't doing so good... it was immediately remedied by my sublingual b12 tablets.... I'm talking within 5 minutes.

So I wanted to see what the full role that b12 had in the whole detoxification process, and if my already limited stores are being used up quicker and I need to up my dosage for the time.

Found a wonderful link for those who like to get into the full science of the whole process like me:

http://tuberose.com/Liver_Detoxification.html

Such an awesome link.

Check it out.

Will post more later on about specifics of what's been happening since July and what I've learned.

 

Death, death and more death.

I've had enough.

While I did ask for a life change... I didn't ask for my life to be ripped up out of the ground and torn to shreds.

As of my last update post, I had left my previous job and had just accepted a new one, which has turned out wonderfully. I'm not stressed at work... and I think they may actually use my capabilities better than any corporate job would.

Also ovulated on my own for the first time in a reasonable amount of time, showing the release of work related stress.

That was just the start.

Not a week later, on June 10, my husband totaled his 2000 Corolla in a freak incident involving hay bales that fell out of someone's truck, causing chain reaction chaos that unfortunately David was involved in.

You can see one of the other vehicles in this pic and their crunched up front end, as well as the hay bale on the freeway.

So we go from paid off Corolla... to new-to-us Toyota Matrix (basically a Corolla with a hatchback) with a payment. Wonderful, after I've taken a massive pay cut with my job change.

So that was Monday.

That same Friday, we found out that my sister, who was 24 weeks pregnant with my niece, Emily, had stopped feeling movement... and Emily had passed away. My sister had the heartbreaking experience of a second trimester loss... which dredged up all kinds of hell within me with all my losses, mostly my January loss.

Two days later... I got a positive pregnancy test.

It was so faint, it almost wasn't there, and that's 14dpo, so I had the feeling it was going to be yet another chemical pregnancy... and it was. The tests were negative by that evening after a long hold. I tried the next morning with my first morning pee, and still negative.

The next day, my sister was induced and she birthed baby Emily at 6:05pm. The baby was so tiny... Feeling my sister's anguish over losing her first born and her sobbing and apologizing... absolutely heart wrenching.

My bleeding from my chemical pregnancy started as my sister birthed Emily. That was truly strange.

Then we had a week of nothing happening... everything was going ok.

And then more hell broke loose...

Our dog, 1 year old Banner, who had been struggling with epileptic grand mal seizures, was killed by a cluster of seizures that went for too long on July 3rd.

This was such a shock... we didn't think he'd die from it. We only had the puppy for 6 months... he was found as a stray.  He was so frickin adorable too... the cutest boxer/pitbull mix I've ever seen, known as a bullboxer pit. This picture was taken a week before he passed. We were showing off his new Batman collar and his personalized tag we just got for him.

So that happened two days ago... yesterday was Emily's memorial where we released balloons with notes attached to them, written to Emily. Mine was written to Emily and Banner... I'm sure my husband's was also. We both put our notes on the same balloon... it weighed it down more than the others, so it took longer to take off... but then finally a wind gust caught it and pulled it up and away.

So today I sit at my computer... feeling pretty sorry for myself. This past month has sucked ASS. The only good things were that I ovulated on my own and I have a new wonderful job that doesn't drive me insane.

I don't think I can handle anymore heartache... with the loss in January, now a new one which almost wasn't there to up my tally of lost pregnancies to 11 since December 2010... losing my puppy who was well trained and smart and just so happy... losing my niece... knowing my sister is now a member of the stillbirth club...

I can't do it anymore.

Universe... please please please give me/us a break.

I really hope that this death cycle is over... death of my baby, death of my grandpa by suicide in March, death of my sister's baby, death of my puppy... all in 6 months.

This seriously tests my limits of acceptance... I typically will accept things and move on relatively easily. I have the belief that I wrote all of my life path... so I take comfort in that I wrote this in so I can experience it and accept it. Appeals to my need to control my life I think.

But this is going far... I'm having a hard time accepting that so much has been taken from me lately, while I continue to give and give all I can with educating people and helping them feel better...

I really hope I didn't write anymore tragedy in for a long time.

Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B5) and weight loss

Spectracell Labs posted a very informative blog post regarding vitamins and weight management here that flipped on the light bulb for me today.

I was so thrilled I almost cried.

So let me start from the beginning with a bit of background.

I have expressed in prior posts how I had been overweight, went thru the hcg diet a few times, got down to my ideal weight, and then I gained weight like no other in the next year, unable to control my weight gain with my strict immense willpower when it comes to food. I gained some 90lbs and would have kept going if I hadn't found my Celiac at the end of 2011. Went gluten free and weight gain stopped... but no weight loss ever happened on its own.

Found out last September that I had a severe vitamin B5 deficiency after being tested by Spectracell Labs. Come to find out, this is normal for celiacs, as I think I mentioned in my post back then.

So... I started supplementing B5 after finishing yet another round of hcg dieting that was absolutely fruitless. (No weight loss at all)

Got pregnant in November... and I actually lost a size while pregnant. No crazy food issues either. No major morning sickness that prevented me from eating or anything.

Lost the baby in January... and ran out of my huge bottles of pantothenic acid then. Thinking I didn't need it anymore, I didn't bother to replace them.

I gained 10lbs in the following two months... realized I felt like crap again so I started up the b5 again at half the dose, and realized I'll probably have to supplement for the rest of my life... I just don't absorb it properly.

Ok so now that you have the short and sweet story... the reason for this whole post.

Spectracell mentioned in their blog that B5 is the precursor to the enzyme lipase, which is the FAT BURNING ENZYME.

Holy mother of god... I found the reason why I gained so much weight uncontrollably and now I know how to reverse it.

I've been all about the enzymes lately... I knew I was lacking in lipase but I couldn't figure out why nor how to fix it, other than to supplement with digestive enzymes.

If I look back at my history it all makes sense.

Fasted with the hcg diet a number of times in 2009, likely depleting cellularly stored pantothenic acid. Since I don't absorb it properly, I wasn't able to replenish it. With each hcg round, my ability to lose weight decreased and the weight loss would slow. I notoriously lost less weight than others doing the same diet and even with them cheating on it and me being very strict.

So I gained after I was done with those. A lot. No lipase available to burn fat as energy.

Fast forward to October last year... didn't lose at all... my stores were empty, as referenced by my nutrition report.

November thru January supplementing 1g a day and lost a pant size (didn't lose scale weight, but didn't gain either).

Bottle ends and I gain weight back.

I get a new bottle and flip from taking 500mg to 1g a day... mostly 500mg a day. I fluctuate in size... I don't know my smaller days are related to the 1g or not.

SO... I took 2g today of pantothenic acid. My normal 500 this morning and 1500mg this evening.

I so can't wait to see if this is going to work for me.

I will check in with this later.

As of this morning, I am 225.2 lbs.

In the meantime, check out this wonderfully written article about pantothenic acid:

http://www.coryholly.com/articles/article.cfm?id=172

Sometimes things just happen...

Ok, I'm going to upset most women suffering from infertility out there.

Things happen for a reason.

This is the case for me.

I kept my eyes open after losing the last LO in January. My body REFUSED to ovulate normally. I had a really weak ovulation in March, which was clearly a no-go... and I hadn't ovulated since.

Until this week.

Let's do a recap:

I lost my 11 week pregnancy on January 6.

Haven't been able to ovulate properly since.

I have sworn that my job was making me infertile... that's how stressed out I was.

I left my job on 5/22.  I skipped my way to my car, just thrilled to pieces that I NEVER had to go back.  I did end up having to go back a couple days later to pick up my stuff, and after getting through that anxiety attack, I went, got my stuff and left.

I have been peeing on opks for a couple weeks, just to see what my luteinizing hormone is doing. I was expecting a ridiculously long cycle. Last time I actually ovulated, it was on CD27.  Last cycle, I got to CD35 before I started progesterone to end the cycle.

And two days ago, CD23, I get a positive on my opk.  The top one is from that morning, the bottom one was taken at like 2pm.  I randomly did this... I usually only took 1 a day. Either way, I would have seen the positive the next morning either way... but holy smokes.

My temp is starting to go up... my breasts are a little tender... and as of today, my opk is negative. I think I actually ovulated...

... on my own!!

So... today, I had an interview with a new employer for a position that I think I will succeed with.

... and I start tomorrow.

Can you believe this?!  New job, suddenly ovulating now that I'm no longer with my prior employer that was killing me with stress... 

Imagine all this happening at 7-8 months pregnant.

There's a reason why that baby miscarried. As bad as it sounds... it wasn't time.  It may still not be time. 

But I know that I'm moving forward in my own journey. Changes are always a good thing.

I know for a lot of women going through similar fertility issues, it's not about "relaxing" or anything like that. They have a medical condition that they have to overcome for it to happen.

I've already done that. ;-)  And I still don't have my baby and my bloodwork showed clean at the RE for the repeat loss panel.  We didn't know why I was still having problems ovulating after the miscarriage. It was a big ??

Sometimes, when it's just a big question mark as to why certain things are happening... there is no quantifiable reason... 

Sometimes you just need to step back and let go of the reins and let the Universe take you.

I did... and I'm better off.

Chakra Healing Audio and Healing Symptoms

I had to share this... I randomly found this today in my online searching, so I started listening to it.

Ooo boy! I have a lot of chakra issues.  I couldn't make it through the whole audio.

Shoot, I couldn't make it through 15 minutes without pausing it and walking away to calm down my body.

In listening to things like this that energetically help you heal, if you go into something like panic attacks or have a bout of nausea or get dizzy... this is just your chakras shaking off the negative attachments as well as opening up and healing.

It's kind of like a Herxheimer Reaction (die-off reaction)... but from energy healing.

Take it slow... breathe deep... if you need to stop the audio because you just aren't feeling good, stop it and go back to it later.

It's what I had to do... I think I need to focus more on my energies these days and fix this problem because I shouldn't be having this kind of a "die off".

Well... maybe I should considering what I've been through lately, having been laid off last week, raped last year, 11 week miscarriage this year... yeah, that's a lot of emotional baggage.

Here's to fixing your energy!

Systemic Enzymes: The Unsung Hero in the Body

There is so much information on systemic enzymes that I'm not sure where to start. It's a very broad category... and I never realized how broad it was.

Let's start with the definition of what they are and what they are set to do in your body.

There are two types of enzymes: metabolic and digestive.  There are over 5000 metabolic enzymes within your body and 3 major types of digestive enzymes.

You start your life with the maximum amount of enzymes in your body. Remember that teenage body that was so healthy and thin and active? Not tired at all? Yeah, it's because of those enzymes. The problem is, as you age, the amount of enzymes produced starts to decrease starting in your late 20's.

Notice how a lot of "problems" with the body starts around late 20's to 30's? For example, there are many people who suddenly realize they are lactose intolerant at this point. According to Medline Plus, around 30 million adult Americans have some degree of lactose intolerance by the age of 20.

Why?

They are no longer producing enough lactase, which is the enzyme that helps you digest milk products.  Know that milk product specifically for the lactose intolerant people called Lactaid? They remove the lactose from their product that those who are intolerant cannot process because of their lack of the enzyme lactase.  It's not the milk! It's the lactose that people have problems with.  Keep this concept in mind with all intolerances: corn, milk, soy, wheat, eggs, casein, etc.

There are many other conditions that start to pop up around this time too... Celiac Disease is one of them. Celiac is not a disease. It is a genetic autoimmune condition where wheat gluten is a POISON to the body, causing incredible damage to your digestive system, malnutrition, and possible damage to organs due to lack of nutrition.

Ok, I'm going to start on a rant here, and just hear me out.

"They" say that Celiac Disease "develops" later on in life.

No. It does not.

You either have it or you don't, and you are born with it.  Your genes don't magically change in the middle of your lifetime and Celiac "suddenly" pops up. That doesn't make any sense whatsoever.

What DOES happen, is that you get older and you lose your enzyme creating abilities to be able to tolerate the gluten without physical reaction.  THIS EXPLAINS WHY IT'S SO HIDDEN and why Celiac is one of the most underdiagnosed issues, and why the Celiac Foundation has found that 1 in 133 people have this condition and more than likely, the majority of these people don't know it because they are asymptomatic!  These people are asymptomatic because their enzymes are working and being produced PROPERLY... for now.

I myself was relatively asymptomatic. No digestive issues... I just had lymphatic issues... they never figured out what caused my lymph infections. I was even hospitalized when I was young.  I also had Dermatitis Herpetiformis, which is the skin condition associated with Celiac since I was like 10.

But yet... no digestive problems... no issues with apparent malnutrition... not until I was in my 20's. My digestive issues popped up when I was 23 and I was diagnosed with IBS, without any scopes or anything having been done. Then... my skin issue flared up again when I was 27 or 28. I could NOT figure out what the hell it was... my digestive system was steadily declining in it's reliability. I suddenly gained 80lbs as my body tried to hold on to nutrients and then BLAM. Gluten was the problem... and then the subsequent Celiac diagnosis.

I lost my enzymatic capability to process gluten. Recently (this year), I lost my enzymatic capability to process milk, corn, citric acid fruits, bananas... I was in a tailspin wondering WHAT THE HELL happened and what changed. I started gaining weight again, even after being gluten free for over a year. I stopped ovulating, even though my blood work showed that I'm perfectly healthy.

I was in a constant WTF? state of mind, trying to figure out what was going on, so I went to work.

So let's go over what enzymes do.

Your body's enzymes work with nutrients to help your body properly absorb your vitamins and minerals. Enzymes by themselves do very little, as well as vitamin supplements without enzymes do very little. These three categories of nutrients work together to help your body process as well as it can. Enzymes put the vitamins and minerals to work, by spreading around the nutrition, causing the proper metabolic processes and digestive process to function properly.

What this means is, if your enzymes aren't there, your body will behave like it's broken.  This creates disease, like rheumatoid arthritis, Celiac, osteoarthritis, diabetes, infertility and many many other things.

How do we address this?

There are a number of enzyme therapy related products on the market. Most of them are digestive enzymes to address people's bloating, gas and other digestive issues.

Wobenzym offers systemic enzyme therapy. Wobenzym is a product that has been offered in Europe since the 1960's. There have been many German studies performed on the product and how it benefits the human body.

Garden of Life suggests taking Wobenzym in the suggested dosages along with Garden of Life's OmegaZyme for proper enzymatic support.

In my own review of OmegaZyme versus other digestive enzymes, this is a far superior product to others and I highly suggest it.

Unfortunately, this does not make your pancreas create more enzymes. Losing your enzyme creating capability is a normal part of aging... so you would need to take this stuff for the rest of your life if you want to avoid degenerative diseases, aging related aches and pains, and anything else.

I know I'm going to.

I have been on both of these products for the last week and a half.  I am currently in the process of the massive detox this creates, while my body uses the enzymes and my vitamin supplements to clear me out and restart my system.

An interesting note... I can eat tomatoes again without the massive digestive discomfort after only a week and a half.