Unexplained Infertility Journey – Best treatment options

Unexplained Infertility Journey – Best treatment options

Transcription :

Let me guess. You’ve been trying to conceive for a while without any success, and that’s partly why you’re here right now. The other reason is because all the labs that you’ve had done by your doctor come back normal, so they’ve given you the diagnosis of unexplained infertility. To me, that’s the same thing as, I haven’t done enough testing, I haven’t done the right testing, I’m not looking in the right place, or I’m not looking at the labs that you have had done in the right way. Because all issues with fertility have a reason, and I want to show you what I do and how I coach those members in my coaching program to go through this exact same thing to figure out what’s going on and what they can do about it.

So that’s exactly what I’m going to do in this video right now. But before I do that, I actually do want to give a quick mention about my upcoming free training on May 8th, exactly on this topic of unexplained infertility, because I want to help you figure out why you’re having these troubles. So if you want to join me for that training and it’s free, but you do have to register, then use the link in the description below to register and join me on May 8th.

Hi, I’m Dr. Mark Sklar, also known as the fertility expert. And I’ve been working with couples for over 20 years through my online coaching programs and right here in San Diego at my clinics. And if you are looking for support, if you want help on your fertility journey, to get results, to find the real reason and to finally get pregnant, then I want to invite you to apply to join my Hope Coaching Program. All you have to do to apply and find out if you are a good fit for the program, is use the link in the description below.

As we continue this conversation today about unexplained infertility, I think the most appropriate place to start is to actually define what unexplained means. And I’m not going to sit here and read a definition from Wikipedia, or some other resource. I want to tell you what it means to me and why you are given this diagnosis, and actually why it’s shared so often or used so much.

So the first thing is, what is unexplained infertility? Unexplained infertility is when you have had an HSG done to check your fallopian tubes. Your partner has had a semen analysis done. You’ve done some basic fertility testing, which means you’ve had FSH done, AMH done, estradiol, TSH maybe, maybe a few other hormones. They’ve also done an ultrasound potentially to look at your ovaries and at your uterus and your uterine cavity. And everything, all of those evaluations, have come back normal. So that’s when they say, “Well, we don’t know why and we’re not going to spend the time to look deeper at this, so we’re going to give you this diagnosis of unexplained infertility.” And as a result, your best option is to try IUI, and if that doesn’t work after two or three sessions, then we’re going to move you to IVF and move forward from there.

That is really what is happening and why you’re given that diagnosis, and what being given that diagnosis really means in terms of a progression of the treatments that are going to be offered for you. And that’s okay, because that is the paradigm that your OB-GYN and REI, or fertility clinic are working within. So they’re working with these blinders on, this really narrow approach to look at these few boxes. They’re going to check them off to say that you’ve had those tested and if nothing comes up abnormal, meaning clinically abnormal, so this is the reference range, you have to be outside of that reference range to some degree, then you’re given the diagnosis of unexplained. The reason why this diagnosis is used so frequently is actually multifaceted. First and foremost, we live in a time where our medical system, our conventional medical model, is designed to be compartmentalized into specialties.

If you have a digestive issues, you go see the gastroenterologist. If you have a respiratory issue, you go see the pulmonologist. If you have a reproductive issue, you’re going to start with your OB-GYN and then progress to the reproductive endocrinologist, which is your fertility doctor. Maybe you’ll just go also see a standard endocrinologist. But, everything is compartmentalized like that. Your GP is designed to just oversee things and then kind of steer you in the right direction about where you need to go. And many of us, or many of you don’t even have a GP because you have an OB-GYN, or vice versa. And that’s the way our current model is designed. And it’s great in a lot of ways, because you as an individual, when you have a specific issue, you go see that specialist and they know a lot about that narrow field, that little area.

But the issue that happens is that we function and look and analyze patients in our specialty with blinders on, that we can’t look into these other areas, these other systems because it’s outside of our specialty. And not all fertility issues are fertility issues, not all reproductive issues start and end in the reproductive system. So that’s the first issue. The second issue is oftentimes because of the way our conventional medical model is, is that we also have a skewed perspective on the labs that we’re having done, that they have to be clinically abnormal, and we haven’t changed our reference ranges and the way we view our labs in a very long time. And so because of that, if you’re not clinically abnormal, meaning your levels for whatever tests are elevated beyond the reference range given or lower than the reference range given, then everything is considered fine and you’re okay.

And we know … at least I should say I know that that’s not a great system for the type of individuals that walk into an office today, and for the type of medicine that you all need. We need a slightly more comprehensive and integrative approach, and we need a broader perspective and understanding on lab work so that you can get better care and more individualized care. This system was created to help physicians manage larger amounts of patients and make it easier to facilitate and use their algorithms to understand if this then this, if not this, then this. It’s just a tree of decision making that makes things easier and allows them to figure things out theoretically faster and catch the big things. But, what happens is we miss the little things. And what also happens in this system is that we do not have individualized personalized care.

We are all individual, we all have unique makeups, and this current model does not suit that. So that’s where the faults start to come in. And we need to, as patients in this medical model, advocate for ourselves to get better and more individualized care and then seek a more comprehensive team approach that allows you to get what you need. So you still might have your REI and OB-GYN and fertility doctor, you might even have an endocrinologist, but what you should also have is functional medicine provider in however that works for you. That’s a lot of what I do for all the members of my coaching program. You should also maybe have some other providers on your team that have a slightly different approach. Maybe it’s a chiropractor, an acupuncturist, a nutritionist, maybe it’s all of them. You still have to have one person leading the reins, but you have individual people that give you a different perspective and more comprehensive and integrative approach so that you can make better decisions for yourself in terms of how you need to move forward and what you need to do to get the results that you deserve.

So this paradigm needs to change because all fertility issues, all reproductive issues are not founded in your reproductive system or endocrine system. I want to say that again for you. All fertility issues are not always beginning and ending in your reproductive system. That’s right. They’re not all egg quality related. Sometimes, and I find actually often, that you can have an issue in a different system and that will impact your reproductive function and your ability to conceive and have a child.

Stress is a perfect example of that. That is an adrenal issue, and your stress can absolutely impact your hormones and make it harder for you to conceive. It can also impact other systems. The other place that I find is a huge impact on your ability to conceive is your digestive system. Your digestive system is the start of everything. And if it’s not functioning properly, if you are not taking care of it properly, if you’re not feeding it well and giving it the proper nourishment and nutrients that it deserves, then it cannot do what it needs to do for your hormones. And because all of our systems are connected …We know they’re connected, they’re not divided by walls like our specialty medicine makes us believe that they are.

One issue in one system will impact another system. And over time, whether it’s a direct impact to your reproductive function, or it takes a while because it’s impacting other systems before it gets there, it will impact your fertility. And so we need to take a step back. We need to understand your overall health, take off the blinders, open up our view, have a wider perspective to gather as much information as we can to find the reason why. And I find at least 50% of the time it’s not fertility related, or sperm related, or egg quality related, it’s related to one of these other systems that needs to be addressed. And then you’ll have a much better chance of conceiving.

So what can you do about this exact thing? Well, first and foremost, this is exactly what I do in my Hope Fertility Coaching Program. That’s right. We open up the walls. We open up the doors, tear down the walls, and open up our perspective to understand how you are functioning as an individual, which is why so many of our members feel so much better so quickly. And then from there we can start to narrow that approach to be individualized for you. You need someone that’s going to do that. And whether it’s joining my program or utilizing somebody else, you need somebody else to help figure out what is going on in your overall health to then come up with a more comprehensive plan about your health and your fertility, to get you the results that you deserve and should be getting when you go in for medical care.

How does that sound to you? Is this the medical model, the medical system that you want? Comment below and let me know. This is what I want to know. You all deserve this, but do you want it? I want to hear from you, so leave a comment and let me know. I also want to know about your questions around this topic. What questions do you have about your fertility, or unexplained infertility that you want answered? Comment below and let me know.

This is the exact information that I’m going to be sharing in much more detail in my training on May 8th, and I would love for you to join me there if you want more information on this, but you do have to register. So to register for my free training, use the link in the description below. And more importantly, if you are tired of looking for answers and you want a different perspective on your fertility, and you want answers to your unique situation so that you can get the results that you deserve and you want it now, instead of waiting for some other time in the future to make that decision, then I want to invite you to apply to join my coaching program. All you have to do to apply is use the link in the description below.

Now, I hope you like this video. If you did, give me a thumbs up. If you’re not a subscriber to my YouTube channel then you need to be, so hit that bell to subscribe and get notified when I put out another video for all of you. And until the next video, stay fertile.