u/brookelynp

Tw: pregnancy loss

I am 30 in the US and have been ttc since Jan 2025. I have had 3 pregnancies all conceived on 1-2 try and all ended before a heartbeat/fetal pole could be detected. All my rpl testing has been normal but my pcp suspects I have endo. I have some questions about this and am hoping someone out there can tell me they’ve had success with it. I don’t want to do ivf (can’t afford it) and there are no REIs at the only academic medical institution in the state. I’m hesitant to go to a private rei because I don’t want to be pushed into ivf just to have more failure. I currently see an OB Gyn.

From what I’ve read, women with endo have more occurrence of fertility issues including miscarriage, but treatments of endo (surgery, suppression) have not shown conclusive influence on pregnancy outcomes either due to lack of data or due to some root cause that precedes both issues that is not addressed by treating endo alone.

What have your doctors said about this? Do any recommend surgery for rpl, or just for pain management? Or is immune suppression recommended? And if yes, then how does that address progesterone uptake issues?

I feel so lost. Wondering if anyone else in the “unexplained” camp is spinning their wheels on this like I am. Feels like science hasn’t done much investigation into this and no one really knows what even causes endo in the first place.

Hi all,

TL:DR: possible bowel attached to left side of uterus on TVUS, doctor doesn’t want to do further investigation and I need to know if I should advocate for endometriosis/scar tissue screen

I’ve had a hard journey. I’m in the US for reference.

My first pregnancy found no fetal pole at 8 weeks, started bleeding at 10 and took a suppository to help pass the pregnancy but at 12 weeks got sepsis and needed an emergency D&C.
I had pelvic pain since but was told to do PT to help with that, it resolved vaginal pain but not left-sided pelvic pain. I started getting chronic migraines (5-6x/week), normal brain MRI. was told to “suffer” until I’m done trying to conceive because I failed all protocols safe for pregnancy.
Second pregnancy lasted 7.5 weeks before passing naturally. The pain in my left side got worse during this pregnancy and I started having IBS symptoms (new to me). Third pregnancy was a chemical and I am just now getting RPL workup. I get pregnant within 2 tries each time.

So far all the blood tests (APS, ANA, thyroid, prolactin, celiac, lupus, HSG, etc etc) are normal, and I haven’t gotten my genetic results back yet but both my husband and I have been tested. Just did an ultrasound last week and experienced extreme pain while having it performed. I’ve never had pain with ultrasound before (last time I had one was to determine the age of my first pregnancy). They found what they think is probably my intestine on the left side of my uterus but the radiologist thought it was probably normal. Everything else looked good.

My OB doesn’t want to look in to that and says things like endometriosis are unlikely because my periods aren’t heavy enough, and it’s unlikely to be scar adhesion because I only had 1 D&C and the uterus is still mobile. Should I advocate for more care or just wait for the genetic results and if everything is normal try again? I am having a hard time knowing when to trust my doctor and when to push back a bit. Also don’t have a referral to REI yet.