Weight Issue causing not able to get prego.?

[treatgirl]

Has anyone else been told that if they would lose some weight it would help to get prego.  This is what my Dr said.  I have lost around 30 pounds in the past year.  i still have a ways to go.  If anyone else has had this problem please share.  I need all the inspriation I can get.  It is so hard.  Last year when I started losing the weight and was exercising my cycle was very regular.  Then I have been under so much stress these past 3 months i think I have thrown my cycle off again because of all the stress.  I am trying to relax and get back with the game plan.  

I have started takeing fertilaid to see if it will help also.

Please share any ideas that you have.

[diva_lorri]

i am 22 weeks pregnant (finally....) with our first child. I am classed as very obese (even after loosing weight. i had gastric banding in feb 2006 and lost 36kgs in 18months. I have gained some pre pregnancy but I am still under my starting weight but still very over weight.
i have pcos and insulin resistance which explains my inability to loose weight easily. i am an extremely active person but I dont properly excersise enough and although I dont eat much I eat the wrong thing too often which certainly doesnt help. (it must be honesty day here in australia haha all my habits are coming out).
i have been off contraception (to try and let my periods become a cycle) and ttc unofficially for years. Letting whatever happens, happen sort of thing.
i used to have 2-3 periods per year and they were super heavy lasting up to 6 weeks. they were completely irratic and irregular and I dont think I ever ovulated.
after our sept 2007 we started to ttc officially (once the doc's realised yes... i had tried everything to loose weight and it makes no difference). the gyno told me to keep trying to loose weight for a while and then we would see our options. we started both seeing a chiropracter and taking herbal supplements to help the process along in the mean time.with seeing the chiropracter my periods started to become every 30or so days (pretty regular) and even ovulated a few times according to the opk's. eventually the gyno prescribed metformin and asked me to do some day21 progesterone tests to see if i was ovulating. we also tried preseed when i was ovulating. anyway cut along story short after 3 months on metformin and all the other stuff i fell pregnant. first time ever! and for all the sceptics out there ive hardly gained any in pregnancy. about 4kgs which is good.
in my opinion - i think loosing weight is definately important but.... if you have tried everything to loose weight or you are sick of trying to shift the weight unsuccesfully then dont take no for an answer.
i put my foot down because i thought im 26 and i have tried very hard, what if i cant get pregnant at all or for many years. i want a few kids and although im not exactly old im not exactly a teenager anymore. i am ready now and noone can tell me i cant try for a baby. eventually the doc listened to me and i am now pregnant! i was lucky i didnt have to endure some of what the ladies here have had too and i hope you dont have too either. i may be a fat preggo but i tell ya what ive never been happier or felt better (most days anyway!)
all the best and feel free to ask any questions!
lorri xoxox

[clomidkid]

Hi. I didnt realise my weight would be an issue but we have unexplained infertility and when we had been ttc over 4 years we were reffered for ivf treatment,I went to see my gp to send off for app and he said my bmi was too high and I wouldn't be accepted but my fiance's was fine,he weigh's just under ten stone and I weigh 14st(I have always been 12 and a half stone,but whilst taking clomid last year I put on weight) this was in dec and he gave me a target to lose a stone and then we could go ahead,a couple of weeks ago I went back to see him and I had lost 1st and 4lbs, we have our first ivf consultation on the 7th april,so I feel happy but I've just put 4lbs back on and now feel under pressure to keep my weight down and our app will soon be here. As far as weight affecting fertility,I was told by my doctor that the more weight I can lose the more my fertility will increase,I don't really agree,I think doctors like to persuade patients to lose weight regardless. If it hadn't of been for the ivf,I wouldn't have put pressure on myself and I dont think it helps our stress levels. I have lots of friends a similar weight who conceived as I have slimmer friends. Good luck with ttc, clomidkid x x x

[Amaterasu]

I was told that I needed to gain weight.  I went through a very stressful time where I was working 80+ hour weeks and skipping many meals due to my schedule.  My weight dropped to 120 (at 5'9") which is considered slightly underweight.  AF stopped coming and my PCP said that I needed to gain weight, which I was able to do over a few months (up to 140) by reducing my stress level and trying to eat on a schedule, but it didn't help.  I went to an OB/Gyn this year and she induced AF with Provera and said I will probably need Clomid next cycle to induce ovulation (appt is in 2 wks).  I agree that for some people weight can be a factor, but if you have an obvious issue like mine or have been trying for 6-12 mos with no luck (depending on age over/under 35) you might want to see Ob/gyn or RE for hormone tests as well.  Weight gain & trouble losing weight can also be a sign of other disorders that can cause menstrual problems.  I hope that is not the case for you and you are able to get pg soon naturally.  

[tina1111]

This is a copy of one article I found on the web. I know there is a lot more out there and it does have an impact on fertility. Of course, there are always exceptions to every rule. Everyone know of someone that drank and smoked or even worse thru an entire pg and had a healthy baby. But, there are those of us that it does make a difference, too. I know estrogen has something to do with it and getting trapped in fat cells. But, I don't remember the specifics. And I do know severely underweight/malnourished women do have issues as well.  HTH

When all else fails - including IVF - you can simply lose weight
By Julie Robotham, Medical Writer
December 2 2002



  
Big Momma ... Leanne Holy, who had been overweight since she was a child, became pregnant naturally after losing just nine kilos. Photo: Sahlan Hayes


Since she was a child, people have blamed Leanne Holy's weight for everything amiss in her life - her lack of a boyfriend as a teenager, her not being married as a young woman.

So when she found the right man in her mid 30s and desperately wanted a child, Mrs Holy was not prepared to be dismissed again with the weight story. "I was just so determined my weight wasn't going to make a difference," she said.

That is, not until she attended a Fertility Fitness program in which a successful former participant brought in her baby to show to the overweight would-be mothers.

"I sat and howled through that session. It was the turning point for me, that I had to lose that weight," said Mrs Holy, who is now four months pregnant, after reducing from 106 to 97 kilos.

She is among five of the eight women in her group who became pregnant after the program. Even better, it happened naturally after four years of multiple failed IVF attempts.


Fertility Fitness came out of reproductive specialist Anne Clark's observation that even modest weight loss seemed to make a great difference to the conception chances of her most overweight IVF patients.

"The more women were overweight, the more things were not working for them," said Dr Clark, the medical director of the Fertility First clinic at Hurstville Community Hospital. "They needed higher doses of drugs, they didn't get to the ovulation stage."

If their body mass index (BMI) - a common measure of weight for height - rose above 30, making them technically obese, the chance of having an IVF baby fell to about 3 per cent per cycle - compared to 25 per cent for women of normal weight.

Dr Clark, a world pioneer in the field, believes overweight may be a much larger factor in infertility than has so far been credited. She said "35 to 50 per cent of women in the reproductive age group" were overweight or obese.

She is sure the problems cut in at much more moderate degrees of overweight: "In practice you're getting a gradation of effect in women with BMIs between 25 and 29," she said. Even some women whose weight is at the upper end of the officially "healthy" range of 20 to 25 BMI may experience conception problems, especially if they come from a non-Caucasian background. Some ethnic groups have less tolerance to overweight than others and develop insulin resistance - a precursor of diabetes that may be the root cause of the infertility link - at lower weights.

The best news for large women is that they probably do not have to become ideally svelte to get pregnant. "It's the act of the weight going down that makes the difference. They only need to lose six to 10 kilos and now suddenly they ovulate spontaneously, their miscarriage rate falls by two-thirds. For a third of them [weight loss] is the only treatment they need."

Underweight women may also have problems conceiving but these are usually less severe, Dr Clark says.

For the future, Dr Clark wants to tease out how much of the benefit is attributable to physical effects of weight loss and how much is down to women's better psychological wellbeing.

As well, she would like to hear from men who are planning to lose weight to see if this affects male fertility. They simply have to provide samples for sperm counts before and after.

[Jenny5]

I think that weight maybe it has to do with it and maybe not. It is mostly on the persons body and hormones.Maybe for some being overweight is a problem and screws the hormones balance and maybe for others it has no problem. I had a neighbor of mine she is now 4-5 months pregnant and she is more than obese and got pregnant easy with all 3 of her kids. My re told me to to lose some weight mostly cause if you're overweight during the pregnancy may be a problem for you and it is not ealthy for the baby.But for some persons being overweight may be a reason for not getting pregnant.

[treatgirl]

I totally agree.  I know I work with a girl and she was way bigger than me and she is now 7 months preg.  Go Figure.  I know it depends all on the person.  But it is so hard.

[ZevasMom]

I would have to say yesno... I am overweight, with unexplained fertility problems, and got pregnant via IVF (DD is 20mo)... I would say that yes, being overweight does screw with your hormones... On the other hand, I would say no - look at all the women who are overweight and have babies (plural) naturally...

To me, it is just like the caffiene thing - some women still drink their 5 cups of coffee/soda a day and have no issues... Other studies have shown that it increases the risk of m/c...

I would recommend losing weight (oh man, is this the pot calling the kettle black :o) because of the obvious health reasons...

[sarah9010]

i only weigh 160 and was told because i gained 30 lbs in the past two yrs that, that could be the reason for my unexplained infertility. I have two children that i had no problem conceiving when i was at 120-130 lbs. so i dont 100% agree with the comment from treatgirl. i dont think it matters if your obviously overweight like she said i think its a person by person basis. I know alot of obviously obese people who have no problems getting pg. They have been obese all there lives though. so my opinion would be if you put on excess weight and it throws your body off then i could say its the possible reason but if you have been big your whole life then i would say probably not. Im not a doc though so im not really sure how much my opinion matters.

[tina1111]

Yes, it definitely can be a major factor. I was somewhat over weight and lost 30lbs, which put me back at my normal weight and got pg. I think that may have been one of the reasons I got pg. I lost the baby, but gained the weight back and am really having probs again. I am starting a serious diet this week and hope that is the problem again.  I have read the info on it, but didn't retain much of the facts. I know it has something to do with hormones storing in fat cells. Congrats on the 30#! It's not easy to do, you deserve a pat on the back!

[mommyof3andhopefully4]

I have heard that losing weight (if over weight obviously) definitly helps and being over weight can hinder becoming pregnant.  I have also heard the opposite....I knew a girl who tried for a year to get pregnant...her OB told her to gain some weight and she would probably get pregnant.  She was a tiny little thing.  So she gained about 8 lbs and BAM got pregnant....

So I have heard both ways.

Good luck.  I know it is hard the way it is just having issues with conceiving and now someone telling you it's because you need to lose weight.  Keep your chin up and know it will happen for you!  SSBD!