Well, I have been overwhelmed reading about my most recent diagnosis: "elevated Natural Killer cells" (CD56+ NK cells). NK cells are pictured to the left. This is one of the immunology risks that Dr. Beers' describes in his book and it was diagnosed through the "Natural Killer Assay" which is the gold standard of NK tests, as it isolates a woman's NK cells and studies them as they interact/attack a type of cancer cell that is similar to embryo tissue. If they show killing activity that is too agressive, that's a problem because it means they could be attacking an embryo in the same way, thereby causing reproductive loss. It cost me $400 out of pocket, but I think it was worth it.
On the one hand, I feel more discouraged than ever that I have yet one more freakin' thing to overcome. On the other hand, maybe we've finally found one problem we could possibly treat.
What has been recommended by the RE is that we try one more time to get pregnant naturally and then consider ART. I must take Baby Aspirin daily and if I get a BFP, I will be given Intralipids and Heparin to regulate the NK cell activity. This is a lot less expensive than IVIG (and less disgusting too), but it does not work for everyone.
The other bad news I received is that my AMH has further reduced. However, all my other numbers are better than before, I hope due to the supplements and acupuncture:
Antral Follice Count: 8 (better than previous 6, but still low)
AMH: .66 (lower than the previous 1.04)
FSH: 6.9 (good/better than the 8.75)
Inhibin B: 125.5 (awesome)
I don't know why the FSH and Inhibin B are good but the others are not. From what I've read, the AFC and AMH tests are more predictive of ovarian reserve. So yes, I very much have diminished ovarian reserve, which means I am running out of time rather quickly. Blah.
I've done a lot of reading about the NK cells and the natural remedies I am now doing daily to help combat the elevated NK cells are:
-3 grams of Fish Oil
-800mg Vitamin E
-1 T of Liquid Chlorophyll (the stuff that makes veggies and water green!)
-100 mg Pycnogenol
Now I am trying to figure out what to do...do some more testing, keep TTC naturally, or move on to IVF? Onwards...
