The Bee Sting | TTC After Loss

It's been a while since my last TTC update. The first phase of my treatment lasted about eight weeks. At the end of which I had to get my labs redrawn to check for improvement if any. If you go back to my last ttc post, it was pretty clear that I was feeling overwhelmed, anxious and fearful of the whole treatment plan.

What truly came as a surprise to me is how much better I started feeling after only a couple weeks into my treatment. The scary parts of my plan (needles & drugs) slowly faded into the background as I began to feel less tired, more clear headed, more alert, stronger and healthier. Even my skin looked so much better and the visible inflammation effects like puffiness began to subside. My workouts became somewhat more enjoyable and my recovery much quicker.

I also noticed that my body began to undergo what is known as the healing crisis. Although I felt much better over all, I noticed that old injuries from years ago started flaring up again creating some discomfort. It felt as if my body was retracing old wounds and injuries at the cellular level. Luckily this only lasted a week or so at most.

The Good News

My most recent labs revealed a whole lot of improvement specifically related to blood clotting and inflammation levels. Two of my worst results from my initial labs were my D-Dimer and CRP markers. They were both way off the charts high for an otherwise healthy looking 30 year old female like me. As you can see in the table above, my elevated clotting factors became normalized after heparin treatment and my CRP levels were almost halved. This is such great news for me and such a relief to know that something is working. Thank you to all of you who have been praying for these improved results 🙏🏼💛 I know many of you have been and it means so much!

The Bad News

Of course whenever there's really good news, there's also a bit of bad news. Mom and I were really hoping that I would be able to discontinue my shots at least for a while to give me somewhat of a break. Unfortunately this will not be possible. Dr. has ordered that I continue with heparin from now until successful TTC and beyond. Since hubby and I are traveling abroad soon, I really really didn't want to worry about heparin shots every twelve hours. However, Dr. did point out that its probably best if I stick with heparin especially while sitting in long haul flights to reduce any risk of DVT. I know he's right and I guess I should be grateful for these little painful shots.

Another not so good piece of news was my lab result for TNF-alpha. When TNF is too high, it can be a cause of concern as it indicates inflammation in the body. Low TNF can be good news since it means low inflammation. However low TNF is not so good for conceiving and is correlated with infertility so it's a bit counterproductive in my case.

The Bee Sting

My new treatment plan is very similar to my last one. I am continuing with heparin, antivirals once a day and the rest of my long list of supplements. I was also placed on a low dose prozac (worst drug ever, I only lasted two days on it! Ick) to up my TNF and a statin to try and reduce my CRP further.

Last but not least, Dr. ordered that I go see the Bee Man and get stung by a bumble bee!

You want me to do what?! LOL. First of all, I hate bees because they sting people and I'm so scared of getting stung. Im not allergic and the last time I was stung was probably at the age of two or three. Still, I couldn't believe my ears. Although I had heard of bee stings helping people with MS, I had no idea what the Dr. was trying to pull this time. He simply said it was the quickest way he knew of to get my TNF-alpha up. Hmmmm....OK. I procrastinated a whole week to call the Bee Man and had no idea what to even say. Fortunately he was entirely nonchalant about the matter and sounded like he's done this a hundred times before. Totally normal I guess. Who knew?!

There is no way I would ever have considered undergoing a bee sting if it weren't for my sweet baby and the Lord who give me courage and strength everyday.

I'm scheduled to go see the Bee Man this Sunday and the bee will sting me on my lower hip! Wish me lots of luck and strength! On Monday I will be getting labs done again to check for improvement and then will schedule another Dr. Visit.

Turns out BVT-Bee Venom Therapy or Apitherapy is totally normal, as ancient as Hippocrates himself and touted by celebrities. Still OUCH.