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How to Relieve Stress Quiz

De-stressing is key when you’re #TTC… but is that realistic during the holidays? You bet. Take our fun & quick quiz to identify the best chill-out tactics for you!

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Your Lack of Sleep Could Be Sabotaging Your Fertility

Lack of sleep is something over 30 percent of Americans struggle with every year, and it only gets worse for patients dealing with the stress of undergoing fertility treatments. But for couples trying to get pregnant, a lack of sleep could be sabotaging their efforts. Your health, mood, hormones, and fertility are all affected by how much and well you sleep. 

Sleep Deprivation is a Fertility Killer

Failing to get enough sleep doesn’t just influence your mood and productivity, it also influences the hormones a woman secretes throughout her cycle. Studies have shown that getting enough quality sleep has a positive effect on the reproductive hormones a woman produces, including progesterone, estrogen, Leptin, and Follicle-Stimulating Hormones (FSH).

Getting enough quality sleep is even more important for women hoping to achieve a pregnancy using IVF. According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine’s study, women with low-quality sleep had lower rates of fertility than those getting adequate rest.

The Role of Light Pollution

Even if you’re getting eight hours of sleep every night, other factors, like light pollution from electronics, can also affect the quality of your sleep and your eggs. The blue light emitted from phones, computers, and other electronics can interfere with your sleep-wake cycle, meaning the quality of your sleep is not where it should be.

But your gadgets aren’t just keeping you from sleeping well, they can also be hindering your efforts to conceive. The blue light from your electronics suppresses melatonin, a critical hormone that both helps you sleep and protects your eggs when they are close to ovulation. Without appropriate melatonin production, your eggs will not be guarded against the free radicals which can reduce their viability.

The Infertility Shift

Do you work the night shift? If so, you may find that you’ll have a harder time getting pregnant. Working the night shift can impact your circadian rhythm, resulting in hormonal imbalances, lower estrogen levels, and irregular menstrual cycles. These factors can all make it more difficult to both achieve a pregnancy and carry a pregnancy to term.

What You Can Do

While most women will find that hold at least one of these sleep-damaging habits, most are relatively easy to fix. To improve sleep quality and increase their chances of getting pregnant, women should:

• Get 7-8 hours of sleep every night. Too few or too many hours can negatively affect fertility.
• Unplug before bed. Put away computers, phones, tablets, and other electronics at least an hour before bedtime.
• If you work swing shifts or night shifts, speak with your employer about changing your schedule. If this isn’t possible, ask your employer if it would be possible to adjust the lighting accordingly.

Getting enough high-quality sleep isn’t just good for your general health, it’s also great for your fertility. While getting enough sleep can be difficult for couples trying to achieve a pregnancy, getting in those eight hours a night can help improve your chances of conceiving and building the family of your dreams.

If you’re having difficulty achieving a pregnancy and would like more information on the fertility options available to you, call the fertility experts at IVF FLORIDA at 866.770.2168 to schedule an appointment today. 

How to Preserve Your Fertility After a Breast Cancer Diagnosis

A breast cancer diagnosis can lead to many things…emotional pain, physical discomfort, and, for women of childbearing age, the fear of losing their fertility. Thankfully, advances in cancer treatment are enabling more women than ever to survive and thrive in the face of their diagnosis. Advancements in reproductive technology, specifically, provide effective fertility preservation options to breast cancer patients – giving them the opportunity to make children a part of their bright future.

With National Breast Cancer Month upon us, the Fertility Experts of IVF Florida describe how some therapies that improve the odds of surviving cancer have side effects that include loss of fertility and early menopause. But with the right treatment plan, IVF Florida can help patients circumvent these baby-making obstacles.

Infertility Risks for Breast Cancer Patients
There are many factors involved in determining the risk of infertility after cancer treatment, such as age, treatment type, and underlying fertility potential. If the cancer is treatable by surgery alone, there is no risk of infertility (related to the cancer diagnosis). The jury is still out on radiation, as it may have some affect on fertility. However, there’s a clear correlation between chemotherapy and potential loss of fertility.

Chemotherapy can bring on premature ovarian failure, or even early menopause. Ovarian failure is similar to menopause in that the ovaries stop producing eggs and menstruation comes to a halt. Some women find that their ovaries regain function after a period of time has passed. However, older women or those who have had higher doses of chemotherapy may never regain ovarian function.

Pre-Cancer Fertility Preservation Options
If you’re a breast cancer patient who hopes to have children someday, educating yourself on fertility preservation options is one of the best steps you can take to maintain control of your future. Your doctor at IVF Florida will work closely with you to determine which choice is right for you.

• IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) & Embryo Banking: Embryo banking is the most established form of fertility preservation and is a wonderful option for women with a male partner or those interested in using donor sperm. IVF and embryo banking involves stimulating the ovaries to produce multiple eggs, combining the eggs with sperm in a laboratory setting, and freezing the resulting embryos. The process occurs over two to six weeks, so is best for women who can safely delay cancer therapy for that amount of time. The embryos are implanted after cancer treatment and recovery.
• Egg Banking: The process to bank eggs is similar to embryo banking in that it involves the same ovarian stimulation to produce multiple eggs. The eggs are retrieved from the ovaries and then frozen without being fertilized; they are fertilized at a later date and the resulting embryos are implanted after cancer treatment and recovery.
• Ovarian Tissue Banking: This is an option for women who cannot safely delay cancer treatment long enough to undergo embryo or egg banking. Laparoscopy, a minor surgical procedure, is used to remove one ovary. The cortex, or outer surface, contains the eggs; it is removed and frozen in strips for later use. Women who have had certain types of cancer can then have the tissue thawed and transplanted back.

Post-Cancer Fertility Preservation Options
If possible, it’s best to consult with a reproductive endocrinologist prior to undergoing cancer therapy. However, for some women that’s not possible. The good news is that there are options to grow your family after you’ve completed treatment for cancer. It does not appear that pregnancy after cancer increases the risks of cancer recurrence, nor do children born to cancer survivors appear to be at higher risk of birth defects. Researchers continue to gather more data, but the information available to date is reassuring.

After cancer treatment, traditional assisted reproductive technologies including controlled ovarian hyperstimulation, IUE (Intrauterine Insemination), and IVF may be a viable way for some cancer patients to become pregnant.

Egg donation is an excellent choice for women whose cancer therapy caused them to become menopausal. A known or anonymous egg donor would undergo ovarian stimulation. Her eggs would be fertilized by sperm, and the resulting embryos would be implanted in the cancer survivor.

Some cancer survivors who are unable to carry a pregnancy turn to gestational surrogacy. The patient would undergo IVF, and the embryos from the intended parents (the patient and her partner) would be implanted into the gestational surrogate.

More than ever, patients who undergo fertility-threatening cancer treatments are surviving their disease and looking forward to the future. Building a family is often a very important part of that future. If you’re a cancer patient and would like more information on the fertility preserving options available to you, call 866.770.2168 to schedule an appointment today. At IVF Florida, we recognize that time is often of the essence and are committed to making every effort to see you as soon as possible.

Tips to Relax During IVF Treatments

Are you currently going through IVF treatments or preparing yourself to start the process?  It’s no secret that IVF isn’t exactly a walk in the park, and for many, the process can also lead to emotional, financial, and physical stress.  However, studies have shown that reduced stress levels can lead to better male and female fertility.  While it’s much easier said than done, letting yourself relax and lowering stress levels may help the outcome of your fertility treatments and will also make you feel a lot better throughout the process.  Not quite sure how to get to that place?  We’re here to help with the tips below.  Check it out….

Avoid Unnecessary Stress.  When you’re going through IVF, the last thing you need is additional and unnecessary stress, so rule #1 is to weed that out.  This may come in the form of visitors, extra social commitments or activities, additional workloads, etc.  Do your best to keep life low-key and calm (at least during your treatment cycles), and DO NOT feel bad for during it.  You owe this to yourself!

Take Control of Your Home and Work Environments.  You spend a lot of time at home and at work, so it’s important to make sure that each environment is as stress-free as possible.  While at home, stop watching the news (it can raise blood pressure and cause anxiety), declutter your space, play relaxing music, use calming oils in a diffuser or light a candle with a relaxing scent.  When you’re at work, avoid negative coworkers, hard deadlines, and rush hour traffic. 

Try Acupuncture or Yoga.  Did you know there is a specific form of acupuncture for infertility?  Many people swear by it, so give it a shot, but make sure to discuss this with your fertility doctor first.   Also, consider taking yoga classes as it can be a great way to achieve balance and peace as well as a great form of non-aerobic exercise.

Live a Healthy Lifestyle.  A healthy lifestyle that includes a well-balanced diet and exercise can help lower stress levels and lead to a more positive outlook.  Not to mention, certain foods are known to boost fertility, which can only help your chances of a successful IVF (click here for more info on that).  Exercise is also a great stress reliever, but it’s best to check with your doctor to find out what form of exercise is best when going through fertility treatments.  

Incorporate Relaxation Response Training.  When you target the relaxation response (state of deep rest) in your brain, your blood pressure and breathing rate decreases, and you feel more relaxed and less anxious.  Those who practice this on a regular basis feel more relaxed and calmer throughout the day, and those who elicit the relaxation response during medical procedures report less anxiety, pain, and medication use. There are many different ways to go about this – meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, and deep breathing. 

At IVF Florida, we are dedicated to providing our patients the best in fertility treatments and a level of care compassionate to what you are going through.  If you are interested in more information on fertility treatments or would like to schedule a consultation at one of our South Florida fertility centers, please give us a call at 866.770.2168.