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Hello Punkin:
yes, I just completed the series of treatments about 4 weeks ago. I won't know if it is helpful for another few months as I am ramping up to another IVF cycle.

Fundamentally, I was open to the treatments given what understand about physical therapy and exercise. Yes, a little expensive, but most likely your insurance will cover some portion if not most. I went to their NYC location and they were just lovely therapists. At my age, I am open to every option available to me.

Other than expense, do you have any other concerns? Thanks. Diana

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DianaEvans2,
Thank you for replying. If you dont mind me asking, were you going for something specific, like endo? Did you do the 20 hours in 1 week or over a longer period? Have you noticed any physical changes and/or side effects? How was your overall experience?
I went to the NYC location today for the free demo. I left the clinic a little apprehensive but Im leaning towards trying it. Any input is truly appreciated.
Thanks a bunch, punkin

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Hello Punkin: no worries. Ask away.

I went to Clear Passage after miscarring 2 months earlier. I felt that the physical therapy might be a small additional bit of help at my age. I'm now 43 and had 2 miscarriages 2.5 years apart. One natural pregnancy and one via IVF. I have no other symptoms other than age. I've been analyzed via blood and every other imaginable test. Just age is my only factor.

To answer your other questions. No side effects, other than I am slightly more flexible overall given the stretching exercises. For example, I was 7 inches from touching the floor with my finger tips. Now it is 1 inch gap. My back is better as are my leg extensions. My overall experience was very positive as the therapists were quite knowledgeable, calm and very nice. If I had to do it again, yes, no question. Obviously, my goal is a full complete healthy pregnancy and I think anything that might assistance that is a good thing. I've done a great deal of sports in the past years, so any physical therapy is always helpful in "alignment" of all the parts.

Yes, I did 20 hours in one week given my work schedule made it impractical to fit it in piecemal. I simply took a week vacation. I made the most of being in Manhattan squeezing in lunch with several girlfriends and light shopping between sessions. That in itself was a vacation for me since I am usually so swamped with work that I almost never get to sit down for lunch or even go shop. I just planned ahead. The commute for me was the worst part since I only drive 10 minutes to work normally. But I did reading and paperwork on the trains. So that was my overall experience. I'd be happy to address any other questions you might have. Wishing you a fantastic Fourth! Diana

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Hi Diana, Thank you for sharing your experience. Im very sorry to hear about your miscarriages. I wish you much babydust. I just scheduled my 20hrs. I was hoping to do all 20hrs next week but someone booked it 1hour before I called, so I will break it up in 2 weeks. I start on Monday. Im not sure if itll help me. Ive tried several IUIs, IVFs, acupuncture, herbs, yoga, reflexology..never had a BFP. The embryos dont make it to blast..they look great on days1-3 and then slow down. Im 33, TTC 6 years. All b/w & u/s and every other test look great. I have a retroverted uterus and Clear Passage Therapist said they could help reposition the uterus. Im keeping my fingers crossed. I hope my experience is as wonderful as yours. I will keep you posted. I know I have more questions but I have to get back to work. I will be in touch soon. Good luck to you Happy holiday! Thanks again, punkin.

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Hello Punkin: thanks for the follow up. So very sorry to hear about your difficulties over the years...very emotionally draining.

It is tough to keep the positive with all the poking and prodding during all the IVF procedures. At this stage, it is basically just another routine I do, brush teeth, shower, dress, inject and/or drive 1.5 hours to doc appt, and get more bw, etc. On the other hand, I feel blessed that I even have these opportunities in this country and I am honored to work with my docs and other support professionals.

So, when you have a breather and have any more questions about CP, please ask away. Wishin gyou a wonderful week! Diana

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Diana,
Thank you for the kind words. I agree; we are very fortunate to have such opportunities. I just received my package and start my first treament on Monday...I will let you know how it goes. Enjoy the weekend!
Punkin

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Hi Diana - Hope you had a good weekend. I had my first session this monring. The ladies are very nice. I dont feel any changes/different...expect a little tired. Im going to read through the package and try some of the stretches tonight. Did you do the exercises? guided imagery? Thanks, punkin.

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Hello Punkin:
Thanks for asking, yes had a lovely weekend with my 3 newphews-6 yrs, 4 yrs and 18 months. Beautiful little boys who are really joyful and very happy, evenly dispositioned kids. We had a blast swimming and eating ice-cream.

Thanks for sharing. To answer your question, no, I had no real outward changes other than my flexibility in my back and leg muscles is much better. I've been following most of my exercises. My flexibility in back was measured by simply trying to reach my toes. My gap of finger-tips to floor was about 7 inches before CP. Now I am about an inch or less from the floor. Big improvement for me. The leg muscles is a really tough thing to describe in words, but it has been a very gradual incremental improvement that is sorely needed.

Overall, the whole CP process gave me pause to relax and focus on other muscles. I do a fair amount of sports,so it is important to me to be careful a good month before IVF and certainly during all the stimulations. Right now I am in my "tapering" phase of regular exercise so the CP ones are simple and very very easy and provide a good focus. My motivation for CP's form of physical therapy was to put my whole body back in alignment after the MC and avail myself to a process that also was mentally helpful after the sadness. That component has indeed been good to me, too. The mental positiveness parts of IVF are a big challenge to navigate and any resources are a god-send.

Wishing you all the best for the rest of the week and your CP treatments. Cheers, Diana

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Thanks Diana.

Im happy to hear CP help with the emtional side of ttc. Best of luck to you on this upcoming cycle.

I completed my first 10 hours. I dont feel any changes, however, my uterus is positioned normally now. I had b/w & u/s this morning. I had the RE point out my uterus on the u/s and he said it was normally positioned. I told him no, I have a retroverted uterus but he showed me that I do not . Ive been told for years that I have a tipped uterus. My guess is the CP helped reposition it. Im not sure if that will make a difference but Im looking forward to the next 10 hours.

Have you had any b/w since CP to see if any hormone levels or anything else improved? Are you still doing the streches & exercises? I have such a hard time getting motivated to do them but Im getting through it. Hopefully after a few more days, itll become routine.
Enjoy the weekend! Punkin

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Hello Punkin:
great to hear about your 10 hours completed and the result about your uterus now being positioned as the RE saw it rather than tipped. BIG difference! That sounds very positive to me!

Just went to the clinic today and b/w done. Forgot to ask the values, but they must be in range to start the cycle-Day 2 Micro Dose Lupron (fairly typical protocol, I think, for older women with limited ovarian reserve). I'll have to ask for the values and put them in context. But I'm encouraged, the uterus lining was exactly how it was supposed to be at this start of the cycle. So I'm off on my third IVF journey and I am going for third time is a charm.

Yeah, stretching-a toughie to squeeze in when you just want to jump straight into things, but overall it is very helpful for one's well being and balance.

Are your remaining 10 hours coming up this week or is it spread out? This week will be tough to get around NYC with the heat, but you'll be mostly indoors. Stay cool and hope to hear how things go with CP. Cheers, Diana

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Would you tell me what Clear Passage is? I've looked at the web site, but I don't have a good sense of what they are offering. Also, information on cost would be appreciated.

Thank you.

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Hi Terri:

Clear Passage (CP) in summary, is a series of physical therapy sessions with the focus being the uterus but not to the exclusion of all the other body areas. They have a nice brochure which you can receive in the snail mail. The 20 sessions run about 5K. Sometimes an insurance will cover a % given a referral from your regular physician.

I think they do a session or partial session as a free trial...I think that's what Punkin referred to at one point. I didn't bother, but just signed up since I felt this was something I wanted to do, as I believe in physical therapy being helpful if done holistically (as I felt CP is/was). These are just my opinions of course. They have locations in NYC and Florida and somewhere else. The rest of my comments are above. I am not sure to what extent their metrics are based on hard science, but they have had some successes. It's been 2 months since I had my sessions, so I don't recall all the specifics, but found it a positive experience. Punkin's experience is current, I believe. Anything else I might share? Cheers, Diana

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Hi All-

I was reading tonight Conceive the Magazine and found an ad about clear passage here I leave to you their web.

clearpassage.com

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Hi Diana - Great to see youre on track with your IVF cycle. I guess youre one week into the meds now. Wow this week flew by. How are you feeling?
I wish you the very best. Lots of babydust your way. Please keep update if youre not too stressed talking about it.

Tomorrow is my last day fo CP. Its been a good experience. The 2 hours a day were intense but went by real fast. Part of me is a little sad and then again Im happy to be able to wake up a little later and get back on a more regular routine. I will start another cycle this September.

Teri - The NYC and Newport Beach, CA are offering a one hour free demo which is what I did. My experience has been positive as well. I dont feel any overwhelming physical changes. The therapy has made me more aware of my body. The cost is 5200 for 20hours. You can do the 20 hours in one week or over a longer period. I beleive ther is a site where you can ask the owners specific questions- I will post it if I can find it. I also called the Florida office and spoke with a PT before I made my decision. Im not sure what else to add to Diana's post. But feel free to ask any ?s. Ill be happy to share.

Have a good night.

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Hello Punkin!

Great comments about CP! Glad to hear that your course is complete and that your schedule is going back to normal....I totally empathize with the early morning wake-up....but I look at it this way....when baby(ies) come along....that is going to be reality for sure! SO THIS is good practice!

Thanks for asking! Feeling good....just very small bruises from the Lupron, Follastim and Menopur shots into the stomach. No real pain. I seem to bruise easy, but have never found any underlying health reason why I do. Lord knows that I've had every blood test done known to these RE/IVF experts. I still go swimming (with my team), albeit a tad slower than normal. Had a b/w check up this am (drove 114 miles RT for 20 min appt!!), so we will see tonight what course the meds take for the next week. If the ramp up is smooth, I am slated for retrievel next Sat/Sun/Mon.

I think somebody upstairs loves me/wants me to be around....as I had a really bizarre accident with my car (a good car) going into NYC on Monday crack of dawn-6AM. Fortunately, I am fine and noone else was involved. Had to cross 3 lines of highway at 60 mph with a whole front axel crashed down-made it to a really safe breakdown lane spot. Cops were great. Even made my appt with time to spare. Just a lot of funny logistics getting around afterwards. A real blessing! Wishing you a super Saturday and a sunny Sunday!

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Thanks much for the information about Clear Passage. I may give them a call to get some more information.
Teri

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Diana- OMG, that must have be scary...so glad youre ok.
Good to see the your cycle is going smoothly. Ill keep you in my thoughts. Please keep in touch, Punkin.

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Hello Punkin: how did your second week at CP wrap up?

All good, I hope.

Yup, I'm fine and thank the big person upstairs from sparing me in that horrible accident. I think he/she loves me from upstairs and wants me around for some reason. :) Losing the entire front axel thing at 60 mph was a true life-re-evaluating blessing.

Hope to hear how all is going. Wishing you a marvelous Monday! Diana

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Hi Diana,
My last week went well. It was a very positive experience for me...thanks for asking. I hope it makes a difference for us. I will try on my own this month and then IVF in Sept.
How are you? Did you complete your cycle? I hope you get that bfp and have a healthy nine months. Sending lots of babydust your way.
Have a good night, Punkin

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Diana, I read your post on the other thread and I am so sorry to hear about the bfn. I know its terriblly difficult and you have my sincerest sympathy. I hope to keep in touch but I really understand if you dont feel like posting. Take it easy. I wish you the very best with whatever you decide to do next. Youre in my thoughts, punkin.

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Hello Punkin: thank you so very much for your kind words and outreach. Very much appreciated!

Yeah, I am sad and bummed, as I hoped for the best., despite the stacked odds at my age... But life happens at its own pace. I believe there is bigger plan somehow in store for me, just not sure what it is....

Thanks again for your kindness and I'd love to hear how your next steps go along. Wishing you a wonderful Wednesday! Diana

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Hi Ladies,
I have read your posts and have to say you both (all of you) are so brave-Good luck to you all in your quest for lots and lots of healthy babys...

I am scheduled to begin CP therapy on Monday, 8-18-2006 at Florida location. My husband is Active Duty military here at Pope AFB in NC (near Ft. Bragg) and I am a Graduate Student here. I am 42 and we have been trying with NO luck for 7 years.
I am guessing some of that is becuase he spends more time fighting in Iraq and Afg than he does home!

I hope it works. I am totaly against having invasive surgery of any kind so this is really perfect alternative.Is there any advice for someone who is going alone without husband? Is it safe? Is it scary to be alone doing this for a whole week?
I am aprehensive for that reason. Any advice would be really helpful.
Do any of you know how soon you would be able to do a new HSG after having the therapy (to see if tubes are unblocked-that is my problem-both blocked)

Incidentally, Punkin how are you doing and I hope Diana you are well after your axle mishap. WOW! What a morning that must have been for you.
Have a beautiful day ladies.
ND

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Hello ND: Congrats on taking the first steps.

No worries about going alone to Clear Passage. I went for the two weeks along. I would think that it would be highly, highly boring for your husband to go along since the treatment rooms are not very spacious (much like a doctor's office in NY) Maybe they are more spacious elsewhere. The therapists are very kind at CP and will do everything to make you very comfortable.

Well, I did CP to compliment my IVF treatments as well. I am using every possible technology available to me at my age of 43. My chances at a complete healthy pregnancy are small (5-10%), but only possible with every possible technology going forward. My DH is in the reserves and is often away. We just freeze his sperm if timing is off for the IVF cycle. I would strongly encourage you to seek IMMEDIATELY clinical RE consultation as quickly as possible. This is just my opinion is based on 1.5 years of 4 different RE opinions but all REs saying time is almost expired for me. It is that simple. My only real option is DE at this point.

For Women over 40, I think IVF is the only fundamentally statistically valid way rather quick way to building a family. FORGET Clomid for sure-total waste of time and NOT helpful to the uterine lining. IUI is not really great statistically either for over 40 folks. Adoption takes a least a year and donor egg almost equally long.

As to the HSG and time needed after CP treatment, I don't know. I would think it is not too long, but the CP would best know. I had an HSG done about 4 weeks after my miscarriage-no problems and all clear. But that was also the case prior to the recent pregnancy.

Please feel free to ask any additional questions. Thanks in advance. Diana

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Hi Ladies,

I'm doing some research on Clear Passage and came across your discussion. This seems to be the only place I've found where people have actually gone through CP.

Has anyone had any success over the past few months since you last posted?

I'm 43, have 1 daughter (at 41) and have 2 unsuccessful IUIs this go 'round. I'm not willing to go through IVF due to a gut feeling that I shouldn't, but would love to have another child. CP is interesting, but will require a pretty significant investment since I don't live near a clinic as well as time away from my daughter and my job. Any insights will be appreciated!

Alicia

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Hello Alicia:
hope all is well. SO sorry about the delay. No success so far with me. Still totally healthy.

In any event, I stand by my comments above about statistics, IVF vs. IUI, etc. I hear your reluctance about IVF, but that's the only really CLEAR way to absolutely know if you are making eggs and progress. IUI is ok if you are much younger and have more time.

Clear Pasage was fine as a non chemical way to "goose" up or enhance things in a holistically total body way. Your insurance might cover it under physical therapy which it really is! I got a 70% reimbursement--that helped.

Many BABY BLESSINGS! Diana

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Thanks for your reply, Diana. I am sending positive thoughts your way re: a healthy, full term pregnancy. It sounds like you're completely up to date on the best protocol, but just wanted to let you know that acupuncture worked for me the first time (it didn't this time, but my issues really aren't physical for this round)and letrozole, although don't know if it's used for IVF. Acupuncture needs to be done by someone who specializes in infertility, 2-3 months prior to IVF and, in the case of an IUI, immediately before the insemination. Not sure what's best protocol for IVF.

I'll check into whether I can be reimbursed or not - thanks for the tip!

Best of luck to you - I truly hope you are able to achieve your dream and will keep you in my thoughts.

Alicia

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I recently found out that both my tubes were blocked and have obtained information from CP and am considering travelling to Florida for the treatment. I have not attempted to go for Laparoscopy to see how badly my tubes are damaged because I don't want that kind of invasive surgery. My doctor mentioned to me that even with that there is only 25% chance of conceiving after reconstructive surgery if the tubes are repairable. Apart from reading the CP brochure and obtaining statistics on their success rate, I wonder if there is anyone who had blocked tubes and was successful in conceiving? If there is anyone out there I would like some information before I make the trip. Thank you

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Hi Everybody! I am considering CP and I've heard nothing but negative comments about it. Of course, this negativity is coming from the surgeon who wants to operate but also family and friends. Hubby and I have been trying to conceive for 7 years. We are actually looking at adoption now, but I wanted natural children first. He's been tested, he's fine. I've had an HSG and Laparoscopy. I was told my right tube is completely blocked and my left tube is partially blocked. I also have fibroids. Do any of you who have gone to CP know if having fibroids will decrease my chances if I go thru this treatment? I'm skeptical, but there seems to be no negative side effects, and it's cheaper than getting the two surgeries my doctor suggested. Please help!

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My wife and I went through some similar issues. I was told that the best thing to do is to have the tubes removed (two different fertility centers). Your chances of having a pregnancy through IVF are significantly better. Opening the tubes by surgery (or by CP - not sure how they would do it) would only be temporary thus wasting more precious time. If the tubes are blocked you probably have hydrosalpynx (i think thats the spelling).

[quote author=mrstnt link=board=16;threadid=2602;start=15#29253 date=1165869786]
Hi Everybody! I am considering CP and I've heard nothing but negative comments about it. Of course, this negativity is coming from the surgeon who wants to operate but also family and friends. Hubby and I have been trying to conceive for 7 years. We are actually looking at adoption now, but I wanted natural children first. He's been tested, he's fine. I've had an HSG and Laparoscopy. I was told my right tube is completely blocked and my left tube is partially blocked. I also have fibroids. Do any of you who have gone to CP know if having fibroids will decrease my chances if I go thru this treatment? I'm skeptical, but there seems to be no negative side effects, and it's cheaper than getting the two surgeries my doctor suggested. Please help!
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Hi punkin
I hope that you have posted your prior ivf results to Dr. Smith on this board about your embryos not making it to blastocysts stage, they slow down before making it to the blastocysts stage.
I would investigate or post question to Dr. smith on this board as he is a wealth of information on the embryology side of the house.
there maybe a genetic component for you not getting pregnant and would definitely have that checked out before you proceed.
I am doing accupunture and exercise and we unfortunately have been treated at 2 prior less than reputable clinics, and we have suffered miscarriages bc I had a intrauterine scar tissue inside the uterus. we miscarried twice bc of this ashermans.
wishing you both good luck in conceiving in 2007
Brenda

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