Autoimmune Infertility and Reproductive Immunology

Randine Lewis, Ph.D., Lic.Ac.

What is Autoimmune Infertility?

Autoimmune diseases are a category of reactive processes where the body turns against aspects of itself. With autoimmune infertility, these same overactive energies react to and reject an embryo that is trying to implant. The study of this process, which is rarely given much credence in reproductive endocrinology circles, is the field of reproductive immunology.

Why Does The Immune System Turn Against the Reproductive System?

When a woman takes care of her external world at the expense of her internal environment, the inner environment suffers. The inner boundaries are weakened, and her inner discriminatory processes literally can’t tell the difference between self and non-self; what is harmful from what is benign. And in this confusion, the body’s protection, the immune system becomes over-reactive and turns against the self. When so much energy is expended caring for friends, family, the household, and others, there is nothing left for the part of us that cares for the self.

In simple terms, think of the immune system as the body’s defensive system, like an army. When the army is well cared for and all is peaceful in the environment, we feel secure and well cared for. Now imagine that an internal battle has been raging for years - a covert guerilla war.  The troops have forgotten who the enemy is and who is safe. It does remember, though, that its primary job is to kill. And that’s what it does. Kills friend and foe. When our immune system has been assaulted by insults – even subtle messages that we give ourselves – when our actions give our body messages that our outside world is more important than the inner self, the internalized response is that others seem to be friends, and when we care for others at our own expense, we become our own worst enemy. The immune system, exhausted and overworked, only knows that its job is to kill. And it kills off any reactive tissue. Examples of autoimmune diseases include lupus, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis. When we start to reject the innermost aspects of our body – the reproductive system, our immune system can react against the endocrine system itself – the hormones, our body’s response to the hormones, and the endometrial tissue of the uterus.

When a woman’s body has gone into this reactive mode, her immune system may turn against her husband’s sperm, and if all else is allowed to make it through the complex internal defensive system, and the embryo implants itself, the blood supply to the embryo can clot itself off while the immune cells mount their assault. The defensive system has forgotten who the enemy is! The immune system thinks it is doing its job, as it has been conditioned to. But, like predators in the wild, the hunt and kill becomes instinctive, and we lose control over it. Our immune cells act like tigers protecting their territory from an unknown threat.

Symptoms and Signs

Women who have reproductive autoimmune processes will often feel flu type reactions at certain times of the menstrual cycle depending upon what hormones they might be sensitized to. They might experience menopausal type symptoms as the body stops reacting to the hormones. They might feel like they are pregnant almost every month, and then the fight kicks in. They often feel fatigued, stressed, and may even experience nausea. Even before a pregnancy test shows up positive, the immune reaction wins, rejects the embryo, and she gets her period as if nothing happened. Yet inside, the war had raged, and her subconscious knows it. Pronouncements of infertility are even more frustrating if she suspects she may have ongoing attempts at implantation. And it seems that reproductive medicine only worsens the situation with increased hormonal stimulation – further fueling the raging internal war. Sometimes the FSH values rise even higher, indicating that the body is trying much harder to get the reproductive system to work in the face of the ongoing insults. She may have markers of autoimmune reactivity such as antinuclear antibodies (ANA), anticardiolipin antibodies (ACA), antiphospholipd antibodies (APA), elevated and reactive natural killer (NK cells) in the uterine lining, and increased clotting factors (PTT) – all potential markers of inflammatory reactions to aspects of the embryo’s implantation process. Unfortunately, there is very little western medicine can do about this process other than try to suppress the immune system – not curing the process, only interrupting it – often with even worse side effects in the long run.

What Can You Do About It?

Fortunately, Chinese medicine, and in particular, The Fertile Soul Method ™, can reprogram the body into a receptive mode again by calming down the reactive processes, while actually strengthening the endocrine and immune systems at the same time. And, as miraculous as the body’s internal healing mechanisms are, the reactive disease process disappears. Pregnancy is allowed – in a balanced, non-reactive body, mind, and spirit. That which is allowed, can manifest, and the body becomes receptive to the blossoming of life.

The Fertile Soul Method ™ at Work

Rhonda was finally diagnosed with autoimmune infertility after an agonizing seven years trying to conceive with various reproductive technological procedures. Although she was finally able to conceive, her pregnancies wouldn’t make it beyond eight weeks gestational age. As her diagnosis changed from unexplained infertility to autoimmune infertility, the situation seemed more and more hopeless. She had elevated antiphospolipid antibodies, an immune reaction against parts of the cell wall, and antinuclear antibody, reactions to the basis of cellular life. Her blood work also showed elevated natural killer cells within her blood, indicating a severe reactive process to continued insults. She underwent extreme treatments with intravenous immunoglobulin treatments, steroids, and blood thinners. And no matter what drug regimen was employed, her body kept saying “no”.

When Rhonda consulted assistance with The Fertile Soul, she didn’t have much hope left. Yet, with help, Rhonda started living her life differently. She shifted her focus away from her attempts to conceive, and toward caring for herself in a radically different way than she had ever been taught. She began eating healthily – based upon what her body needed. She took supplements that actually strengthened her blood immunity. She received acupuncture and herbs for a severe spleen imbalance. She took care of herself first before she exhausted all her energy caring for her husband, parents, and her community outreach program. She learned to define her inner and outer boundaries. She learned methods of releasing the internal stress. And when she really started enjoying her life without children in it, she became pregnant. As Rhonda knew, this was only the beginning of a new chapter, not the end result. She learned to apply the same methods during her pregnancy. She took natural herbal supplements throughout her pregnancy, continued her qi gong meditations, and had a healthy, happy pregnancy. Little Dominique seems to be reaping the benefits of her mother’s ability to care for herself first. In Rhonda’s words,

“Dominique couldn’t have survived while I was so imbalanced. Although my body was experiencing all the negative effects of my western lifestyle, my entire world was out of alignment. I didn’t know how imbalanced I was – I was just focusing on my fight to stay pregnant. Yet, through The Fertile Soul process, I learned that I had to make room for myself first; then there could be room for my baby. I knew she wanted to come; I had to become well first. I couldn’t be a sick mom for her – she deserves more than that. The fight is over. I don’t have an autoimmune process anymore, either.”

- Rhonda

If you have aspects of autoimmune infertility, The Fertile Soul Method ™ can help your body, mind, and soul become non-reactive and receptive to implantation, pregnancy, and birth. After all, the goal is a baby, not just a positive pregnancy test.

Learn More about The Fertile Soul Method ™

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