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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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