# Guilty



## janice (Nov 9, 2002)

Hi peter

I wonder if you could help me please. Six months ago i cut out alcohol completely and became pregnant straight away - sadly I miscarried at 6 weeks. Please could you tell me how alcohol effects a developing egg in the ovary.

Also, i feel incredibly guilty - I've worked in the police force for 10 years - which has a culture of drinking to relive the stress at the end of the day - my concern is that could these drinking sessions in the past have destroyed the quality of my eggs please? I'm not sure if it has entered the ovary via the bloodstream and then as a toxin caused permanent damage.

thank you

janice


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## tinat (Nov 4, 2002)

Hi

Please may I ask a question on the same topic. On the information from our clinic re. IVF it says to have no more than 6 units of alcohol for a woman and 12 for a man.

But, how does alcohol effect sperm please? my partner's sperm test was very good so he couldn't understand why he needs to cut down, but I said that even if moility etc was good alcohol could effect the chromosones/dna which can't be directly measured, but is this true please?

Also how long does it take for an egg to develop please - so that I can cut out alcohol completely and then have an idea when this should have some effect?

Thank you


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## carols (Apr 16, 2002)

I think Peteris on holiday. So if he doesn't answer straight away don't fret. I am sure he will answer when he gets back.


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## peter (Oct 2, 2002)

Dear Janice,

First of all please do not feel guilty about anything. Miscarriage is a complex problem brought about by many interacting factors. You must not start blaming yourself about one specific area.

On the alcohol side the general answer is the less the better as alcohol affects many of the functions of the body. The same goes for smoking.

Hope this helps!

Peter



janice said:


> Hi peter
> 
> I wonder if you could help me please. Six months ago i cut out alcohol completely and became pregnant straight away - sadly I miscarried at 6 weeks. Please could you tell me how alcohol effects a developing egg in the ovary.
> 
> ...


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