TTC/Pregnancy on Prednisolone or similar part 4

Ari I did as Mr S said too (like (Igggggggi :) ) and took it when TTC. Actually having had the mc first time around I have been on aspirin since May full stop, with just a short break when I was bleeding after the mc over the summer.

KIttens I am with you on the stomach problems on Pred. Mine was very angry and bloated sometimes! Now I am only on 10mg and going down to 5mg I have stopped taking the Omeprazole now. I did find that on 40mg things don't really get much worse, if that helps. And the body does seem to get used to it after a while. I still have awful dark circles and puffy eye bags though. Hope those go soon!

Thanks igggi (you gained an extra 'g', does it help with your worry? :) ), I hear what you're saying about Mr S. That was kind of my feeling, but I just wondered (as I do!). Have you tried one of those hypno-thingies (apps, mp3s, whatever) just before you sleep? Might help fend off the nighttime worry daemons!!

My local rmc said aspirin from bfp, mr S as we know says take it all the time. I'm going with him as his treatment has got me further than anything else!
Puree I have never had a faint line (unless it appeared ages after I tested) that didn't turn out to be a pregnancy. Fingers crossed for you x
I dreamt last night that I was bleeding. Ffs, I'm not safe from worry even in my sleep!

Battery, sorry I can't remember if I wished you a happy birthday or not! If not, I hope it was a good one.

Ari thanks for your info on pred and stomach issues. My body has grown accustomed to the pred in a few ways but not on the stomach front. I don't have the manic feelings or massive thirst anymore but I've been on the pred now, apart from a 2 month gap in Sept/Oct, since April and still my guts are ANGRY! I have always had problems with my guts though so it's just exacerbating it. I have no problems with insomnia at all so I suppose that's one consolation.

Welcome HelterSkelter, and thanks very much for the info on the aspirin! Do CRGH think it helps with implantation then? And Hammersmith thinks the opposite? Don't you just wish someone would decide one way or another, how do us poor TTCers know what to do?! free did you take aspirin throughout your TTCing, or did you stop after OV and restart after implantation?

Sorry - did PQ just sneak a 'faint positive' in amid that post somewhere...? Will be watching you intently!! In fact I am just about to text you a photo of my faint positive, the one that was at least still with me at a 12 week scan last week. I am not sure about Friday as i think I might be hot footing it down to the coast quite earlier, are you around Thurs? It would be lovely to see you and get my next fix of teenage vampire thrills.

A big hello to HelterSkelter! Thanks for popping in. I just accidentally outed myself as a lurker when I posted in the Due in July thread and felt a bit exposed joining in as the new girl, so I thought I would make you feel welcome :) Gosh you have been through a lot of procedures too. Hope it all goes well this time. So you're taking Pred but don't have confirmed nigh NK cells? I have heard of Pred being prescribed for IVF etc like with you. Let's hope it works this time! When are you testing? Do feel free to stick around! Good aspirin info there too for Ari and all of us really. I am off to stock up on more very shortly, meant to take it until 20 weeks pregnant (assuming I get that far of course...).

sorry - happy birthday to battery for Monday!

free don't read that thread! Though the one that did make me laugh was one the other day about the woman who was upset because her DH had a Range Rover and she wanted a NEW Range Rover, not some crappy second hand one or (gasp) a Range Rover Sport and therefore her DH obviously didn't love or value her. And all her friends have Range Rovers (paraphrasing a bit but you get the gist). Pure gold.

And there we go thinking we have problems.

Hello I am lurking not much to add but I can help with the asprin issue.
Brief background 3 pregnancies 2x mmc 1xtermination for major abnormalities 2 years ttc 1 round of natural icsi@ crgh 1x icsi@ hammersmith 1Xiui as non response to ivf drugs @hammersmith

I am on my 2ww from the iui and am on pred, clexane & progesterone as we decided that the pred might help as fertilisation & embryo development with the ivf has looked good so there is probably an implantation issue. Had my immunes done + thyroid checked and nothing is obviously a big issue everything is borderline annnoyingly!

Asprin is basically cause for discussion at the moment. CRGH prescribed it from Embryo transfer along with the clexane. Hammersmith only prescribe it from bfp as there is some evidence that it doesn't help with implantation. CRGH are slightly more agressive in their approach, generally Hammersmith are deemed to be a bit more conservative. Read into that what you want really.

Sorry, crossed posts with PQ. I don't think fellas are genetically capable of seeing all possibilities of pg test lines, so hang in there, if you saw a glimmer of a faint line, it might well be there. 10dpo is still v v early to be testing, I'm determined I'm not even going to bother testing until 12dpo next time since if I get another faint pg test I'm going to freak out that the last situation is happening all over again. And a heck of a lot of people don't get positives until at least 14dpo.

Happy belated birthday to battery, sorry, I missed it in my earlier post!

I'm thinking I'm going to take the free (and others') approach and not start the pred until maybe 3 dpo to make sure the pred doesn't delay ovulation, so by that theory I'll only have been taking the pred for 9 days come 12dpo. Well it makes sense to me :) Now I have to figure out about the aspirin ... I still have it in the back of my mind what someone (sorry, I forget who exactly) said about aspirin possibly interfering with implantation and to stop taking it from OV until well after implantation should have happened. Although I'm a little confused, since Mr S told me they use clexane (being a blood thinner too) with IVF patients (as I mentioned previously) in order to assist implantation. So I'm confused as to how aspirin could interfere with implantation while clexane boosts it? Anyone got any theories on aspirin and implantation effects?

Ahh ok choccy, thanks for that, of course, Mr S did tell me that but it had gone right out of my head. Yes that would make a lot of sense, glad you were paying attention, thank you :) And you're right, I don't really care how it works, just as long as it does!!!

morning all, just had a big meeting cancelled which has opened up a wee opportunity to get online...

euro belated happy birthday. I had a doctor friend who told me at my 25th birthday partythat my fertility would now start declining. I thought she was mad and inappropriate. Now I think of her every year on my b'day. As for heavy AF, fwiw, I would love a heavy flow as it means that there is a bit of a lining for any embyo to implant in. My periods are really light which is a bit of a worry (now this TMI is being shared by the woman who was embarrassed to be outed about her dodgy reading material).

stogan husbands, gah. where do I start. Hope he is making it up to you now.

duggs there will be no paddington station track incident or we will stage a pred thread intervention. think about vegas for the next few weeks. I've never been, sounds like fun!

free are you around Friday? PM me if you are and would like some more crap books to read

kittens ah, stop sparing people! I know I say that but when on the spot I attributed my weight loss last year to running rather than mentioning what I had been through just to spare the embarassment - why?? I am however being quite militant now about mentioning our difficulties and mc etc - the more impertinent the questioner, the blunter my response. am expecting now that DS is three the questions will tail off a bit.

what a pain about your referrals. I received an appointment letter the day AFTER DS's hospital clinic appointment recently. I complained to PALs which made me feel much better, they handled it really well and it was much more constructive than me banging my head against a wall and swearing which was my initial reaction.

ari love to hear more about hydoxy. I'm not on it - does anyone know what the indications are to be prescribed it? Sorry if I missed it back on the first thread as I am sure free explained it then.

hi everyone else, enjoy working from home choccy

tested this morning - on day 12 of pred but think i ov 10 days ago. faintest line in the world on a preg test this morning. Totally invisible to DH but at a certain angle there was the most barely perceptible glimmer of what might be the beginning of a line - so am going to test one more time tomorrow and if negative stop the pred and cancel the intralipids booked for tomorrow.

Oh dear, I was trying to post the following on here but was lurking on the Due in July thread and accidentally posted it on there! I have not been brave enough to join any other threads and neither do I want to so I had to post a hasty explanation and disappear again. I thought I would leave it there though as they too might find this interesting.

I found this excellent due date and trimester calculator for those who are both pregnant and TTC tempted to work these things out. Much as I am loathe to look ahead, even when TTC I knew exactly what my due date etc would be whatever month I got pregnant.

This is quite thorough:

www.baby2see.com/trimester_calculator.html

By gestation, my second trimester begins tomorrow apparently. By gestation they say the second trimester begins at 13w 3d and the third at 26w 6d. Due date is still my own birthday - 24th July [trying not to be hopeful and plan but can't help it emoticon]

Ari the Pred is an immune suppressant, Hydroxy is an immune modulator.

As I understand it, the Hydroxy doesn't necessarily knock out the immune response, but tweaks it somehow. Anyway, it doesn't work the same as Pred so your eczema etc mightn't be your immune system gaining more oomph again. You're right, they don't know how it works/what it does but do we care if we stay pg??

Ha! Ari I was thinking of emailing Louise and asking her the same thing! IN my first pregnancy of 2011 I had an allergy to my wedding ring (mentioned it the other day). Not sure if it is eczema (had it as a child) or dermatitis or what. Anyway, since tapering the Pred it has come back! It makes me worry that my NK cells are back in action and might be attacking the baby as we speak. Digi however said that she had it too and all has been well for her. I think it's just one of those things of coming off the Pred. I guess the funny thing is that I didn't really have it before! Only that brief time when pregnant in Jan/Feb/March.

kittens I had the same thing with my referral to St Mary's and Mr S (when I tried the NHS route). Neither of them ever arrived and I had to chase. St Mary's eventually took 7 months for the appt! Very frustrating.

Right, I really must do some work. I've been reading that 'Do you earn over 100k' thread and getting very jealous. I really need to start working properly again! This miscarriage/pregnancy malarkey has been all-consuming.

Morning all ... another one lurking on the Super OV thread. As choccy says, no such thing as too much information :)

kittens sympathy for your botched referrals Our systems just don't seem to work, I've heard so many people say the same thing and even for myself, I've always had to constantly chase referrals to make sure they get through. Shouldn't be that way. I also wanted to reassure a bit about the pred - I had the same on the 25mg pred, ended up with terrible indigestion, but oddly even without the omeprazole on the 40mg I didn't have any problems at all. Mr S said something about your body adjusts to it - don't know about that, but I certainly didn't have any stomach issues when on the 40mg. YMMV, of course :)

One thing I am finding a little odd. Having come right off the pred, been off it must be a month now, the psoriasis I get on my elbows has come back with a vengeance, plus I have three small patches of eczema. I only get mild psoriasis, and little patches of eczema pop up from time to time, usually not more than once or twice a year. Now I expected the psoriasis to come back (the steroids got rid of it), I didn't expect it to be worse than it used to be but I guess that's my body having swung the other way with its response now the steroids have gone and I guess in time it will right itself again. But I thought the hydroxy, being an autoimmune suppressant, would have tempered it somewhat, and it clearly hasn't. Which makes me worry that the hydroxy isn't having the effect on my NK cells that it's supposed to. I guess no-one can answer this since it seems no-one really knows why hydroxy works as it does on the auto-immune system (so Mr S told me anyway), but I'm thinking a quick email to Louise might be in order!

/waves to everyone

Morning all. Plenty of time to lurk today as am working from home awaiting a delivery... hope everyone's well.

Very exciting looking at the list and seeing lots of you heading up to the next trimester. On the one hand I'm like, pah, I've got to wait til March before I can even start on the road again, but on the other, esp looking at free, it's a real boost to see that The Treatment can really work! I'm just hoping the Hydroxy sufficiently modulates my immune response. I'm going to obey his instructions to give it 6 weeks to build up before ttc - it's only a few more weeks and last year was so utterly horrible I'm far too scared to risk looking back and go "what if we'd been patient...".

Stogan it sounds like dh is quietly grovelling having realised he was being an arse. Good boy! ;)

Am going to lurk on the super ov thread too, can never have too much info. X

Happy belated birthday Euro, I hope your day got better!

Ari, sorry to hear you're feeling fed up. I think the worst pregnancies to come to terms with are the ones that are due around the time we would've been. It's like watching someone else as a timeline. I would agree too though that the more smug people seem the more annoying it is. Although I've thought about this on many occasions. Some of the ones who seem ultra smug may well be the ones who have had such difficulties getting/staying pregnant in the first place, hence their extra appreciation. I live in yummy mummy central where I am. Everywhere you look there are smug looking mummies with their posh buggies all sitting around outside cake shops or wandering the local parks with their idyllic looking families, but I try to remind myself that I have no idea what they have been through to get to their situation. Yes it's true that, unfairly, lots of people breeze through like we are all led to believe we will when we grow up but it's quite eye opening to find out that a rather large number also don't.

It's funny though isn't it how we are programmed to spare other people's feelings and not make them feel uncomfortable. I mean, all the times that people say stuff like "so, did you not want kids then?" or "not having another then?" to people in our position many of us wouldn't dream of coming out with the real reasons why and it's not because we are uncomfortable or embarrassed it's because we don't want the person asking to be so. Stupid! I'm finding the same thing with work and loosing my mum too at the moment. As a freelancer people always are inclined to ask "So, have you been busy? What jobs have you done recently?". I've mostly been telling people that I've had personal stuff going on and work has been slightly on a backburner but that sounds pretty flakey, like lies about why I've not had much work for a few months but after someone asked me where I was for Christmas and then commented enthusiastically about how lovely it must've been to be in France with my family for Christmas the poor man looked mortified when I told him of the real situation so now I am sparing others' feelings and looking like I've just been fannying around not working. It was the same with all my pregnancies too. I could hardly say, "Well, actually I've not worked as much this year because I've had 3 separate 1st trimesters of crippling morning sickness followed by the misery of 3 miscarriages after each one." Even though it's a pretty valid reason, you can't possibly let on to people about this stuff in case you make them feel bad.

Stogan I'm glad your DH has realised the error of his ways and is now making it up to you. Men seem to just be wired different I think. They definitely don't have the nurturing instinct as their primary reaction. I think they think of the practicalities first and then (sometimes) the penny drops.

I had a frustrating couple of days. I decided to call UCH Fertility Clinic as I'd not heard back from them since my GP finally made my referral on 22 November, a month after my appointment at St Helier recommending the referral - remember that saga? That was frustrating enough as it took a month for the letter to get from St Helier to my GP, but now UCH are saying they haven't received the referral so now that's 3 months passed and I'm back to square one. I know I have decided to have tests privately with Mr S, but I was hoping I could have some of them done on the NHS too to save money, and also to give myself more shots at Superovulation if that's what's relevant. Some on the NHS would be good. My GP is super sweet and helpful and all that but the admin seems to be completely up the creek there. This is one of about 4 or 5 referrals that haven't gone through for me in the last couple of years! Not to mention the fact that I had my Day 21 test back in August and was told by my GP and the other consultant at St Helier that it was normal and that I had ovulated, only to be told in December by Mr S the contrary 4 months later. Grrrrr!

Sorry, bit of a ranty post this morning! Also, CD25/26 today and BFN. My cycles seem to be around 25 days at the moment so I'm guessing AF will be along in the next 24 hours - which might explain my rantyness! I will be very pleased to get off the pred, at least. It gives me such bad stomach issues. I've actually been taking 2 Omeprazole with it and still no difference, even glugging Gaviscon and Zantac doesn't help . I dread to think what will happen if or when I need to go up to 40mg.

Ooh Cinny, post your stats so we can add you to the list!

Morning all! Phew this thread moves fast and now another super ov thread to monitor. I think I might have to explain to my bosses why I am always staring at my phone. Still it's a question of priorities...and work def isn't mine right now! Have a good day x

Attempted list above...

I have moved all pregnant people on by two days (last update was Monday) and added my next scan and Cheerful's as far as we know. Any other changes please go ahead xx

Weds 18th Jan

BFP
3rd Trimester
Stogan - V high NKC - BFP 9/7/11 cycle#2- 32+4 Due 10/03/12 next scan 10/02/2012
Digitalgirl - High NKC - BFP cycle#2 27+2 Due 16/04/12 MW appt 25/01

2nd Trimester
Coconutfeet - V High NKC, Factor II gene mutation, underactive thyroid - BFP pre-pred, started at 6 weeks 24+2
Comedy - V High NKC - BFP cycle#2 ? 21+4 due 26/5/12
Iggi - High NKC & Hypothyroidism - BFP cycle#2 - 21+1 Next scan March
BrownieGecko - High NKC, Hypothyroidism, & Glucose Intolerant. BFP Clomid cycle#3 - 20+4 next scan?

1st Trimester
Freelance - V High NKC TTC#1 Hydroxchloroquine, Pred, Intralipids. Thyroid/hashimotos. MC 1st cycle. BFP#1 13+1 Next scan 27/01/12
Cheerfulcharlie - V High NKC, MTHFR/TTC#1/ (metformin, intralipids, no pred). 12+6 Next Scan (15 weeks)
batteryhen - High NKC, factor v leiden. TTC#1 BFP cycle 3. 9+4 Scan 19/01/12
coleyoz - V High NKC. TTC #2, BFP cycle2, 9+2, Next scan 23/01/12
picolina123 - V High nkc, pred cycle 1

TTC
Waiting to test
Cherrycheeks - V high NKC, TTC#2
Snoopygirl - V High NKC TTC, #3
Havingkittens - Upgraded from High to V High NKC TTC #1
Hopefulfor2nd - High NKC - TTC#2
PQ77 - V High NKC TTC #2 (BFP cycle one but mc)

Waiting to ovulate
buster76 - V High NKC, Factor V Leiden
Arianrhod - V High NKC, MTHFR homo, hypothyroid, TTC#2
eurochick - High NKC, superovulation cycle 2, pred cycle 2

WTTC
duggs1976 - High/V High NKC - TTC #1 - awaiting hysteroscopy, then superovulation cycle3
ScooterChaser - V High NKC - TTC#2
ChoccyPud - V High NKC - TTC#1, review w/Dr S 14 Jan.
Lemonsherbet - awaiting results
Breezyweezy - V High NKC - TTC#1 from January
AandRmum - High NKC
Suemays - High NKC, TTC #2
Cornflakes30 - V High NKC, underactive thyroid

Morning all. Belated happy birthday to Battery too. How is it having a January birthday? Is it suitably far enough away from Christmas? Mine is July so has always felt like a mid way point of the year.

Cheerful I am like you now, no frequent scans for me either. I am hospital-less at the moment anyway, but from working out the usual pattern my next scan with hospital wouldn't be until 20 weeks anyway. St Mary's dismissed me the other week (I had three scans with them in total) so now I just have Mr S. On his protocol for me he says scans at 6, 8, 10 and 14 weeks - which I have roughly had, give or take a week or so. My next scan with him, well with anyone, will be at 15 weeks and the after that - who knows! I have to say I am tempted to get a dopplar for home. I know what a nightmare iggi had with it but it would be nice to be able to try to find the heartbeat in between scans. Even sitting here now I am incredulous about believing that everything is as it should be in there.

When was any one else's last appointment with Mr S?

Duggs the Vegas trip should be fun...? I realise that going away for work is a double edged sword. Vegas is always once of those places you need a holiday to get over too :) Will it be all work or do you think there will be an almighty piss up thrown in there too? I was just pregnant last time I was in Vegas in November so it was an unusually quiet one for me that time.

Ooh a super ovulation thread! I feel I might have to lurk on there too :)

Morning all

Well DH was suitably apologetic last night and still seems so this morning ( I'm now in the bath he has ran me to help my back pain drinking the cup of tea he has brought me !!!) long may it last.

Just a note to cheerful once mr s signed me off I had scans 4 weekly but went to MW every week so she could listen to baba with the Doppler just for my piece of mind, just an idea for you x

battery really good you've had no more spotting. I had very few days so far where I have felt pregnant so I wouldn't worry about not feeling it. Good luck for tomorrow's scan.

stogan , men!

free I was going to ask you how often you're having scans now? Still about 2 weekly? Does that change after 16 weeks? My doc has advised once every 4 weeks. I think I'm ok with that, just hope I can manage the 4 weeks without the reassurance- seems a long time. I'm still putting off telling people. I keep moving the deadline- first I thought wait til the NT scan, then I wanted to wait til I have the full risk results back and now I'm thinking I will just have one more scan about 15 weeks. The problem is hiding it from work for another 2 weeks as it's getting pretty obvious now.
I had a 'happy baby' acupuncture treatment last night! It's supposed to help nourish the baby, make it happy and healthy and I think she said something about helping it be calm and sleep well after it's born. She recommended one a month throughout pregnancy.

Hi to everyone and happy birthday to all the Aquarians here.

It is funny how we are bothered about some people's pregnancies. After my first miscarriage I didn't experience any jealousy at all and honestly I couldn't understand why some women did. Afterall whether someone else gets pregnant or not does not impact my chances of having a baby. Then after my second miscarriage I did start to feel it. It is irrational but doesn't mean to say it's not a normal and understandable reaction. I found sometimes it was the way people announced it that upset me. The more smug and so happy go lucky they were the more it affected me. I suppose I was jealous I knew that even when / if I got pregnant again I would never be able to have the carefree pregnancy they have might have had something to do with it.

Happy belated birthday to you too, battery. We are almost birthday buddies!