Frozen embryo transfer or not?

@TL037 Currently on Day 3 of Progynova after the absolute stress of trying to get hold of it. Patient co-ordinator was late sending the prescription out - I paid Monday she didn't send it until Friday and it turned up Sunday morning when I needed to start meds that day! Clinic was closed so ended up driving and calling round about 20 pharmacies that all said it was out of stock. Ended up being able to get the last box from Asda and have to go back for the pessaries as they were out of stock. Honestly I don't think this clinic could get much worse at their communication. Not to mention I had nothing that told me how many to take so I had to google it and decided to wing it with 3 a day. Apparently that is correct and if I hadn't started taking them on Sunday or I'd only taken 2 they would have had to cancel the cycle!

Anyway apart from them making me light headed they so far haven't been too bad.

Did you have any update on where you are at?

@TL037 sorry forgot to tag.

They didn't say how long exactly but when we asked if it would be a few months he said no not as long as that so I'm thinking maybe a few weeks. Then to leave it probably 3-6 months to regenerate and do another analysis. Definitely felt like progress.

I'm feeling a little stressed but trying not to be as I just don't feel I get good communication from ABC/Create. I had my pre-treatment consultation last week and I was considering doing the transfer naturally without meds as my cycles are pretty timely and I think my body works better without meds. They told me that I could but that if my ovulation day turned out to be on a Sunday that they would have to cancel the transfer as they are closed Sundays. So I asked if they could email me over the differences between the two and a few other questions I had which they said they would but I never heard anything further. Anyway with my new cycle due this week I paid the medicated transfer fee on Monday and emailed my patient co-ord to confirm this telling her i'd need the meds asap. No response again so I emailed the main support email and nothing again. Ended up calling today and then got an abrupt email from patient co-ord to which she said she would email me over the prescription and still nothing has come through. Absolutely hate having to chase them all the time and feel like I get no support really unless I pressure them into it. So hopefully I will be able to get the meds so I actually can go ahead. They were trying to talk me into waiting a while for the transfer but I physically can't wait as I have things booked in until June that just mean it wouldn't be possible. Can't believe they didn't fit you in for a consultation until last week when this was pre-Christmas!

Yes my embryo is a 5CB so the same. They said sometimes they can transfer 6AA and they don't work and other times they can transfer embryos that don't look fantastic but they work so not to be worried about it and she said that making it to day 5 is the main part because they have done a lot to get there. I think grade 6 is fully hatched. 5 is hatching, and she said they need to hatch to be able to implant so it is good if that is already happening before transfer.

I will see if I can have a blood test before transfer too will that just be on the day? Did they say that was fine with ABC and do you just pay extra for it?

Did you have any trouble getting the medication as they have just said to go to a pharmacy but said the cost can vary. Silly me thought it would all be covered in the ££££ paying for the transfer.

@TL037 Did you manage to get your consultation yet I hope?

We ended up going to Derby Private Health for a consultation re: varicocele and are waiting for embolisation procedure to be booked in now that is private as apparently they wouldn't treat on NHS due to it being below the size threshold of 3.5mm although the doctor we saw in Derby said it was visible through the skin and causing pain so should be treated. They said the NHS wait is about a year and they still might turn it down. The NHS consultant said to just take paracetamol and that in his experience having varicocele surgery doesn't increase any sperm quality at all. Anyway we're getting it done because he doesn't want to be in pain and surely if there's a chance of it helping its worth doing. Its looking at about £3k there. It is almost 2 hours from us but in Manchester it was £8k!

I paid for the frozen embryo transfer just waiting for period to start and prescription so I can pick up meds but that will be looking like early Feb for transfer day. I spoke to the embryologist who gave me reassurance that although the embryo quality wasn't the top grade, it was still good - fair and that to make it to day 6 is good as there are a lot of stages they have to get through between day 3 - 5. Really does annoy me that I had to have the day 3 transfer when they know full well there's a good chance it might not even make it to day 5 never mind implant.

Was quietly hoping that it might have worked naturally this month because OH has been on proxeed but I know you have to give it 6 months to really do anything just wanting that little miracle to happen to me!

The doctor we saw about the varicocele was asking if we have friends who have had ivf but we said we don't know anyone! At 30 now is the time I see everyone my age having babies it seems like I am the only one that is having to have ivf though I know you don't always know.

@TL037 That’s really good to hear gives me hope it is possible natural if we just give it time and the varicocele situation may help. My OH is taking Proxeed now so we’re hopeful this will help. Just had a quote on the varicocele embolisation at £7000!! But been told the NHS wait could be pretty lengthy 😣

Ive decided to go ahead with the frozen transfer this next cycle which will be in about 2 weeks and see what happens. At least if it doesn’t work I’ve put that one to bed and can move forward without worrying about what if that one would have worked. I realised I was ok with it when I finally told my sister what I had been up to and managed to talk about it without crying I knew I’d come around to it.

Yes I asked if they could give more progesterone support they said if I went to Create I could have Lubion injections alongside the pessaries but they are about another £1000 for those injections. When I had my natural progesterone levels tested pre treatment they were really high 83nmol where they needed to be above 30 so I’m thinking my progesterone is probably ok and it was an embryo issue so I don’t think I’m going to go down that road.

It would be great to know how you get on with your follow up. Nice to hear from someone with the abc clinic and at a similar point as me. Did you say which clinic you were at?

Lots of luck, Nicole xx

@TL037 We’re with Leeds

@Cockerdileteeth That’s amazing. I know I have to hear the stories from others because the clinic doesn’t give me much hope. When they call and say your blastocyst is average I want them to say but lots of them work but they don’t say anything. I won’t know unless I give it a chance will I. I just have to b prepared for it not to work! For me the waiting is the hardest part I just want to get on with my life not have it all hanging over me so I’m talking myself more into just getting the frozen done 😅

@TL037 That’s terrible definitely chase them they seem so laid back about arranging follow ups but it’s so important. Yes I asked the same about progesterone they said it would have to be with Create because I was concerned why I started spotting but in reality I think it just didn’t take so I think I’ll do the frozen transfer with abc and if it doesn’t work I think it will be an embryo issue. We won’t do another fresh cycle until late summer now because we need to try get the varicocele fixed and hopefully we will have a better outcome. My OH seems to think it will happen naturally if he can sort the varicocele 🙄ever hopeful.

Are you thinking of trying one of your frozens or potentially all of them? Not cheap is it like they make out when you have to pay for each frozen on top of the cycle cost. Did you have any issue with the pessaries? For me they were the worst symptoms wise I was so sore with them.

@Imisscoffee2021 That’s interesting. I don’t have anything in writing though. It was when I went for the baseline scan through Create the nurse said you qualify for ABC which id not even heard of. I didn't ask for a cheap option either I just went with their advice. The nurse said you’ll have no issues you don’t need a 3 cycle when I said that’s what we had been considering. She genuinely gave me that believe it would work as she said my scan was perfect and my bloods came back great. Didn’t seem bothered about the male factor like it was easy to sort. I’m just scared to rock the boat with this clinic I’ve already had to fall out with them over my patient coordinator not coordinating me at all after I made my payment and then with all this over Christmas they were already quite defensive. Is it worth an ask?

@TL037 honestly that it crazy how similar your situation is to mine. I found out 22/12 when the spotting I had been getting turned into full flow and my official test date was 23/12. Even though I knew my outcome would be so close to Christmas when I started it still made it so hard because I genuinely believed it would work.
So on 23/12 ABC called me to ask my test result which I was gutted about and they just said oh sorry someone will call you after Christmas. That was it I felt really let down. I checked their opening hours and saw they were only closed until 27/12 so after this I chased them and chased them 4 emails, 3 phone calls so that I could get a follow up as I needed to know what I could do. I think it’s awful they don’t get you a follow up booked in straight away when they know your result.

Anyway having the follow up they just said it was impossible to know why it didn’t work and when I said why would you do a day 3 transfer when it might have just never developed beyond that point they said it was protocol. I said I’d rather have been told nothing made it to day 5 then have that wait and those pessaries to have nothing at the end of it but they said they couldn’t do that. Everything I asked was met with nothing concrete that I could take any certainty from. I know fertility is a bit grey but I really wanted advice and I still feel like they don’t give me it. I wanted an opinion from them if I should use the frozen embryo since it is average and they just said it’s up to you.

I spoke with them yesterday and I am full of cold currently so I sound awful and she said she didn’t think I was ready to go ahead in my January cycle and to think about what I want to do more which is frustrating now as I have lots of events booked this year that can’t be cancelled like weddings abroad that mean actually if I am having it done it’s either got to be January or after June. So I am thinking to go ahead but I am going to have to go against what they are recommending now.

I am also really sorry to hear yours failed. When the nurse or whoever she was called me to ask my test result she sounded genuinely surprised at my negative and honestly it made me feel like nobody ever got a negative even though I know that’s crazy in that moment I felt like such a failure. It’s good that you had quite a few to freeze though not good about the OHSS curious how that happened as they wouldn’t let me have more than Bemfola 100 dose for fear of that. I just had a good egg reserve but no condition or anything of concern just that they said we stay low and slow and just get what we can. I asked if they would change this if I did another cycle thinking maybe I could end up with more embryos and she said not they would do exactly the same.

When I asked if they would test my progesterone they said that wasn’t part of ABC and I would have to switch to Create if I wanted extra tests doing. Frustrating as I’d initially started with Create asked if I could do the 3 cycle plan and they told me I didn’t need it and I should be fine with one cycle through ABC but seemingly not!

@Toastandmarmiteandtea Thank you that does give me hope for our only embryo. The embryologist just said at day 5 it wasn’t big enough to freeze then at day 6 said yes it is a blastocyst now a 5CB and said it was average I thought well that doesn’t sound great! I heard slower blasts could be girls what did you have?

@Imisscoffee2021 I’ve read quite a few forums but they were all earlier ones where the ladies had already had treatment I didn’t find any recent that had cases similar to mine on. I just find it so hard that I’ve never had a positive test come back with a clockwork cycle it’s like my body doesn’t want it to happen. That IVF cycle was like my body never even knew anything different. 28 days over and out.

I did start spotting a similar time to what you said but when I asked the clinic about whether my progesterone was perhaps too low they just said my lining was at 10.6mm at transfer so they didn’t think it would have dropped much. I did struggle with thrush bad after the antiobiotics and the progesterone pessaries made this so much worse so they said I could try the injections if I wanted - not sure I like the idea of these I hated the stims 🙄

Cant help but feel rushed into IVF if I’m honest as we only found out my OH had an issue in September where this was recommended and we thought the SA must have been down to the hernia repair he had done as a child as he didn’t know about the varicocele and cysts then. The clinic have said they would recommend we have treatment for that now before doing another cycle but they didn’t say because we think it might help. frustratingly they also said they wouldn’t do anything different on another cycle because I am on this simple pathway they gave me a really low dose of stims which we did get 6 mature eggs from but ultimately we’ve ended up with only one day 6 embryo that is average. I’d hoped we would have at least a few when they said everything was looking great along the way.

@Anonbaby I couldn’t say for definite as we haven’t seen a urologist yet but I can’t imagine they help as they will cause blood to pool that creates heat in the area. Our GP was of the mindset that if it wasn’t the big C then it was nothing to worry about either but for the discomfort OH is in. They don’t seem interested in the fertility side of things too much. Have you tried Proxeed? My OH has recently started taking it as it is quite recommended to improve sperm quality. I don’t know how they remove cysts whether it is an easy thing but it might be worth enquiring with a private hospital.