Immune/NK cells pred thread #31

@VenusStarr yes test day is Friday and I am super busy at work so time will pass I'm sure!

I'm such a shopaholic as it is and I just need an excuse to shop so I've done a massive Next baby clothes order to have something to look forward to. Probably will end up returning them all as soon as I see my statement 😂😂.

Do you think I should tell Dr S that I'm also going to be taking heparin or shall I leave that info out?

@VenusStarr had my first vivid dream last night for the few hours I fell asleep but I think it's because I was anticipating it. I had insomnia after that and have been up since about 3am. Still have a crampy lower back but I'm just nervous to test. I felt like I had symptoms last month as well and it was a BFN. I almost don't want to know!

The thing is at this point at this point I'm terrified either way. St Mary's have asked me to contact them as soon as I get a positive so they can prescribe me with heparin injections. Just more sharp needles and meds to add to the list. I don't know how much more my body can take.

Good luck for your shot today! What time of day do you usually do yours and does it matter? How has the TWW been for you?

How is everyone else getting on? Hoping the weather gets warmer soon so we have something to look forward to! 😇😇

@VenusStarr I know what you mean with the dates, it didn't really add up for me testing on 12dpt as trigger was still in my system so I was in limbo for a few days and I think I waited until 14dpt when it just didn't get darker so I stopped my meds at that point. It really is so confusing with a trigger, I guess next time I'm going to just test it out completely and test early to see if it gets lighter/darker so that i'm not longing out my cycle unnecessarily.

Dh dna sperm was 10.8% I think so it was only JUST out of the range of normal so i'm hoping we do get to do a retest. As the days gone on I do feel like AF is trying to appear so fingers crossed it starts asap!

@Lily1990 ahh yes they do retest if beyond the 3 months which is super frustrating I know as the same thing happened to me with a few of them. Don't worry if you couldn't get dh to do the dna test today, the same thing happened with us and we just booked it in for the day we got the results back but i think we had to do an extra trek to epsom to do the dna sperm and had the results at harley st so it was a bit of a hectic day!

I found the DNA sperm frag helpful, mainly because i just kept feeling like everything was my fault, so in a selfish way it was kinda refreshing knowing dh had possible issues contributing and if anything it helped us both get into healthier habits i.e stop drinking (we don't much anyway but we've stopped completely), eating healthier, exercise etc. So its helped for more peace of mind if anything and possible cause of our failed ivfs. Hope you get some answers x

Hi all, not sure if anyone on this thread would remember me but I had my 2 babies thanks to Mr S in 2018 and 2020.

I was wondering if anyone could tell me what the current protocol is for pred? With my second baby it was changed due to covid (both dose and duration reduced) but I can’t remember the details and wondering what it is now.

Hi everyone, thanks so much for your kind messages, I really appreciate it! ❤

We had our first appointment with Dr S today and it was ok but a bit stressful. My partner was stressed about the costs (came to £2.7k without his sperm DNA fragmentation test), as I'd told him it would be about £2k in total. I didn't expect them to repeat tests I've had previously (which were over 3 months ago) so that drove the costs up.

Also, my partner couldn't do the DNA frag test as he hadn't done the right preparations (in terms of past week ejaculations - sorry massive TMI!) so that was a bit frustrating. Did you all find the DNA frag test was helpful and worth doing?

I had to remind us both that Dr Shehata has helped so many women with miscarriages have babies that it has to be worth a shot, even though it's massively expensive. We have our follow-up in 3 weeks so hopefully the results and treatment plan will help us to feel optimistic.

I hope you are all doing well. Good luck for your test day @VenusStarr , I completely get the anxiety surrounding it! I noticed the last few cycles I started to feel so anxious from about 7DPO knowing I'd have to test in the following days. x

@VenusStarr if its nothing to be treated then I would take that as a good sign! fingers crossed for this cycle🤞 when is test day for you? Did you have trigger too? how long does that usually last in your system? I think mine lasted a full 14 days, it was torture!

I'm feeling good thank you, I don't really know if my period is trying to come early or if its just the after effects of the hysteroscopy as i'm getting a bit of light discharge when i wipe (tmi) I only had bleeding on the first day of the procedure and then nothing, but since last night been getting this. Just weary in case its an infection/period coming/after effects of procedure so I'm just on the look out for now. I know you said yours came early, I'm wondering if its mine too as I would be due on next Monday. Dh also had a repeat SA done this morning as CRP asked for an up to date one as his last one was in 2021 and I've got an apt with my GP at 3pm to get some more meds, and also to get my blood form to request bloods after being on HCQ for 3 months. It's all go here 😂

Does anyone know if you can get the free repeat DNA sperm frag test done with crp if results were only borderline? I'm sure Dr Edge said we can but on the form it says if results were 'abnormal'.

@VenusStarr ahh I'm glad to hear you finally have some clarification and that they apologised! So in terms of this dermoid cyst, do you need to have treatment for it? Or is it just one of those things that are just there and won't interfere? Your symptoms sound hopeful, keeping my fingers crossed for you!

@Zest11 Thank you! I'm getting impatient though, I'd rather just crack on with AF so I can start my meds and get on with a new cycle lol. Also, I just pulled out my results and I can't see anywhere where it says good or bad? I just have the reduction in killing nk cells which shows 63% with prednisolone and 33% with intralipids so I'm sure they would be doing something to lower their activity.

@comingsoon786110 yes I've noticed this with my emails. When I was contemplating my thoughts around getting the polyp removed with them or nhs, I'd find I was writing lengthy emails to raise my queries and concerns, but i would just get a sentence back, and it left me even more confused sometimes. I guess they just have so many emails, in the end my husband actually rang them to clarify everything but I know they don't always answer either.

@InvisibleDreamer honestly it never gets easier, but the hope of someday having a baby in your arms in the only thing that keeps you going. You almost become numb and just expect this to happen which is a horrible feeling.

The amount of money we are spending is getting alarming now and my husband has said this is the last month we are trying following to protocol and after this we are only trying naturally.

@VenusStarr the injection went well, although my husband had to stab me twice with it as he didn't get all of it out the first time. Yesterday I had bone pain for sure and I tested as I am a pee on a stick addict and it was of course negative. I'm 8dpo today and Dr S has said to test on Friday but we will see if I can hold out that long. So far I have had hardly any symptoms. My usual symptoms of pregnancy are: vivid dreams, sore boobies, pinching feeling and increased urination.

So far I only have lower back pain but I think that is more due to the fact that I was stuck in traffic for 5 hours on Sunday!

How are you getting on? Is it just me or does anyone else sometimes find the nurses at CRP to be a bit dismissive and they don't really respond to the entire contents of your email- they just pick and choose what they want to respond to.

@VenusStarr I hope this cycle isn't pointless! From what others have said, it seems you're on the right treatment plan regardless! Let us know what they say if you manage to get hold of the clinic - it is very confusing to be told one thing and then have something different in writing!

@star2022 ahh that's like the best news with the polyp! For them to see that it was actually much bigger and for the NHS to have delayed your treatment until June! Imagine if you had waited/wasted all that time! Enjoy your drugs free week or so!!

@Lily1990 I'm sorry on what you're going through and have been through. It's so so rubbish isn't it. I hope Dr S is able to find some answers for you...the first appointment will just be the tests but the follow up may have more answers/solutions.

As I was digging out all of my results, it said I had a 'good' response to all medications/treatment options...does anyone on here have something different to "good?" It occurred to me if I get to embryo transfer stage and this doesn't work then it's unlikely to be the problem in the first place?

@VenusStarr Sorry I forgot to reply back to your question, af is due on 24th April so not long to go. Going to try and enjoy the remaining week next week without being on any meds before it all starts again!

Hope everyone is well x

Hi @Lily1990 I'm so sorry to hear what you've gone through and are going through. Wish you all the best for your appointment on Tuesday. My dh had a dna sperm frag test done with crp too and his came back borderline. I hope you get some answers.

@StillTrying10000 Thanks for sharing. Can i ask what the reason was for tacro? And had you tried everything else before eg the complex meds? And at what point did they recommend tacro for you? Sorry for all the questions!

@VenusStarr I hope you manage to get some clarification with the letter tomorrow, I can imagine i'd be feeling just as confused as you if you've been told one thing but the letter says something else. Unless she maybe got a second opinion from dr s and he thought it was an endometrioma? Either way its definitely misleading and I hope you get some clarification tomorrow. You're still in with a chance so please don't lose hope, you've hit the right days and everything with follicles and lining was great so just focus on the positives ♥️

@HopefulH Sorry to hear you're poorly, It must be the meds supressing your immune system so you're more likely to catch things. I wouldn't worry about it affecting your chances as you're so early on in your cycle, get the antibiotics tomorrow and by friday your scan day, you should be feeling better and would have completed your course so don't stress. If anything see it as a good thing you've caught it now rather than when you're in your 2WW as i'm guessing an infection in your 2ww would raise your body temperature so more likely to affect implantation then. Hope you feel better soon! Also with your SO cycle, my cycle was much shorter too as I seem to be ovulating earlier than normal with the letrozole which i think is normal but i'd definitely get your progesterone checked. For my 1st SO cycle, I actually got a progesterone blood form printed from my GP, and just booked it in when i was around a week after trigger to check my levels after i'd been on the pessaries for a week and they came back around 150 which reassured me that the pessaries were working so maybe try that too?

Does anyone know anything about Strep throat and how this might effect our chances this cycle? I think my husband and I both have it so going to the drs tomorrow to test and presume we will be give antibiotics. I'm just wondering if this will damage our chances this cycle and if we should not bother. Never had strep throat before and I didn't realise it's bacterial and not viral! Big sigh - so fed up of things going so badly for us all the time. I'm really not sure how we keep picking ourselves up and carrying on... the grief is intense today.

@VenusStarr I’m just catching up seeing how everyone is doing and always look out for your posts. I’m sorry you are still on this torturous journey. Have you discussed taking Tacrolimus with CRP? I tried so much with them, including all investigations, IVF and upping all of my drugs to max levels and Tacro was the only thing that eventually worked. For my next baby I may try to cut out everything and just go for Tacro, I know they’ll be insistent I need intralipids but I was never convinced they were doing anything.