I need to know about IVF...my drugs are being delivered tomorrow and I haven't a fecking clue

[KoolAidKid]

I have NO IDEA about any of this. Honestly. Apart from the basics, which the consultant talked me through, which was something like

"we will give you drugs to produce lots of eggs and then we will knock you out and collect the eggs through your fanjo and then mix them with DHs sperm and make an embryo (hopefully more than one). And then put them in the oven and when they're ready we'll shove them back inside you. through your fanjo"

This is all I know. I'll admit I've been deliberately burying my head in the sand about it all though.

But I think now is the time has come to face reality. So would anyone care to share their experiences?

I'd like to know about all about the drugs - the types, how you take them, how often, side effects...

How many appointments you need. How much time off work I may need.

Er what will happen to my body. What will happen to my mind

Just EVERYTHING. Honestly no detail is too small or too trivial. I'd be really grateful.

Yes I imagine it will become clearer when the drugs arrive...apparently there are 4 types. They rang DHs mobile and DH wrote the names down on a piece of paper but it's mostly illegible. From what I can make out:

Pregmil
Ga..dzi
O..trelle
HCG

One problem is they keep ringing DH on his work mobile, as my mobile is often off in the day when I'm in meetings etc. So I get messages 2nd hand. Like I say I have appointment next THursday to go through drugs, that's the day I'm supposed to start (day 21 of cycle?)

You must understand this very clearly, I nearly fucked everything up by injecting the wrong dosages and was extremely lucky it actually worked despite my best efforts.
Good luck it's amazing how quickly you get used to to injecting yourself in the stomach, this from a girl who hid in the toilets when the TB vaccines were being dished out.

Injecting drugs not too bad - my clinic went through it all in detail and gave me an idiots guide of what to do when. The consultant told me that he had experiences of at least two nurses who were a bit blase about the drugs and actually ruined cycles costing thousands because they miss timed the trigger shots.

So in my case, I had:

1. drugs to suppress my own cycle
2. drugs to mimic my own hormones - but exaggerating it all so they got loads of follicles.
3. drugs to trigger the eggs for release (needs to be very carefully timed so that the drugs are ready for collection at the right moment).
4. pessaries for the first 12 weeks of my pregnancy.

I needed time off work when the cycle started; then more time off (with dildo cam) to check eggs were developing; then more time off (with dildo cam) to finalise dates/readyness etc.; then more time off for egg collection (Dr said it would only be a day - but they over stimulated my ovaries and I was off for a week in agony); then I had to be on stand by in case they wanted to replace eggs on day 3; but I was lucky so actually had blastocysts replaced on day 5. Then you have the 2ww before you test. Once I got a positive test, I had two more scans with dildo cam (more time off work) before being handed back to my GP/community MW for the rest of my pregnancy.

Drugs weren't too bad - I don't like injecting myself, but just had to get on with it. Egg collection was fine, but very painful afterwards (couldn't eat or lie down or sleep - had to move into spare room, lucky not to be hospitalised) - pain continued for several weeks (although it became more bearable). Pessaries (up bum as they seemed to stay in better) were a PITA but OK.

Good luck - and make sure you get it all written down, what drug you need to take when. It will be tailored to your own body, so you really need to pay attention to that bit.

Koolaid - can you tell us anything about the risks to you of undergoing IVF?

Maryz I'm so glad you said that. I think I'm a type b too. But then I thought that was bad and irresponsible and I really should research.

But I don't really want too. I think I'm at bit scared hence the head in sand. I know in reality that how much I know won't affect the outcome, as long as I do everything they say.

piprabbit thanks that was helpful too. I guessing I may need quite a but of time off work then, depending on how it goes.

northernlurker the consultant said the main risk of IVF was pregnancy, and the complications from that, especially if it's twin pregnancy. But also that hyperstimul... thingy where you produce loads of eggs and it hurts lots and you have to stop treatment.

That would be Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrom (OHSS) - you will need to be very alert to the symptoms as it can and does kill women. And it is very painful (as I know from my own mild experience).

Ok well I am reassured you have some understanding of the risks involved but if I were you I would not go near any of those drugs without more understanding of what they are intended to do.

What are the symptoms? Is it just pain / swollen in the area of your ovaries?

I'm not northern I don't start my drugs until next week, I have an appointment on Thursday and I imagine they're going to show me how to inject, and will explain what they do then.

Your drugs regimen seems pretty standard - pregnyl, I am guessing the second one is gonal f?, ovitrelle and hcg is bog standard. You may have no side effects whatsoever. And you may also only need the day of egg collection off work if your clinic or your work hours are flexible. Everything else is outpatient.

Forums as those mentioned above can be good but they can also make you more anxious as many people who post there are obsessive googlers worriers too, and you end up worrying with them, or you end up comparing your cycle with some random freak who produces a gazillion eggs when you only have three. Take it one day and one step at a time. Lots of things can go wrong but it is amazing how often they work out fine. Good luck.

Have a look at this NHS site for some generic information about drug side effects, OHSS, ectopic pregnancy (you'll be at increased risk) and other problems linked to infertility treatment.

Also your clinic should give you handouts or leaflets explaining your drug protocol and what to look for re. OHSS.

Thanks again piprabbit looking at that now.

primafacie I'm so glad you managed to work out my drugs from DHs crap scrawlings, thanks so much. I can look them up now. And it's reassuring to know they're standard ones!

No problem KoolAid - I'm sure you'll be fine and that your clinic will explain everything really clearly. There is nothing worse than being at home, preparing to take one or other lot of drugs only to have a panic when you can't quite remember what you've been told to do with it.

Ask loads of questions at your appointments, don't be worried about phoning them up and bothering them. They want this to work as much as you do.

Hope it all goes well on Thursday .

Ah thanks for the good wishes piprabbit and everyone else.

Hi there

I had IVF (Successfully) and was on a high dose of menopur. I did get bloated and some hot flushes and very emotional too but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as I hought it would be. The first injection was hard and I did flip out a bit while preparing the injection so I got my DH to make all the others up for me. This worked really well for me as all I had to do was stick it in and once you have done the first one you'll be surprised at how easy you find it. I did get to a point just about halfway through where I was sore, bruised and bloated and I felt like it would never end but once i got past that it seemed to go very quickly.

I think I had a couple of scans and so had to take a couple of hours off work to do that - my hospital is very close to where I work. I also made arrangements beforehand to take time off work for the egg collection and embryo transfer and I think I had several days off after the transfer too because I wanted to be sure that I could rest and take things easy.

Egg collection was fine, a bit uncomfortable - they did sedate me but I am pretty sure it didn't work as they told me I would be woozy and would need someone to wheel me to the toilet but I was able to get up and walk there myself. The transfer was ok but very weird leaving knowing I had 2 embryos in me.

I didn't do the down reging as they just put me on the pil for a month instead.

good luck.

Hope you don't mind me saying that you don't seem to be very committed to the procedure. Such as "I hope I don't have to take much time off work".

I may be wrong but I get the feeling that you want the procedure as long as it doesn't inconvenience you.

Sounds pretty harsh I know but I wonder why you haven't been a bit more proactive in finding out more about IVF.

Good luck KoolAidKid.

My first icsi (same as ivf) was 10 years ago.

I had to have one injection everyday for approx two weeks. After 5/7 days of injections I then had blood tests and internal scans every couple of days.

Once enough eggs produced at right size I received another injection (at night) and went in for egg retrieval the next day.

2 or 3 days after eggs were out I went in to get embryo's put inside. A bit like a smear.

Had to insert pessaries for next two weeks. Ended up in a bit of pain the day before test date. Hospital told me to come in for a once over. Nurse took a urine sample from me. She came back in 5 mins later with the biggest grin ever.

9 months later had a baby girl.

I was a coward and ended up asking if I could get my injections from a nurse at the hospital everyday. So, I went into work late everyday for first two weeks. I just worked late at the other end. My work were fine with this.

I took 2 days off for egg retrieval but that was it.

Did it a second time about 7 and a half years ago, did exactly the same at the same hospital (but had to pay). I didn't fall pregnant that time but had exactly the same drugs, egg retrieval etc.

I did get hot flushes a couple of times, but nothing unbearable.

Good luck.

God I'm angry about the people on here who obviously know nothing about the mental stress involved in doing ivf who are judging and making unhelpful comments. Can I suggest that only those who have done ivf respond.

Put the drug in the fridge - it's in a small packet (about the size of a big box of matches)
It'll be very clearly marked.

Check if you've got the auto-inject thing - makes injections a doddle. (if not pm me and I'll post you my spare one)

Remember that you're on a journey that's like going through a series of lock gates. Just concentrate on where you're at at the moment. I very much hope it works but you can have the rug pulled from under your feet at any moment.

Stuff work (to a certain extent). It's going to be disruptive - you can only be vague about what might happen when at this stage. If you are an organised control freak like me you will find this hard. Be kind to yourself. You don't medically need a week off after egg collection - mentally you will be feeling incredibly vulnerable. Don't underestimate the importance of tlc.

Just to be clear I think you should take time off - phrased it badly above.

You probably will get some side effects - and it's weird cos you get excited cos it feels like you're getting a step closer. The hot flushes took me by surprise - bad at night. The headaches ditto. Very teary and emotional. I felt like that "scream" painting a lot of the time. But I also got clumsy. Step away from priceless vases, refuse to carry anything on a tray and mentally add a foot onto any gap you think you can walk through.

There are loads of videos on YouTube of people doing their drugs. Very helpful.

My 4th batch of drugs arrived today - 2 cycles failed but I am beyond lucky that 1 worked and I have a beautiful 2 year old son.

If your clinic offers free counselling, take it. So helpful.

Definitely try the conception board, there is an IVF thread on there and I am sure the posters will be happy to help you. Worth also having another chat with your doctors to make sure you are feeling confident about what you are doing.

And good luck!

Usually, you have:

1 shot to suppress your natural cycle - then about ten days or so with no furth appts
Daily shots to stimulate your ovaries - After a few days of this, you'll go in for a scan every second or third day. This goes about for 7-12 days (although it's been a while). Scans are usually in the morning, so you may need some sort of flexi arrangement with work. Also, stim drugs can be exhausting and make you put on loads of weight.
Trigger shot - a shot of hcg to make the eggs mature - it's crucial you stick to the time you're given to do this.
Egg collection - you'll def need a whole day off for this
Transfer - 2-5 days after egg collection, and just like a smear test
Then two weeks when you're on pessaries.

Don't take this as gospel though as every clinic does things differently, it's just to give you an idea. I'd def recommend take time off towards the end of stimming and around collection and transfer time.

'IVF for couples' is a good starter book and takes you through the basics. There are also Youube videos showing you how to do the injections.

Good luck!