TTC/ pregnancy on Prednisolone or similar part 2

[Arianrhod]

Starting up part 2 of this thread since the old one closed at 1000 posts!

iggi lots of luck for today, hope it's nothing - I know it doesn't help but I know lots of women have spotting and/or bleeding in pregnancy and it still goes ok. Definitely call the EPU, get scanned - it's worth it, honestly, at least you will know one way or another. Virtual hugs coming your way.

free I also started AF properly this morning, so looks like we may be both importuning a friendly witch for a good fertility spell on Hallowe'en? I know exactly what you mean about the scary stuff ... a small part of me was actually sort of relieved when I didn't get a BFP purely because it means I don't have to go through the whole worrying about miscarrying all over again. Bizarre, but there it is.

Yep Choccy it's the What the fck cycle. I love it :) The name not the cycle that is. Who first named that anyway? I just got to know about it when I joined mn and the miscarriage boards back in March. Digi* might know - she's my oracle as she's been at this longer than I have. I am a prolific swearer I am afraid. It makes me feel like I am still misspending my youth now that the cigarettes and, well not quite the alcohol have gone.

Cocoon House definitely has wine, hot tubs and also a beautician on hand for regular facials (moonfacials are her speciality :) ), manicures, pedicures and body scrubs.

Strange Duggs that your mum is another one who has been through miscarriage. I guess at least those poor mum's can be of support through first hand experience. And they did have children eventually too! It gives us all hope.

puree I am heartbroken for you, it is so unfair and I am so sad that we were about to be on this journey at the same time. You sound amazingly brave about it and I hope you're getting lots of love at home. Hope that your Monday appointment goes well and that Mr S and his team give you plenty of time for your questions and all the TLC you need. I wonder if it is worth asking for your NK levels to be checked again, I know another blood test is not what you will want right now but I found out that mine went up and up at the beginning of this pregnancy and I was advised all of a sudden to increase to 40mg and have the intralipids. I don't understand why I got the extra testing (when it seems that its not standard practice) and its probably not helpful to obsess about levels but I know we are all about the answers and protecting ourselves for the next time, so I just thought I'd say about it. I don't know how this one will turn out either so I am just trying to stay very neutral about it, but I do feel very sorry that if it continues it will be a reminder for you. Thinking of you and sending hugs x

free a day of sad news, I am so sorry for your friend and all she has been through. It just doesn't make any sense does it. It must be a real comfort to her to have you to support her through, especially as you can give her real empathy and good advice about where to turn next.

All the best for the SWIers and just to let you know don't be disheartened by lack of ov symptoms. I can always tell by CM and didn't notice any last cycle (really odd for me) yet still conceived, I am still a bit flummoxed by that, but there we are.

iggi well done for getting through the day at your new job when you've been feeling so ropey and I hope you can curl up with a hot water bottle this evening and start to feel better.

digi wishing you lots of fluttering and expanding in all good ways.

All the best for the scans brownie and comedy tomorrow, be thinking of you.

ooh, lots of good advice. i guess i had better talk to mr s himself before writing things off until January. One thing i did think of today in my efforts to keep positive was to have my AMH level tested to see what my egg reserves might be like - anyone had that?

I think duggs you were asking if I self referred to Mr S? I did indeed, but I am also nominally under the care of Guys & St T's who are very nice and will scan me fortnightly from 6 weeks (and offered to scan me yesterday. I just about fell off my chair when not only did the EPU return my call at the weekend but the consultant called me directly). But other than the reassurance scans I am at the end of the road with them as they have put me through all the tests. They offered to put me on a progesterone trail too but like you i turned it down and didn't want to get the placebo.

just on alcohol...she says with a glass of wine in hand...when ttc, particularly PRIOR to ovulation I try to abstain totally, as does DH. I have a book on conception which sets out pretty clearly how alcohol can upset hormone balances for some people, particularly if you have endo (which I do) and if you have a history of egg quality/chromosome issues (which I do) - and the critical time to lay off according to this Dr is the 48 hours before ovulation. Not wanting to put anyone off their well deserved glass of wine, I just mention it since we were talking about it. I abstained very strictly for a month before I conceived DS (mostly because I'd had a minor throat operation and couldn't drink cos of the painkillers) - and I drank a glass a day on holiday with this latest pregnancy. Hmmm.. I think as miserable as it is I might go back to swearing off alcohol next time.

cheerful - I looked at my diary when I was ov and then first 10 weeks pregnant with DS - four overseas trips with work. I kept on reading the research I could get my hands on and never found anything that said flying was a problem. I did, however, get a bit precious and refuse to go through the security scanner as my book (see above!) mentioned that those xrays are a different type of radiation from being in the air. I have flown a lot in my various early pregnancies and i have never had any airport security guard refuse a physical search rather than going through the scanner (though I have had to mime having a baby in my tummy - quite embarassing).

free so sad to hear of IVF failures, especially when i am beginning to appreciate what an impact all the meds and procedures must have on everyday life.

scooter I know what you mean about staying "neutral"...I was neutral about my DS until he'd been born and had the newborn check (i hadn't even picked a name!!!). And that was after just two mc back then. what ever you do don't be sorry about it being a reminder. I held a baby yesterday who was born on one of my "due dates" so if I can handle that I reckon I am ready for anything.

Good luck scan ladies. Lots of warm cocoon good thoughts.

Free - so sorry to hear about your friend. It must be awful for her when she has been through IVF so many times. At least we know we can fall pregnant and keep on trying until we decide to give up but it's different for her as I am guessing finances will dictate how many times she can go for treatment. My friend who is on her 3rd round is going for a scan next week so I hope she has good news.

Puree - try and stay strong as like others have said on here, I am sure its just bad luck this time. Dr S told me that it can take a few goes of treatment anyway depending on how high your NK levels are. There is always hope (remind me of that if I have another MC!)

I never have ovulation pain apart from last month when I was on the preds for the 1st time and they delayed it by 12 days. I wouldnt worry if you do or dont get them! I will be testing on 11th Nov so fingers crossed I get my BFP this time. DH is going away again next month so I am hoping we will be lucky.
Thanks for the advice on taking the preds - I started them the day after I got the smiley face and peak on CBFM. Charting my temps too but find that hard to decipher!

I also find it hard to look at CM but I have noticed that it goes a more yellow lumpy consistency after SWI. I have never really had a lot of the egg white stuff yet still conceive so again I wouldnt read too much into it. I am not very good at this detecting ovulation lark and find it all a pain - would be so much easier if we didnt have to do it!

Love the idea of the cocoon house, there would be a view of a beautiful sandy beach with palm trees out of the window (I can dream)!

I also found St Marys to be an anticlimax, they shrugged their shoulders and said they couldnt do anything for me apart from aspirin. I found the whole process to be a waste of time as they lost my test results twice which meant I had to wait even longer to get back to ttc.

Good luck for the ladies waiting for OV and scans - positive thoughts for us all!

Ari - forgot to say, I am with you on the whole 2nd baby thing as my DD asks me every day why she can't have a baby like all her friends. She gets upset when she has no-one else to play with which is really hard.

Iggi - I had a stomach upset with my DD so don't worry too much. Get a scan to rest your mind.

purequeen I did have my AMH tested - about a year ago - antimullarian hormone mine was 24.9 satisfactory. It was part of a full fertility MOT ( little did I know what lay ahead). I'd only had 1 mc then but was over 7 mths since I'd conceived. Not sure it means much they also do FSH and LH levels. Was at some Harley street clinic cost £200 I think. It might make u feel better though.

After 2nd mc which was chromosomal I thought I just had bad eggs and discovered CGH testing where they check your embryos before putting back in an IVF cycle. Rates of IVF success were showing 60%+ which is double normal rates. I got as far as consultation and about to order drugs ( they did tell me o didn't need NK cells test as wasn't "good candidate " for it at London womens clinic) but went to dr s anyway as had weird feeling I should. I got results back from dr s 15 sep one day before my IVF drugs were being ordered. The only reason for the IVF route was to select a good egg - would've been ironic if I'd done all that just for it to be sapped by the nk fighters. Am sure freelance your friend knows but if I ever had to do IVF I'd pay the extra £2k to ensure chromosonally is a good egg. Anyway makes me sound like a Russian billionaire - unfortunately not we were borrowing the £. could have been hideous. Dr S was adamant us who do get pg do not have egg issues - not above natural rates anyway. Guess it is just more impactful for us guys.

Can I ask if anyone has had or heard about a possible septum uterus? Maybe caused by scarring from 2 Erpc. Raj rai wants to send a camera into me to see if I have one and cut it out. Not until 23 jan though. Seems unlikely no one has mentioned before in my hundred scan history?

Loving moon facials

So sorry for your friend free hope she takes care and can cone through this well xx

So sorry to hear your news too puree xx all you can do is have a fab Christmas and enjoy your self before you start again in January, all the very best of luck Hun

Good luck to everyone with scans today and happy Wednesday to everyone else xx

Puree Am so sorry you are going through this again :( Hope you have family and friends close by to give you lots of TLC.

Free I can't imagine going through IVF and then a miscarriage, life can just be so unfair. Hope your friend finds the strength to carry on trying.

Good luck today Comedy, will be thinking of you. Waves to all you other ladies . Liking this cocoon house!! If there are pina coladas on hand, a view of the sea, and a hammock, I am there.

Going to walk the dog now and try and distract myself till I go into London for scan. Hmmm, I feel a cleaning frenzy coming on :)

Haven't heard of septum uterus Duggs but just looked it up for more info. Am sure I have found the same info you've found. Does seem strange that no-one has mentioned it to you before. You might as well go for the scan though and see how it goes - does that mean you have to wait with TTC though? Obviously you might still be pregnant on this cycle!

Loving the fact that we need to abstain from alcohol for only 48 hours prior to ovulation Puree. I have done that by pure virtue of it being a weekday and having no social engagements on the cards.

Incredible that the Pred put your ovulation back 12 days Sue. Did you start the Pred particularly early?

I have just popped my first Pred (since tapering down after the ERPC at the end of August) this morning - CD16. Last night I had some very strange feelings down there, a bit pre-af-esque. I also feel quite bloated.

I think there were a few scans today so good luck to all being scanned. I am off down the post office to post Dr Beer to my friend.

duggs - I went through the whole septate uterus thing with Guys - there was a bit of confusion whether it was septate or bicornuate and I had a zillion people scan me. the end result is that they think it is not septate. I would have preferred a camera. If it is it can have quite an impact and if Raj Rai wants to have a look at you then I would say go for it, that's great to rule that out or get it dealt with. I think the op would be v straightforward. I have also been wondering about scarring from my two ERPC...

Your comments about embyro screening are timely as I was looking at the prices yesterday! As I have had two confirmed trisomy pregnancies (had analysis after the ERPC) plus all the other mc I feel that this is a bit over the odds at my age (34) even with the NK cells. Was thinking about combining NK treatment with IVF as a next step next year - this is just me coming up with my own treatment plan!

Good luck for today Brownie

Morning all - feel like I have been away for ages but only absent since Sunday - have been in hospital. Unfortunately caught a sickness and diaorrea (cannot spell) bug and it got really severe so was admitted to the gynae ward - apart from not being able to stop being sick I got into a real panic that I couldn't swallow the steroids etc and what this could do to me and little one. Four drips later I'm well hydrated and managed to get discharged last night as seeing Mr S this afternoon. It took a bit of explaining at the hospital but they appreciated that a break in the steroids could be harmful and so i also had some steroid drips. Unfortunately they also diagnosed a urinary tract infection so am on antiobiotics - can we take any more drugs!!! Now in bed and worried that I haven't got my usual morning sickness - can't win! I'm really terrified about this afternoon just can't see how it will be ok. Oh well not too long to wait. thank you for all the good scan wishes - much appreciated.

I have read through the last few pages and so very sorry to read your horrible news puree - sending you a big hug. Also sorry free about your friend.

Iggi I know how you feel but hopefully our stomachs are just totally messed up by pharmaceuticals and beans are growing well - fingers crossed for us both.

The very best of luck to everyone TTC this month - more fingers crossed!

Duggs my 'listing' does lack a few details which are - I conceived on my second round of pred and im in the very high bracket as well (2.8) - sorry I'm on iPad and not good at copying and pasting on this.

Have a good day everyone and hopefully I'll check in later with some good news x

... also meant to say good luck brownie x

good luck comedy - what a terrible time you've been through! I am v impressed you managed to get a steriod drip, you must be very persuasive (just judging by the resistance I am getting from my GP, I can only imagine what it would be like discussing this treatment with a busy registrar in a hospital).

Puree, so sorry to hear your news. That's rotten. I hope you are ok, you sound very pragmatic. With regards to the trisomy pregnancies, I think they include genetic testing in the RMC tests don't they? In which case it would've come up if there was a specific problem with you or your OH/DH. I may be wrong, it may be that we were tested for this at our RMC because we have had two trisomy pregnancies which did not miscarry, we chose to end those pregnancies ourselves. I can't remember if the test was standard or just because of our history. If you have had two confirmed trisomy pregnancies that miscarried perhaps you can get them to refer you for genetic counseling or get the full karyotyping results which should show whether this was a case of random bad luck or not. This is a subject I am very concerned with because of my history too as I don't know if my 4 M/Cs were all down to NK Cells or further trisomies. I might look into PGD if my next pregnancy miscarries. Especially if I find out it's due to a trisomy. One thing to consider though, which I was told by the genetic counselor that we saw was that if it is just random bad luck/age related you are still more likely to have a successful pregnancy naturally than through PGD because when they take cells from the embryo before implanting it, it can make the embryo vulnerable and more likely to miscarry than a natural pregnancy.

Comedy what a rough time you've had. Poor you. You must've been feeling pretty miserable and scared. I hope you are feeling much better now and that your scan and appointment with Dr S goes well this afternoon.

Best of luck too, to brownie today.

free, sorry to hear about your friend. You're right, it must be a double blow when you've been through IVF so many times and finally thought it had worked. Hopefully she will benefit from all your research at least. Isn't there a place which does NK testing alongside IVF treatments? I can't remember where it is but I'm sure someone on Fertility Friends would know.

The place I am at CRGH (Centre for Reproductive & Genetic Health) does IVF and NK treatments. www.crgh.co.uk/

Their plan for me was to try naturally on Clomid and do NK treatment on BFP. If that didn't work they recommended IVF so that they could do the screening plus check my ovarian reserve quality alongside NK cell treatment. I have to say they have been very good so far.

puree I am so sorry to hear your news. And that of your friend, free.

Comedy that sounds like quite some bug. I guess the UTI is probably a result of being dehydrated by the d&v! What a nightmare!

That's interesting about not drinking in the 48 hrs before ov. I have cut down considerably since ttc and now just have a couple of glasses a couple of times a week, but I generally feel less nervous about drinking pre-ov and more nervous in the 2ww.

Morning all, just checking in, and wanted to say good luck brownie and comedy (and so sorry to hear of your recent illness, comedy) for today.

sue taking pred delayed your OV by 12 days? I have to say that's good news for me then, still no sign of OV here on CD15. I don't mind so much if it's delayed, just that it happens and when it does, that it has an effective egg!! How long had you been taking the pred for prior to that happening sue? I'm just surprised that it would have that much of an effect after only taking it for 2 weeks, then 2 weeks clear - I would have thought the 2 weeks clear would have removed all traces of pred from my system, I didn't think it would mess up my OV so soon?

Hi ladies, do you have room for one more?

Wow! I was so glad to have found this thread.. although I haven't had time to read all the posts.. reading through has been quite emotional for me because you have seem to put down in words all the worries/questions/feelings/freak outs/ panics etc etc that I've had in the past few months.
After 3 miscarriages( Oct 2010 MMC at 12 week scan, May 2011 5 weeks, June 2011 Chemical Pregnancy) I referred myself to Mr Shehata.
My NK result was 3.79, so I am on the very high regime 25mg Pred etc.
I have started my 3rd round of Pred this morning as I think I might ovulate today.. My husband calls it 'egging'.. it certainly has taken the romance out of it all.

Cherry, are we twins?! My history is very similar to yours, apart from I had two mcs years ago too and no chemicals so far, but a 12 week mc in March which alerted me to the fact that something was wrong and an ERPC in august after no growth of sac at 8 weeks on my first treatment with Mr S. Thread friends will also be aware I am over the moon at finding someone who has exactly the same very, very high nkc as I do! 3.79-snap. Am so sorry for your losses but glad you have found us. I started this thread initially but I imagine if I had come across it after going through this on my own it would have been akin to finding some fellow survivors tucked into a safe house somewhere after the zombies have taken over :)

To cement our twin-ness I too am ovulating... As are several thread mates, so there's much swi going on. Loving the egging! I will use that later.

Am out and about at the mo on the phone so difficult to update list but please do copy, add yourself on and paste. We are pleased as always to add to our numbers. It's so good to be able to char freely about our ridiculous wombs, killer cells and medication. I learn something new all the time.

Welcome cherry, always room for one more! So sorry for your losses, but hopefully you'll see we're all kindred spirits on here, and we have several success stories happily ongoing (yes iggi, that includes you ).

I think it's quite difficult to maintain the romance when you're dealing with what we are, but I'm still trying ... mostly through my DP's ignorance of when I OV anyway :) Mind you, right now I'm ignorant myself! :)

Hi cherry welcome to our little world, all the girls here are fab and it's such a comfort to know ur not on your own. Good luck on ur journey hunni xxx

Welcome cheery! That's exactly how I felt when I found this group. I sometimes think we should tell the staff at NLC to give out the link to new patients but they probably wouldn't want to be seen to have a connection to us. We shall just have to risk being thought mad by shouting out in the waiting room I guess! Or having some sort of code/funny handshake.

I know free will be delighted to have someone else at the heady heights of 3.79 too!

Re the cocoon house can I add foot rubs to the beautician's duties if they're allowed in early pg (ever optimistic!) Obv no proper massages but reflexology is supposed to be good for you I think? Relaxing- important in view of the months of panicking.

I'm down to taking multiple 5mg Pred pills now having used most of my 25s. Am saving some in case. Is it me or do the 5s have a really nasty aftertaste?!

Hope for good news from today's scans

Why, thank you ladies for the warm welcome :) I feel quite overcome to have found you. Yes, free it does feel like I have found some fellow survivors after a NK cells zombie attack!

I look forward to getting to know you all! Good luck with all the swi-ing, not sure what it stands for yet, but as there is a lot of it going on around egging time it can only mean one thing. DH woke me up from a semi-coma last night with a romantic shout in my ear "I thought you were egging".

hello Cherrycheeks! cute name.. yes it certainly is good to have this thread even if it's just to lurk sometimes. It's good for asking any questions that you may feel a bit of an idiot asking clinic about and just to know your not on your own.
I am in V High too at 3.16 although this is first month on Dr S's treatment so a bit nervous!
Good luck with you next round and nice to know your hubby is keeping you on track, it's tough for them the poor things!!

Oh free there is a lady on BC board who is 4.79 I think and fifteen weeks or so by now (on first pred cycle) which is great to see. x

Welcome cherry. SWI stands for shagging with intent by the way!

My OH refers to it as eggulating and I sometimes tell him "Come on love, I'm laying an egg".