TTC Super Ovulation...

[duggs1976]

hey ladies,

There are a few of us who are ttc after mc's, however there will be ladies out there who are also ttc for the first time or second or third without success. If anyone is on, considering or had success on a super ovulation programme then do join us. How long did it take ? Did you try IUI with it.. ? Did you have PCOS?

Kicking this off and hoping some of you will join....

Hi duggs , I'm around. Just lurking more than posting at the moment as I've been going through a bit of a rough patch. The combination of various artificial hormones, pred, a.d emotions resulting from loosing my mum are not proving to be a very good combination!

I am 4dpo from the most promising follicle but there may be a smaller one getting ready to make an appearance any time now. Frustratingly this wasn't explained to me that well. I was advised to "make love" at specific days for the first one but the second one wasn't really mentioned since the scan. I just took it upon myself to email Louise to ask about it today so not even sure if I've missed the opportunity for that one.

Hi all. Lots of super ov activity today. Sorry to read about the BFN, Euro. I'm sure you're feeling just at the end of what you can bear. The hormones at this time of the month are no help either, and the cumulation of month after month of BFNs is just a bit much, isn't it? Thinking of you. Why do you feel you're being moved towards IVF? Is Mr S saying that?

and kittens you sound like life is quite tough at the moment as well. I can relate completely to the artificial hormones thing, but to have other personal challenges as well is really tough. Thinking of you too.

izzy and sue I really, really hope the 'line is a line' rule applicable everywhere else holds true for you. I agree this is a horrid time, this early pregnancy. Can you use the digital tests to measure progress from 1-2 to 2-3 weeks, etc.? I think they should create hcg tests like diabetics' insulin tests so we can track daily!

skyper yes those follicles all sound good! Apparently they grow 1mm/day, so sometimes you're told to wait a day or so to give the smaller one(s) a chance to grow - when is/was your trigger shot?

hi duggs! iPhone in the desert sounds very high-tech.

Thanks for asking, sue; I'm doing ok and was very happy about the bfp but of course it's replaced by resignation that it might not work out. I had nausea on Saturday but have felt fine yesterday and today apart from a few twangs down there. Ideally I'd be throwing up daily, though I know someone who was doing that and still had a MMC. It's just keeping calm and waiting, I suppose. I have to be hopeful that things are different this time round with Cyclogest and acupuncture, so I'm trying to be positive.

Thinking of you all.

will post properly later..just escaping the office!! suemays im not on any steriods??not even been mentioned..should i have been?!?!?!

Thanks jaffa. I do feel very low today. The disappointment of a BFP coinciding with the monthly hormone and post-pred crash is just cruel. The IVF is our NHS chance. I feel like i should be grateful that we have got there so quickly as I know others have to wait for ages, but I don't think my head is in the right place yet. Maybe counselling will help.

ah I see, euro. Tricky. They can't delay til you've finished giving super ov a go? I'm sure the counselling will be very beneficial anyway.

skyper the steroids are for those diagnosed with high NK cells. I don't have them so am not on 'roids, though mr s keeps forgetting that! You may find out after your blood tests. Sorry, can't remember who you're seeing -?

duggs - very impressed with your technology...im struggling to keep up on the laptop..never mind an iphone!!!
kittens - i feel your frustration, i dont feel anything is explained very clearly! i took my trigger shot on d11, as that is when i had my scan (dont scan on weekends!!)..now im wondering if i should of waited a day or two???
jaffa positive thoughts coming your way..great news..just got to hang on in there-easier said than done but we are all crossing fingers and toes for u!
im in scotland so not in the same clinic as most of you guys....when is the earliest you can test without getting a false positive from the trigger shot..... trying not to get my hopes up ......:)

skyper I got a very faint bfp at 10dpo but was told that the hcg shot can stay in your system up to 14dpo. It's unusual but does happen. If you do get a bfp just bear in mind it might not be accurate. If the line gets darker after a few days then you know it's a bfp. Sorry assumed you were seeing dr shehata as most of us on here are!

I am waiting to have my intrallipids at the mo, it all feels a bit surreal as I don't feel at all pregnant!

duggs when do you start ivf?

jaffa I've done three superov cycles now so I have given it a chance (I'd planned to do 4, but IVF has comearound a little more quickly than I expected). I was never all that convinced about it, tbh. The stats are not great, but it was something to try alongside the pred.

euro how are you feeling today?

skyper I was 8 dpo when ovitrelle was completly out of system. Tested today at 10dpo and negative but I feel queasy last couple of days and knackered! So I will keep testing for next 2 days (But both of those symptoms could be the prednisilone.)

I've walked 4 miles this morning and painted a large wall in kitchen and what with very poor sleep so spose that's not suprising I'm tired.

sue hope the Intralipids went well.

kittens It's going to take a lot out of you after what you've been through and going through with all this. Take it easy and be kind to yourself. You probably don't feel like getting at it every other day I'm sure to catch the second one! Did you contact Louise to say what she advised?

duggs hope your bearing up amongst the fakes over there! Any celebs to share your nuts and G&T with on the plane this time?

jaffa Is Intralipids part of your treatment?

izzy how is your testing going?

Intrallipids went well although they took nearly 3 hours! They apparently last for 4 weeks in your system and coat the killer cells. For the first time you have to have a kidney function blood test too (£40) so in all it cost £390! I hope it's worth it.

Since my BFP last week I have had a really dull ache in my foot where I broke it years ago. Louise said its probably the relaxin hormone doing it. Apart from that and slight nausea I still dont feel pregnant! Not sure if I am imagining the nausea! I am booking in for my 6 week and 8 week scan plus next set of intrallipids but still feeling like a fake!

Snoopy sounds like the same symptoms I had before I got my BFP. I started to feel sick straight away and knackered too so keeping my fingers crossed for you.

Off to my docs today to get a free flu jab as Louise said I should get it done once I get a BFP. Making the most of free prescriptions whilst being pregnant so am picking up some more cyclogest, omazeprole and preds! Thought I had better do it quick incase the bean doesn't stick!

Kittens sorry I didnt see your post about feeling fed up. You have been through so much so I am not surprised you feel down. I also missed my first go on superov as 'made love' when I was told but I later worked out I had Ovd naturally the day before so missed the window. At least by being on the letrozole for another month it will help the egg quality if you have missed this month.

Duggs seen any celebs yet?

Izzy have you done any more tests yet? I have some on the way from Amazon but will wait until fri/sat to do another one. I really dont want to do one as terrified it will have gone to a BFN.

Euro have you had a hysteroscopy or any internal investigation to see if there is a problem with implantation due to scarring etc?

I still think it might be you are allergic to your DH sperm. One of my friends had that problem years ago - she was telling me she had a burning sensation whenever they had sex so it sounds similar. She is 50 now so the technology was not around to do anything about it as this was around 20 years ago that she went through all the testing. She had problems conceiving - only happened twice in 10 years and she miscarried both times. At least there have been advances in treatments since then. She was told by the docs recently that if she had been younger and trying now they probably could have helped her!

Sue I've had a HSG (which was all normal) but not a hysteroscopy. There should be no reason for scarring though as I have never miscarried or had any uterine surgery or anything.

I do think the allergy thing could be the problem. If so, IVF should get around that.

snoopy thanks for asking, but I am still feeling rather low. I had a big temp crash this morning, so AF should be here soon (and mostly out of the way in time for my holiday) and then I should start feeling better.

How is everyone else doing?

Morning

Sorry your feeling rubbish euro.. the test sues talking about sounds like it would be worth it. Although it's hard to think another test/more money/ is it worth it and all that but you never know it could be just test/treatment like that which is the simple answer.
On a cheerier note, where are you off to on your hols?

sue Glad things looking good. it's so bloody expensive all this but will be worth every penny if we get the result.
I had cramping in left boob throughout the night and now and both bit tender like I want to wear a bra in bed. Feeling queasy alot which is making me just want to eat constantly. But still absolutley nothing on stick. It's 11dpo today . It's probably nothing. Just keen to find out as this month desparate to get off pred and get some decent sleep. Also swapped to front with Cyclogest as it's gross (the fallout) at back. No irritation so far so that's something. sorry tmi

skyper, did they tell you when to take the trigger shot when you had your scan? I had my second scan on CD13 as my original scan was too early (originally advised due to my short cycles). I had to be scanned at a different clinic in Harley St by an associate of Mr S as I couldn't get an appointment with Mr S on the day I wanted. They then send the info through to Mr S and either he or Louise gave me a follow up call afterwards to tell me when to do the shot. She told me to do the trigger shot and start my 3 day "love making" run the next day and take the pred from 2 days after my shot. Louise emailed me yesterday to say that my second follicle was 8.3mm and that they mature at around 1mm per day and release from around 20mm + so I could calculate it from there, so it seems I am in the run up for no. 2 as of today. Worth knowing so that you can take a note of the sizes when they scan you. That way if they are vague you can at least make an educated guess at not missing the window. It seems quite strange being in the "waiting to ovulate" stage for the second time in the same cycle. Especially as my cycle is usually about 25/26 days long so it would seem that my second egg is due to make an appearance about the same time as AF. Most confusing! Maybe it will turn out to be a rather literal, if not extremely premature case, of throwing the baby out with the bath water!

Sorry, my posts are mostly about me or answering questions about what's going on with me. I'm kind of lurking here to check what's going on with everyone and also to try and relate to your experiences. I've not been posting on the other thread as there are so many people on there and I can't keep up and don't feel like I'm giving anything back at the moment, which isn't really fair. My head is at full capacity with my stuff. I seem to have just entered the random, frequent and spontaneous tears phase of grief these last couple of weeks and on top of this my stepsister was diagnosed (and, thankfully, successfully operated on a couple of weeks ago) with breast cancer about a month ago and my grandmother, who I'm almost closer to than I was to my mum has very bad dementia, which is getting worse by the day. My head is really swimming. And in the meantime I am embarking on this strange, forced and hormonally artificial process of trying to have a baby against the odds of nature and stress so find myself coming on here to make sense of it all, but I feel guilty that I read all your posts and then forget who said what and end up posting just about myself when you are all going through hard stuff too. .

kittens don't apologise. You are having a rough time honey. So sorry you keep getting bad news, The other thread is great for the quite pregnant folk and hopefully we will all be able to be active on it, but after the length of time some of us have been around here on this programme we have a right to feel despondent. Sometimes I wonder if it makes things worse with all the attention and focus on things. It is 6 of one and half a dozen of the other. Info sharing is helpful though. Just so I understood you- you had 2 follicles releasing at different times?

Euro the hysteroscopy doesnt just look for scarring - I think they look to see if there is anything else that can be a reason for infertility. You can get it on the NHS but there is a waiting list - might be worthwhile you having one?

Snoopy it really does sound promising for you so keep testing. Some women dont get a BFP until 14DPO so you have time yet!
I take cyclogest at the front too. Since getting my BFP there is not so much fallout and I take 2 of them at night rather than just one in the 2ww. Have you thought about just taking preds for 10 days during 2ww like I was doing? Check with Louise first but that is the minimum she told me they suggest as the preds stay in the system for a few days anyway. If you are having sleeping they might suggest that anyway. I have been so anxious that I keep waking up a few times during the night as over worrying about everything and then can't get back to sleep. Time seems to have stopped for me over the last 2 days!

Thanks duggs. Yes, they said the second follicle was quite small so may come later but didn't really elaborate or mention the second one again in the follow up call when they told me when to SWI. I took it on myself to question this and emailed Louise and her reply was that I could try to catch that one too and increase my chances. I have a feeling that the second one is going to be a non-event though as it's due to release at the same time as my period should (hopefully not/probably will) arrive. So, in theory, today I am 6dpo and due to ovulate in around 3 days . I'm hoping the cyclogest will lengthen my luteal phase so AF may show up slightly later. Who knows?! If it doesn't work this month they will up my letrozole dose to 7.5mg.

Oh, I also have an appointment with the NHS Reproductive Medicine dept tomorrow by the way, after a ridiculous amount of chasing my referral. I have a feeling it's not going to be much help though as the letter they've sent me is classed as a "rejection letter" (doesn't bode well!). They said there wasn't much they could do for me as the cut off age for a woman to be given is 40 but I was welcome to come in for investigations and advice. I have already had all the tests done, and luckily the bloods were done on the NHS so I can hopefully pass them straight on to save time and nonsense but what they can offer me as a result is anyone's guess. I rather suspect they will look at the results and say "Ah, yes, we call this 'unexplained infertility'. Not much we can do. Good luck." But I might see if they can refer me for a hysteroscopy anyway. Will keep you posted.

'scuse me for poking my head around the door again, I'm a LWI (lurker with interest), still with a mind that Mr S might say it's ok for me to try SuperOV too once he's back on Monday. I'll email Louise again early next week if I haven't heard back from her to see what he thinks.

kittens I just wanted to echo what duggs already said - don't apologise at all, you're going through unimaginable hell and I'm sure everybody really feels for you. Never feel guilty at not responding to everyone's posting either - I'm very sure no-one takes any kind of offence if people don't respond individually, it's just nice to be able to share what's going on.

duggs I was actually thinking exactly the same this morning, the other thread is great for those who have got pregnant on the programme (and it does seem to have gone a bit quiet the last couple of days, I guess that may be because almost half of the 'list' are now pregnant and don't need as much hand-holding? dunno) but for those of us who are going around and around and feeling like we're getting nowhere fast, it can definitely bring the odd feeling of despondency.

sue can I ask please, you mentioned you took the progesterone supplements (if that's what they can be called?) from before your BFP - was it from OV? - and I just wondered, was this because you had your progesterone measured and it was low? Or did Louise suggest it for some reason? Or was it just because you felt you wanted to see if it helped? Did it affect your AF if you did this previous cycles, do you know? I'm just very interested, hope you don't mind my asking!

Kittens dont apologise for talking about yourself - we all do it from time to time and you certainly have good reasons to be doing it. I always wonder why some people get thrown all the bad luck at once when other people seem to sail through life with nothing. I just hope you are getting all your bad things now rather than later on in life.

I think grief takes a few months to kick in as it seems more final for some reason at that point. Have you had any counselling? My DH went to Cruse when his brother died last year and it really helped him talk about the unexplained death and all the miscarriages.

We seem to have our share of bad luck too as his nan has severe dementia too and in the space of a year, DH lost his job, so did my dad and my sister! My sister then lost her house and had to move in with my parents. My mum also had a breast cancer scare and we lost 3 of our other grandparents as well as my brother-in-law who was 35 as well as the numerous miscarriages. All of our friends avoided us as there were too many 'white elephants' in the room! You do sometimes wonder when will our luck change? It has to soon doesn't it?

My inlaws are off to Hong Kong to visit their daughter-in-law who was widowed last year. She has 2 kids under 5 (their grandchildren - my niece and nephew) and she cant afford to keep the house running as my brother-in-law was the bread winner. Everyone has been donating money to them to keep a roof over their head but it cant last forever.

Kittens my GP has sent my referral letter off to my local hospital for the hysteroscopy appointment. Typical now that I am pregnant but if it doesnt last I know I will have that booked in as another investigation. It does feel like you have to fight for everything or you would get nowhere. I always feel a bit better when I have a plan in place and feel I am actively 'doing something.'

Ari I feel like I need more handholding now for some reason!

With the cyclogest, my acupuncturist suggested I take it from OV to AF/BFP as it helps thicken the womb lining for the following month. The reason I decided to take it is that on my first follicle scan, my lining was only around 7mm so on the minimum side of the scale. My acupuncturist said he thought that was too thin even though Mr S said it was fine! This month I took the cyclogest from around 4DPO as Snoopy said she was taking it so I thought it cant hurt to try it! I didnt tell Louise/Mr S that I was taking cyclogest on the 2ww but I did wonder if I had a luteal phase defect/lining too thin as it seemed short at 11 days in Jan. That could have explained the chemical in December as there may not have been enough to embed in to properly. I had a progesterone test in December before I got my BFP which ended in a chemical and was told I hadnt OVd that month but then went to get a BFP??? Talk about confusing! Thats why I wondered if my progesterone levels were too low. I did a bit of research too and older women (late 30s and above) often have low progesterone levels which can result in chemical/miscarriages.

I also decided to take the selenium and keep up the acupuncture as it helps womb lining too.
Whatever I did last month worked as my last womb scan was 9.7mm a few days before OV so would reach around 12mm by ovulation which is perfect!

I do wonder how much of the success rates are also down to our actions! Interestingly, my acupuncturist (I feel like I am always talking about him) read research that scandinavian women who drink a few glasses of wine a week are statistically more likely to conceive than those who dont (probably because they are pissed and shagging in the sauna). I actually had a few glasses of wine in the first have of my cycle whereas was avoiding any alcohol (red wine is supposed to be better), cut back on the sugar and only did gently exercise totalling 2 hours a week.

Ari forgot to say that this was the first time I took cyclogest on the 2ww so who knows if thats why I got a BFP. I just thought I would throw everything at it this time!

Oh shit sue, sounds like your family have really been through the mill too! I do think a lot of it is due to reaching a particular age. A lot of my friends have recently lost parents or close family members, or been through horrific things themselves. It is extremely tedious that it all seems to come at once though!

I have an appointment next week with the local bereavement service. Not for counseling yet as there is a waiting list, but to assess my needs. I only applied for it fairly recently as, like you say, it seems to have taken a couple of months to kick in. The reality is really hitting me now. It's kind of welcome though, as the first couple of months where I felt quite weirdly ok didn't feel right. At least I understand my reactions now. Collapsing into tears, completely unprompted, whilst driving home from the supermarket may take me by surprise but it feels right.

firstly, sorry but havent read anything thats been posted today cos im at work... i will when i get home though..i promise :)
sorry if this is tmi but i took my trigger shot on fri night and then last night and today ive had like a brown coloured discharge (as i said tmi im sure!! ..any ideas what that could be/mean... never had anything like it before and a wee bit worried!!!

Skyper could be implantation bleeding as I am guessing you Ovd on Sunday? Prob a bit too early though as its generally from around 6DPO and you are only 3 at the moment. Are you sure you didnt OV early? I had spotting before OV as its normal so maybe speak to Louise and ask her?

Kittens I think Cruse had a 2 month waiting list but its worth getting on there as they will talk about everything with you. My DH was drinking heavily and was on the verge of a breakdown before he started seeing the counsellor - not good when we were trying to conceive too! I think with grief its worse as you start to forget what a person looks like or things about them and then you start feeling guilty etc. You crave for the last time that you saw them and as time goes by it gets harder as everyone else is back to their normal lives but you are still stuck in the same place. He dreams about his brother all the time and wakes up crying as wants to go back and see him in his dream. Its awful as I cant help him! Dont try to fight it on your own. His parents often have breakdowns in the middle of shops as something they see will remind them of their son.