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....

Just to confirm was a bfn for me this morning as expected.

pebbles sorry to hear of the BFN - are you going straight to IVF now?

My Af arrived today so trying to focus on moving forward. I am counting down the days until we can start TTC again in one way but in another glad I am off the steroids and not obsessing all the time! It also means I can have a few drinks on holiday and relax a bit!

I stopped the cyclogest on Friday night so it has only taken a few days to come out of the system Kittens.

You must be glad to have your af now Sue so at least you can move on. How long is it until you go on hols? Hope you are feeling ok.
I emailed Louise today to find out when to take steroids etc, it seems with ivf you have clexane as well. My af had started this afternoon so it means I can phone Oxford tomorrow and register!! Am thinking I won't tell Oxford about the immune treatment in case they are not happy about it! Right am off to meet a friend of mine and Free's from school at Topshop Oxford Circus for some shopping and then dinner. Hopefully will take my mind off af cramps!

Hi there,
pebbles I posted earlier commiserating about your BFN, but it obviously didn't save, so I apologise for that. I'm sorry that you've had a bfn and are now dealing with AF. Boo. Hope you had some good retail therapy at Topshop!

I can't keep up bit thick with what everyone's doing now - is anyone still sticking with super ovulation (with or without pred, etc.)? I think pebbles and duggs and euro are on IVF? Are kittens and snoopy still on super ov? kittens, are you testing tomorrow again?

sue enjoy your enforced time off worrying about all this. Have a glass o' vino! You've been through the mill with the chemicals, and you need a break.

Re. the 'cumulative' question, I was told by Louise that it was cumulative, and certainly in my experience it improved each month, i.e., I had more follicles at the right size. My body had given in by the 5th cycle and was just pumping out follicles. I had 3 good sized follies on the last round. I'm crossing my fingers for twins!

My scan is March 19th, so just under a week away. I'm trying to stay positive but am quite worried about it having had two miscarriages.

That's all from me. Love to all x

pebbles sorry about the bfn that's crap. Do you mind me asking why you are straight onto IVF again. Sorry if I missed something.

jaffa yes I will continue with SO until I have done the 5/6 rounds I think. What happens then I don't know. But I feel I have to give it a good chance like you did especially as Louise has said to you it's a cummulative effect. the cummulative effect of one things working - spots!!!!!!! good luck on scan keep us informed.

sue hope you are ok. You sounded more positive in your last post. At least you can celebrate you 40th with gusto if iykwim!!

I contacted Louise today re getting off pred and starting Hydroxy or building it up whilst on pred anyway. I'll wait to see what she says about that. Also still havent' had a reply re follicle scan from Cheryl. So left a message again this afternoon. I need it next Mon/Tues. Hope she hurries up!!

I've started spotting this evening and am having cramps from hell. That must be my so called "beautiful" lining getting ready to introduce itself to me. OUCH!

jaffa, this was just my first cycle of SO and will be upping my dose to 7.5mg next time. I think I will just go for SO without IUI again this time.

Morning ladies ... I've posted on the other thread as well, but Louise has just phoned me to say Mr S is happy for me to do superov. I have to get my LH/FSH tested first (she asked me "when did we test this last?" .. I said "you never have!"), which she said I can get done at the GP to save some ££. I'm ovulating today (according to my pos OPK last night and pains today), so that's a couple of weeks before I can get that done.

Can I just ask please, I know people have summarised the cost of following this programme before but I can't find it, and OH wants to know what sort of money we're looking at. Could one of you lovely ladies just let me know what sort of cost we're looking at for this, please?

/waves to all

Sorry, another question - OH is asking what the success rate for this is. I know it's a bit "how long is a piece of string", but he wants to know I guess whether it's worth doing or not.

Apparently 80% fall pregnant in months 4-6 as it takes a while for the drugs to build up. Its supposed to help egg quality and implantation. I got my BFP on month 2 and I think Jaffa was month 5. Not that mine was anything to go by as I had the chemical. I found it less stressful than normal TTC as you knew exactly when to 'do the business'.

Asda is the cheapest place to buy the drugs - I paid around £45 for the Ovitrelle and letrozole. I think superdrug also do cost price private prescriptions. Apparently most pharmacies inc Boots sells cheap letrozole but their Ovitrelle is expensive so thats why I tend to get it all in Asda. I worked out that the letrozole is roughly £1 a pill (I had to take 10).

Then you have the scan cost. The first month I couldnt get to NLC so went to a local sonographer which was £60. Dr S then reviewed it and wrote me a new prescription for the following month for £110! The next month I had a scan at NLC on day 9 and it was too early so had to go back again a week later. Each scan is £210 with consultation at NLC so the cost does add up especially if you have to have more than one scan.

Hi all, Snoopy I decided to go back to ivf for a couple of reasons. The main reason being that I have never had a bfp without having ivf and worry that I might waste 6 months doing the super ov and it will never work for me anyway. I will aslo be 39 in 6 months so ivf wise once I hit 40 my chances are quite low. As we already have some frozen embryos ready to go it jsut seems silly not to use them. I have been ttc for a long time so my patience is wearing thin and I am keen to see if with the metformin, steriods and clexane injections with the ivf might do the job seeing as I got so close last time from the same batch of embryos. I am still having the odd wobble that I should wait and do super ov but as the option is there it's just too tempting! Hope you have got your scan sorted!

Kittens I hope the cramping is not to bad today and you are feeling ok.

Hi Ari glad you got the go ahead for the super ov, looks like Sue has given you all the info you need. :)

Thanks a lot for the info sue, I appreciate it. Louise has just emailed me (in response to a couple of queries) to say they are waiting for the LH/FSH/E2 tests to see if this is actually even an option for me - it's possible at my age that it isn't. If you read around the internet, the prevailing opinion is that if you're over 43 it's pretty pointless doing superovulation as the chances of succeeding are negligible. Which is nice :(

I'll wait and see what the tests come back with, then perhaps we'll have a better idea of what we're facing. I question why they weren't done sooner, to be honest, but never mind.

You never know your results might be OK. The fact that you are still getting pregnant (I think it was December) is reassuring. Sorry to ask but what age are you?

What will you do if Superov is a no go? Would you look at IVF?

I turned 44 in January sue. I conceived DD at 38, surprise pregnancy (I believed the statistics that say it's far more difficult to get pregnant after 35. One lot of ill-advised shenanigans with the ex, and hey presto, DD). TTC #2 with different partner from May 2010, pg 4 times since Nov 2010 and MCd all 4, the last one being the first on Mr S's treatment and that one more of a chemical pregnancy I'd say.

I'd definitely look at IVF with aCGH, except for the cost. I read from I think it was the ARGC website that it's likely to cost over £8K if you go the aCGH route, and that just for one attempt I think? We just don't have that kind of money, unfortunately, so if superov is a no go then it's just continue to try 'au naturel' until such time that I decide enough is enough.

Ari I know the stats say its harder to get pregnant after 35 but to be preg 4 times in under 2 years is not bad going! I had a look on the ARGC website and I am sure it was around £5k for the combined CGH and IVF but that was the base cost without drugs etc. It might be worth asking Duggs how much its costing her seeing as she is going for it. We dont have that kind of money either but trying to sort out a fund to pay for some of it if it comes to that!

I still wonder if Dr S has the right approach for me as his treatment is less aggressive than the ARGC/Zita West and Dr Gorgy for killer cells. We are giving it until the end of the summer with Dr S and then switching clinics if we are not successful. I would have been with him for a year then and don't want to waste another year hoping and waiting.

Definitely understand that sue - I've seen what they do in the US and while undoubtedly pricey, there are certainly additional things that can be done for killer cells. I can understand not wanting to wait any longer, we're none of us getting any younger and I don't think anyone has time to waste, regardless of age.

I'd love to know duggs, if you don't mind, what your IVF with aCGH is costing you? If you don't mind sharing?

Interestingly I see on the NLC website that they also do aCGH testing with IVF. They have all the costs listed there, but don't sum it up neatly like other sites do, as in "if you have this treatment with IVF you will need this, this and this and it is going to cost you £xxx for 3 months" or something. Which is a shame, as it would be interesting to compare options, even if we don't have the money to do it. There's always the Lottery, right? :)

Hey ladies timely questions actually as just on way back from NLC after dr s and L appointment for ivf talk. I probably would have been happy to try ivf ad CGH at NLC but although their website shows costs their licence for CGH hasn't yet come through. I am paying about £7k in total inc drugs ( borrowing money but I don't know what else to do. Dr s is going to up my treatment to the very high treatment as I was boarderline high/ v high. He did agree ivf was obvious next step for me after 7 cycles but said I didn't need CGH as only 1 proven chromosonal issue. The other 2 just were inconclusive. He thinks I'm throwing money away but it can't do any harm so if I'm throwing an extra £2k to rule out chromomsonal issues then I'm still going for it

I forgot to reply to you in my earlier post Jaffa! Thanks for the commiserations, didn't manage to buy anything in Topshoo as too busy chatting to my friend. The pizza and bottle of wine we shared defo helped though . I know how hard it is waiting for that first scan and wondering what is going on in there! You just have to hold on for a few more days, sending you a big hug and keeping everything crossed for you.

Duggs wasn't it your appointment today with Mr S re the ivf protocol? Hope it all went well.I am not going to see him they're just sending me a prescription and details of what to do are on the website. Are you on any ivf threads?

I am going for a scan next Friday (day 10) to check if I am due to ovulate. If all went well once you get your surge on the ovulation stick they can pop the embryos back a couple of days later! Means I will need to start the clexane injections soon. Hope you all don't mind me still hanging around here seeing as I am not super oving at the mo??? Am keen to see how you all get on and stay in touch and if this doesn't work may be back on super ov anyway!

Oh pebbles def stay! Am not on any ivf threads do u know of a good one? You r doing the right thing I reckon. Give it your best shot early as poss. Hoping it works and off u go. If it doesn't u still have super ov to keep trying but I don't think you will need it. Yes saw dr s today. He was up for ivf he didn't think I needed CGH but chucking it in anyway. Good luck pebbles.

Sounds like you are all sorted and ready for your ivf then Duggs and we can keep each other company . How are you feeling about it, a bit nervous or apprehensive? I assume you need to do the clexane injections as well as the pred? Also with being treated for v high nk now does that mean you take a higher dose of pred and then intralipids when you get a bfp? I soooo hope ivf is the answer for you and that you are soon posting on here about your bfp!!

I had never joined any forums until this one just used to google ivf ones and lurk! With the killer cell thing though I guess we are not as straightforward as your average ivf person and when I had a google earlier didn't really find anything suitable. Maybe we should start one. When do you start injections/ drugs?

How exciting Duggs and thanks for letting us know the cost. I am still torn on the different clinics. Why did you chose the one you are going to as I know you said the ARGC was the best for success rates?

I didn't get a response from ARGC to see if they did CGH. Be interesting to see if they do they have excellent ivf success rates.

Best of luck to all you IVFers. Who knows, maybe I'll end up joining you later in the year. A friend from the antenatal tests and choices board went to ARGC and said she didn't like it there. The waiting room was mega crowded and she said it felt really impersonal there. When I saw Mr S the other week, he said he does CGH , I guess he meant he will do when they get the license?

My cramps have improved thanks pebbles. They were pretty bad though. I guess it's been a while since I've shed a properly built up lining.

I must say, I'm feeling very spaced out with my pred withdrawal this month. It's been a little while since I've had this but does anyone else get really poppy ears from it? It's driving me nuts. I got it a lot when I was first on it and then it seemed to calm down but at the moment it's really full on!

Which clinic are you going to Duggs?

The cramps are horrible Kittens unfortunately have always had really bad ones so I sympathise with you. Not had that with the ears coming off pred but have had a sore throat and a bit of a cold since stopping. Guess they must have done the job!

London women's clinic because they do immunology and CGH !

Morning all,

nightmare pc broke down for a day and I've been lost without it! My phone is crap and too slow to use!

blimey will there be any SOers left on here? Just me kittens & sue when she's had a break. There were a few other ladies at the beginning of thread wonder if they are still around cinny,jemima,cherry and having any luck?

I spoke with Louise yesterday and she said the Hydroxy is mainly for people who need extra immune support to be taken alongside the pred. she said the Pred is the mainstay of the treatment with the best results but that i could discuss with Dr S further. So that's a shame as really want to be off pred now.
I have my follicle scan at 12.20 on tuesday CD10 so that's good
.
Hope you are all well