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....

I'm here snoopy, albeit as an unknown-whether-will-be-an-SOer-or-not :)

Hmm I wouldn't put that much faith in the hydroxy snoopy, and I think for me I certainly wouldn't take it totally on its own without the pred. Reason why is, I don't think hydroxy on its own has enough of an effect on the NK cells, since I just came up in another small patch of eczema yesterday (I'm currently just on hydroxy, don't start the monthly round of pred till tomorrow), my joints are aching like they only do when I'm not on the pred, and my psoriasis is as it usually is when I'm not taking pred - all sure signs that those NK cells are attacking pretty much as strongly as ever. I know hydroxy is just an immune modulator, rather than an immune suppressant, and for me I feel it just doesn't have enough oomph to tackle my v high NK cells on its own. TBH I would be really interested to know what my NK cell level is like right now, but I'm not about to fork out £200 on a test to find out!

What did your follies look like on Tuesday, if you don't mind me asking? Are they supposed to be at a certain size/number by then? And does Mr S then say to do your trigger shot on a certain day, do you assume the follies grow by a certain amount each day and so you can tell when to do the shot? Sorry for the questions, but I'm trying to still get my head round how this all works. I've also seen in my readings around superov that because more than one egg can get released after the trigger shot, that multiple pregnancies are a possibility - but I'd really like to know in what percentage of women doing superov does this actually happen? Just out of interest.

duggs How have you found the London Women's Clinic, attitude-wise? I have it in the back of my mind that even if I could somehow find the money to do IVF (and I would only do it with aCGH) whether they'd laugh me out of a clinic, because of my age, and tell me to go away until I'm ready to talk about DE (not that I would). Not something I need to worry about right now, unless OH has a change of heart and also finds large amounts of ££ from somewhere!!, but I'd be interested to know what the different clinics are like in terms of their attitudes to us oldies! (that's me, by the way, not you duggs! )

I have to say ari that LWC seem to be extra nice and understanding for older women, same sex partners, ed etc dr s wasn't supportive of CGH but that is because his field is immunology and embryos are not his specialism.

Ari, you have the follicle scan and they tell you how many and what size they are. Based on this they will tell you when to do the trigger shot. They grow at a rate of around 1mm per day and get released at 20mm+. From my last experience, I would very much recommend making a mental or written note of the size at your scan. That way, if you have more than one but it is smaller you will still have an idea of how long to keep trying after your trigger shot. They will tell you when to take your trigger shot based on the size of the first one to release but I had a smaller one so that potentially would've come a bit later. As it turned out my second one wouldn't have been much good as it only reached the right size as my AF was about to turn up.

I doubt they would laugh you out of the clinic ari, so many women in their 40s have IVF these days. I hope not anyway, I'm not too far behind you.

Thanks for the info kittens. I just wondered, as I've read a lot of reports that older women wanting to use their own eggs do tend to get a bit of a cold shoulder, partly because of the quality of their eggs is obviously going to be less than that of a younger woman but also because of the quantity of decent follicles produced is likely to be a lot less than I've read IVF clinics like to have. I was reading a forum thread (US) yesterday about some ladies who had had, or were having, array CGH testing, and one of them quoted something like they collected 14 eggs from her, of which some didn't fertilise properly; of those that did a number failed to grow, and of those that did grow after testing I think only 2 were left that could be implanted back, one of which ended up as status "unknown" after the testing. She said her clinic advised they need to be collecting reasonable numbers of eggs just because of this whittling-down process, and that older women had a much lesser chance purely because they produce less follicles/eggs. It made sense, but I guess everyone is different, right? Statistics wouldn't stop me if I could manage to fund it, but I'd be aware it would be harder for me than for a younger (and text-bookly more "fertile") contender in the IVF stakes.

duggs Agreed, chromosomal testing of embryos isn't Mr S's field. And just because a woman and her partner have no issues chromosomally themselves, doesn't mean certain eggs don't have them either. I think if you're spending that much on IVF in the first place, for me it makes sense to go ahead and get your eggs tested. If nothing else, it takes away the huge worry that you might miscarry due to a chromosomal problem with the embryo, right?

Exactly and I have had one proven trisomy 13 with a baby girl a yr ago. I'd rather be told I have no normal eggs than go through another inevitable mc.

Forgot to add . . It is a numbers game do of u do ivf and there aren't as many eggs as hoped then they wouldn't do the CGH if u didn't want u can chose at the time !

ari sorry computer now dropping in and out of connection so right pita!!

I am not having second ov scan till tues coming. So will let you know results. The last time (first round ov SO) i had two at 17mm and 21mm and Womb lining of 8 mm. which was all good. so will be interesting to know how things have developed this time.

Dr S told me he has only had one woman who fell with twins on SO in the last year. So risk seems quite low. He wouldn't go ahead with four follicles anyway i don't thing too risky. Given my age that many would be hightly unlikely anyway.

As kittens said they grow 1-2mm a day.

Thanks snoopy ... has Mr S ever quoted success rates of SO to anyone, do you know? And if it isn't a daft question, how come you're having 2 scans in one cycle - I thought you usually only have one scan? Just thinking the cost would mount up if you have to have 2 scans every cycle @ £210 a go!

I think louise said to jaffa the biggest months for success is month 4/5 as the Letrozole builds up. duggs has questioned this before as surely if you produce a couple or more follicles then the Letrozole has done it's job no? who bloody knows!! It worked for jaffa on round 5.

I thought the Hydroxy was an alternative to Pred? Can't remember why sue was put on it....

I know scan's are a nightmare. The first one was £335 by the way as it's the first scan!!!! Should be £210 tuesday. If follies are of right size he may need you back in a few days time to check growth progress and scan again. I was lucky didn't have to do that.

Must go DS running around making sarnies with Nutella on hands!!!

sorry meant if follicles not right size, i spose too small? he may need to get you back for another scan.

Yes, I was advised to have my first scan at CD8 because my cycles were quite short at 24/25 days but that turned out to be too early to see them so I went back at CD13. An expensive month! This time I'm waiting for CD13. I probably would've gone for CD11 or 12 but they fall on a weekend.

Can't u try cd10 bc earlier is better than later. If on cd 10 size is 15mm u don't need another scan u just wait until cd13 for trigger shot?

I went for mine on CD9 last month which was spot on. This time I'm going CD10 and Dr S is coming over from Hosp to fit me in as it's his NHS day apparently. I didn't want to leave it any later as mine last month were 17 and 21 at that point. It's frustrating when it falls on a weekend as it's all so critical!

Has anyone had spotting after finishing Letrozole? Never had that before stopped now thankfully.

Hi all, sounds like you are having a mare with your computer Snoopy makes you feel a bit lost when it doesn't work! Shame you can't switch to the hydroxy but from what Ari said sounds like it is not necessarily going to do the job on its own. Good luck for the scan on Tuesday, hope you have some lovely follies. :)

Ari have to say I quite enjoyed having the steriods as cleared up my eczema completely, was amazing to have normal skin for a couple of weeks.
In regards to ivf I know statistically it doesn't look great in your 40's but you can get young people with really crap eggs and somebody older with really good ones and plenty of them so you never can tell. Do you have pcos or anything?
Mr S told me that super ov works for 80% of people in 6mths.

kittens I agree with Duggs that it might be worth getting scan on cd10. I had mine then and follies were around 15, 13, 12 and he was happy with that and took trigger shot two days later.

Duggs I see nobody has joined our ivf thread! Surely there must be other people on steriods doing ivf........

I know pebbles so funny just you and I talking! I'm now on intrallipids next Saturday as I was on high/ v high boarder. I am on cd2 today so baseline scan Monday. My fridge looks like a laboratory with all the medications. In reality there are 5 - one to induce ovulation x many, one to stop natural ovulation, one to ripen follicles, and then the ones weve all done on SO one to trigger ovitrelle and progesterone suppositories. Nurse said to take steroids from
Monday but am
Following dr s advice and having intrallipids and taking from
Egg transfer. kittens how u doing?

I think I will email Louise and see what she reckons. She recommended CD12 I think, but obviously that's out. When I went on CD8 they couldn't see any follicles at all, so that's why I thought to go a bit later. I really can't afford to be having 2 scans each month!

Talking of skin improvements, Mr S has put me on oestrogen supplements (basically HRT) to build my lining up and now everyone's telling me how 'glowing' I am looking!

Good morning, all. Sorry it's been a while.
ari welcome to SO (or thinking of it at least). I think others have answered all your questions. I can't remember if someone answered this, but the incidence of multiple pregnancies on Letrozole (or Clomid) is around 10%. My acupuncturist thinks there are/were two fertilised eggs in my pregnancy though one is more strong in my pulse than the other - I will find out later today if she's correct! I'd recommend acupuncture, too, if you can afford it, to help regulate cycles and keep blood flowing to the uterus.
Good luck to pebbles and duggs and euro on the IVF front.
kittens and snoopy still carrying the Super Ov torch! I always had my scans on CD12 or 13 apart from the first disastrous time on CD9 (sonographer told me one ovary wasn't working and I was 'clutching at straws' if I thought I was going to conceive). The last two times I had to take the Ovitrelle immediately as the follies were ripe. I had three last time - didn't know that Mr S would not do it if there were four! Phew I'm glad there were only three!

I'm having a scan today to see if my pregnancy is progressing. I haven't had symptoms, really, apart from feeling dog tired all the time, so I'm a bit nervous. I had a pregnancy this time last year that started going wrong at about this time, so it's a bit nerve-wracking. Still, I have more things in my favour this time round, like the progesterone, aspirin, and acupuncture. Positive thoughts! I'll let you know.

Hope you're all well.

Hi Jaffa, Just a quick one to wish you loads and loads and LOADS of luck today. I hope the scan goes well and wow you never know then could be two!!!! I am sure all those drugs will be doing the job. :). Will be checking back later to see how it went.

Thanks for the welcome Jaffa, I'm already having acupuncture as well. Just wanted to echo pebbles and wish you huge luck for your scan today. And how exciting that it may possibly be twins!! :)

PS my acupuncturist always says when I get pregnant properly (if that ever happens again!) she can help me with alleviating symptoms, so perhaps it's your acupuncture sessions that are removing them??

ari glad you're seeing an acupuncturist. Mine is amazing .

The scan went well. Little heartbeat pumping away. Measures 6 wks. I'd have liked 6.3 which is my dates, but Mr S was adamant he's very pleased and all looks well. Follow up in 10 d at new life. Eek.

Oh and it's just one, no twins here! Acu lady says she knows the sex.

woo hoo jaffa shame no twins!! but a lovely little heartbeat is wonderful for you.
What made the acupuncturist think you might have had two then? I know nothing about it. Would go if I could afford it.

You ok sue haven't heard from you for a bit?