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....

On the subject of diet whilst ttc........ I does make you wonder ari as when DS was conceived I was having a bit of a stressy time and was in France when realised I was pregnant with him at 4 weeks (mainly cos I was chucking up). Anyway as usual I was guzzling wine/cheese probably raw things etc etc and no problems there. And not a vitamin was passing my lips!

I was thinking the other day and it may be conincedence but I always seemed to get pregnant when weight is on the lighter side of things. I did hear once on telly from some fertility expert that weight does play an important role in conceiving.

I am a big believer that we have high NKC because we are probably too healthy. They do say a good diet and exercise boosts the immune system and I have read that cardiovascular exercise can increase natural killer cells. I have always been a healthy eater, not drank excessively and never smoked but it looks like this has done me more harm than good in the TTC game. Also when I conceived DD we were on our honeymoon where I was drinking lots of red wine and french style food etc with no exercise or vits so I wonder if thats how she slipped the net. You always see chain smoking/macdonalds eating overweight women with loads of kids in tow so maybe they have got it right?!
I also read that red fruit such as red grapes etc can calm the immune system including red wine. Think I might have said this before?!

Euro it would be funny if you ended up with twins!

Snoopy I think its only a prob with conceiving if you are in the obese category which you are certainly not! Maybe you shag more when you are lighter! I know I do as you feel more body confident!

Ari you are lucky to have got the investigations etc on your insurance. Bupa wouldnt cover me unfortunately!

I was thinking if this process keeps on for us, I might just have scans done at my local sonographer and come off SO to keep the cost down. That will at least pinpoint OV for me so I know when to take the preds. It will be £60 a month compared to Mr S's scan and the SO drugs. Shame my local GP wont prescribe the SO drugs as we would know when to do the trigger shot ourselves!

Funny you should say that snoopy ... I was stressed to the hilt when DD was conceived, and for the majority of my pregnancy. And they say stress can stop you conceiving ... ?!

That weight thing though - aren't they saying if you are particularly overweight you may have problems? I doubt if a person is of average weight (ie not thin but not obese either) that it would be a consideration? Just wondered. Certainly I was lighter/thinner when I conceived DD, but then I'm only heavier now thanks to a combination of the thyroid issues and taking steroids!!

Cross-posted with sue, who said the same thing! :)

Just for everyone's interest, I saw someone mentioning this on the Fertility Friends website www.duofertility.com/duofertility . I remember seeing this on some TV programme (something about inventors and getting backers/retail backing), I think Boots bought this. Anyway the lady that was posting said it was brilliant - costly, but they could pay monthly - and not only pinpointed with exact accuracy when she ovulated but also emailed her with reminders and if I remember what she said correctly, even advised when she'd had a chemical pregnancy! Just thought it was interesting. Mind you, having said it's costly, so is buying CBFM and CB digi OPK sticks every month!

Ari, AF is due around 28 April so I will probably test a day or so before that to see if I can stop the Pred. I have a shortish luteal phase (around 12 days) so I never get to 14 or 16 days post ov!

I am not letting myself get my hopes up though, seeing as I have never managed to conceive one child let alone two! And tbh, I am trying to be pragmatic. I have seen on this and other fora a lot of women getting their hopes up on assisted cycles only to have a massive crash when it doesn't work. I prefer not to get my hopes up.

I find temping really helpful for knowing when I have oved. And ov sticks are good for giving you some warning. Duo is so expensive and it is just a form of temping. I am rather sceptical that it could do something that my £4 BBT thermometer can't!

I think for overweight people, losing weight can give a real boost. A lot of people mention this on the Verity PCOS board as PCOS often causes weight gain. But my weight was always fine (BMI around 21) pre-Pred, but it is starting to creep up now!

Can I ask you whether Mr S has insisted on a Pred break at 6 months? I am wondering because we will likely be on our IVF cycle around our 6/7th month of Pred and I won't want to be taking a break! And I can't delay the IVF cycle as I am travelling for work for 3 continuous weeks over the summer after we were planning on having the IVF. So that would be a good time to have a break (assuming the IVF doesn't work).

I think for ivf cycles because it is so specific you can stay on pred because my ivf was pred cycle 7! Thinking u have s good attitude euro. Thanks for comments ladies. Spoken to Louise who is always do lovely and encouraging.

Thanks duggs that's good to know.

I'm glad Louise was encouraging. I hope it all works out. Now enjoy your holiday!

Omg! I'm mortified........That was right on cue. Just been to tennis with DS and got a text from casual friend saying have I got some good news to tell her!!!! Oh f*ck....... i said if you mean am I pregnant. No! and she is highly embarrassed now. (serves her right for asking!)
Having coffee in morning with her so shall fill her in on why i look 6 months gone
It won't be the first time that's been said to me. it all goes on my stomach. BTW just done my bmi on NHS website and it's 28.6! and in top of overweight catagory. Not great is it. It's the heaviest I've ever been 11.6 for 5ft 3" is terrible for my height. Due to go on pred any day again and will prob have the munchies. aarrghh!

I have been cutting out stuff on and off for last few years and am finding it harder to do now! Just get a bit fed up of cutting things out I like so just going with the moderation thing. I echo your thoughts re not sure how much difference it really makes Snoopy & Ari*. Thought I should cut down on sugar after reading Dr Beer' s book but have not really managed it, strange as normally have quite good willpower.

That was handy Ari that you have been able to use your insurance to pay for appointments.

I have the Duo Fertility monitor and yes it is expensive but after my first chemical pregnancy was desperate to try anything. The good thing about it is it predicts your fertile time in advance and let's you know when you have ovulated. The problem with the sticks are they show your surge but obviously don't confirm you actually did ovulate and as didn't work thought iwas never ovulating!

I know how you feel Ari I go through stages where I try to be really good then get fed up and eat crap and get pi**ed!!
Working on the neonatal unit, I see so many women that have big problems with drink and drugs - they have babies, lots of them sometimes!! You never know how the babies will be long term but the fact is, they are conceived often by women whose diet is terrible and are addicted to drugs, alcohol and sometimes both!! I'm not saying we should all get high on class A drugs but the odd glass of vino cant hurt, can it?!
Can anyone find the new pred thread 7? I'm lost!

xxx

It's at the top of the board now, Buster

That must be difficult for you sometimes Buster working on the neonatal unit?

Well had a scan today and have down regulated so am relieved I now only need to inject half the ammount of drug now. Start taking progynova tablets Sunday and scan 3rd May to check my lining.

Hope everyone is ok today, how are you getting on Jaffa?xx

that's good news Pebbles.

Buster a friend of mine is a paediatrician and has found it tough at times. She is now PG after three miscarriages and is hoping this one sticks! She had actually been asking me about Mr S when she fell pregnant this time.

In answer to your question yesterday euro (away from ivf) Dr S said I could continue another couple of months on pred - this is month 6 - IF i only took the pred up to 10 dpo each month he siad I can stretch it out another couple.

Hi pebbles hope you are ok

Weird, the friend that asked if I was pregnant yesterday is also a nurse in Intensive care. She told me this morning she is looked after a lady recently who needed to be weaned off Alcohol as she is 14 weeks pregnant and having fits as she is on 20 units a day!! Obviously got big addiction problems but they mansged to get her weaned off. Then out of hospital she walks straight into the pub over the road. That poor baby is going to end up with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome..awful.

snoopy I could potentially take a break on my downreg cycle I suppose. That would otherwise be cycle 7. And the egg collection cycle would be cycle 8 (or cycle 1 post break). Does anyone know if Pred is supposed to have a cumulative effect?

On another thread we were discussing how many of us "score" people we hear about getting pregnant based on whether we think they are deserving or not. It's sad that so many of us who are struggling would be sure to give a baby a better start in life than someone staggering from the hospital to the pub like that. :(

Hello, not been on here for a while for some reason. I think it fell off my "threads I'm on list"

I bumped into Louise at NLC when I went to pick up my Ovitrelle on Monday and she said I should still come in on the same day and that taking the letrozole on CD3 was not a problem. Then went from NLC on to NHS fertility clinic. The lovely lady that I see there did a chlamydia screening for me and referred me for a hysteroscopy. I won't be able to have it whilst on SO but as it will take a couple of months before I can get an appointment, if I end up needing to go the IVF route then that will be perfect timing.

The weird thing I'm finding with the SO is that, over all the years that I was using OPKs I thought I ov'd around day 14 each month, yet the scans seem to indicate that I'm ovulating more like day 16. I only have about a 10 day luteal phase, which Mr S doesn't think is a problem. I'm not so sure!

Regarding the per-menopause comments and AF/Fertility suddenly dropping off. Maybe there is something in it. My mum and grandma both started theirs at around 43, which is not far off for me! Mind you, in contrast to Mr S's reaction to you ari, he dismissed this fact.

I do suspect the original reason Mr S asked for posts about him on Fertility Friend to be removed was because people were discussing their treatment and changing theirs according to what others had said rather than his instruction.

My OH made me giggle last night. Has anyone seen The man with two brains with Steve Martin? OH can never remember Mr S's name and last night he called him Dr Hfuhruhrrr.

My OH seems to be the opposite to a lot of yours. He has always wanted a child, more so than me, so he's saying "Hang the expense. We need to do whatever is required". He feels guilty and bad for me about all the drugs I have to take but is being quite diligent about taking his vits. Although neither of us is very good about the alcohol abstinence. We do try to cut right down in the lead up to ovulation. As for cutting out sugar, hmmmm, that's even harder! I can't say I've been doing that! Trying to have just one coffee a day. I do make the exception when I have a 5am start and a long day at work though.

I have my tracking scan on Monday and depending on the findings I may go for IUI this or next cycle. The NHS lady seemed surprised that I was having SO without IUI. It's only worth having if there are 2 or more eggs though and the last 2 cycles have been sort of inconclusive due to having my scans too early. I think I only had one the first cycle. Possibly two last time but not sure as it was too early to see if they would mature or not.

It's strange kittens he has reacted different to your age and to ari's. I can understand the problems he must have with some quoting him stuff about others treatment or things they've heard. I have to bite my tongue in there sometimes.
I wonder why the nurse you saw seemed surprised about you doing SO without IUI? Perhaps they are just done together normally?

I hope you have not been missing the boat as it were with the ovulating thing! That's one thing with SO at least you know exactly what's going on.

good luck for Monday scan

euro I'm sure the pred has an accumulative effect. Positive I read that somewhere on here.

I have a busy weekend of DS based activities. I have to tramp round (probably in rain) the local town with hundreds of beavers for St Georges day, ending up in a park to pledge their allegiance and raise the flag!! DS is excited me not so. Then rugby training and roast with friends on Sunday which will end up in a Beer/wineathon...damn!

I guess they generally do them together. When I asked her if she thought it was more prudent to do them together she didn't want to comment. She said it was "bad medicine" (she is French, I think she meant bad practice) to advise when I'm under the care of another consultant. I emailed Louise and she pretty much said what I thought, which is that, considering the cost, it's better to do it when I know I am producing 2 or more eggs and that I can decide when I have my scan based on what they see. I guess with the NHS I would just do it as a matter of course, not having to worry about the expense. Every £800 I spend on IUI, cycle after cycle, is £800 less we have to put towards IVF too. I don't know if that's a warped logic though!

I guess I'm 2 years younger than ari and my hormone levels are different to hers so that would mean I'd get a different reaction from Mr S, it was more the reaction to ari mentioning the age her mum's menopause started vs me mentioning mine that surprised me.

Hi ladies, just a quickie as its DD's bath time. I didn't mention when my mum went through the menopause to Mr S as he has never asked me (I think she was 51 or 52 though) but I would expect the difference in his attitude was due to the FSH and E2 levels being quite a bit higher than kittens. If I recall kittens your levels were pretty good, and not an indicator at all of approaching peri-menopause, whereas mine, although not drastically high, were certainly not good and Mr S clearly thinks I am at lease peri-menopausal.

Interesting what you say about your ovulation times kittens, and you say even though OPKs were indicating esrlier? I've always gone on a combination of my CBFM, CB digi OPKs and what I believe to be ovulation pains to figure when I've ovulated. It's going to be interesting to see whether the scans agree with these.

snoopy'you mentioned on the Pred thread I think that you're not doing SO this month, can I ask why? (and sorry if you already said and I missed it!)

argh sorry for typos, I just don't get on with the iPad's keyboard!

I just screwed up with getting my Letrozole ari . couldn't find the pescription anywhere and couldn't get hold of Cherly on a Friday and we were going away sun morning. so just thought would carry on naturally.
Yes I'll be interested in your results too ari to see how they compare with your testing.
I get it bit lost on here where everyone is with their cycles! Crap memory..

Hope this pregnancy works out for your friend Euro.

Good news about the hysteroscopy Kittens good to have things in motion just in case you need ivf. My dh is like yours as well and happy to throw at it whatever we need to and would love to have kids. When we first started out don't think he was quiet as keen as me but definitely is now and if all this fails think we might start looking at the adoption route although not ready to face giving up yet!
Good luck for the scan and hope the timing works out for you.

Sounds like you will be busy Snoopy what with and swi, hope it doesn't rain for you tomorrow.

Hope this pregnancy works out for your friend Euro.

Good news about the hysteroscopy Kittens good to have things in motion just in case you need ivf. My dh is like yours as well and happy to throw at it whatever we need to. He is very supportive and really looks after me while I am doing ivf. Good luck for the scan Monday hope this one is more conclusive.

Sounds like you will be busy Snoopy what with activities with ds and swi, hope it doesn't rain for you tomorrow.

Girl from work came in with husband and baby girl who is two days old today. She was adorable and soo tiny, I nearly didn't go and look but didn't want to look miserable. She asked if I wanted to hold her but couldn't face it! They looked so happy and made me so sad to think my dh & I might never get to experience that feeling.

ari, maybe I got you mixed up with someone else. I'm sure someone mentioned their mum starting menopause at 45. Was is sue?

pebbles, when my granny was more lucid she used to tell me that holding newborns or young babies could cause a hormonal reaction that made you more susceptible to fall pregnant. Could be an old wives tale, of course.