TTC/Pregnancy on Prednisolone or similar part 6

[Arianrhod]

A positive thread for all those diagnosed with High or Very High NK Cells and looking to start TTC or already pregnant on Prednisolone and/or Intralipid treatment.

Newcomers very much welcome!

Part 5 www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/1391787-TTC-Pregnancy-on-Prednisolone-or-similar-part-5

Part 4 www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/1366323-TTC-Pregnancy-on-Prednisolone-or-similar-part-4

Part 3 www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/1348773-TTC-pregnancy-on-Prednisolone-or-similar-part-3

Part 2 here www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/1323594-TTC-pregnancy-on-Prednisolone-or-similar-part-2

Part 1 here www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/1236324-TTC-pregnancy-on-Prednisolone-or-similar

Hey ladies just catching up. merc try to type into google as you can host documents remotely. I'm on iPhone so can't look. I'd like to read it. I'm back in Vegas for store opening marketing activity. TBH am struggling a bit. Surrounded by beautiful, skinny ladies and feel steroid fat, jetlagged and emotional. Isn't really like me but this journey has taken its toll. Don't feel in best shape for IVF but off we go in 10 days. Glad u seem ok sorry belly. well done dunnit and sue u r still PG line strengh could be down to how much you've drunk even. So me, euro about to start IVF anyone else? God theyll be another spin off pred and IVF to go after pred and super ov!

holldoll do you think maybe you might have ovulated a day or two later than you thought? It's not uncommon on the pred. Also if the sac is measuring ok then hopefully it was just too early to see a hb this time.
I do think sometimes the 6 week scans aren't any more reassuring - even though they're supposed to be. Although it must feel like forever, it's good that they're seeing you this week rather than making you wait another weekend. Fingers tightly crossed that the next scan shows that little flickering dot.

ari does sound strange that they've only lightened since this year. Is it worth getting your progesterone checked post ov? If it's low then maybe you could start the cyclogest from ov.

free sorry you've not had much luck with the house hunt so far. It really is worth making sure you're in a good catchment area though, and if that means waiting a year then it's definitely worth doing. Selling is certainly easier without a baby (trying to maintain a show home when you've got nappies and toys all over the place can't be much fun), so if you've got DH's flat sold and can live in yours till you're ready to buy then that's a huge hurdle crossed.

battery Am thinking of you all week and will be lurking lots on Wednesday hoping it all goes smoothly. Glad you've got the rest of the week off after that, have heard that's the best thing to do. Will you have someone come and visit you on those days to make sure you're really not over-exerting yourself? I expect you to be on MN lots just to prove you're stuck on the sofa with laptop.

sue probably a good thing you've run out of tests! Ignorance can be bliss. Will they test you again when you go for intralipids or do they just take your word for it and hook you up?

Next week is my last week at work and have just found out another two people in the department will be leaving! So hopefully they'll be desperate to give me work to do at home. Desperate for the extra cash - want to rebuild my reserves for Maternity Leave and also be able to put some aside to buy some furniture and maybe a holiday.

Have my 34 week check tomorrow, no scan, just assuming they'll check BP, urine and get the doppler out. However with my puffy feet and hands they might want to do a couple of blood tests to rule out any other PE symptoms. I had this last time and it was all fine so am not too worried.

Dont give up hope yet holldoll just keep everything crossed until Friday hunni. I echo what the others have said, many people don't see the HB at 7 weeks but go on to get a strong one a coupl of days later. Every crossable thing crossed here for u x

Thanks ari, digi and stogen. It's crap and feel quite selfish as you guys on the thread have been through such a lot. I think I ovulated around the 3rd of feb at a guess which make me around 6 weeks ish not nearly 7 which is what I thought.
Dr google is awful, some say will ok, some not and I have no idea how big the yolk sac was and didn't think to assk.
I have gone so mad I did a CB digital and that only came back with 2-3wks pregnant so now mentalling about that.
Fingers crossed for you stogen, hope you have a safe birth. You guys are all so great but I will retreat and hide till Friday.
Good luck for everyone this week.

Good luck holl please keep us up to date on Friday hun sending u hugs xxx

Holldoll ? Sorry to hear you haven?t seen a heartbeat yet. That wait for the next scan seems interminable doesn?t it? Really hope you get to see it on Friday. As the others have said, it?s still early days and there are lots of stories of hbs being seen after 7 weeks. Those CB digitals are notorious for inaccurate readings, so try not to read too much into that.

Sorry to hear about the BFN Belly. Hope you?re OK about it.

Can?t believe the IVF is going ahead so soon Duggs!

Stogan ? Hope you?ve got your feet up and you?re enjoying a few days of calm before the craziness. I?m so excited for you!

Good luck this week Battery.

Let us know how the scan goes tomorrow Digi. Hopefully the puffy ankles don?t mean anything.

Thanks free and coconut, we will see what Friday brings. I think I agree that early scans actually can make things worse.
Hope scan goes well digi, stogen def get some rest as lie ins will be a thing of the past! Free hope your house hunting improves. It's tough esp now mortgages may go up. Will keep you posted

Just a quick hello from me as I've been AWOL the last couple of days - too tired! The pregnancy hormones winning out over the prednisolone finally. Bit more brown CM a couple of days ago but no more cramps. Just look like Mr Greedy ate a small person. Luckily I have work clothes in a range of sizes to see me through this week but there's not much I can do to disguise the puffy face

holldoll just to say thinking of you and agreeing with everyone that these early scans are so very difficult. I really am in two minds about them. On two occaisons though they have saved me from rocking up to a 12 week scan full of pregnancy symptoms only to find out I'd had a mmc - in that respect I guess I am grateful that they gave me a few weeks to get my head around things. Not that it really makes it much easier. As it is, I am taking part in a St T's research study to see if early scans help recurrent mc patients psychologically - I am being interviewed before and after my scan this Thursday. Will keep you all posted as and when the research comes out!

ari my AF got very light after DS and has never really been the same as pre-pregnancy - just a couple of days light bleeding. My accupuncturist was v interested in flow- in traditional chinese medicine it is very important and I think it did get heavier with the accupuncture which is all a good thing (so maybe counteracted the pred?).

duggs you're a star to us, don't worry about these skinny plastic ladies. Enjoy the pre IVF fun!

digi hope all goes well at your check up today. And nothing like others resigning to make you indispensible! Hope it all comes together.

merc i'm another one who sniggers at toddler classes imagining if my colleagues could just see me .

free will keep my eyes peeled for the perfect house for you!

big hello to everyone else

holldoll am thinking of you this week.

stogan hope you are enjoying your last few days and treating yourself. Very exciting.

duggs good luck with the ivf.

digi hope the check up goes well today.

I know loads of you will have posted on this but has anyone had dreadful withdrawal from the pred when you stop at a bfn? I have felt so bad the last couple of days, headache, dodgy stomach, horrid dreams, but worst of all feeling irrationally anxious. I am terrified to start taking it again as I have felt so bad and there is a history of depression in my family.

holldoll I agree it's prob too early to see a heartbeat. At least everything is in the right place so try and not stress too much.

bellyd I felt awful coming off the preds in the first 2 cycled which is why I only take them for 10 days rather than 14. It really helps so maybe you should ask if you can do the same next month!

I am at nlc waiting to have my intrallipids. Prob a waste of time but at least I know I will have tried everything if it doesn't work. Wish I could feel more positive!

Thanks for that sue was worried I was going mental. Good luck with the intralipids. You are definitely doing all you that can and I always feel that that is what keeps the hope alive.

sue try to keep positive. Just think of the intralipids zapping those damned NK cells - I think that was my reaction to it all!

Belly I am coming off the tabs at the mo and I do get headaches which I don't normally suffer from which I put down to either that or dehydration.

PQ know the feeling I feel so bloated and have had to pull out pg clothes for work now as my suit trs don't fit and I don't really want to tell anyone at work yet.

Duggs hope the trip goes well to Vegas and thks for the advise re: google i will have to have a look.

holldoll try not to worry, easier said than done but I think someone said to me you cannot change the outcome. That said I did hold off my first scan I think until 6.5 as I was worried you wouldn't see anything. So hopefully by the time you go back on Friday you will see something - fingers crossed - thinking of you!

Morning ladies!

belly I think coming off the pred on a BFN causes problems for a few people (I think I'm lucky in that it doesn't for me), and I believe quite a few people now only start taking the pred from 2-3 dpo which, if you then test at say 12dpo (being conservative here), means you could only be on the pred for 9 or 10 days. That might help? Of course we all hope it's a positive on 12dpo, in which case you'll be on it for a lot longer, but then the withdrawal symptoms later will be well worth it! :)

Actually here's a question for discussion, possibly. I've been wondering about this myself, and I think someone's raised something similar over on the Super OV thread. I believe Prof Quenby and others recommend you don't start the pred until a BFP, whereas of course Mr S says to start it from OV. And someone else here I think mentioned that they were told the pred kicks in immediately rather than needing to be built up in the system (although of course having it built up in the system means more suppression of NK cells). coconut, I believe you only took pred from when you knew you were pregnant, is that right? And all has gone well for you? So I'm wondering what the benefits are of taking it from OV rather than from BFP? Does anyone know, has anyone asked Mr S? Not that I'm doubting his expertise in the least, I absolutely am not! But if it would have the same effect to protect the embryo taking it from BFP, we could all save ourselves potentially messed-up cycles, lack of sleep, withdrawal symptoms, etc every month if we only took it from getting a BFP, surely?

Like I say, just for discussion really, I'm not thinking seriously of trying it - at least, not yet! :)

PQ thanks for your comment on your AF getting lighter after pregnancy. I am slightly concerned that this has only happened after this last miscarriage, after the three previously my AF wasn't affected. I'm concerned that my lining isn't what it should be post-MC. I shall definitely take it up with my acupuncturist tomorrow night!

choccy How's the baby-making coming along? Good, I hope?

Well DP surprised me yesterday, I read that Selenium is apparently very good for male fertility so on a hope I bought a Selenium supplement for him (with extra vit C and E I think), and he's actually taking it! Surprised me somewhat, given that he wouldn't take the CoQ10 that Mr S suggested. I've also ordered Wellman Conception for him, I'll just replace the vits in his current vit bottle with those, he won't care as long as he doesn't have to take any more actual tablets :)

/waves to all

Sorry, meant to say sue, big hugs for your situation, I hope that that faint line is going to get stronger. I know exactly how you feel about having intralipids while not being positive for your pregnancy, as that's exactly what I felt having intralipids with the last "pregnancy" (I still don't think of it as a proper pregnancy) when I met choccy at NLC. But you're absolutely right, you have to throw everything you can at it then if things don't go right (I hope they do!), you can rest easy that it wasn't for the lack of you doing something. Crossing fingers, toes, ears and eyes that yours comes along nicely, are you going to test again or just wait and see what happens?

Ari taking Pred pre-BFP absolutely makes sense for me because I can't get an embryo to implant! I know that is not the problem most people on this thread have though.

I think I will test again next week if I haven't started bleeding by then. I think testing all the time can drive you mad. I just asked Louise at nlc and she said not to take any notice on the lines of the preg test so long as there is something there. I always feel more positive after talking to her!

ari I asked dr s about taking steroids from bfp and he told me that as I have v high killer cells I would miscarry as they attack right from implantation. That's why he put me on the hydroxy as the plan was to build that up in my system for 6 weeks and then do a trial run without the preds. He wanted there to be some drugs attacking the killer cells rather than none. Some of his patients can't take steroids so are using just hydroxy but I think it's quite a new thing. In the end I got my bfp this month but I started taking the preds the day after ov and also took cyclogest from 4dpo. I am sure the acupuncture helped me get a bfp too. At least being on the superov plan I knew exactly when I ov'd so knew when to take the preds. Before that I had no idea when I ov'd so was taking the preds at the wrong time which eventually stopped me ov'Ing. It's a nightmare getting the timing right. I have also been taking selenium to help womb lining as it was quite thin on my first follicle scan. This month we also had sex every other day rather than just around ov as that's how I have got a bfp before. I have also been following a low gi diet as my acupuncturist said it helps egg quality and conceiving. It's best to avoid sugary foods in first half of cycle. Not sure if any of this made the difference but something must have worked!

euro have you tried acupuncture? I hear so many success stories with ladies like you who have had problems conceiving for no reason. I chose one who was affiliated with Zita west so his specialty is fertility problems.

ari forgot to say, my periods got lighter and lighter since taking the preds to almost non existent. That's how I knew I was prob not ovulating. You can have a blood test to see if you are. I think you should c

Consider the hydroxy

Thanks sue, I am actually already on hydroxy, since Dec last year, so I'm hopeful it will do something. I didn't know about selenium and womb lining, that's an interesting one for me. I know selenium is an antioxidant but thought since I already take lots of those that selenium wouldn't do anything more for me. Perhaps I should take OH's selenium as well then :) I do get ovulation pains positive opks/peak CBFM, so I believe I am still ovulating, CD14 every cycle pretty much.

I didn't know about the sugary foods either - or actually what low GI diet does for egg quality? Think I need to do some (more!) research. Thanks for the info sue :)

Hmm I'm thinking the bread pudding I'm munching on currently (made it yesterday, loooooove bread pudding!) probably isn't either low-GI or low-sugar ... whoops ..

Hi all,

sue hope drip going well? louise is v reassuring which is what you need.

ari did leave off pred for a couple of days after ov. don't want to deviate too much as already said they are meant to attack from conception. But have been worried about the pred messing up cycles so took two days after trigger shot. Talking of food I just can't stop eating!!!!! bloody pred.

No positive preg line for me this morning. i think it's 10dpo. Still got time I think though as last two months when I've had positives it was 14dpo and 12dpo so we'll wait and see. I did feel very queasy at yesterday but that could be the pred again!

Fingers crossed holldoll it's awful the waiting but it's early days yet. Let us know how it goes.

suemays can you get your HCG levels tested? That will give you the best conclusive evidence you can get at this stage.

holdall thinking of you. The waiting is so unbearable. But by Frdiday you should know. And as with Suemays - can you ask for HCG tests in the mean time? I had mine done every other day in first few weeks of this pregnancy (until the scans started) it gave me the reassurance that I needed

sue I've been having acu for almost a year now. It has had a positive effect on my cycles but not got me a BFP. I'm not sure who is more frustrated by that - me or my acupuncturist! I can tell she is surprised when I turn up month after month not pregnant.

Ari I don't know whether this applies for everyone but I have heard that for PCOS ladies with insulin resistence (so the body produces excessive amounts of insulin when confronted by sugar) that insulin can affect egg quality. So the thinking is that taking in less sugar means that your body produces less insulin, which means that there is less insulin there to affect egg quality.

snoopy I think 2 days after trigger shot is spot on. The trigger shot is supposed to make you ovulate after 36 hours, so after 2 days you would be just past ov.

Just waiting in hospital to have a CTG. Saw the consultant and mentioned baby hadn't been as active as last week but I put that down to there being less room - but he's sent me for ctg just to be sure. Plus a growth scan as I'm measuring 36cm - so two weeks ahead .
BP fine, no trace of protein in urine so I don't have to worry about the swelling. Trace of glucose so need to see mw next week to check again.