TTC Super Ovulation part 2

[suemays]

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....

part 1 here:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/conception/1385998-TTC-Super-Ovulation

rainbows thinking of you as you travel to Harley St today (think it's today?). I'm there at 11.50 so we won't meet. Will check in later!

Aw gutted not to meet you Jaffa, how did you get on ? I have 1 good follicle at 20 ( 20 what I'm not sure , I know it's size related) the other side had 2 between 8-10 so he's told me to take the injection tomorrow night and dtd tonight , wed & thurs then start the pred on thurs too. He's upping the letrozole to 7.5 mg next cycle to get a better result . FC eh :)

Wow rainbows that's a great first month! It's 20mm (seems v big, doesn't it!). I think it's a great result for the first month. Going to 7.5 will increase it if you're not knocked up this first month. Both times I've done super ov, my first month was not very hopeful. Having said that, I did conceive this month! And the scan today showed a 5.4 smudge on the screen with a heartbeat! Very pleased and it's very early for a HB.

kittens how are your symptoms? Are you still anxious? Poss a silly question.

It may be annoying having an updiffed person on this thread, so I was thinking I should bow out slightly. I'll answer queries about super ov but probably won't be around as much.

All the best to you all x

Hi Ladies,
I know a couple of you on here from the Pred thread when I posted a bit back in Nov and Dec last year and have met Kittens on a Pred Thread night out! Super congratulations too Kittens fab news. I hope this week post Olympics is a little less hectic for you.

Been TTC 4 yrs, 3 mc, have very high NKCs and was on pred for 5 cycles with no success, apart from making me put on a stone and sending me thoroughly loopy! For the past 6 weeks I've been on Hydroxy which is so much nicer than the Pred and I've managed to lose a few pounds. Went back to see Mr S yesterday and he gave me some test results. My FSH, LH and Estradiol were all fantastic then he dropped the bombshell that my AMH levels are dreadful and fall in the very low/undetectable bracket, something that, at 34 years old, I was not expecting at all. So the upshot is he urged me to not be discouraged (much easier said than done!) but not to waste any more time trying naturally and to crack on with SO and if that doesn't work IVF is our only option. A fantastic day all in all, not.

Just waiting now for AF to start properly so I can get on the letrozole and book my first scan. I was also wondering how you ladies all get hold of your meds, did I read correctly that some of you get them online?

Hey breezy and welcome to the SO thread. Sorry to hear you've been grown an AMH curve ball but try not to let that put you off - I've read of plenty of women with very low AMH levels who still went on to be successfully pregnant. Remember it only takes one good egg!

Personslly I buy Letrozole from Asda as they sell fertility drugs at cost price, last month's cost me about £4.60-odd IIRC. And the Ovitrelle I got direct fom the NLC at £20, way cheaper than anywhere else.

That should have read "sorry to hear you've been thrown an AMH curve ball", not grown one! Hate the iPad's keypad!

Hi all hope you had good weekends. I went to see Free yesterday and baby Sebastian who is georgous and got lots of cuddles from me! Is quite funny seeing your childhood best friend with a baby and and talking breast feeding as I sometimes wondered if she would have kids . So lovely to see her as it had been a while and I also got to meet PQ from the pred thread which was lovely.

Jaffa I gear the good scan news from Free and please don't feel you can't post on here as I am sure like me everyone will want to know how you are doing.

Kittens when us your first scan? You must be relieved to be finished at the Olympics and knackered!!

Breezy I got my letrezole from Tesco this month and it was only £2 something and like Ari I get the ovitrelle at New Life Clinuc which seems to be the cheapest way to do it. Good luck fit this month.

I am having a lot of spotting from the letrezole I think which happened before but am now on cd16 and it is still going! Anyone ekse had this??

pebbles Ooh is Tesco cheaper still? I shall bear that in mind, thank you! After all, you know what they say ... every little helps! :)

Also really interested to hear you say about spotting - I hadn't realised Letrozole causes that, I was just beginning to get a bit concerned as I'm CD9 today and still yuck-coloured spotting. I certainly didn't get this extended spotting pre-SO so perhaps it's that then. Bit of a relief actually, I was beginning to wonder if this is a pre-menopausal symptom or something!

Well, hysteroscopy for me this morning, Mr S said all clear and no problems found, so that's another box checked off. 2 more cycles of SO left after this one, then we rather run out of options. Was talking with OH while sitting in the waiting room this morning and he's of the opinion that if we get nowhere by the end of this year when I turn 45, we give it up as having given it our best shot. I think he's right - unless I get a miracle in the next couple of months or so, I guess we accept Nature is telling us I am just too old after all..

Oh I forgot it wa today Ari hope it wasn't too painful or anything. Let's hope like the other ladies who had hysteroscopy's that you get a bfp too, fingers crossed. How do you feel about stopping after two more super ov's?? Probably a bit of a mixed bag I imagine?

I had spotting on the first month until about cd 10 and Louise said it would be the letrezole so don't worry too much. Is annoying though spotting for so long!

Hi breezy just to say my amh was 0.67 and I got pg, and then measured again is now 2.3, and I've just conceived again. Mr S put me on super ov for the same reason. Good luck! It's not nice hearing bad stats though. I felt horrid, especially as my DH is quite a bit younger than me

Hello breezy, nice to see you back. I also had really low AMH in my last test, I think it was 3. Like you, all the other levels were about what was expected for my age, but nothing to be alarmed about. Mr S was going to up my Gonal F to a higher dose but then scanned me and I had 2 follicles. The following cycle I got a BFP. I was seriously doom and gloom when I got my AMH results too but it just goes to show, there is still hope!

Ari, glad the hysteroscopy went well and have prepared a nice inviting environment for a BFP this month. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you. Don't worry, in my minds eye I have so many sets of fingers, enough to cross for everyone!

I am delighted to say that I have emerged from my working frenzy and have the day off tomorrow. Phew! I can't wait! Self indulgent, guilt free languishing all day long! It was all I could do to stay up 'til 9.30 last night. Still not feeling especially pregnant. A little "whomb-y" perhaps, and lots of wind and weeing which is charming, especially when you're stuck in a little studio with loads of people! Just over a week 'til my scan so time will tell I suppose.

Can I ask an aspirin question. I know Mr S says to take it everyday but have been reading that it may affect implantation and just wondered if those that are now pregnant took it from BFP.

I only took it from BFP because I was having really bad digestive problems from taking it. Mr S decided it would be fine to wait until I definitely needed to be taking it.

Hi lemon I've been taking it every day, not just from bfp. My sheet says to stop at 20 weeks.

Morning all, thanks for the welcome to the SO thread. Also thanks for the advice on where to get the meds for cheap. You'd have thought living in central London I'd have the pick of places to go, but all the supermarkets near me are tiny ones with no pharmacy so I think I'll need to drive out a bit to get them.
Ari glad to hear the hysteroscopy went well and you are all primed for a BFP this month.
Jaffa my AMH is similar to yours at a slightly lower 0.63 so I am encouraged to hear of others with similar levels having positive outcomes. Congratulations too on your BFP!
Kittens poor you with the excess, ahem, wind problems. At least you have an excuse for it! Hope you have a lovely relaxing day today.
I'm interested in the aspirin question too Lemon. I took it religiously everyday from October, but stopped at the beginning of June. I was feeling so despondent at no BFP and was wondering if the aspirin was helping or hindering. I was also sick and tired of the horrendous bruising that would just appear even if I only lightly nudged something. I told Louise and she said don't worry too much about not taking it, so I haven't been, but should I be lucky enough to ever get a BFP again, I will re-start.
I have finally managed to get my OH to do his SA and we have app to take it in in the morning. I found myself giggling last night wondering how you manage to get it all to go straight in the pot as sometimes the directions it can go in are a little unpredictable! I have a sneaking suspicion that OH's swimmers may not be the Michael Phelps of spermies as he is a particularly heavy drinker. I have tried to get him to cut down, but he is that type of person that the more you mention something the more determined he becomes to do the opposite. Men! Anyway, my moto has become expect the worst and you won't be disappointed! We will see!!

Quick question breezy - are you taking your OH's SA test to the Doctor's Lab, or NLC - or somewhere else? Only reason I ask is, my OH did his SA test well over a month ago and the results are not yet back (although we got the DNA fragmentation results back really quickly). I keep chasing Cheryl, who in turn keeps chasing the lab manager, who has said that Chicago are being REALLY slow with testing, apparently they have something of a backlog. So just be warned there may be a delay in getting your OH's results back ..

lemon I have the same dilemma about aspirin. I'm supposed to take it all the time because of the MTHFR but I have also read the uncertainty about it affecting implantation. I'm sort of leaning towards stopping taking it say a week before ovulation and then starting it either on BFP or AF. I'm not sure, I can't make up my mind either way!

kittens Did you say you didn't bleed after your hysteroscopy? I'm still bleeding :( Which makes me wonder what to do about the 'run-up' SWI ... it's CD10 today, I'm guessing Mr S will give me the green light for probably Sunday CD14 when I see him tomorrow (always hoping the gonal-f has made the difference, of course), but I'm wondering if we can start SWI tomorrow (CD11) whether that will be 'run-up' enough. If I ever stop bleeding! Oddly no-one at NLC warned me I would bleed afterwards - no-one said a thing, not even Mr S - and no-one told me to avoid DTD until bleeding stops, I just know that from ERPCs. It's a good thing you'd mentioned it on here, kittens, or I might have been concerned. I do wonder at the lack of info from NLC though.

It is so difficult to know what to do. I also am MTHFR. I took aspirin from BFP with miscarriage number 3. That was the advice after my late miscarriage from the local hospital. Then for most of the year did not get a BFP so stopped the pred and aspirin and got a BFP the following month but then that turned into miscarriage number 4. At present am still doing the aspirin and pred but no sign of bfp. In some ways I feel I am able to get a BFP if on no treatment but then will miscarry. Also my NK cells are still increasing but Mr S says that can happen after each miscarriage. So figure it is best for me to continue prednisolone but have heard the aspirin can interfere with implantation. I just feel that I am stuck and not getting anywhere, not even falling pregnant anymore. But I just need to look to kittens for inspiration.

Sorry that was very much a me post.

Ari sorry that you are still bleeding. I do not know about the hysterscopy.

breezy hope the result do not take too long to come back. Did you have the sperm test done by Mr G?

duggs how are you doing?

Sorry if I have missed anyone out.

Hey guys. . . It's all do conflicting with asprin especially. Could u compromise and not take it until a bfp?????or did u do that last time mc 4? I'm alright I suppose. Just getting on with things - is SO month so just taking letrozole right now. It might be DH sperm that is our main issue we will find out when we re test in October. Waves to everyone

Ari and lemon I actually had the lady I see for acupuncture write me out the request for it at TDL in Wimpole Street. I have had everything sitting around for about 2 months waiting and finally persuaded OH to go for it this week. He finally read the information and happily informed me that he didn't see why I was making such a fuss as it was "easy"!! We've have just gone for the bog standard SA, although for the price of it you would think it was all singing and dancing, but hey ho, that's what you get when he won't register with a GP! TDL say it takes 2-3 days, so fingers crossed sometime next week before my follie scan on Friday. I guess if his swimmers are pants and I don't respond well to the letrozole I might just say bugger it and lets go for IVF/ICSI rather than waste precious time and £££ on SO for 4-6 months. Mr S said try the SO first, but then he would, wouldn't he??!!

Ari sorry to hear you are bleeding. I had a hysteroscopy last Sept. Mine was slightly more involved though as I had a slight uterine septum removed. I did bleed for about 2 weeks after I seem to remember, but I guess that would have been normal since they cut away bits. Fingers crossed it stops soon though.

breezy Well that's bizarre, since it was through TDL that we had OH's SA test done, and it's their lab manager that Mr S's office is still chasing for the results (and that told Mr S's secretary that Chicago is way behind in its testing). I really hope you get your results soon then - for us, it's been 5 weeks now, and still no sign of the results!

We still haven't done the LAD/DQa/karyotyping blood tests since I can't get OH to go up to TDL again, it's really frustrating me. He says he can't afford to take more time off work (since we already went the once), and as TDL say they can only be done on a Mon/Tue/Wed morning, he just won't commit to a date. Driving me nuts, he doesn't see any urgency in getting these done :(

Thanks breezy .. Mr S didn't say they'd done anything during the hysteroscopy yesterday, so I'm a bit surprised I'm still bleeding (and still cramping), but hey ho, there you go, my body just doesn't seem to play by the standard rules!

I do sympathise with your thoughts on spending time on SO, time seems in such short supply that any delay seems a huge setback (well it does for me, anyway). What dose of Letrozole have you started on? Do bear in mind received wisdom seems to indicate most success around cycle 5 or 6 of SO, but that's most probably because it takes a while to adjust medication to get best results as everyone responds differently. And in my case, differently from one month to the next on the same dose of the same medication! But anyway .. :) I know there are exceptions to this (jaffa is the obvious one!) but I'm personally taking kittens as my inspiration in this :) Was it cycle 5 for you kittens, or am I completely misremembering?

Yes it was my 5th cycle ari. There was quite a lot of tweaking to be done. First three cycles I responded very poorly. Cycle 1 was 5mg Letrozole, then went up to 7.5mg but still not great. I took the month off that I had the hysteroscopy because I had it on the NHS and didn't have any control over the date so it was later in my cycle. I didn't bleed after the hysteroscocpy, but the fact that they mentioned not SWI until after bleeding stopped suggested to me that a bit of bleeding would not be unexpected. I bled very little, if at all after any of my past ERPCs so maybe I'm just not much of a bleeder! So I started on the Gonal F the first cycle of TTC after my hysteroscopy and got BFP on my second cycle of Gonal F. So, actually it was the second cycle after the hysteroscopy that I conceived.

I have totally "crashed and burned" today! I feel quite ropey and am looking pasty and pale. I've been in bed all day. Slept pretty much until 2pm! I hope I'm not getting a lurgy. I spent most of yesterday worried that I felt a lot better than I should've and didn't feel the need to go to sleep until midnight but I guess it's all catching up with me today. Feeling a bit tender too, not sure if it's my womb or my bladder.

kittens can I ask how much it was to have Intralipids at home?? When is your first scan, I hope you feel better soon and that its not a lurgy

ari sorry you're still bleeding, some women on a different thread they had bleeding for 2-3 days after

breezy welcome

lemon I thought someone told me that the aspirin could help with implantation???

Well I saw Mr S today and I have 4 good follies so we are trying IUI on Saturday

It cost £380 to have it at home, which I suspect is cheaper than having it at NLC. Unfortunately Mr S doesn't usually prescribe the treatment with Healthcare at Home. He said he would sort it out for me as a one off because of my work situation which I had already discussed with him at my follicle tracking scan but that I would have to have my following treatments at NLC.

My first scan is next Thursday at the EPU at St Helier's hospital, which is where I had started seeing him on the NHS. He is away on holiday next week so that was the next best thing, and will save me a little money. I could've had it done an my own local EPU but at least I know that the information will go straight to Mr S and that I will hopefully be treated with the appropriate kid gloves due to his recurrent miscarriage clinic there. I will have the second one only a week and a half later as he wants to see me as soon as he gets back, and also I will need to have my intralipids around that time too so I've booked both on the same day (4th Sept).

Good luck with the IUI buzzy.

Hi everyone. Just a quickie here. It's cheaper to have intralipids at nlc - £350. And I also conceived on my 5th cycle of super ov first time round. Mr S said he hoped the second time round I'd respond quicker, and I did (!) but I think 5th cycle is a more realistic hope.

I have no idea about aspirin advice. Bruising doesn't sound good though!

Btw, on another thread I saw advice not to take evening primrose and starflower oil after ovulation, as it causes "uterine contractions". It didn't affect me getting pg, but if you're taking it on my advice I wanted to add that comment!

kittens I'm sure your schedule is just catching up with you. Hope you're feeling better soon.

I'll second jaffa - intralipids cost me £350 at NLC when I had them the one time. And fwiw I used to take 1000mg evening primrose oil all the time before and during my pregnancy with DD, never caused me any problems. Still take them to this day.