TTC or pregnancy on prednisolone or similar part 12

[teamdozie]

This is 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!

Really sorry village :( I know when I had mine mr s wanted to see me again but I then decided to seek help from dr g rather than pay another consultation. I just took my bleed as day one x

mel do you mean that Mr S would have had you carry on with SO that very next cycle?

Ladies I'm wondering what to do if AF arrives tomorrow (unlikely but just about possible). In that case, should I start letrozole on Monday (which would be CD2), just as if I'd never been pregnant and this last cycle with the chemical was just another unsuccessful SO cycle? I'll phone in to Mr S on Tuesday but just need to know what to do on my own steam before then, if it comes to it! Any advice much appreciated!

I don't know as he wanted to see me to review what to do next I guess. I'm not sure if I was on so at that point I can't recall :/

This is advice from Louise after mine-. If you have only been taking the steroids for less than 3 weeks you can then just stop them as well as the Cyclogest. Please continue with the vitamins and aspirin. I would advise that you see Mr Shehata to discuss treatment and the need to make any changes after the chemical pregnancy.

Morning everyone
Village I'm so sorry to hear your news!! Regarding cycles etc when was AF actually due? Today! I would treat first day of bleed as day one! If you hadn't tested you would never have known!

I have had a chemical before (prior to NK diagnosis) and I tested 2 or 3 days before AF was due and AF then arrived two days late!

I believe the steroids can be taken up to 3 weeks and then stopped without tapering if you go over then you have to taper!

I hope it doesn't drag on too long for you! Sending you Lots of hugs!!

Xx

Thanks mel. I'm hoping that AF will hold off till Monday at least so that I can get Mr S's advice on Tuesday about whether to start letrozole or not.

Team AF was due yesterday (Friday). So if it arrives tomorrow (Sunday) or Monday, I'm tempted just to treat this next cycle as another SO cycle and start taking letrozole again on CD2... but wonder if Mr S would ok that? It would be so good to be able to ask him or Louise but of course everyone's off over Easter. Let's hope AF holds off till Monday at least.

Sorry about the 'me me' posts, ladies. I'm feeling really low and anxious. I hope everyone has a lovely Easter and that all the pregnant ladies are well! xx

Personally I would carry on with letrozole... Strictly speaking as some one said, if AF arrives and you hadn't tested you'd be none the wiser and it isn't as if your body has gone through weeks of major hormone development. We don't know how many embryos try to implant and then don't.. The controversy of early testing I guess. the psychological aspect is the worst part of a chemical, the hope and the despair so close together. I would carry on and try to put it behind you as one of lifes natural phenomenons. Sorry if I should a bit cold, just my way of handling the roller coaster so it may not suit you ... But does sound like you want to get on with things..

Duggs you don't sound cold at all. I was hoping you'd reply! You were spot on (on the other thread) about this one not being viable and stopping the meds. I knew it too. So thank you. Yes, I do want to push on, and we will definitely be ttc in this next cycle. I'm just wondering whether we should try an unassisted cycle - I've been a bit put off SO by this chemical; have never had a chem pg before and am slightly suspicious that SO was to blame - or crack on with SO again. And I also hope Mr S won't mind me self-medicating without being reviewed by him if it all kicks off before Tuesday. I'll have to take my chances, I guess. Hope you're well and baby thriving x

I can understand your desire to be pregnant again immediately, Village and I think there's no reason not to use letrozole again. It would be different if it was later, as you wouldn't know in advance if everything would come away naturally, but at this stage it's just going to be like a heavy period. At the end of the day, none of us have unlimited time left.

Penny at Serum would of course say to go for a natural cycle, as stimulation drugs are more likely to cause egg damage, but I don't seem to have taken her advice myself, having taken letrozole this month. (I'm going out with a bang at age 43. After that, all DHEA etc is going in the bin. I would offer them to you all, but they are all in unmarked containers, which makes it difficult even for me to remember what's what.)

Thanks Brown. That's really interesting - that Penny would advise going for a natural cycle. I've read (on Dr Google) that letrozole can improve egg quality; is this nonsense, then? I believe that it can improve implantation rates in women with endometriosis. This is from Braverman's site in the US: 'there are new studies that have shown the aromatase activity of resveratrol has actually been shown to increase successful implantation in patients with endometriosis confirming another study that showed letrozole's similar activity also improved implantation'. Link is www.preventmiscarriage.com/Discussion-Forum/Questions-for-Dr-Braverman/Questions-about-supplements.aspx

Did Penny ever tell you why letrozole might cause egg-damage? I rather like the sound of her by the way!

Yes, she told me not to have IVF. I've never heard that letrozole can improve egg quality. But I know that when I have medicated cycles I have a 'stronger' ovulation, longer luteal phase, etc, higher temps, and this into the next natural cycle too, so maybe there's something in that.
But I remember reading articles in the past talking about the idea that superovulation forcibly overrides natural atresia of the follicles, so leading to potentially imperfect eggs being released. Penny thinks any stimulation is bad in older eggs, as they are more fragile, but that letrozole is relatively mild compared with some stims.

Why not have a phone consultation with her? It's free and you feel she has your interests at heart. I suspect she may say the same to you as she did to me; that you need to concentrate on producing your own healthy eggs and not to think of IVF or donor eggs as your cycles are still good. I'm glad I had the consultation, as I feel justified in not having IVF, and that had been the one thing hanging over me - should I? Shouldn't I? And now I won't feel guilty about it. I came away feeling very optimistic and maybe that's you need at the moment.

[http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110703222935.htm]

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110703222935.htm

www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-06/esfh-ror063009.php

Penny said the same to me brown, I'll expect to see you with your babies next visit she said! Shes so lovely.
Well day 8 for me on 20 mg now so here we go again. My spots are fading thanks to tea tree and witch hazel And acupuncture as that's All I could have!
I hope af arrives for you as requested village then you can get some advice and crack on again.
Hope everyone has a restful day eating chocolate ;) happy Easter xx

Happy Easter everyone!

village sending you a (((hug))) sounds like you are coping with it very positively.

Brown thank you so much for the links and for Penny's take on things. I really appreciate you taking the time to post this. DH and I have been talking it all over. I was planning on having a phone consultation with Penny at some point, if only because we haven't completely ruled out the possibility of DE IVF, should a next natural pregnancy miscarry too.

I believe that Mr S usually recommends six cycles of SO at a time; am I right? If you have a chemical while on SO, does he count it as one of your six SO cycles, or is the counter reset? At the moment I'm thinking I should just go ahead with what would have been SO cycle six (since statistically there's a greater chance of falling pregnant in cycles 4-6 and I don't want to miss that window). If we don't get pregnant in this next cycle, then we may try naturally - and that decision might also be taken out of our hands if six at a time is the limit.

You're absolutely right - I need something to make me feel hope again. I felt such hope in the last week when we had the BFP, and now I've gone into a negative spin again, feeling I'm too old, my eggs are too old, etc. But there's only one way to test that, and that's to get another on board and see what happens.

mel thinking of you. I'm getting spotty now so AF could be on the way soon. HPTs are completely negative now too.

baking thanks... not sure if I am positive, just trying to find a way forwards. I'm very bad at not having a plan - I always need to know next steps! And the problem is that I don't have any of the necessary medical knowledge, am relying on what different experts say, and they all say slightly different things... argh. Enough to drive a control freak like me mad. Anyway I hope you are thriving and enjoying these late weeks of your pregnancy! You must be feeling plenty of movement now, always such a lovely time.

A very happy Easter to everyone xx

Yes, 6 cycles, I think, but I have now had 10 or 11 cycles of superovulation in total, including clomid. They say you shouldn't have more than 12 cycles from the point of view of ovarian cancer, even though overall they don't think there's a risk. I think I was saving 1 for if we did have IVF which would obviously involve some kind of stimulation.
I'm not sure what Mr S says after 6 cycles; maybe try something else. Has anyone had 6 on this thread?
I think there's a lot of control freaks on here, Village, me included. As if all this frenzied mental activity, researching, writing on forums, was a substitute for, or could have an influence on, the one magical and unconscious thing we want our bodies to do. I'm not sure what I'll do with myself after this cycle fails. I have plans to learn languages but I'm sure I'll really be thinking of the state of my eggs at some level while asking after 'the pen of my aunt'.
Sue, thanks for the link to the thread.

Incidentally, even though I'm giving up my supplements after this, that doesn't include melatonin, which I'll take for a bit longer. If it really does hold off the menopause for a while, and improve egg quality, it's worth taking just to keep me in the running. Who knows, there may be some new development that we could take advantage of in the mean time.

Brown would DE IVF be an option for you? Or is this really it if the cycle you're on doesn't work? (When will you find out, if you don't mind me asking?) I know what you mean about not being sure what you'll do with yourself afterwards, if ttc is no longer on the cards. Right now I feel as if I'm failing to show up for my own life. Need to find a way of keeping ttc in its place - yeah, right. As if.

Just popped on quickly to thank you ladies for advice last week x.

VILLAGE - absolutely gutted for you - this ttc is such a bloody emotional roller coaster - so difficult sometimes and then the bfp is just the beginning of a whole new set of anxieties to deal with.

I feel emotionally drained at the moment - DP is wanting to call it a day with regards to TTC but when I think about stopping I feel so sad and quite devastated. I keep crying and thinking this is it - the end of my fertility / childbearing years. I have 2 beautiful sons whom I love with all my heart but I just cannot explain this yearning for one more child or at least to really give it a good try. DP agreed to try for a few months to appease me as he knows what it means to me but he is concerned about his age etc but I can't help how I feel too : (

Oh mattsmamma I feel exactly the same. We have two beautiful children (one about to turn 13, the other just shy of her third birthday), but I have such a strong longing to have another before it's too late. DH and I are so lucky to have the ones we do have, and there are, potentially, so many other things that would make the second half of our lives worthwhile - but this urgent desire is still there. When I put my arms around my children I know that nothing, but absolutely nothing, I've ever done or accomplished has been as important as bringing them into the world, and that not having a third would be a real loss. I would deal with it if, but the loss would be undeniable. How old are you? I will be 45 this summer. We will be carrying on ttc till the end of the calendar year at least. The year is still new! Could you ask your DP to try till Christmas before making any final decisions? I do think that letting go of ttc has to be an organic process; men sometimes seem to think that you can simply set a deadline and stick to it, as if this were a project to be managed - but if the decision to stop doesn't come from deep within, then it just causes infinite pain and despair. The life impulse - to give life - is very strong. I'd say your grief is telling you that you need to work with it. A very big hug to you.

VILLAGE - it brought tears to my eyes reading that because that's exactly how I feel. I too will be 45 this Summer and I also feel that by far and away the greatest achievement in my life is, and always will be my beloved children. The process of having my children has not been without some extremely painful times both emotionally and physically with my past miscarriages, plus the anxieties that being pregnant brings when you have suffered such things but I would do it all again - my children are my life. It does make you think what its all about when childbearing comes so easily to some women and then others like us have all the emotional heartache, medication to take etc.

You are right about men - it just must feel so different for them in many aspects and I doubt he will ever understand how much it hurts inside. I think putting a deadline on such a thing psychologically hasn't helped either. I will certainly be trying to persuade him to try a little longer - we shall see. Big hugs back to you VILLAGE xxx