abc IVF experience sharing - 2021/2022

[Millymillymillymillymilly]

Hey everyone,

I've benefited so much from the last 2 abc ivf threads that I thought I'd start a new one and hopefully can contribute back to the community.

I'm 33 years old, AFC around 24 (based on the initial treatment scan) and the reason we are doing IVF is due to male infertility issues (morphology lower than 4%) and irregular ovulation. We are undergoing treatment at the Harley Street branch.

Here's my treatment timeline so far:

09/11 Tue - Bemfola injection 125
10/11 Wed - Bemfola injection 125
11/11 Thu - Bemfola injection 125
12/11 Fri - Bemfola injection 125 + 1st scan
13/11 Sat - Bemfola injection 125
14/11 Sun - Bemfola injection 125 + Cetrotide injection
15/11 Mon - Bemfola injection 125 + Cetrotide injection +2nd scan
16/11 Tue - Bemfola injection 125 + Cetrotide injection
17/11 Wed - Cetrotide injection + 3rd scan + Ovitrelle injection (exact timing TBC)

After my 3rd scan today, the nurse said I didn't have to do anymore injections apart from morning Cetrotide shot and the Ovitrelle which someone from the Create clinic will call and let me know when to inject as it needs to fit into their egg retrieval appointments (I still haven't received the call and my scan was at 08.30 this morning).

My follicles' growth was as below:

1st scan
11 < 6mm
10 10 mm

2nd scan
2 < 6mm
12

@waitingmyturn I can imagine! 2ww is bad enough let alone during this process! Do they do a blood test or would it be a urine sample? And are you holding out testing until they tell you the results?

I'm okay thank you, can't help but think I can't believe I'm having to go down this road never in a million years did I think I would be here waiting to start ivf, i'm so healthy, exercise 4 times a week, literally no medical conditions, but hey here we are. Unexplained infertility sucks!

Wishing you all the best for the 30th will be thinking of you! 🙏

@star2022 I think I've found this bit the hardest part, just trying to manage expectations. They've told me to do a home urine test on the 30th and then if it's positive they'll book be in for a blood test to confirm, I'm not sure what I want to do, some days I think I'll give it a few days and just test but I'm so scared of seeing the result I don't know what to do, I think I'll be the same on the 30th too though

Awe I know what you mean, it's hard to accept at first isn't it? Im really happy with how abc have been, it hasn't been anywhere near as scary or complicated as I had first thought, and it all goes by so quickly, (well except this last bit!)

Thank you, I appreciate it, and I'll keep you posted! I'm looking forward to following your journey too 😊

Sorry to intrude ladies but I was wondering if anyone had gone through the ABC process with polycystic ovaries and how ABC adapted your medications in light of that?

We were pre IVF with the NHS in 2020 as we'd been told we couldn't conceive naturally due to my husband's low sperm motility. However the day before I was due to start the first round we got a miracle BFP. We're now hoping for a second miracle but are preparing for the more realistic idea that we'll have to do IVF this time round.

@anditgoesonandon

I think the reason why abc is so much cheaper than other clinics is due to the shoebox approach and the medication they give tend to be more or less the same for everyone.

I totally understand your concern since you’ve had a good and a bad result and obviously you will want to go with what you know works.

I’d suggest talking to abc and see what they can do but my hunch is that they probably might not give you medication that they don’t already give to their patients.

I just finished a cycle with NHS (UCLH/GRCH) and the drugs I was on were a lot more than what I was on at abc. (refer to my previous posts if you want to know what drugs I’ve taken in the different cycles). And the outcome was pretty similar

abc
11 eggs collected
9 mature and 9 fertilised
8 made it to D3
1 fresh transfer (BFN) + 2 remaining embryos frozen

nhs
12 eggs collected
11 mature and 8 fertilised
8 made it to D3
TBC the final results as tomorrow will be D5

I’m assuming we’d get roughly the same number of embryos that we can use this round (but you never know! None of them might be suitable for freezing or we might have more than expected!) Embryologist say normally 30-40% of D3 embryos make it to D5 blastocyst.

So based on the results, I think abc has done a really good job for the amount of money they charge.

Good luck!

@TheBirdintheCave

I don’t have PCOS but do show symptoms of it (not sure how exactly it works). From my understanding, women with PCOS have a higher risk of getting more eggs because they have a lot of follicles to start with so a frozen transfer might often be suggested due to the risk of OHSS.

abc will definitely tailor the dosage to your body accordingly and will be monitoring every other day once you start stimming to make sure your progress is as expected.

Have you had a baseline scan with them yet? Might be worth having the scan and then the consultation if you are in their criteria.

@Millymillymillymillymilly thankyou for the reply. That's really interesting, abc seem to offer a FSH only protocol, my original protocol was similar to your NHS one- menopur (a mixture of fsh and lh). I'm keen to hear how many blasts you get. I had virtually no drop off on this protocol, we only lost 25% from the amount of eggs collected, compared to an 81% drop off.

I have my scan booked in with abc, I should think they'll accept me since my AFC is 30 and I meet the other criteria. I would have had my recent collection 2 weeks ago so I'm hoping my AFC is back at baseline, still waiting for my period.

@anditgoesonandon it seems like you had a very good response and had a high number of embryos (if you mean that 75% of your eggs made it to embryos as only 25% dropped off). Definitely have a chat as they will best to advise you on this.

I just got the call from the embryologist and 5 out of the 8 are suitable for freezing so they are now frozen. The remaining 3 are going to be kept in the culture for an extra day to see if they can catch up but it’s most likely not going to happen. I’m really chuffed as it’s definitely way higher than expected!

Wow that's great news @Millymillymillymillymilly it looks like this new cycle worked out for you!

Yes I had a great result in my first cycle, 12 eggs, all were still around at day 3 and by day 5 I had 9 blasts.

In the recent protocol 16 eggs were collected, 10 were mature, we were down to 8 by day 3, then at day 5 I was beyond shocked to get just 1 x day 5 blast, it was at the expanded stage. By day 6 there were 2 more that could be frozen, not great grading though.

So the cycles are just worlds apart, I'm having huge trouble finding somewhere to have a cycle that will replicate the protocol that worked for me. I'm hoping to go abroad as UK prices are so high but can't get an answer on if the protocol can be replicated.

@anditgoesonandon Wow! That is amazing!

Well, I know that there’s a clinic in Prague that potentially can offer what you had previously. I have a friend who’s very prone to overresponding so she went there and they gave her the Rekovelle drug (which is newest in the market I believe) and she ended up only getting 1 egg which did not even fertilised. However, when they were planning her second cycle, they literally asked for her past prescription so they can prescribe the same medication with maybe a lower dosage (previously she retrieved 20 eggs). She decided not to go through with it in the end.

Obviously its not a success story but if you want to go abroad and get them to prescribe what you had previously, this might be an option for you. (They spent £4k including flights, PCR tests, hotels, medication and treatment - they did stay at a really posh hotel tho I think) The Czechs aren’t particularly friendly tho. My friend said they were so cold to her the entire time.

@Millymillymillymillymilly you know I've heard someone at the clinic I'm taking to, where they did their own protocol and got a rubbish result so like your friend she then got put on the first protocol and did better.

Yeah I was beyond shocked to go from 9 in cycle 1 and then get the call that we only had 1 blast in the next cycle. I hope it is the protocol and icsi that they insisted on for no reason and not me.

I will still go to the scan with abc next week and chat to them, at this point I think for my own peace of mind I need to repeat what I did in my first cycle and see what the result is.

@Millymillymillymillymilly sounds great so far, fingers crossed for you!

@waitingmyturn hope you're okay, was thinking of you yesterday!

@anditgoesonandon good luck!!

I'm waiting for AF to arrive now so I can start my injections, had meds delivered friday. Typical the one time I actually want it to arrive it's taking its time lol.

Thank you @star2022, unfortunately not good news for us. I started spotting from 27th (despite still being on progesterone) and it was getting heavier and more frequent before AF made an arrival yesterday, I did a test anyway just incase but it was negative as I expected, feeling a little deflated as no Frosties for us either so feel like we completely lost this time. Waiting for a phone consultation with our consultant just to discuss this cycle and see what their thoughts are.

Whatever happens we're going to take this month off just to heal and take a break from the whole process and try again in March hopefully with a fresh mindset.

Finishers crossed for your cycle, excited to see how it goes for you 😊

@waitingmyturn I am so sorry to hear that, I really hope you get some answers at your consultation and hopefully they're able to tell you if they can do anything different next time. I'm truly so sorry, get some rest and definitely taking some time to heal sounds like a good idea. I haven't even started the process yet but can see how how hard it is already.

Did they do blood tests at every scan? I read somewhere about checking progesterone levels and i'm beginning to get worried that maybe the meds aren't enough. I know my friend had so many more meds than what we get and I can't help but think (and google) whether mild ivf is enough.

@star2022 funnily enough me and my OH had the same conversation about whether the medication was enough for me, so they increased my dose of Bemfola by quite a bit two days before egg retrieval (14/1) because when my bloods were done on the 12th it came back that even though I had a number of large follicles my estrogen levels were less than 2000, from what I can remember the nurse said that's equivalent to just over 2 mature eggs, but by the time I had my egg retrieval 2 days later they had 17 eggs, 12 mature, the numbers weren't adding up to me from the conversations I'd had. I'm wondering if I've got something slightly hormonal going on, (I've been doing a lot of online research from what I can see AF proper flow shouldn't happen while still using progesterone and it did but I'll need to check this with the consultant), that being said I've pulled apart everything I did or didn't do to try and understand why I am where I am, hopefully I'll have more clarity after my consultation and we'll go from there. I think something will need to change with regards to mediation though for me.

Try not to worry about your cycle, I suppose it is just a numbers game and despite the outcome for me I'm still really pleased with the process and how I've been treated by all the people at abc, that's why if all goes well with the consultation and we can put together another plan I'd have no hesitation about using them again.

Thanks for listening to me rant, none of my family or friends know about my situation and I'm pretty sure I've talked my OH's ear off 😄

Hi I’m considering my ivf treatment with abc ivf
Anyone gone for ivf due to unexplained infertility?

@waitingmyturn

I’m so sorry to hear that! Have you had another consultation yet?

@Millymillymillymillymilly thank you,

No I haven't, I genuinely can't get through to anyone, I've phoned 3 times and have been told each time that someone will call me back (I'm still waiting), I have emailed and again I was told someone will phone me back, I'll give it until dinner time today and I'll call again. It's all very frustrating

That’s crazy! They aren’t normally this bad. I wonder if there’s been an influx of new customers? I hope you get in touch with them soon as I know it must sooooo frustrating because you wanna just move on to the next step!!! At least it’s Friday. :)

Yeah maybe, I've never had this problem before either, who knows, here's to hoping for answers today.. or at least an appointment for another consultation!

How are you feeling?

Hi all, thanks for all the kind wishes after my last message.

@waitingmyturn I'm so sorry it wasn't a better outcome for you 💔 was this your first try? Which clinic are you with? I'm at Harley street/St Pauls and have always gotten a call back when requested.. although they do sometimes take a couple of hours to get back to you.

@Monxxx welcome to the thread! I have unexplained infertility - no issues with me or my husband.

@Millymillymillymillymilly @star2022 & @Akter1984 hope you're all doing ok? x

Thanks for replying
It’s really frustrating I do have some small fibroids but as per doctors it shouldn’t be issue
I’m planning to go for ivf abc fertility just due to lower cost
I found their patient support team very cold
Can I request copy of my initial ultrasound scans that I did with them , ?

Thank you @Sazles99, hope you're doing ok x

This was our first attempt, we're looking at trying again in March after we've had some time to process things and depending on what the consultant says at our follow up, I did get a call back today thankfully but because I'm between two clinics (Cardiff and Bristol) they have to have a meeting next week to discuss my cycle before they can come back to me with any insight. Hopefully I'll know more the end of next week.

In fairness I've never had this issue before, maybe it's just been a busy week!

@Monxxx sorry to hear that.. I've found everyone at ABC to be really warm and empathetic throughout! I'm not sure if you can request copies of your scans, I never asked!

@waitingmyturn hope they come back to you soon with next steps, I've always found the 'not knowing' and waiting parts of this process the hardest!

@waitingmyturn how are you? hope you get some answers next week! I can imagine the wait must be torture! Don't worry I know what you mean as I've not told family and friends either (apart from 1 who had icsi last year) so it's nice to connect with people on here to rant and have someone to talk to!

@Monxxx I have unexplained infertility TTC for almost 2 years and this is my first ivf cycle with abc - so far everyone has been really friendly and thorough and i'm currently pleased with the process so far.

@Sazles99 how are you feeling? I wish i had more of an update for you all, but my body decided to play a cruel trick on me and AF came a week late!! So i'm officially starting injections tomorrow, and my first scan is booked in for friday morning. Taking each day as it comes now..started drinking more fluids, meditating & OH is being super cute making me relax and not stress. Trying to remain hopeful 🙏 although I have told and prepared myself that if it doesn't work this cycle, as long as i can get some frozen then that'll be more than enough and I'd be happy.

I'm ok thank you @star2022, still waiting (it's killing me), hopefully have our meeting by Friday.

How are you doing? Mine was 4 days late when I was due to start medication, typical isn't it!