Bus 9 - Donkey Cart departing soon, all aboard with ivf, pcos, endo, sub/unexplained fertility jump on

[Marvellouslymadmum]

New thread 😊😊

Sorry that it didn't work. Are you anything now? X

Finished with the docs, they could see two follicles (one in each ovary). Right side bigger than left, they said it was small but about the right size that it should be around this stage in my cycle. Now have to wait to ovulate! Really hoping an egg gets released.

That’s amazing - what dose of clomid did you take and on which days? X

Thank you for the advice. I have lean pcos so I don’t think I have the same risk with the diabetes side of things, though I’ve heard that inositol helps anyway. I’ve mainly been trying soy isoflavones though. I’m gonna try again when I get AF. I’m definitely not gonna symptom spot again like I did this month, it makes you feel so silly when you get it wrong

we started in January but because my cycles are long it’s only been like 4 cycles. How long have you been trying?

@Peachyplumm

I took 100mg on days 2 to 6. I used to bleed every 27 to 32 days but never ovulated. My previous gyno never told me whether I had follicles or not and to be honest I never thought to ask as she just always rushed me out the door saying I'm not ovulating.

Just hoping that it's different this time. X

I was given a card today for inofolic alpha which is a supplement for women with PCOS. Worth looking into. I've been doing some reading on it and it's seems very similar to ovasitol which is something they have in the states.

Sending you tons of baby dust! X

@Peachyplumm @pm24 we've had 3 cycles of icsi on nhs, now looking at private. I am also lean pcos but the diabetes risk remains and can affect ovulation and egg quality due to hormone imbalances as pcos is actually an endocrine issue. We're not as able as others to regulate insulin response and glucose management which can affect hormone production in the ovaries as well as increased risk of heart disease in future. We've been at this 4 years in September....

@kerrym87 we’ll be 4 years in October, but it feels like 20 😔

Thank you so much! That’s the second time I’ve been recommended that. I thought it was a bit pricey per month but might give it a go tbh. Sending you lots of baby dust! X

Oooh I didn’t know that, thank you x

i’m sorry to hear it’s been so long, sending you lots of baby dust! X

@Peachyplumm replenitol is slightly cheaper and jhas recently come out, when my inofolic alpha runs out I'm going to try that, I'd regret not doing it and I think you get discount when you buy in bulk

Hi everyone 👋🏻 hello to new people and sorry to people who have disappeared again, I've been sulking as I think I'm coming into perimenopause it's either that or the fact I've fallen off the vitamin wagon and been stressed over housing situation. Hope everyone is ok?
I feel like I'm missing something with my vitamin list - anyone know?
Pregnacare
Folic acid
Vit c
Vit d
Vit e
Magnesium
Need a new ubiquinol if anyone knows a good one?
Also what alternatives to pregnacare does anyone use and are they good? I've been seeing a lot if good things about ovavite anyone else heard of it?

I will do better to stick around now I have my big girl knickers pulled firmly up (apart from when dtd 😂)

@Marvellouslymadmum Consultant advised me to change to proxeed women after failed cycle last time from pregnacare max. We got better results in terms of fertilised eggs and blasts, but no idea if that was down to the proxeed. We were both on it, but then we also used AOA and Zymot chip and I had a completely different protocol. Not pregnant yet though, but in 2WW.

I’ve been taking:

Proxeed Women
COQ10. Just one from Amazon. No idea if it’s excellent quality though
Vitamin D
Methilfolate (sp?) rather than folic acid.
DHEA omega 3
Vitamin C
I’ve also been taking these for my thyroid:
Vitamin b12
iron
Complex vitamin D pill. I’m a bit paranoid about b12 haha.
calcium
magnesium

Theres some others from it starts with the egg but I was a bit crap at remembering them! Alpha lipoic acid was one of them.

It’s a lot.

That’s meant to say complex vitamin B pill. Not D!

Good to hear from you @Marvellouslymadmum

I’ve been worried about perimenopause a lot lately. Hitting 40 really makes this all so much worse.

@Lauralozzle how did the cycle go this time on proxeed? Proxeed gave me a terrible upset stomach, I have some here but too scared to try it again. Good luck for the tww!

We’re having a transfer next month, all being well, I assume it wont work like the other six didn’t work.

@thislittlebird Cycle was better, but I’m not sure if that was down to the proxeed, or if it was down to using AOA and the Zymot chip. I don’t think I’d remove it now though! I’ve been ok on it, it just tastes vile! Bloody expensive though, especially women’s and men’s together and DH having to have x2 sachets a day. We had a sperm oxidative stress test after last cycle which came back positive with likelihood of dna fragmentation. It was only £120 I think, rather than the £2k dna frag test and if the results of both are use proxeed then I’m glad we just did SOS test.

We had short protocol this time, slightly less drugs (was increased towards the end) but instead on ovaleap we used Gonal-F and meriofert. Also had duel trigger Gonasi and Buserelin.

Got 8 eggs, same as last time. This time they were all mature though. 4 fertilised so improvement from 33% to 50%. Blast rate much better though, best one was transferred (no idea of grade just know it was a full blastocyst) and x2 frozen. Better than the one crappy blast last time.

Whether it work though, is a different matter. I’m 7dp5dt today and was spotting this morning. Not a good sign, same point as last cycle and effectively 12dpo. I have a 12 day luteal phase so it’s probably my period trying to start.

I’m realistic enough to know it’s probably not implantation and is my period.

4 years now at this trying and failing to get pregnant malarkey.

Sorry, realised that turned into a bit of a downer!

@Lauralozzle it is a lot isn't it? And I'm always paranoid I'm over doing it but who really knows 🤷🏼‍♀️ good luck on your tww

I used to take vit b but stopped because I heard it can be bad with endo

@thislittlebird it's kind of terrifying as I know it means the end of the natural trying, not that we've got anywhere at all in the last 6 years but there you go! I'm 44.5 now so I know it's on its way if it isn't here already! Part of me wants it to just be definite then I can set my mind on DE rather than keep hoping each month that something may work!

@Marvellouslymadmum It is a lot of supplements. I’m quite happy that I don’t have to do an egg collection for a while so I can have a bit of a break from them all.

A little update for me: My second transfer hasn’t worked. 9dp5dt and I have a BFN. Will probably go for the FET October/November time. September is too busy, I think my smear will be due by then too, so I’ll have to have that and wait for the result which takes about 6 weeks before I go again.

@Lauralozzle I'm
So Sorry it hasn't worked for you 😔

I noticed that they now do pregnacare plus
Which has insotol coq10 and dhea in so I'm going to look at the quantities in that

@Lauralozzle so sorry. We have had extra tests done now private care, used to NHS being that were told what's going to happen, now have to figure it all out. Not sure if we go for one more round of stims with different clinic, slower gentler stims with hgh and double trigger or just go for all donor. My eggs aren't great quality and oh sperms not good at all. Not sure I can physically go through all the procedures, awful side effects and hormone hangover when it all fails as out of 30 odd eggs we've only ever had 2 to transfer. Fingers crossed for frostie, maybe they can increase your luteal support with lubion as well?

@Marvellouslymadmum I get nature's best ubiquinol as its better absorbed than coq10 and they do offers sometimes is mire expensive than coq10. I take 400mg a day. I also have NAC, Alpha lipoic acid, omega 3, vit e, vit d spray, infolic alpha (for pcos). Not made a huge difference so far but not going to stop anything now!

@kerrym87 I’m going to push for lubion at our WTF appointment. Both times now spotting has started at 7dp5dt and progressed into a period. If I had pessaries and lubion I’d be more confident, I think, that it’s not a progesterone issue.

I’m also going to ask about immunes and ALICE/EMMA/ERA. I suspect they’ll say they’re not needed yet because we haven’t had three transfers so can’t say it’s an implantation issue. I suspect it is though, 4 years, never had a BFP. There must be a reason.

I hate this stage

I totally get not knowing whether to do another round or go for donor. It’s such a hard decision. I have one more egg collection in this package, but I’m not sure how long I can keep doing this emotionally and financially. I just might turn into a crazy dog lady instead!

I think I’d be up for trying donor eggs, as a last shot. We would like a family, I don’t think it not being my egg would be the end of the world if we could use DHs sperm. But it’s a difficult decision to have to make.

Adoption isn’t for me. Don’t think I could cope with it. So I think IVF, in whatever form, will be our last shot.

@Lauralozzle sorry it hasn't worked again. I know the feeling well. I also have a short-ish luteal phase (13 days) and seem to start bleeding around 7/8dpo.

What is AOA? All the antioxidants should help with DNA frag. Dual trigger worked well enough for me too, I'd have it again. What grades are your frozen ones? I have a mixture of lublin and cyclogest, as well as Clexane, and this time I'll be on steroids too.

I think for us it's our own eggs and sperm or nothing really. Neither of us are interested in adoption and everything that comes with it, and we're not interested in donor either tbh. It's this or we're done. Crazy dog lady it might be for me, too!

@thislittlebird Artificial oocyte activation uses a substance called a calcium ionophore which aims to help to activate the egg and improve fertilisation. How is AOA carried out? Immediately after your oocytes have been injected using conventional ICSI they are placed in a ready- to-use calcium ionophore solution for 15 minutes (stolen from google). Meant to help with fertilisation and some evidence that it may help with blast quality.

Our fertilisation rate went from 33% to 50% - might just be that there were more mature eggs this time. Blast rate improved though, have a luxury of frozen ones this time!

I don’t know the grades is the frozen ones, but my understanding is CARE are picky about eggs being good enough to freeze. I just know I have 1 full blast and 1 expanded day 6 blast - they said that one was a good quality.

I’m beginning to think I might have an egg issue, and that’s the problem, rather than DH’s stressed sperm.

@kerrym87 thank you! I will look at those.

I think I've decided I will go straight to a tandem cycle with my oe and de as soon as I can. I'm researching clinics and I know only certain ones do it, then I can arrange my finances and go for it, this way they will do an egg collection on me and a donor (more expensive but worth it I think, then fertilise both and see what we get! This way if mine are duff straight away I can use the de ones, if mine are good I can try with mine and freeze the donor as back up (I think this is how it works rather than being able to put one of each in if they both get that far) though I'd do that if it was an option too!

I became a crazy dog lady after my MC 1.5 years ago! Actually he has brought me so much love and happiness so I’d definitely recommend it!

We have been focusing on our wedding next year and therefore just tried to get on with life after the shitty 4 years TTC. Was at the stage of PERHAPS considering donor eggs after that. I think we’d ruled out adoption as to be frank, did not want to end up with a nightmare child and therefore in an even worse position than without a child.
A week ago I got a positive pregnancy test which was a massive surprise- even though I’ve never given up monitoring ovulation and making sure we dtd at the right time. I was still taking Naturelo prenatal and Omega 3, but had long stopped the other million other supplements, and I was also drinking whenever I liked. 5 weeks along and last time I lost the baby at 10 weeks so not exactly celebrating but I am absolutely delighted to be in this fortunate position again and just praying that this horrendous journey is finally over for us.