Immune/NK cells - pred thread 30

[Sezmarelda1]

Starting a new thread as the last one was full. Please tag anyone I may have missed from the old thread...

@Sophi81
@InvisibleDreamer
@birdbybird
@Ralowi
@HoldingOn2Hope
@MyEasterEggs
@Tgrf55

Ladies quick question about Shehatas plan of progesterone 1dpo. I have got the easy at home ovulation tests and also clear blue digital to make 100% sure of ovulation. When you get the flashing smiley - would you then use progesterone the following evening or would you wait 2 days? Because flashing means you will ovulate in the next day right? So I was thinking wait until 2 days from flashing smiley?
just scared about ectopic risk as I have heard taking progesterone too early can cause that?

thanks xx

@JessL12 hope you are ok.. just a quick question hope you dont mind :)
Epsom told me I can also have the 10 week check for chromosomal abnormalities.. what does this involve? Is it the harmony test, or is that private? Or just the scan and standard nhs blood test? Xx

@Hayley220 I’m actually calling them on Monday to book it in for 2 weeks time so once I have spoken to Cecelia I will let you know what it actually involves as I’m not sure either xx

Serial lurker here, has anyone been diagnosed with low cell count? I had the biopsy with Prof Brosens and my results are low. I'm sure he said treatment for this is Sitagliptin. I know most of you are with Dr S so unlikely to be anyone here but just incase ☺️. I've attached a photo of my results below x

@FfayeN yes, I saw Prof B and one of my biopsies was normal but the other was 0.71% and he prescribed sitagliptin. I don't know if its linked but I had all my lining issues last year after taking it. I did message him at the time but he was very dismissive about it

@Hayley220 I thought with clearblue you had to get the solid smiley. I usually wait until about 3dpo before starting pred. It can stop ovulation if it's taken too early. Do you temp?

@MrsMargot my husband is similar in thinking that I'm overmedicated. Hope the sperm test is ok. We did find that dh has slightly raised dna fragmentation so he's on impryl now. He also did the urine infections test and were both on antibiotics now for ureaplasma.

@comingsoon786110 ❤️ ive also heard Dr S say about Prof Regan always treats for septums and he feels its not an issue for many. I think a hysteroscopy is a good thing though. I've had 2 ,one found a polyp but the other was clear (I had suspected scarring).
Its really hard when you get conflicting advice. Xx

Hi @VenusStarr im not on pred just hydroxy and progesterone from ovulation. Did you wait 3dpo for progesterone? Thanks xx

Oh sorry @Hayley220 I misread. Yeh, I think still waiting until 3dpo and you're certain you've ovulated. Do you get any other signs? Xx

@VenusStarr thankyou! No I am pretty rubbish with tracking ovulation I have never really done that before, just used my app which estimates. So I am hoping all the tests I have bought help 😊 have been reading your posts and you are trying again with super ovulation in april? Best wishes to you 💕

I have found apps to be pretty good, once they've learnt your cycle. And I've heard good things about clearblue, I've just never used them @Hayley220
Yeh, period will be due April 2nd 😬 we've started our Doxycycline antibiotics today to clear the ureaplasma. I just need to order the superovulation meds next month so we're ready to go. Thank you 😊

@Hayley220 As I understand it, the flashing smiley means your hormone levels are on the rise so you are fertile. The static smiley means it’s detected a LH surge and you are likely to ovulate over the next couple of days.

I had a follicle scan on the day after my static smiley face (at 7am) and the follicle had ruptured, so hopefully I ovulated. I think I felt it go in the afternoon of my static.

I rang CRP and asked when I should start the pred and prog based on a static smiley and they said the next day - so for me it was 1dpo, as I know for sure the follicle had gone. But - I think for cycles when I don’t have the scan, I would probably wait until the following day, just to be sure as I know ovulation can take longer sometimes from the LH surge - and sometimes you can’t be too sure when the actual surge happened. I hope that makes sense! Xx

@VenusStarr yes its annoying when everyone is giving different advice. Do you remember if you had to wait until to ttc after you had the procedure done?

I am still in two minds but weighing more towards not having it done. Do you think St Mary's will discharge me and say they can no longer help if k decline this? They have done all the other tests and found nothing so not sure as to what else they can investigate?

@comingsoon786110 I don't think we had to wait after they removed the polyp. I think if they find scarring / adhesions, they may say to wait due to recovery period.

Maybe if you're unsure right now, you could postpone? Then it gives you breathing space. I'm not sure if they'd discharge you on that basis. I was under Tommy's and I don't think I've ever formally been discharged but they never offered me any treatment or tests beyond bloods to find out our cause. They eouldnt rven prescribe progesterone. I did see them for my 4th and 6th loss to arrange karyotyping and genetic tests of the babies. X

@VenusStarr we will see what my husband’s sperm analysis show but I have a nasty feeling the results won’t be great. Both pregnancies in Summer and now showed a sac and nothing inside. I am reading some papers online and it looks like this is an option medication of chromosomal abnormalities. I will make a note to ask Dr S on Wednesday. We did ask Dr Edge but she said there is no evidence. I’m am finding quite a bit of evidence in some journals 🤔

Did you take the impryl under someone’s guidance? I am wondering whether I can just order it online and start anyway.

and if you do not mind me asking, what is this other test about urine infection?

@MrsMargot how big is the sac? I have known people get results from empty sacs on genetic testing. One that comes to mind was a triploidy (I might not have spelt that right), think that's fertilised by 2 sperm. I hope Dr S can provide some insight and hope for you.

I just decided to do impryl myself, as dh is also on it for his sperm dna frag. I have low amh and read on the impryl website that it can help with amh. Crp said to stick to their coq10 dose. But I haven't, just doing impryl. It says to not mix with other antioxidant supplements. It's also got folate in rather than folic acid.

Dh was told by Dr Gordon, the urologist at crp, to do this urine test - think it's called DL12 pcr test. You just do a sample and post it off (nearly £300 a test 🙄). Dh's came back with this ureaplasma so they said I had to test too. And I also have it, so both on Doxycycline to clear it.
Is your dh's sperm test with crp? X

@star2022 yes our results seem very similar! So I wonder why I'm on pred and you're on hydroxy! Did you say you had pred before and that's why you're not on it now? Do you have to wait to try whilst on hydroxy or can you try straight away? How many eggs/embryos did you get when your amh was 17? Mine was only 10 when I did my EC in 2019 but we ended up with 5 blastocyst from 10 eggs but then only 1 actually resulted in a child. I have been given a few different plans by Dr S so have the drugs but I am just trying to prepare myself for another EC. I am 35 and trying for my 2nd after 3 back to back failed/miscarried FETs last year...no embryos left now...Great! He said I could try naturally, do SO etc but he recommended I just go for IVF as it's quicker and we know it can work...the only thing that has. But saying this, I'm in a place emotionally where I'm not convincedI will even respond well to the drugs as I last had an EC in 2019 and that I feel I am doing this more so that when I'm 40 I can't say I didn't try and to not have any regrets!

@VenusStarr sorry to jump in on your above posts...are you taking impryl for AMH? I didn't even know coq10 or impryl was meant to improve amh...I didn't actually think anything could as we are born with all of our eggs? Sorry, please educate me! Dr S said he didn't think I was getting pregnant because of my low amh but then I thought that doesn't explain the failed ivfs as they were eggs from years ago...

@Zest11 I've taken ubiquinol (a version of coq10) which is for egg quality since after my first loss in 2019. On the impryl website it says women with low amh seem to have good results and it can help egg quality too. So thought I'd give it a try instead. I've also heard amh can fluctuate. Mine was 9.5 in early 2020, by the time I saw Dr S in late 2020 it was 5, so I expect its even worse now 😕 im not going to get it tested as id rather not know. Although in my last ivf cycle, which was low dose stims, my afc was about 8.
It's so hard to know what to do for the best. X

@VenusStarr ahh yes I see if younhave been taking the coq10 since2019 then there's no harm in trying something different. I started in the summer with it then realised I had the ubiquinone so then moved on to the ubiquinol at 400mg and then realised that apparently the soft gels are b3tter than the powdered form and Dr srecommends 600 a day so I've only been doing that a few weeks! It really is so confusing knowing what the right thing to do is and why are there so many variations of the same thing!!

Thanks for the reply about your protocol @VenusStarr ❤️

@Zest11 Yes I've had prednisolone before but saying that I don't actually know why I'm not on them, I mean he may put me on them next month. At the moment, yeah he told me to take hydroxy 200mg once daily for 4 weeks (so yes we can't even try this month which is super frustrating).

My AMH was 17 last May 2022, but I had an egg collection in Feb 22 and only got 2 eggs! (I didn't respond well to the drugs, I had 2 dominant follicles at 15mm after just 4 days of stims) so I had to have an egg collection booked asap before they ovulated. Both fertilised overnight, one was a day 3 fresh transfer which failed, the other was a 5 day blast and this one also failed (FET).

I then did another egg collection in July on a different protocol, this time I was on high dose stims, got 8 eggs, 5 fertilised, 4 blastocysts. But these were worse quality than the first cycle I had. Part of me thinks it was because of the high dose stims but I don't actually know. I had an ungraded blast transferred which resulted in a chemical (my first and only ever bfp). I did a FET after that on prednisolone (low dose), clexane and aspirin - this failed too. I have 2 left in the freezer but are C grade. To be honest, I was with Create and I don't feel like they were great.

Part of me wants to do another egg collection but I can't face doing ivf any time soon after last year. Waiting on hubby's dna sperm fragmentation to come back too. I've had him on Impryl since 1st Jan this year and i've been on ubiquinol 400mg for a few months now, but increased it to 600mg since seeing dr s xx

That's interesting that Dr S has upped the ubiquinol dose, they've not said. I'm waiting for an updated plan for superovulation with gonal f. Think I'll need to chase them.

I was with Create too @star2022 I was on mild ivf the first time and got 7 eggs, 3 top quality blasts, 2 miscarriages. My cycle last October was lower dose stims as we were just doing it for the lining effects but they converted it last minute (literally on the day I didn't know if I was doing egg collection or not), 3 eggs, 2 fertilised, 1 morula on day 5 😕 I'm not ready to do more ivf yet. We spent most of last year doing it and got absolutely nowhere.
Fingers crossed for you dh's dna frag results.

@Zest11 feels like the protocols from Dr S keep changing! Coq10 / ubiquinol wasn't in my very first place. But I was already taking 200mg. I did initially swap to powdered capsules when he added it but they were massive and gave me heartburn! X

@VenusStarr the current sac 8 mm and in the summer was exactly the same at this time of gestation.

I was reading about impryl. Yes you are right about amh. I have been reading it is helpful. That is brilliant. i am reluctant to stop all my other supplements (contain a lot of antioxidants) but I need to see whether this makes any difference.

Yes my husbands fragmentation is booked with CRP. What is the procedure afterwards? Do they ask you to book with the urologist? I found that Dr Jonathan Ramsay is great and i was thinking to book an appointment. Maybe i should wait and see.

By the way, anyone else has the feeling that some time the clinic is leaving a few things in chance? First time i went, I did a whole host of tests and Dr S said after more or less ' this is the problem, this is the medication, run with it'. i did what he said and it worked. Now i feel like they re adding medications without any further tests. Are there any further tests that is good or things to retest or this is how it is if there if the protocol does not work?

It's so hard when you try the plan and your pregnancy ends at the same gestation @MrsMargot That happened to us 💔 are you going to try impryl now too? Have to say its nice only doing one supplement!

Dh got his result emailed and they suggested he see Dr Gordon. He only works 2 Mondays a month with crp! So he had a wait. Dh decided to start impryl before the appt. He had it over zoom, if in person he'd have a physical exam too. Dh was told to do the urine pcr test that was posted (£300!) And he asked his GP to test his testosterone. He's not needed to see Dr Gordon again, the nurses at crp liaise with him and will let your dh know next steps if he needs meds etc.

I did do the Enma and Alice tests to look for infection and inflammation after our first loss on the plan. But it wasn't really for immune stuff, if that makes sense? I haven't had further tests on the immune side but am on alllll the meds 🙃

@VenusStarr I know what you mean by being on one tablet. I bet my colleagues are thinking I either very ill or super weird with all these tablets I am taking after lunch...

I had the most weird scan and meeting with Dr S today. I am guessing it is semi good news but i do not know what to think really.. We were prepared to confirm the inevitable today but instead, he found a baby with a very strong heartbeat however, it measures a week behind my dates. I know exactly when I ovulated so definitely a week behind but I do not know what to think. He asked me to go back in a week. 🤔

Oh wow! I can't imagine how you must be feeling but there is hope ❤️ @MrsMargot a strong heartbeat is a good sign. I'm keeping everything crossed that your little continues to grow and catches up with your dates. How far along are you by your dates? X

@VenusStarr thank you very much. I really am confused. I do not know what to say or think.. He gave me a 50/50 chance and to go back next week. I am trying to play it down because i will be crashed if this is false hope...

I am 7w1d in dates but the baby measures 6w1d which is a week behind exactly.

I have everything crossed for you @MrsMargot 🙏