Ivf and sertraline

[Lovelybubbly78]

Hi ladies , after years of ttc, multiple late first trimesters losses and ivf , now with covid restrictions - I’ve needed some help with 50mg sertraline . I’m worried that it will affect my egg quality ( I’m using pgs to select decent embryos) I asked my clinic and Gp and neither know the impact . The gp said it’s fine for pregnancy and breastfeeding. Does anyone know for ivf ? Thanks

When I started IVF I was on citalopram and our fertility consultant advised I come off it before we start treatment. I was eventually off it for almost 10 months before we had the egg collection (due to a few rounds where I didn't respond to medication and had to abandon cycles). I obviously can't say whether it made any difference - I also stopped drinking, having any caffeine, had acupuncture weekly etc - but I had a very successful collection with 6 top grade embryos and fell pregnant straight away. Luck, all of the above or one of the above - I'll never know! All I will say is that stress is a huge factor in IVF success imo, and if coming off meds is going to make you unwell then don't do it. I was able to afford private therapy which helped me to come off the medication.

Hi @BananaHammock23 I’ve just gone on it , I haven’t been sleeping at all and not sure how I’d be able to get through the ivf cycle without sleep :/ I wish I could shake myself and make my anxiety go away at least for a couple of cycles but it’s just not working . I’ve had hypnotherapy, done every herbal and other sleep aid approach , bought books on cbt etc nothing works . Now I’m worrying I’m ruining my chance to do ivf successfully too :-(

@Lovelybubbly78 try not to worry, you can only do your best! Not sleeping and feeling anxious and/or stressed all the time is bound to have a worse effect on any IVF outcome than being on medication x

I was on 200mg of sertraline when we had IVF - my psychiatrist and consultant at the fertility clinic were both happy for me to stay on it.

Thanks @mynameiscalypso my worry is I’ll get through ivf but it just won’t be successful because I’ve taken something . I’ve read conflicting info . One scientific study said that it had no effect on ivf but there was 20% less chance of a live birth. They didn’t know why .

Meh, I think that's bollocks. Our cycle didn't work but I don't think it had anything to do with sertraline as we then, very unexpectedly, got pregnant just before we were going to do a FET. That pregnancy all went very smoothly.

Sorry, that sounds so rude and dismissive! I think that there's a tendency to want to find reasons why it does/doesn't work and beat ourselves up for choices when, frankly, it's a lottery and there are all sorts of reasons why it might or might not work which are totally beyond our control. It's natural to focus on those things you can control but your mental health is so important too.

@mynameiscalypso thank you for your encouragement. I’m so glad you got your baby !! I think I’m anxious anyway until the sertraline starts working , so doubt about whether I should be even taking it was making me feel worse . I’ve been doing all the right things - no caffeine , alcohol, low carbs etc and feel like now I’m putting drugs into my body . I just can’t seem to hold the anxiety down this time though and I really do need to take something x

If it also makes you feel any better, DS was conceived after a large number of espresso martinis and I didn't realise I was pregnant for a few weeks because I just assumed my symptoms were the result of a series of epic hangovers. I was so much 'better' during my IVF cycle but it didn't really seem to have any benefits.

Haha yes my ds was conceived a few years ago when I was drinking quite a bit and didn’t realise til weeks later . I was also taking Painkillers for the period pain which was lasting two weeks ! I wish I was that naive and inexperienced with ttc these days !