Anyone starting IVF soon? Join me.

[Shellster52]

After 3 full failed IVF's last year, I am about to embark on my second last attempt. I started an IVF thread during my last IVF, and everyone got pregnant but me. So I swore I wouldn't do that again this time. But I find myself wanting to chat with people going through what I am, so I am starting the thread again. Join me as I seem to be a BFP magnet!

Shellster that is great news!! I'm really pleased for you. It sounds like everything is going to plan. You must feel very relieved, I've got my fingers crossed for you.

This morning I went to the hospital to have a blood test (to see if I'm pregnant....) and to pick up my downregging drugs. I'm really excited to be getting started again - and the trial we're on is very serious/organised. It will involve lots of extra appointments, scans and bloodtests - but I don't mind because it's all worth it for the free cycle! I'll be taking Triptorelin instead of Buserelin this time around. Has anyone tried Triptorelin?

Shellster, I did ask the nurse about fertilisation. She wasn't particularly helpful - she says it's 50:50 down to 'poor quality eggs' and sperm issues. I thought I would see the consultant this morning but it didn't happen. I can certainly ask next time I see him.

Purple I'm not surprised you had a meltdown - you needed one! It's sounds as though you have an enormous amount on your plate at the moment, plus all the extra hormones rushing around your body. Hopefully your holiday will help. Emma, Carrie, everyone else - hello!

Very sweet of you to ask for me bluemoon even if the nurse wasn't that helpful. I really wanted an answer a few days ago because with just one fertilised egg, I was convinced this cycle wasn't going to work. But now I have a glimmer of hope so I'm not so worried about getting an answer to that question.

I'm so paranoid that I'm going to go in there tomorrow and they're going to say to me that the embryo arrested overnight. I just can't believe that with all my history of failed and cancelled cycles, I can be so lucky to have a day 5 embryo to transfer.

I can understand that you're excited to get started. After a failure I was totally depressed, but then as a new cycle starts, you get filled with new hope. That trial sounds great. I personally would be happy with extra appointments, scans, blood tests and close monitoring anyway. So what exactly is the trial studying?

Never tried Triptorelin or Buserelin so I'm no help there.

Hello Suzy. Struggling to find the words to say. Don't want to give you some cheesy line 'Rest... give yourself time...' because I know the pain and that no simple line can make you feel better. But don't want to ignore you so just a warm hello :)

Hello, you must be on tenterhooks right now shellster A 5 day embryo is amazing, after all these months you must be so cautiously excited.
Sorry i've not been able to add much input or advice to anyone, being such a novice I have been sitting back and taking it all in, will be nice to join in properly once I make it to egg collection at least, I feel so behind everyone else.
Thanks for asking where i'm at Emma I am currently still downregging but not for much longer, I have my baseline scan on monday. I've not had too many symptoms fortunately except for being incredibly hot all of the time but I am itching to move on to the next stage but also apprehensive as thats where it all went wrong last time.
Hi Blue Not heard of that other drug either sorry. How great to be getting all that extra monitoring for free though! Will be interesting to hear how it compares to your previous cycle. Good luck.
purple Enjoy your well deserved holiday.

Nice to hear from you carrie! I know what you mean about being excited but aprehensive when you have had a previous failure at that point. I was aprehensive up til day 2 as that's as far as I've ever got. Then silly me allowed myself to get excited when it was 10 cells at day 3 and still progressing at day 4. Was all packed to go in for transfer today when I got a phone call... embryo died overnight. I said to my Dr at start of cycle I wanted to do everything my way so if it didn't work out I could have peace that I tried my best and move on. But now all I want to do is work out why fertilisation rate was so low so I can fix it and go back for IVF number 8.

Alright, well I'm on the back burner now until I see my IVF Dr and make a new plan so I can focus on you guys!

Shellster I feel very sorry for you - what awful news. You must be so disappointed - I feel disappointed for you. You seem to be taking it rather well though. Please do be kind to yourself and have a cry/rant/bottle of wine/whatever you need. Maybe give yourself some time off from project IVF for a while?

I had my first injection of triptorelin last night. I'm feeling a little nervous because I'm using different drugs than my last (successful) cycle. The hospital has assured me that this is a grade A clinical trial though, and apparently these drugs are usually 'too expensive' for the NHS....which has to be a good thing?

Shellster I dug out my notes from the last cycle and I was on 50 units of Buserelin daily (injection), then 300 units of Gonal F (combined with a reduced dose of 20 units of Buserelin) until the trigger shot. I think the trigger shot was Ovitrelle. After that I was on progesterone pessaries. Hope this helps?

I've so sorry there isn't more happy news on this thread.

purple getting the testing done sounds like a really positive step, that was going to be my next step if this ivf hadn't have worked. It always made me feel better to have a next step in mind.

shellster I'm so sorry you got bad news. You really are an incredibly brave person to keep suffering all these setbacks. I don't know what else to say, I just really hope you get some positive news soon. Also I was on the same medication as purple/blue mentioned.

blue glad to see your getting the ball rolling and I hope your feeling positive.

Sending lots of positive feelings to everyone, I will check in soon hopefully for some good news xx

Thanks Happily. Will keep checking in to see you the rest of you are getting on. Had a day of feeling simply hollow inside yesterday and ate crap all day. I will make follow up appt with my IVF Dr tomorrow. I have done months of high protein low carb diet and I don't feel I can continue that much longer so I want to try IVF again soon so all that effort is not put to waste. Just need to work on fertilisation. If I get 5 eggs again but have 5 fertilise instead of 1, then I would really have a better chance.

Does anyone here take DHEA? I have been taking it since I read a study showing women who took it for 3 months after previous IVF failure had much better quality embryos. But I've been taking it for months now. BUt I think that also raises your LH level? Then I took Menopur as well this cycle. Thinking the LH overdose could have been a reason for failed fertilisation as I had much better fertilisation with Puregon alone last year. At least that thought gives me hope there's something I can change for next cycle to improve things.

Will ask at my next appt if embryologist wrote any comments about the egg and sperm quality. Hopefully she doesn't say eggs were brown and old and that's the reason for poor fertilisation as nothing I can do about that!

Shellster, I'm so sorry to hear the embryo didn't make it. It's such awful news. How are you doing today? I was on the same medication as Blue (with 300 going up to 450 Gonal before the trigger, and 50ul of Buserelin all the way through). I hope the embryologist's notes are useful and help establish the best next step for you.

Blue, it's so exciting that you've been accepted for the trial! Surely too expensive for the NHS means they're exceptional! I've got everything crossed for you.

Carrie, I hope the downregging is all going according to plan. It's funny how quickly that part becomes just another ordinary thing that one does. When do you get to the more exciting bits?

I had my surgery on Friday: I am officially fallopian healthy! They shaved off four fibroids and burned away a small patch of endometriosis. When the doctor I now have a perfectly smooth uterus, I burst into tears! Purple, I'm afraid I didn't end up asking about killer cells, as I was pretty out of it. I don't remember much after that, and then later when nurse was going over everything again I passed out and had to go through the entire recovery process again (they had to hang me upside-down like a bat and give me a second bag of rehydration fluid before I felt well again). I ended up in Recovery for 4 hours! It must have done me well, though, as I've felt relatively fine ever since.

Emma. That's fantastic news. Obviously meant a lot to you for you to burst into tears. Was that always at the back of your mind as to why your embryo didn't implant on your last IVF? Must really take that stress away. So what's the next step for you now?

Carrie and Blue. Looking forward to hearing updates! We are due for some more good news on this thread.

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to tell me your IVF meds. I thought I would have to wait weeks to see my IVF Dr for follow up but she had a cancellation tomorrow which is great. I want to see her ASAP as I am hoping to walk away with knowledge as to why this IVF fertilisation was so low and how to correct it for a more successful IVF next time, rather than just dwelling on this IVF failure.

Tried to get my hubby on board about eating healthy in case it makes a difference for next IVF. He got very defensive and said there's nothing wrong with his sperm (despite lab result showing 100% abnormal!) and that I am barking up the wrong tree. Going to book to see IVF counsellor to work out how to deal with this. I want to feel in love with him as we head towards our next IVF. Not bitter and resentful as I do now!

Hi Shellster, I had been a bit wary of going into IVF as more than one consultant had told me that there is no research to prove that fibroids prevent one from getting pregnant, but there is some evidence that they cause miscarriages... So yeah, I've definitely been wondering if that's why it didn't work! I think our next step is to let my endometrium rebuild (which should take one natural cycle) and then to try independently for a while. If we're not pregnant by November, then I think we'll go for IVF again. But we'll be having a follow-up appointment in the next couple of weeks, which should give us some more answers.

I'm so sorry your man isn't owning his side of things. It's so frustrating when you feel like you're the only one doing anything. Do you guys get counselling as part of your treatment? It might be a good idea to go in, either separately or together, to work this out.

I hope you get some more answers at tomorrow's appointment!

Hope everyone else is doing well today -- it's a lovely day here in London (well, a bit of cloud, but still sunny and warm). Let's make the most of it!

Hi Emma good to hear you are now fibroid free. Definitely one less thing to worry about if you do end up having another IVF cycle. Hopefully it will also help with your periods (I've noticed that my periods are much lighter since I had my fibroid op).

Well my downreg drug symptoms have kicked in good and proper - day 3 and I'm already boiling hot, red faced and flustered! Am in the office and have taken off as many clothes as possible. Would love to sit here in my bra and pants but I think my boss would object. Hopefully my body will calm down and get used to it soon. At times like these I definitely do sympathise Shellster - there is really nothing more annoying than an unhelpful DH when you're deep in hormonal hell.

Hi all, Shellster I'm gutted for you, really thought that this time was your turn, i'm a bit in awe of your perseverance, every set back you come back fighting with a bigger and better plan, good for you, I just know you won't let infertility get the better of you, just need to kick that DH of yours in to touch. I hope the follow up appt goes well today and you have some answers.

Hi Emma Massive relief for you to have got rid of the nasty fibroids, here's hoping that its done the trick and you are pregnant in the next few months, I've heard many times of people falling pregnant straight after these kind of ops, hope it works for you too.

blue I'm still feeling hot and i'm 2 weeks in, horrible isn't it, i'm usually the coldest person in the room so its weird that i'm walking around in shorts all the time the last 2 weeks - and its peeing down here today! How long are you DR for?

I had my baseline scan today and I am ready to start stims, i'm going to have an earlier scan this time as they left me 8 days last time and I was under stimulated so this time I have a higher dose and they can monitor me more closely, makes me feel a bit better anyway, so next scan is friday. Wondering though, what are the chances of being ready for egg collection early? They have provisionally booked for the week of the 18th August which would be perfect but if I am ready early, the friday before is my sons birthday so i don't really want to be in for it then. Is it rare to have egg collection early?

Hey happily Hope its all going well.

The 18th is what I would estimate too carriebella. Personally, I've done 7 IVFs now (yuck) and never been ready early if that's any reassurance.

blue, I've never had any symptoms from the drugs like you describe. But then again, I've never had success either, so it must at least mean it's working!

Well, I'm taking a new approach this IVF. My next cycle is going to be about being calm and zen. I'm not going to fight with my hubby about his eating. Instead, every night I cook a healthy dinner and then prepare him a healthy lunch for his work the next day. Going to listen to meditation music every day. Going to stop trying to be in control and trust the Dr so I can relax. And excuse me in advance for being a big fat liar when IVF starts up and I am on here ranting and raving away again!

Okay, off to my follow up appointment to set a plan for IVF 8!

Howdy Happily. Yes, we're due for good news on this thread.

Thanks shellster Thats reassuring to know, although its thinking ahead a bit, still hoping I even make it that far. I was told my Antral follicle count this time, 5 on one side and 8/9 on the other, not sure how this correlates with how many at egg collection?
Haha, rant and rave away, its what we are here for, there is no better stress reliever and it saves the poor husbands getting it! How did the follow up appt go?

Hello ladies - not sure what happened to the message I tried to post earlier - but I DID go early with my EC - I responded well to the stims and they did EC 2 days earlier than scheduled.

Emma - hooray for being fibroid-free and here's hoping that eerything now works without any intervention. I'm not surprised you didn't remember about the killer cells post-surgery....I know I don't make much sense when I first come round! I've got my debrief with the consultant tomorrow, so I'm going armed with some questions....I'll let you know what he says.

Shellster - echo what Carrie says - feel free to rant - this thing is tough and we're all hear from you. I took DHEA before IVF - on the advice of a fertility researcher behind a fertility monitor that I used when we were ttc the old-fashioned way (well, sort of!), but our consultant was pretty dismissive about it, so I stopped when we started doing IVF.

Hello Blue....back on the rollercoaster....hope it's all going well.

Hey Happily - how are you doing? You must be at the magical 12-week stage by now? How are you feeling?

xxx

I'm 12+2 now which feels really good, don't have my 12 week scan until Friday so still abit worried until then. Even after two previous scans I can't relax!!! Thank you for asking x

So an AFC of 13/14 Carrie. I started one IVF with an AFC of 8 and got 4 mature eggs-half. This time I started with 19 so expected about 9/10 eggs but got 5. Two different stim drugs so I assume that is the reason. Also had 3 of 4 fertilise the first time and only 1 of 5 the second. I will be asking to go back to the first stim drug for my next IVF. So I guess it depends on each cycle and the different meds. Looking forward to hearing good news from your first scan.

I got called into work yesterday and decided I need the $ to pay for another IVF, so had to postpone appt to 14th August. I will be into my next cycle by then so hopefully I can have a 1 cycle break and then try again.

Blue, how are you going with it all?

Happily, I can imagine being a bit worried after all you've been through. Hopefully the scan gives you the final reassurance you need.

Oh, Happily - I can so relate to that feeling....and the almost overwhelming relief when you find it's all fine .

Soooooo. You got me thinking, last night Shellster - (and obsessing, and researching, if truth be told ) and I was trying to work out if there was a way of getting the diagnostics that I would like to put in place if I'm going to put my heart, and our savings, through this battering again. There are places in the UK where I could have all this done, but at a cost of possibly £5K more than our current clinic, which is almost another round of IVF...

....so we're thinking about going abroad. A bit of research last night led me to a couple of clinics in the Czech Republic, which have excellent results and cost about 60% of UK IVF fees. This would mean that we could have PGS (unless the terminology is different here, I think it's PGS we need, Shellster - as this seems to be where they screen for all chromosomal defects, PGD is to see if the embryo has something specific, e.g. if the parents are cystic fibrosis carriers etc) for about the same cost as going for another "hit and miss" round in the UK.

Do any of you know anyone who's had treatment in CZ? I'm going to order brochures and ask on Fertility Friends and here.

We've got our meeting with the consultant this morning, so we'll listen to what he has to say and keep our options open, but I've got my Plan B up my sleeve and, as we all know, life feels a lot better armed with a Plan B....

Hi Purple - I don't know anyone who has used a clinic abroad but I do know a couple of patients who travel from abroad to use my clinic (Guy's in London). I think it's a good idea if it saves you some money and you get what you want. You may remember that I was fretting about doing a long haul flight when I got my BFP in May, and my consultant reminded me of all the people flying backwards and forwards for IVF treatment. There is really no risk involved with flying - I guess the only thing you might want to think about is the extra time off work you'll need (I presume you need to stay in CZ Rep between EC and ET?).

I'm doing ok - trying to relax and ignore the hot flushes! I did a bit of internet research on the drug I'm on (triptorelin - aka 'decapeptyl') and all the info is related to prostate cancer and early puberty treatment, barely any mention of IVF. I've decided that ignorance is bliss and am going to avoid Google from now on which apparently is 'good for us' according to some researchers in Israel!

Glad to see some action on the thread again. I find it very useful to come here and get advice/have a moan from people in the same boat. Happily I'm thrilled that everything is working out for you - you're the success story so far!

Well, I've done a complete U-turn since this morning: we had our meeting with the consultant, and he was encouraging and lovely and we've decided to give it another go at this clinic, probably starting in October. I'm going to try with a short protocol and slightly different drugs, and he's recommended that I take aspirin from now.

Before we'd said anything, he started off by saying how disappointing it must be to be where we are and that he expected we'd probably be thinking about PGS. His take is that it doesn't help that much: apparently perfectly normal embryos sometimes have abnormal cells, and they tend to push them to the outside, just where cells are collected for biopsy in PGS, so this is why sometimes normal embryos get rejected because they appear abnormal. He advised us to have more embryos put back, rather than go to the expense of tests that had a mixed track record. He recommended that we have 3 embryos put back next time, if we have them.

I also asked about killer cells and he said that he went to a big emporium about killer cells a couple of years ago and at the end, 39 out of 40 fertility experts concluded that they weren't to blame for failure to implant and that the killer cells that occur in blood are not the same as the killer cells in the uterus, so he advised that we didn't spend any money on testing for that either.

What he did recommend is that we have some testing to see if there might be an immunological reason for our failure to implant, or a clotting problem. I think I may have had these tests before, so he's checking with my GP...

Well, I've done a complete U-turn since this morning: we had our meeting with the consultant, and he was encouraging and lovely and we've decided to give it another go at this clinic, probably starting in October. I'm going to try with a short protocol and slightly different drugs, and he's recommended that I take aspirin from now.

Before we'd said anything, he started off by saying how disappointing it must be to be where we are and that he expected we'd probably be thinking about PGS. His take is that it doesn't help that much: apparently perfectly normal embryos sometimes have abnormal cells, and they tend to push them to the outside, just where cells are collected for biopsy in PGS, so this is why sometimes normal embryos get rejected because they appear abnormal. He advised us to have more embryos put back, rather than go to the expense of tests that had a mixed track record. He recommended that we have 3 embryos put back next time, if we have them.

I also asked about killer cells and he said that he went to a big emporium about killer cells a couple of years ago and at the end, 39 out of 40 fertility experts concluded that they weren't to blame for failure to implant and that the killer cells that occur in blood are not the same as the killer cells in the uterus, so he advised that we didn't spend any money on testing for that either.

What he did recommend is that we have some testing to see if there might be an immunological reason for our failure to implant, or a clotting problem. I think I may have had these tests before, so he's checking with my GP...

Well, I've done a complete U-turn since this morning: we had our meeting with the consultant, and he was encouraging and lovely and we've decided to give it another go at this clinic, probably starting in October. I'm going to try with a short protocol and slightly different drugs, and he's recommended that I take aspirin from now.

Before we'd said anything, he started off by saying how disappointing it must be to be where we are and that he expected we'd probably be thinking about PGS. His take is that it doesn't help that much: apparently perfectly normal embryos sometimes have abnormal cells, and they tend to push them to the outside, just where cells are collected for biopsy in PGS, so this is why sometimes normal embryos get rejected because they appear abnormal. He advised us to have more embryos put back, rather than go to the expense of tests that had a mixed track record. He recommended that we have 3 embryos put back next time, if we have them.

I also asked about killer cells and he said that he went to a big emporium about killer cells a couple of years ago and at the end, 39 out of 40 fertility experts concluded that they weren't to blame for failure to implant and that the killer cells that occur in blood are not the same as the killer cells in the uterus, so he advised that we didn't spend any money on testing for that either.

What he did recommend is that we have some testing to see if there might be an immunological reason for our failure to implant, or a clotting problem. I think I may have had these tests before, so he's checking with my GP...

Blue. That Israel research sounds interesting. I got an error when I tried to click on your link. But I do agree. All my past cycles I have been reading and researching and trying to do everything right. 7 cycles now and no BFP. Next cycle I am going to try to meditate daily and come up with a few mantras to just relax.

Purple. I have asked Dr's at both of my clincis about Aspirin and none seem to know about it, so it's very interesting that there is a Dr out there who knows about it and actually recommends it. Makes him sound like he is up with the latest research which is reassuring. I assume he is recommending it to increase your egg quantity? I have gone from an AFC of 5 without Aspirin to an AFC of 19 so it definitely works.

Sounds like a perfect plan. We also can't afford PGD/PGS, so the one way around it is instead of paying $$$ to pick a single embryo that isn't abnormal to transfer, just put them all back (well, you'd think 3 would be close to all). Glad you have a plan in place you are happy with and I will try not to stress you out anymore!

I've just been reading about one USA clinic that offers a program of 4 back to back IVF cycles (unless you get pregnant sooner!) as they have found that increases number of eggs retrieved for poor responding women. I have to have a one cycle break as I can't get in to see my IVF Dr until next cycle, so I am planning to take a dose of my left over Puregon during my follicular phase next cycle in the hope that I get more eggs the following cycle for IVF!

Not sure why my last post inserted itself 3 times!

Interesting article, Blue - Shellster - I couldn't get there with the link either, so I googled the title and here are the results: it's the Telegraph article - see if you can get it from here - but it may be because you're overseas here

The aspirin is to help implantation rather than anything to do with the follicles themselves. We're going to have some tests to see if I should also take heparin for the same reason. He's putting me onto a short protocol to boost the number of eggs, so interesting to hear that aspirin should do that too.

Okay, that's interesting Purple. I was taking it after reading a study showing that it increases egg quantity. And thanks, your link about 'relaxing and letting go' did work. How ironic, here is Blue suggesting we stop reading researching and googling and just let go, and here is me keen to read the study so I can research it!

I really do believe this now though. My last IVF cycle started just a couple of days after returning from a two week holiday and I had my highest ever follicle count of 19. So that says a lot for relaxing helping. I have tried everything now and read everything there is to read about my circumstances and what can improve things, so next IVF cycle I will ban myself from Dr Google and focus on breathing and relaxing. Hopefully you too now feel happy with your next IVF cycle plan so you can relax too.

Blue. Where are you at with things. When will you have your base line scan?

Carrie, you should be due for your first scan any day now shouldn't you since you are having it earlier this time? Really thinking last time was just bad luck since you have a lovely high AMH - and I am slightly jealous since my lowest reading was 2.5!

Got my period today as a nice reminder that this IVF cycle failed. Have my appointment next week with my IVF Dr and will hopefully get some answers. Want to get answers why only 1 in 5 fertilized. Really worried that she is going to tell me the embryologist thought all my eggs looked miss-shappen and dis-colored and old and that's the reason for the poor fertilization. Will start IVF again next cycle if my Dr is okay with that.