Anyone taken Aspirin while undergoing IVF. Advice welcome.

[Shellster52]

I usually start IVF with 2-3 follicles on each ovary. I took Aspirin for 2 cycles prior to Dec 2013 IVF and started with an amazing 15 follicles. I continued to take it throughout that cycle, only stopping for a few days before egg collection so I wouldn't heamorrage. Unfortunately BFN despite excellent embryo.

Cycles then went haywire and I read Aspirin can cause this so I stopped it but again only had 6 follicles on day 2 of IVF cycle of which only 3 responded, so I cancelled.

Am now taking Aspirin again in prep for IVF next cycle. I have read that it can interfere with implantation and have decided I won't take it after egg collection this time. Perhaps that is reason why embryo didn't implant last time? But I have read conflicting studies and can't decide if I should stop it at day 1 of my IVF cycle or continue until a few days before egg collection????

Did you take Aspirin during your IVF cycle and what was the outcome? Or do you have any knowledge on what would be the best choice?

Haha! I don't always feel that healthy, Shellster (if there is vegan ice cream/cake/pie going, I will eat it out of principle), but I do really like vegetables. I think it might just be habitual by this point! MrGH will happily eat total garbage if it's on offer, but we're both pretty adventurous eaters which makes the whole healthy eating more fun, because we'll give all sorts of ingredients a go.

You mustn't mind your husband too much, though. Half the time I doubt healthy living impacts anything, really! When you think of how many people get pregnant when they're living in really awful conditions, it just seems like it's luck of the draw as much as anything else.

Do let me know how your experiment pans out! I think I might actually skip pre-ovulation aspirin and just try 0.5 in the days following in the hopes that it helps an embryo (if there's one there) to settle in, as the study quoted on the previous page suggests.

Yes, trying not to stress if my husband eats junk. Just making healthy lunches and dinners when I have time as it's the best I can do. Been TTC for 3 years and we are going to end in divorce if I am constantly on his back so I just TRY to relax and have a normal relationship.

I will let you know how my Aspirin experiment gets on. Last time I stopped it at day 3 until after ovulation and started IVF with only 5 follicles. So I need to take it longer than that - maybe try stopping day 10/11. Will be devastated if it doesn't work out as I need to ovulate to go ahead with IVF the following cycle and I can't handle the waiting any longer!

Shellster is really sounds like you are on the brink of a regime that suits you and gets the best results. I really admire your determination and investigative skills . I agree totally on the docs not really caring. I feel like my clinic is quite backward and slow moving too when it comes to what's out there treatment-wise. It seems like the USA, Europe and even London have far more treatment options but not really practical for me I'm on holiday at the moment so trying (unsuccessfully....here I am writing to you ) to have a break and not think about it for a while.

I've given up taking the asprin for now. I'm too confused over the benefits/ downsides (esp when trying naturally) and a bit uncomfortable self-medicating. I might get back to it later. I'd love to be a cycle buddy with you but I think if I go ahead with another cycle it will be in August. I have to give my clinic 2 months notice from my June app.
I will be keeping a hopeful look out for you on your July cycle though. I really feel you are almost there with getting a good haul and a positive result.

I've only had one afc scan where they said I had nine follicles. They don't do an afc (NHS cycle) as standard as part of the ivf 2 day scan. They are just checking all is quiet and there are no cysts. I did ask the nurse at my 2nd ivf 2 day scan and she had a half hearted attempt at a count and got to 4 and tailed off. I'm not sure if that was it and she didn't want to depress me or if she just didn't have the time or wasn't using the right magnification scan?? Who knows.

I sympathise with you on the husband junk eating thing. With my husband it's alcohol. Although recently he doesn't often drink to excess, but whenever he does open a beer I clench but I try not to turn into a banshee...I have to remember that his sperm came back fine and it's probably my old eggs that are to blame...

Fingers crossed for the next shot for us both

Zippy, your message was just what I needed to hear right at this very moment so thank you so much! I tried naturally last cycle after IVF was cancelled due to poor response. I knew I would ovulate three eggs and had taken Viagra so had a nice thick lining, so when IVF was cancelled we tried naturally since I would ovulate 3 eggs. But today my period arrived and I realize how much I had my hopes up which is silly because if hubby has 100% abnormal sperm, how could it work. I felt like having a self pity party and raiding the cupboards for junk.

But your message saved me. You are so right. I have been trying to be very practical and am on the brink of a regime that suits me. Why destroy it now by eating junk. The high protein low carb diet is shown to increase embryos that make it to 50% so I have to stick at it so that even if I only make 4 eggs, then statistically 2 will make the distance. I try to convince my self that I am getting so close but it seems so much more believable when I hear it from some one elses objective viewpoint. So thank you very much. If I eat crap now and give up, I will look back with regret and wonder if this is why my next IVF failed. So I mustn't quit now.

Hope you are enjoying your holiday with at least a moment or two here and there where you can forget this crap. We are going for a holiday in just under two weeks too. Then when I come back, it's IVF time again.

Thank you again for your encouraging message. I obviously really need to hear those encouraging words because you have really changed my spirits today. Feel free to keep reminding me to be positive and I am nearly there! I hope I can be just as encouraging to you when your time comes.

Hi Shellster I am so pleased that I gave you a positivity boost at the right moment! . It is how I see it though and really pleased I shared my thoughts at the right time for you. It's so hard to find a way through the ups and downs emotionally of this and try to keep on an even keel. Well done you on avoiding the snack cupboard though .

I've thrown a bit of caution to the wind on my holiday health-wise. Long gone is the super-food (esk) porridge bowl start to the day with nuts and berries and pumpkin seeds (for extra protein). I'm eating whatever suits and drinking beer with guilt ridden carefree abandon . There's no chance of one of those ironic holiday bfp's for me either because I'm pre-menstrual the first week and due the second .

I do remember my first shot at clomid I over-responded and had 3 eggs respond. They 'advised me' on the dangers of having sex that month and I was so excited that there was a chance/ danger of an actual multiple pregnancy I actually gave it a lot of thought before having sex. Aaah the naivety (in retrospect). I wish. I understand the hope. I feel like an idiot for the constant hope I have for this even though my husbands sperm is 'normal' we have been trying for a l o n g time so there is clearly something wrong here that natural trying isn't going to overcome. The same with you though, the hope doesn't stop. Don't feel bad for having hope. What does 100% abnormal mean? Is he the father of your first child? (I think you said you had a child? Sorry if I'm wrong). Weirder things have happened? I think if we didn't have hope we'd crumble.

I so hope that with your tailored regime and ICSI (?) that you will crack the barrier and see it through to a happy ending (I really effin wish it for you! You've totally earned it in perseverance alone!).
x

Yes, we got pregnant after a year with our first child. I don't mention him too much on here because other women must think that I should stop my whinging when most on here don't have any. But I could just cry when I think of him growing up alone and when I see him playing with other kids and think of how he will be asking for a brother/sister as he gets older. I don't know what my husbands sperm was like when we conceived him. I had my son in May 2012 and got hubbys sperm tested for first time in April 2013. It was 98% abnormal morphology. The comments said that most sperm are missing the acrosome cap (an outer layer on the sperm that contains enzymes and enables it to penetrate the egg). We got it retested twice since then and both times it came back 100% abnormal.

Hope you are having a fantastic holiday. We are about to go interstate for two weeks. I am seeing my IVF Dr in four days time before we leave to plan next IVF. I really want to start IVF again next cycle but will still be away fiirst few days of next cycle. Going to ask if I can take drugs early and take them with me even though keeping them cold while travelling will be a nightmare but I just want to get this whole thing over with yesterday and can't bear the thought of waiting yet another cycle.

What about yourself? Do you have any set plans for another IVF in the future or are you just taking a break. Have an extra beer for me seeing as I can't have one without a guilt ridden consience!

PS, when you say you never got to transfer stage both IVF's, do you mind me asking what went wrong both times?

Shellster well your wee boy sounds like a miracle conception with those results but you shouldn't feel like you shouldn't mention him. I don't think your pain is any less. You have an overwhelming ache to be a mother again and complete your family. It's just so desperately sad that what we expect is a biologically possibility (I used to think certainty) seems for us to be so unattainable. I've seen so many pregnant ladies and babies on my holiday. My mind just boggles that I can't achieve it. It seems so unfair. My husband has always tried to reassure me that because I look young on the outside that I will also be young on the inside. As it turns out, not so

I'm pretty sure the nurse said that a drug could be left un-refrigerated for 24 hours - I'm not 100% but I think it was gonal F (I'd forgotten to bring a cool bag). Not sure if that helps your travel dilemma but worth asking? Or your hand luggage could be a massive cool bag stuffed full of ice!??...

I'm not sure what I'm doing ivf wise. I'm pretty sure my clinic won't do the EPP so that leaves me with a clinic that I have to fly to for a scan?? That sounds really problematic and a nightmare to arrange with work when you can't plan which days you'd need to take etc. Just feeling entirely fed up with it all . Thinking about de and adoption. It all seems so impossible whichever way I look so I'm feeling a little overwhelmed. So...I'm allowing myself a little break while I get my grit and determination (and backbone) back. Sorry if I sound too negative. Really feeling a bit pathetic right now.

Just to answer your question the first nhs cycle I had 2 follicles respond and the doctors were surprised and advised me to cancel and switched me to iui. The second I had 3 follies respond, 2 eggs retrieved, 1 mature, it didn't fertilise . Wondering if that was just the unlucky side of statistics or if there is a fertilisation issue? There's no way to tell without having enough eggs to test the odds!! Will ask my hopelessly negative fc about it at the review app next week.

Anyway I hope you have a totally lovely holiday and manage to swing it so that you start your cycle at the tail end. All the waiting is so frustrating! x

Oh yes, all those pregnant ladies and babies. I am sure they will be a constant reminder on my holiday too!

Thanks for your tip on the drug refrigeration issue. I plan to pack them in a cool bag with ice packs for the 5 day drive and will re-freeze the ice-packs in the motels overnight. Just have to remember them each night and not leave the drugs behind in the motel fridge in the morning! First have to see if the doctor will allow it seeing as it means I may not be back in time for a day 2 scan to start the IVF proceedings. Will find out Friday.

It's a shame your clinic won't allow you to do EPP. I think it's your body and your money and you should have a say in the decision. I was convinced of EPP after a friend in America tried it and then I did my own research. The first two IVF's I got 1-2 eggs and then with EPP I got 5 so I really believe in it. It just isn't standard practice in England or Australia so the Drs have never heard of it. That being said, I am scared my own Dr won't let me repeat it since it was such a disaster last cycle. I am sure after what I read, that the Aspirin was the cause seeing as last time doing EPP without Aspirin, I had 5 of 8 respond but this time only 3 of 14 with Aspirin. But my Dr is not familiar with Aspirin and not sure she will agree and might just think the EPP is no good seeing as she had never heard of it but just allowed me a go of it. I will feel much more relaxed once my appointment is over on Friday and I have been told I can have what I want.

I too have thought about alternatives. I have looked into foster care as I don't think adoption is easy or even possible in Australia. Breastfeeding went horribly wrong with my son and I felt deprived of a part of motherhood so foster care would not fill that void, so then I researched how to induce lactation for the foster child! Talk about desperate. But then I think that if the childs parents wanted to take the child back, my son would lose a close family member and it wouldn't be good for him. And then after researching I get depressed because it's not really what I want!

I hope you come away from your appointment with a glimmer of hope. I personally brought in a research article to my appointment which is what helped me persuade the Drs for me to try it if thats any help. But I guess you have to decide if you want to try again first seeing as it will cost $$$. I think it's normal for a small percentage not to fertilise but as you say, you just don't know if you got unlucky with just one egg and not a batch to test the odds. I have read that the failure to fertilise is usually a sperm issue and that once it fertilises, the rest is up to the egg. My new IVF Dr is doing something I had never heard of - injecting calcium into the egg along with the sperm. She said if I don't make many eggs to begin with, then at least this will help increase the number that fertilise. I think there is naturally some calcium reaction that activates the fertilisation so this must help if that is missing in the sperm they use? Anyway, I went away and read only positive things about it so I am happy. Really ups the fertilsation rate.

Sorry for blabbing on - really nice to have a good vent after a failed IVF and with just anxious waiting.

Hi Shellster, how was the holiday? (I hope you managed to avoid all the pregnant ladies). Did you go ahead with your cycle? I didn't realise you'd be driving for 5 days! That must have been tricky with keeping the drugs chilled!

I had my review app and because it's an NHS clinic they can't do the EPP Very frustrating given that this protocol seems to work well for poor responders and I was hopeful after hearing your results from it.

On one hand the review app was positive in that I went in with a list of Q's and managed to have an extended conversation with the consultant, getting all of my answers, without getting emotional (I find it very difficult to keep the emotions at bay during any of these appointments - I usually fight back tears and get the whole wobbly-voice-nonsense during, and then cry when I hit the exit corridor). Very proud of myself because I was on my own too (hubby had just started new job and couldn't go). They have also agreed to do a laporoscopy to rule out endometriosis (finally - have been asking for 2 years for it).

On the other hand it was very negative as I was told not to try again with my own eggs as there was a 1% chance of success. He might have said there was a 1% chance of success with trying naturally too but I was chanting to myself at that point so not 100% sure... Prospects pretty grim though in summary.

I understand your feelings on fostering. I did smile at your googling of inducing lactation but totally understand why. That's a shame adoption isn't possible in Australia? I'm sure it's not easy in the UK but at least it's a possibility. I don't know if my husband and I fit the mould as adoptive parents though. The thought of the rigmarole involved makes me nervous. I don't feel qualified to have a child (can't even get pregnant!) and if I can't convince me, what hope do I have of convincing a panel! I'm sure if I got pregnant and gave birth then I would make a great mum (obvs I'm amazing ) but to be thrown in at the deep end with a strange child...not sure. Full of doubt really.

Also I would like to experience a newborn and I don't think that opportunity comes along very often with fostering / adoption.

So I had heard that about it being a sperms responsibility to fertilise and then from there it was the eggs. Although I think the clinic said a 60% fertilisation rate was 'normal'. My husband quoted 30% to me the other day but not sure where he got that info. That is interesting re the calcium injection to improve fertilisation. You really come up with the most interesting stuff! Unfortunately it seems my clinic is quite behind in all of the new treatments on offer.

Anyway sorry for radio silence and then long essay
I hope you are doing ok x

yes i was told by my implantation consultant to take 75 mg with a meal to reduce dvt's because the medication i am on can cause them! so take it with my evening meal

I know this is 10 years old but @Shellster52 did you come to any conclusion regarding the Aspirin, whether to take it during stims/before egg collection or not?