Anyone starting IVF soon? Join me (2)

[purplemeggie]

I see we've filled up the thread and thought I'd better start another one. How's everyone doing?

Annie - good to hear from you and I'm so glad you are feeling a bit more positive. Has the 'mindfulness' book helped?! I haven't started it yet. I do try to remind myself of the things I am thankful for on a regular basis....friends and family who love me, my health, a job I like. It's easy to get all consumed with IVF failure. As my mum keeps reminding me, 30 years ago we wouldn't even have had IVF as an option so I guess we should be thankful for that too. Whatever you decide to do in the future at least you've given this your best shot.

Shellster, great idea to speak to the nutritionist. Let us know what she says - hopefully she can put your mind at rest. I've been thinking about my lack of embryo updates (Purple can't believe your clinic used to call daily?!) and I've decided that I'm ok with it. I think I'd feel more stressed out if I knew that 1 had failed, 3 were slow, 2 were looking ok, etc etc. At the moment I am blissfully unaware of what's happening to my 7 little dudes. Let's see how many make it to Weds....come on guys!

Purple I like your zen-like downregging state. I felt the same when I was on the downregging drugs. Makes me realise that I must be a hormonal mess normally, haha. Waiting I really don't know anything about thyroid stuff but I wish you the best of luck with your BMI situation, must be tough. Apparently eating late is a good way to increase weight gain, so maybe you need to rearrange your eating schedule.

Waiting - well done for sorting out your meds, I hope you can keep on top of your BMI. Are you eating a modified diet at all to help? I got my updated TSH levels back today - 4.39 It's gone up quite a bit since I last had it tested. the GP practice states this as "normal level" and it was my own volition that got it retested. You really have to be your own advocate/researcher in this minefield. Am absolutely shitting myself that this will scupper our cycle as I start stimming in 3 weeks. Am also kicking myself for not getting it tested earlier, but life just gets in the way of one extra thing to do. Will take some top up thyroxine tonight and see the dr on Wednesday to sort it out. I still feel awful due to this stinking cold flu thing.

Hope your Super Seven are still progressing nicely Blue. I am liking the zen approach. At this stage you are right - there is nothing you can at the moment anyway.

Sorry for the moan and just fed up worrying about all this and trying to schedule everything alongside work/life etc. Nice to hear from you Annie Shellster and PurpleZen.

Waiting - well done for sorting out your meds, I hope you can keep on top of your BMI. Are you eating a modified diet at all to help? I got my updated TSH levels back today - 4.39 It's gone up quite a bit since I last had it tested. the GP practice states this as "normal level" and it was my own volition that got it retested. You really have to be your own advocate/researcher in this minefield. Am absolutely shitting myself that this will scupper our cycle as I start stimming in 3 weeks. Am also kicking myself for not getting it tested earlier, but life just gets in the way of one extra thing to do. Will take some top up thyroxine tonight and see the dr on Wednesday to sort it out. I still feel awful due to this stinking cold flu thing.

Hope your Super Seven are still progressing nicely Blue. I am liking the zen approach. At this stage you are right - there is nothing you can at the moment anyway.

Sorry for the moan and just fed up worrying about all this and trying to schedule everything alongside work/life etc. Nice to hear from you Annie Shellster and PurpleZen.

www.inviafertility.com/ivf/drvkarande/thyroid-ivf/
Just found this article which was helpful - seems TSH level can be stabilised quite quickly. There are conflicting studies saying that minor hypothyroidism doesn't affect IVF chances vs. it does. As usual!

Hi Sunrise, sorry to hear your thyroid levels are still dodgy. Is it absolutely crucial that you start IVF on your next cycle? If there is one thing I have learned from my 4 cycles (!) it's that I need to be able to tell myself 'I did my best' for each one. After my first 3 cycles I had so many 'what ifs' and 'maybe I should haves'. If there's any doubt in your mind about your thyroid you might be better off waiting another month to save yourself any future mental torture. I know IVF time goes glacially slow and waiting is hideous but I really wish I could turn the clock back for my first 2 cycles.

Just my tuppence worth, feel free to ignore! Hopefully your thyroid level will be normal very soon and all of this will be a moot point anyway.

We had our nurse consultation today, and I got my levothyroxine. I am on 25mg a day and have a blood test to check levels at end of march and then hopefully we can start treatment the next cycle.
The nurse we saw was lovely and really reassured me, she promised me that due to pcos and high blood flow to my ovaries I will be monitored very closely, she explained about all the medications and I feel so much better.
The clinic will be phoning with dh test results tomorrow so fingers crossed that's ok

Glad the nurse put your mind at rest, Waiting. x

I can't contribute to all this TSH talk as it's not something I've ever had to worry about... thankfully... I have enough going wrong with my IVF as it is.

You are probably right about embryo updates only causing you worry if they tell you one drops off day by day. I guess it doesn't matter too much in your case anyway as the real wait will be your day 29/30 pregnancy test, since this is where things go wrong for you in the past.

I am on day 24 here. Usuallly, my period would come any day from tomorrow on. But I am taking progesterone pessaries with my theory that it will help me have a strong luteal phase this cycle and produce a few extra follicles ready for next cycle. So perhaps that will delay my period by a couple of days.

I am feeling quite stressed. My credit card was still $3000 in debt from last IVF and yesterday I paid for my upcoming IVF so now it is over $9000 in debt! I hate being in debt and felt stressed after paying that deposit and seeing my credit card maxed out. I can't afford this any more so this has to be my last IVF which adds extra stress and pressure that this cycle needs to work. Then I get stressed because I am stressing about these things and reducing my IVF success! Blah.

Oh Shellster - sending a big hug. As if there's not enough stress in all this without having to worry about paying for it all. It's rubbish, really it is xxx

Hoping you're staying sane, Blue - I'm bursting to know how the Super Seven are doing, so can't imagine how you're feeling!

I'm sorry about the financial stress Shellster it really doesn't help on top of everything else.

I'm glad the nurse put your mind at rest Waiting. I often feel like that, and then catch up with the clinic and I feel a bit better again.

Blue I would delay this cycle but we will get charged for this round unless I have a really good reason for delaying. I'm not sure my nerves could take waiting any longer either, I already feel like our lives are on hold so much. In an ideal world I would do exactly as you said and wait so I knew it was our best shot (especially as it will be our only go). I'm hoping that having a few weeks before I start any stims will give me chance to get my levels ironed out a bit. Any news from your end Blue?

Completely understand about the financial stress. We have paid using two credit cards that are now at their limit and it is worrying as you then feel panicky about things. The temptation to get another card just in case is huge.
Initially we thought we would set ourselves the limit of two rounds of ivf but now that we have started and paid for the first cycle and still have sedation and hfea fee plus meds and blood tests we have quickly realised we won't be able to afford another fresh cycle so are hoping we can do a fresh transfer and have some embryos to freeze as we may then scrape together enough for a fet at some point if the fresh cycle doesn't work.

On a positive note, I was expecting my thyroid med to cost a fortune as knowing what an nhs prescription costs I went to the chemist with the private pres and it was only five pounds. We had been dreading it as thought it'd be something ridiculous like 30 or40 pounds!

Ok Sunrise, I see what you mean! Of course you want to make sure you're ready to go on the next cycle then. Hopefully your thyroid levels will even out quickly, it looks like they will (based on your previous post). Good job you pushed to get retested otherwise you would be none the wiser?! If we all meekly followed the instruction of our clinics I don't think any of us would ever get pregnant.....

Shellster I hear you regarding the debt stress. It can be so worrying. The only thing that helps me is to make regular payments so I can see the balance dwindling (even if only a tiny bit at a time). It's not like your spending the money on a car or a holiday - this is such an emotional investment and you're doing it for all the right reasons. I do hope it pays off for you this time, you really, really deserve it

All good with me today. I've been using the sub-cutaneous progesterone injections every other day instead of Cyclogest (I thought I'd escaped the dreaded fanny bullets, but no....). The injections are great but I've got horrendous bloating and, umm, constipation again. I'm back on the fybogel and prune juice. Has anyone else experienced this before? It gets me every time and I HATE it. Would be great to hear about any other natural remedies, I'm chugging gallons of water and eating plenty of fruit but nothing seems to help!

Oh and waiting, that's great about your prescription cost. I love it when that happens!

Movicol is fabulous for constipation but not sure if its suitable during ivf you would have to check. Another good remedy is those innocent smoothies in the black cartons, I think they contain flaxseeds and they are amazing for constipation (I have to take iron tablets daily so am always in trouble in that department!)

I've only ever used Crinone for progesterone blue and never had constipation from it. So I can't help with any remedies I found.

Just checking in to see how everyone is doing but no new news from any of us really... all just waiting waiting waiting!

I got approved for a credit card which I can transfer my balance from my current credit card to and have 0% interest for two years. So that gives me two years to pay this off without having to cop huge interest.

Kinda feels reassuring that you have maxed out two credit cards too waiting. I was feeling like I was taking this IVF all too far but if others are doing it too I feel a bit better. This is definitely the last one though by the time I pay this back and afford to do it again... I will be in menopause! I hope my ovaries are feeling this pressure and better co-operate.

blue, I was curious what you would change with your 1st and 2nd IVF cycle if you could turn back time. Also very interested if you feel anything in particular produced your better results this cycle? Did you continue taking l-arginine during the stim cycle of your IVF?

Thanks Waiting - unfortunately I can't take movicol because it causes contractions (yuck) - which you don't want around the uterus area during IVF. I'm actually feeling a little bit better today, I think the fybogel has kicked in. I also bought the wheatgrass and flax innocent smoothie yesterday, it's yum! Thanks for the recommendation.

Shellster, basically I think of my first two cycles as 'practice cycles'. I didn't know anything about IVF at the time so I didn't question my stim doses, or ask why I was on a long protocol despite my low AMH, or ask about clexane, steroids or aspirin, or my fibroids - a big list of things. It's annoying because those were the two cycles I got for free. The NHS approach is to stick everyone on the same protocol and see what happens. If I'd been better informed I would have asked a LOT more questions and made a fuss about a few things.

I am still taking the L-Arginine but I think I've only been on it for about 2 months. I've been on the CoQ10 longer, probably 4 months, plus Omega 3, folic acid and the prenatal vitamin. I guess i'll soon find out anything has made a difference.

Anyway, egg transfer day for me today....happening at 11.30am. I'll let everyone know how I get on. I'm nervous about it but as my DH rightly said, if none of our little embies have made it to day 5 in the lab then it's unlikely they would have made it past day 5 in my womb. Fingers crossed!!!

Working from home is going to be difficult today with everything so tightly crossed for you, Blue - sending lots of love and positive vibes in the direction of you and the Super Seven xxx

Oh best of luck Blue Must be a tough little fighter to get that far.

Dr has put my mind at rest with regards to thyroid stuff - the TSH level takes a while to stabilise but as soon as you are taking the medication it is replacing what is lost so TSH is a bit of a delayed marker.

Waiting - you can get a form for free prescriptions if you are on thyroxine usually. It won't pay for your IVF meds but you should be able to get normal prescriptions free
www.thyroiduk.org.uk/tuk/NHS_Information/prescription-info.html information here.

I didn't realise about movicol and contractions, think I may get some fybogel-is that more of a bulking agent than a contraction type laxative ?

Good luck for ET blue ! Fingers crossed it all goes well.

Good news ladies - I just had 2 'hatching' blastocysts transferred! I am chuffed to bits. The embryologist said they were top quality (they don't use grading at my clinic). I am hugely relieved, I felt really worried this morning.

And....4 of the other little guys are still looking good. She is going to call me tomorrow to let me know if any are suitable for freezing. Fingers crossed, that would be amazing!

Anyway as you can tell, I am rather pleased. I know I've still got a long way to go but it's all going well so far so I am allowing myself to be happy today. I'll get back to worry and angst tomorrow.

That's lovely news, Blue - not surprised you're chuffed. And I'm chuffed too, now xxx

Fingers crossed for the Fab Four Frosties too xxx

Blue that really is fantastic. Go Fab Four Frosties!

Fantastic news blue !

wow that's fantastic news blue!

Has anybody had reflexology or acupuncture during ivf? I've been looking into it and although its an added cost we could do without I am wondering if it would increase our chances as I'm desperate for it to work first time.
I'm very irregular but have worked out I roughly have about six weeks till I would probably be starting the cycle so was hoping that one of the above complimentary therapies would have well and truly helped before beginning injections?

Obviously I need my tsh level to go down too and wondered could reflexology or acupunture help with that. I think a lot of it boils down to me wanting to be proactive and have something to do with the process that helps as I feel a bit lost already so can only imagine that will get stronger the closer I get.