Anyone Starting IVF? Join Me (4)

[bessie84]

The other thread reached 1000 comments, so having to start a new one.

A puff of Babydust to all

x

Wow, wow, wow banana! That's fantastic. I certainly have faith that your lining will thicken because your follicles produce lots more estrogen as they get a bit bigger in size, although I know your lining went backwards last time so I won't speak to soon - but what an amazing start.

Well, no FET this month for us :(

Currently day 22 and I had a decent lining but no dominant follicle seen and no positive opk so we have decided we will try again next month.

I want to avoid medicated cycle if possible so hoping this month was just a blip. I know that in pcos especially you can have months where ovulation doesn't occur.

I know a natural cycle FET is better for me but this is not good for our bank balance :(

So sorry to hear that waiting. It really has been a drawn out process for you.

How much are you out of pocket for this natural FET cycle where you were monitored but the transfer did not take place? And then on top of the finances, there is also the emotional drain, where you get your hopes up, only to have them come crashing down and to have to wait again. xox

Thanks bessie, so sweet of you to check in. How are you and bump? How is your SCH?

Shellster hoping so! We know my follies don’t seem to produce enough oestrogen, but hopefully they will continue to pump out some, and with a little goosing along we might get my lining to where it needs to be. If EC isn’t till next Mon, we have over a week till a possible transfer, so there’s time yet hopefully to get it thickening up, fingers crossed.

We don’t know what my quality will be like with my high FSH, but in terms of response, I think it’s fair to say I don’t appear to be in premature ovarian failure just yet

waiting so, so many hugs lovely. It’s so crushing when you’re all geared up and then the rug gets pulled away from under your feet, and it all comes crashing down. Gutted for you!

I didn’t realise natural FET was an option for women with PCOS - is there a reason why a medicated FET (without down regging, just an HRT cycle) wouldn’t be a good option for you? Hope you can be kind to yourself, you’re doing amazingly well on such a difficult road

xx

I was warned that a medicated cycle is usually advised in pcos women but I begged to do natural as medications really don't agree with me and I get hormonal induced migraines so wanted to avoid

My consultant said as my cycle is not too irregular (most months not longer than 35 days ) that we could try. It was fine in October but this month I guess just unlucky :(
It cost us about £950 so although cost isn't what should be important it sort of is as I feel like I've thrown a thousand pounds away :(

Dh said its fine that we can use our credit cards and save up but it just makes all the more stressful.
I've felt pretty rubbish this month emotionally anyway and even the journey to the clinic is now something I dread . Sounds silly but I was so hopeful at first and excited going to appts but now it feels like a chore and that its ££££ and I feel like it may not even get us anywhere. I think I may be depressed some days .

Going to have a few days to wallow in self pity then start again. It's all I can do. I just want it to work so much

Great news about all your follicles banana sounds really promising :)

Yes, I too found that the cost definitely adds extra pressure. It's a viscious cycle isn't it - start cycle - get hopes up - cycle fails/cancelled - come crashing down (which for me included bad food and alcohol) - start new cycle - get hopes up again...

So I assume the good news from you not having had a medicated cycle is that your hormones are not all out of whack (well, at least not any more so than the usual PCOS causes), and you can try again next cycle?

Your DH sounds very supportive which is lovely.

Yes hormones should be fine to try again straight away
I just need to sort out my negative feelings as I do feel low

I wish I had a solution for you with the emotional side of it all waiting, but I never found one! In hindsight, I don't know why I even bothered with my 11th IVF because I really felt like it would never work, and I had extra pressure on me because I had gone into debt on a credit card to fund it and was dreading having to pay back a credit card for a year as a constant reminder of that failure and all the money I had wasted. I guess that shows at least that the negative attitude and financial pressure did not affect my positive outcome if that is any reassurance.

Big hugs waiting, couldn't agree more that it's the waiting that's the worst. Feels like only 1% of fertility treatment is actually doing treatment - the remaining 99% is waiting. I'm certainly no beacon of positive mental attitude (talking about 'when' not 'if' my cycle fails) but I've found that listening to relaxation / guided meditation / hypnotherapy Mp3s has really helped me in my efforts to keep the stress in check. I've bought a few IVF ones, I pop my earphones in at bedtime and it helps me drift off rather than lying awake with washing machine brain ruminanting about everything. Can happily recommend a couple I like if helpful xx

Update from my scan this afternoon as promised - EC is all confirmed for Monday, I trigger tomorrow.

Cannot believe that with my barely detectable AMH I have 15 follicles!

14 good ones (most @ 18mm, a few @ 16mm, and one big fella @ 20mm), plus one 12mm tiddler.

Consultant is reasonably confident that with 14 decent follies (plus the 6 frozen eggs from last time), that we will have enough embryos to get something to blast.

He said he would be absolutely delighted with this kind of response from any patient, let alone someone with such (apparently) diminished reserves. Not bad for someone who the NHS would have written off!

Lining is, however, looking far less spectacular - triple line, but only 7.2mm, so am to start the Progynova (HRT - oestrogen tablets, to thicken the lining) tomorrow.

He will measure the lining on Monday before collection, and then wants to scan me again towards the end of the week. If he’s not happy with it, we won’t risk wasting a decent embryo in a fresh transfer - we’ll have to freeze-all and try to build up the lining in a medicated FET :(

Absolutely thrilled with the eggs, though will be gutted if we don’t make it to transfer again - desperately hoping the Progynova works its magic

Thinking thickening thoughts!!!

That's great news banana! 15 follies is amazing !

Good luck for Monday x

Hi all, so happy to find this board! Just starting the IVF process myself. A quick summary of my journey to IVF: 42 years old, been trying for the last 2 years, found out that my tubes are blocked and his sperm count is low. Go figure, after many years on Depro Provera, being careful not to get pregnant, and completely oblivious of my tubal challenges. : (

So here me and hubby go down the rabbit hole of IVF. On my first day of injections and had my first negative reaction and am starting to get nervous about this whole process. Just took my first round of Menopur and have this strange metallic taste in my mouth .....was wondering if I should stress out or if the reaction is normal? Any insight would be great!

That is absolutely amazing banana. After all the waiting and build up, I can't believe how quick the stim phase always goes. Can imagine the frustration with the lining. My clinic never worried about lining thickness so I am glad that at least your Dr is knowledgeable in the area and keeping an eye on it.

Welcome Jersey. Yes, I spent 6 years on contraceptive before finally getting my BFP on my 11th IVF attempt. Will never worry about contraceptive again! I personally never noticed the metallic taste you describe, so can't comment. But then again, I was always a poor responder (only ever got 3-4 eggs each cycle) and others on here would have side effects of thirst, bloating etc and would produce many more eggs so I was actually always jealous that their side effects meant their bodies were responding much better to the drugs than mine... so hopefully the side effect means the Menopur is doing what it should! When is your first scan? Have you had any FSH or AMH tests done to give you any insight into how you might respond?

Welcome jersey, wishing you tonnes of luck for your cycle. Are you on a long or short protocol? Have never done Menopur myself, only been on Gonal-F, so afraid I can’t help you, but I wouldn’t stress out. If you’re worried can you ask your clinic?

There is another thread in ‘infertility’ called ‘anyone having 1st round of IVF this month’ where there are tonnes of us cycling right now, if you’d like some more cycle buddies :)

Thanks shellster and waiting

Shellster my Dr is very mindful of my lining because it has been a persistent issue for me in all my cycles (natural and IVF). He’s not taking any chances, because it regressed so dramatically between my last scan (day before trigger) and EC a couple of days later. No point transferring an embryo if there's little chance it can implant...

He said be thought it wasn’t that I’m not necessarily producing enough oestrogen - as with all those follies if he were to measure my levels it would be sky high. He reckons it’s that the oestrogen receptors in the endometrium (antennae, as he called them) are a bit desensitised and non responsive - so he’d hope there will be a cumulative effect over time as they’re exposed to more oestrogen.

We discussed how we would do a FET if we can’t do a fresh transfer. Likely route would be to try an HRT cycle straight off my period after this cycle: try and thicken up the lining, and hope that it syncs up to the right thickness at the time of ov (as once the progesterone kicks in the lining will change appearance and compress). If that were the case, we’d transfer.

If it didn’t sync up, then it would be a useful exercise in oestrogen priming to try and wake up the antennae, and we’d then start down regging me 7 days after ov, in prep for a full medicated FET the following cycle - where if we remove ov from the equation, we can keep going with the oestrogen pills and patches to get to the right thickness for as long as it takes.

Was v helpful to have it explained to me in a way I could understand. Although I hope it doesn't come to that as MORE waiting....and would be pushing 6 months between starting my cycle and having a bloody transfer.

I have chronic pain due to a spinal injury and take pretty hardcore pain meds - which obv I have to be off by transfer. It takes a while to come off everything slowly enough to avoid going into withdrawal, so I’ve been in a fuck of a lot of pain the last few weeks and I’m not even off everything yet. If I don’t get a transfer AGAIN and I’ve been tapering off everything for nothing - which is a distinct possibility - I will hit the fucking roof.

Scuse potty mouth but BLOODY BODY!!!

Yes, exactly what I was hypothesizing about your lining banana - that it must be a uterine receptivity issue as you would certainly have enough estrogen circulating with all those follies (not that I am any medical expert!). But while I can understand that it might mean it might not thicken up, I am still baffled by your uterine lining actually reducing in thickness in your previous cycle!?!? Anyway, as you've mentioned, the important part is how to treat it and your Dr certainly seems to have some logical steps for going forward. But yes, I can imagine the frustration... for my cycles, each day went glacial slow from egg collection until transfer as I dreaded a phone call each day to say how my embryos were progressing (or not progressing as turned out to be the case most cycles). Those few days were torturous enough for me, so I can't imagine having to wait up to 6 months between EC & transfer - torture!! And then your back pain just to top it all off. Hopefully your scan Monday will reveal that this was all just a back up theory that won't need to be put into action and that your lining has followed the suit of your ovaries and done good things this cycle. I will be hoping for you and thinking of you.

Hi jersey nice to have you here, and I hope your first cycle goes well! I sometimes experienced a funny taste after my gonal f injections but it wasn't metallic more of a chemically taste and I always sneezed a lot??!

bananas sounds very tough with the medication reduction and subsequent pain I've got everything crossed for you that your lining is good and you get to transfer. It's horrible having to wait so long just to get to transfer I know the feeling well

shellster how are you, I hope things are going smoothly. It's such a comfort having you on this thread still. Your advice is always helpful and I almost feel like you are the 'good luck charm' of the thread. Everything I see your name it reminds me that all this can and does work even after numerous attempts.
That keeps me going as I won't lie I've struggled the last few weeks. I look back now to my first appt last February and I truly thought I'd have been pregnant/had a baby by now. Seems to have been problem after problem, TSH level, ohss risk, stomach problems that caused so much pain I couldn't cycle then TSH again, finally a transfer but it failed and I was unwell and this month with no ovulation
£££££ gone along with all my hope and most of my sanity
I have a plan though it was either getting close to a breakdown or picking myself up dusting myself off and trying some more
I've booked more counselling and reflexology sessions. I've hit the healthy eating hard and we increased the limit on one of our credit cards
Dh has said we need to make every appointment like a date so either before or after we will go for coffee/breakfast/lunch/shopping and spend time together and have fun. I got upset as even hate the 40 min train ride so he said he will come to each appt and keep me company (last time I went to most alone and he worked)
He said this way, at least if it doesn't work again we have tried to make the best of it and spent time together

Period is due end of the week, we've paid for FET cycle again (natural) so fingers crossed this month it works

Hi I'm a newbie and wondering if anyone can help me.
I'm fairly young so don't know too much but I've researched as much as I can and as much as I know to look for so I'm fairly clued up with the ivf process.
Me and my partner of 10 years have been TTC for 4 years now. We've finally started to get the ball rolling. After a laparoscapy 2 years ago to remove a cyst on my ovary and some endometriosis (which I still have) and a year ago finding out I also have pcos. We were finally told we are eligible for ivf (nhs funded) 22nd October 2015. We've had all the tests that needs to be done and we are just waiting for our consultation to start everything. I was wondering if anyone knows how long it takes to get that letter for the appointment? I know I probably sound like an imature child, but waiting for this letter so far has been the hardest part of the whole thing.

Hi katie I think waiting times vary hugely depending on which area you are in. It's so difficult isn't it and I agree the waiting is the hard bit (hence my username!)

I'm not funded so can't tell you anything about waiting times but others may be able to. Also fertility friends forum may have some info I often pop over there for more specific things so they may have waiting times for various areas of you search for it

**Shellster ...Ty for the support..... I truly appreciate all the great guidance and knowledge. Right now, I just decided to suck up the yucky taste from the Menopur since I have only a few shots left.

*Banana..... it seems that I am on the short protocol method ..... most likely due to my age since my FSH & AMH response appear to be in a normal range. First scan was last Friday which I then went right into injections. My follow up scan will be this coming Tuesday so I am very anxious to see what my response is.

*Waiting, I wonder if that's why the doctor kept on asking me if I had any allergies. None known of for me so it might just be some crazy sidebar reaction. As long as I can stay away from getting a major migraine I am golden !

GOOD LUCK FOR EC TODAY BANANA xxxxxxx

I worried about migraines a lot as get hemiplegic ones and really suffer. I was surprised even with high oestrogen levels that I didn't get one so fingers crossed you don't either

Good luck today bananas !

Thank you, I'll have a look.
Have you started treatment? How's the process going for you?

I had mild IVF in April last year but no transfer due to high risk of ohss. Had FET in October which sadly didn't work.
Was having natural FET this month but didnt ovulate so going again as soon as AF arrives

The thing I've found is that it takes a long time. I thought it would be relatively straightforward but it hasn't been. Lots of things have caused delays-test results, reaction to medication and cycle failing , not ovulating etc. obviously it's good to stay positive but always be prepared for last minute changes or delays. I think if I'd known that before then the setbacks wouldn't have upset me so much

Holy moly. Back from egg collection.

17 eggs retrieved!

All 6 frozen eggs from the last cycle survived the thaw.

So that's 23 eggs in the love lab!

They have to do ICSI on the frozen eggs (because they have harder shells) but will do standard IVF on the fresh, as DH's sample was 'excellent'.

Consultant said he wished he knew what was going on with my AMH as he is completely stumped how someone with perimenopausal AMH and FSH has responded like this. But he is very very pleased, as am I!

Lining is 'so so', so I'm desperately hoping the oestrogen tablets help to thicken it up so we can have a fresh transfer. Dr will scan me later this week and we will see where we're at. If there is any doubt we will freeze all, and transfer in a FET, as he doesn't want to risk transferring a decent embryo into a suboptimal endometrium.

But for now, the focus is on trying to get some embryos. Our eggs and sperm are getting jiggy in the love lab so keeping everything crossed for a decent fertilisation rate when we get the call tomorrow!!