Starting first injections of Buserelin, anyone else?

[Wispin]

Did my first needle tonight was so nervous was about to inject myself when I dropped the needle, had to get it ready again, then I just paused when I had to inject myself hovering the needle over my stomach, I couldn't mentally do it, it was like being in a dream where you cant run any faster, I held my breath and did it, I didnt feel a thing, not even when I pushed the liquid in. Will keep posting how it all goes, would love to hear from other people..

Amara: Don't lose hope Amara x

I have co-ordination app. on Monday to talk me through the FET. I do worry that this will be unnecessary heartache seeing as the three we had frozen were of poor quality grade CC, CC and CB i think! We pay for them to be thawed and they may survive being unfrozen, and still have to pay anyway.

I believe because of the quality we was told 25% chance.

Fresh cycle we did with a 50% chance failed, even though we were told every step of the process was perfect. So i dont see why the frozen would work. Feels like just more heartache and prolonging the wait before having to do a fresh cycle again anyway.

Hope to be proved wrong and save money in the process.

Especially after 4 years of trying

How is everyone getting along?

Start Buserelin on Monday for a FET cycle.

Other half had a little outburst the other day, cant help but blame it on the stress of infertility.

Hope we make it through this frozen transfer without the need for a fresh cycle, dont think he's coping to well.

Excited for you Hyland!

I had my down-reg scan on Tuesday, and unfortunately somehow - possibly a hangover from the prev stims - my body powered on through the down regulation and managed to ovulate.

So I’m at CD 49, and have seemingly managed to ovulate twice (whilst being down regulated!!) but not had an actual period. Both wasted eggs in any case, as no way I could have had a miracle conception with completely non existent lining. Given I used to be PCOS and my problem was not ovulating, given I needed NOT to ovulate, this is going beyond ironic into totally ridiculous.

Can’t stim me until my ovaries are quiet, and as we’re going to hit Xmas, this means we have to wait till the new year.

Doesn’t want me to end up over suppressed so I’m to stop the buserelin and take the pill for the next month to quiet everything down, and go back on 4th Jan to be rescanned, and hopefully then can start stims.

So another month of spinning my wheels just waiting to get going. Beyond exasperated with my body and yet another sodding curveball....

Hi ladies

Hope you don't mind me joining. I'm due to start IVF for a second time for baby no 2 shortly. This time round the clinic are advising the combined pill for a few weeks before buserelin.....has anyone done this? Last time I just did buserelin but clinic reckons pill initially gives better results....wondered if anyone else heard the same thing from your consultant?

Thanks

Sunshine xx

Hi sunshine I'm on the combined pill right now to quiet my ovaries, and have read a lot of other women talking about birth control pills as part of their down regging protocol, so certainly sounds OK from me end. Did you conceive DC1 via IVF? xx

Thanks Banana. Are you TTC no 1? Is this first cycle?

Yes, conceived DD with IVF in 2014. We were very lucky and feel so blessed so having a second almost feels like too much to ask.

banana fish: ovulated twice during buserelin injections! how odd. Definitely ironic and i agree beyond ridiculous.

You sometime here about people having problems and then the body find a way to get everything to kick into place and it all starts working like it should. Perhaps this is you!

I cant help but think that taking the pill in the beginning is what has caused part of the fertility issue for us. I went on it at the age of 13 and then came of it for a year when i fell pregnant when i was 23 with my now 13 year old daughter. Having been trying this time for 4 years and not once have i had even a faint line, makes me wonder.

sunshine: Hi when are you due to start?

sunshine Congrats on your DD, what a wonderful result! Yes, I’m TTC no 1. I had my first stims cycle in Sept / Oct, on short protocol, but we haven’t yet had a transfer. We had issues with my lining regressing, so had to do a freeze-all, and due to my husband being very unwell on EC day, we had issues with a fresh sample so had to put the eggs straight into the freezer unfertilised. We decided to do another round of stims, rather than try a medicated FET, to get more embryos to work with, because due to my diminished ovarian reserves (I’m 34, but have the reserves of someone in their 40s) we don’t have the luxury of a massive haul of eggs

This time we’re doing long protocol because down regging will give my consultant more control so he can work on my lining as well as the ovaries, in the hope of being able to make it to transfer.

So, technically, it’s my second cycle, but I haven’t yet strictly had a failed cycle, as we haven’t yet transferred anything. The hope is that we can retrieve some more eggs to batch together with the 6 in the freezer - would be amazing to think we might be able to go to blast (which given I wasn’t expected to respond to stims at all, given my low AMH, wasn’t something I’d ever thought might be possible).

How did you find long protocol last time?

Hyland yep! Well, I ‘only’ ovulated once whilst down regging. I ovulated some time around CD14-16 and started on buserelin on CD28…but as I never had a period, I didn’t know if / when to reset and what I should classify as CD1. So ovulated AGAIN some time between CD 28 and CD 45 (i.e. when I was down regging)

It is utterly ridiculous to have been worried I wouldn’t respond to stims because of my sleepy ovaries…and then to find my ovaries wouldn’t quiet down when we tried to suppress me. Madness!!

banana fish: just realised i didnt respond to an earlier question... yes the eggs in the freezer have already been injected and were frozen after reaching blastocyst day 6 rather than 5 i think!

Yes i am down regging started today on buserelin and i have patches to put on after my two week scan on the buserelin.

This is a medicated cycle just so we can avoid me ovulating at the wrong time, i think this means they will have more control over my lining.

I started buserelin today which is day 21, and i assume the injections will atop my period from arriving like i would normally expect it in 6-9 days time. I didn't get my period after last fresh cycle either due to same reason... long protocol each time and starting on 21st day.

Aha cool, so it’s embryos in the freezer, wow, amazing to have day 6 blastocysts - so few people get any frosties left over, awesome that you can try again with a FET without having to go straight for another fresh cycle!

Hoping that this FET goes really smoothly for you. How long are you down regging for - do you know when your transfer might provisionally be scheduled for?

Keeping everything crossed for you! x

The Fet cycle is just as long as the fresh cycle we had.

So the length of time is annoying.

Makes me sound ungrateful doesn't it! After 4 years of ttc I'm like this most days!

My 2 week scan to check the lining is on the 22nd Dec. Then patches for two weeks soooo i think ET will be around 6-11th January I think!

So apart from saving, it takes just as long as a fresh cycle, perhaps this would not have been the case had i have chosen to do FET with no drugs.

What dates do you have?

Totally get the frustration Hyland - hope you can chill out over Xmas to get yourself ready for getting your blast on board in the new year

I was thinking more about not having to wait as long by going into a FET after a fresh vs the normal 2-3 months minimum you have to wait between fresh cycles. As well as a FET costing a lot lot less than another fresh!

Timing wise we were hoping to get this cycle out the way before Xmas, but the down regging delay means it’s been postponed till Jan. See the consultant first Monday back (4th Jan) when hopefully will get the go ahead to start stims. Hopefully EC sometime about 2 weeks thereafter, and (please please) a transfer following on from that, IF we can get my lining to a good place

Started the last stims at the end of September, and still haven’t had a transfer!! So technically the first cycle hasn’t (yet) failed, as it ended being a freeze-all. Was hoping to get the BFN over and done with before my birthday at the end of October. Then was hoping we could get it over and done with before the end of the year. Now looks like we’ll be starting 2016 off with a BFN, but can’t be helped….has to come at some point, so makes little difference when it happens in the grand scheme of things!!

Do you have to wait 2-3 months? is that via NHS !

General guidance seems to be that you should wait at least 2 natural cycles between stims cycles - it’s not recommended to do more than 4 in any 12-month period.

We were given the go ahead to go again after only 1 resting cycle because it made sense to try and capitalise on my ovaries having an increased antral follicle count after the stims given my low ovarian reserves. However I’m a great example of why 2 resting cycles are usually recommended - because the down side of my ovaries still being a bit stimulated after the last cycle was that I didn’t respond adequately to down regulation. Consultant said it was clear my body needed more time to recover from the meds before we could press on, and so hence the cycle being pushed back.

When we were thinking about doing a frozen cycle with the frozen eggs, before we decided to do another fresh cycle, we were told we would have to wait at least one ‘resting’ cycle to let my body calm down after the stims, before starting another medicated cycle.

Your clinic obvs has a different POV though, if they’re letting you go ahead with a medicated FET immediately after a fresh cycle, so every clinic is different!

Medicated frozen cycle and first time experience with the patches which are quite itchy.

Not sure if it's the stress of work or Christmas but i seem to have a really bad headache daily.

I'm sure u suffered only 2-3 days on fresh cycle.

I also have a cyst on my left ovary this time round like you had **Wispin i assume.

Blood test said inactive and would probably just disappear.

Hope you're feeling better Hyland...how's the lining coming along?

I'm seeing my consultant first thing Monday morning, desperately hoping for positive news about next steps to get this show finally on the road

I've been down regging for seven frigging weeks now and I'm thoroughly fed up. I have a horrible feeling that I might be d/r for a wee while longer if I have to restart the buserelin, as assume we need to get past the initial flare effect and let the suppressing effect kick in before I'm allowed to start stims.

Feels like the longest long protocol known to (wo)man!

And tbh as I started my first cycle in September and still haven't had a transfer, it's almost been like a 4 month long cycle as it is...!!

Bananafish: wow that's long

I have scan Tuesday to check lining, they'll probably make me do another blood test if the cyst is still there.

I have to pay extra for this, £106.

This is not apart if the £1,100 frozen cycle (scans included only).

Drugs paid for separately as well. (which i knew)

Fresh cycle i would d/r for 15 days plus then the 12 for stimms and then the trigger shot. This time i have been on the Buserelin for 18 days then started the patches and 10 days bow taking patches and continuing with the Buserelin, which makes 30 come Tuesday (day of scan) and i know they don't intend on probably doing the transfer for another week after that which will make 37 Days!

I don't have enough Buserelin to last and I'm not impressed that it seems like they have kept me going to fit into their christmas schedule!
___

The patches become more difficult when you have to increase to two. They leave a plaster like residue behind and i tried to scratch it off my skin in the shower so I could put two on clean skin.

This left me with red rash like area where the blood is coming to the surface like a bruise.

Bananafish: Good luck for Monday, let me know how you get on.

Good luck for today’s scan hyland!

Last time I was on a short antagonist protocol which meant no down reg, just straight into stims after AF

After my abortive down reg this time, had baseline yesterday and (drumroll!) we have liftoff - I’ve stopped the pill, and will start stims tomorrow.

Dr’s switching me back to an antagonist protocol as doesn’t want to downreg me any longer, so not restarting buserelin and going round that merry go round again. Will be adding in Cetrotide after a few days of stims, like last time.

Baseline looked great - ovaries were quiet, antral follicles were nice and evenly sized, and my AFC was double what it was before my last cycle (it was 5, now it’s 10!!). Admittedly piss poor compared to the the AFC of 42 when I was diagnosed with PCOS in 2010, but certainly an improvement on last time.

So, see how stims go as to when EC will be - guessing hopefully some time wc 18th Jan.

My fresh cycle is £5500 (£4500 + £1000 for ICSI), plus £2000 for drugs, plus £400 for various pre cycle blood tests, plus £450 for DH’s sperm freeze. I’m already down about £8k from my previous banking cycle, so if we make it to OTD there will be something like £16,000 riding on that one POAS!!

I asked the Dr when we could go again after this cycle (assuming it fails). He said we could do a FET straight away - although he wouldn’t down reg me, he’d just do an HRT cycle (i.e. take the pills and patches in a natural cycle), but would have to wait 3 months between fresh cycles, as I’d expected.

Anyway, just have to get through this cycle first, before planning ahead what to do if/when it fails!

Keeping everything crossed for you hyland

Hi Bananafish: good news now you move full steam ahead.

Nice to know they told you FET can be done straight after without delay.

I will now prepare myself that if this fails for me that a fresh cycle will be 3 months most likely.

Strangely he couldn't see how thick my lining was with the internal scan.

So I was made to drink lots for tummy scan.

I drank 5 platic cups of water and after 25 mins they checked and my bladder was still not full enough! Drank another 3 and waited another 30mins. I was bursting for the loo and it took everything to stop myself having an accident whilst he pressed down on my tummy for scan.

Anyway lining great and transfer is Monday.

Guessing this means they'll tell me i can test on 22nd Jan.

Fees at our clinic have gone up for January so ICSI was £4,500 and now £4,600.

If i had another frozen cycle it has also gone up from £1,100 to £1,200.

My mistake ICSI was £4,400, it went up by £200 for cycles booked in 2017.

Woohoo - amazing news on the lining and fantastic to have the transfer date fixed. You must be so excited!! Have they got you on the evil Gestone injections in your bum or will you on Cyclogest / Crinone progesterone-wise? Really chuffed for you and keeping everything crossed for you xx