How should I prepare for IVF?

[artylady14]

Hi all, I am pretty sure I have missed my last chance to conceive naturally this month - I got caught out by an early ovulation this week and didnt try til 1 DPO. I am a bit upset as I wanted so much to conceive naturally. Anyway, I am now waiting for my period to arrive when I will begin to take Microgynon to suppress my ovaries before IVF. I have never taken it and am worried even about that let alone the rest of the treatment! Looks like I will have to take it for more than a few weeks too as the fertility clinic will then close around that time for two weeks Xmas holidays.

For those already on the journey, how did you prepare for the IVF process. I have taken so many supplements whilst TTC - EPO, B6, etc etc. Do you stop all that then, especially when on the pill?

Thanks for any advice. Good luck to all on the journey.

Arty what tests/investigations have you had?

I had three rounds. To prepare physically I lost a bit of weight and that was about it.
The consultant told me to take folic acid and vitamin c but nothing else, most certainly not ever multivitamins.

I didn't find that the hormones gave me much trouble to be honest. Be prepared that the egg collection will take a lot out of you. Don't do too much too quickly.

Hi, Icy121- I cant remember the name of the tests. I have had progesterone of course that just show when I ovulate late/not; I had tests at the fertility clinic that showed my egg count (amh??)and because I have PCOS, I have more eggs of course than the average woman my age (just turned 40). Cant remember what else. I dont know what PCOS means in terms of IVF. I was told that I had a higher chance of getting pregnant within two cyles of IVF (around 45-50%) but I am sceptical when I hear all this positivity in fertility clinics.

Pipbin-I wonder why not multivitamins? What harm can they do when they are encouraged for TTC? I am absolutely dreading the womb scraping and egg collection. I had the test where they inject dye in you earlier this year and felt so much pain, I was crying out. This sounds much worse. Really hope it works/worked for you too!

The egg collection is fine. I didn't feel a thing.

arty in prep I'd say try to relax. Deep breathing, yoga, listen to some nice music - whatever works for you.

It's natural to be nervous but try to keep on an even keel. I saw one lady sent home before her egg collection because she was in such a state.

I'd really recommend that you read professor Robert winstons new book - something like essential guide to fertility. IVF should be last resort after having had everything else checked and tried. Eg with pcos you should be trying clomid, ovarian drilling, etc before doing IVF. It's all about treating the cause of the infertility.

Obviously if you're on NHS timeframe then it may be more difficult. I'm paying private but my consultant has really done it by the professors book. Still fucking barren, but at least it's some comfort

I will get the book. I have had two months of Clomid but due to my age I thought we should move straight to IVF. The clinic haven't said anything about ovarian drilling. We are having ICsI though as my husband has some sperm issues.

-I wonder why not multivitamins? What harm can they do when they are encouraged for TTC?

Multivitamins are not recommended to anyone at any time. There is a great deal of research to show that multivitamin are very harmful.

Sorry Pipbin, multivitamins are highly recommended for women undergoing ivf. I take Solgar pre natal which includes
Folic acid. Make sure it is a multivitamin for pregnancy/trying to conceive. Vitamin d is especially important. It mustn't have vitamin A in it.

As well as this you can try the following (it's what I did for my IVF round which has been successful)
Mercury free fish oil (try Amazon for zita west oils)
Turmeric to reduce any immune response
Co enzyme q10 for egg quality

I went to Argc for my treatment and they make you drink a litre of milk a day whilst you are in the stimulation phase! It's hideous but everyone I met had better eggs than they ever had elsewhere. They also make you drink 2-4 litres of water a day and a high protein low carb diet.

Acupuncture is proven (bmj peer reviewed article) to improve IVF success rates by 91%. I had it in the lead up and then just before and just after egg transfer.

Be kind to yourself, take time off work - as much as possible.

Hope this helps - good luck :)

My consultant told me not to take them.

Scooby - I'm glad your IVF worked.

Please take the "91%" statistic in context:

www.nhs.uk/news/2007/January08/Pages/AcupunctureandsuccessofIVF.aspx

I'm sorry, but I'm with Professor Winston on complimentary therapies. If acupuncture "worked" in the way a paracetamol works, then it would be on prescription. Having spent far too much money on snake oil, I've come to the conclusion that there are people out there who are all to happy to play on our desperation.

That's cool, everyone has a different approach, I completely agree that the 'industry' built up around IVF is hideous. One clinic in London wanted £200 for an initial acupuncture consultation.

The article you've posted pre dates the British Medical Journal article here
www.bmj.com/content/336/7643/545
Which concludes that acupuncture increased IVF success rates. There's quite a lot of acupuncture available on the NHS now, I had it in my last pregnancy for back pain, I think docs are stopping seeing it as 'snake oil'. Don't know how it works but it seems to!

I guess every consultant is different and every patient is different. I just know what worked for me. It may have been the acupuncture, the multi vits or none of it. I'll never know...

I trusted everything my clinic said - after all it was Bourne Hall who invented IVF so I figured they knew what they were talking about.

I just think every clinic has a different approach Pipbin, some will offer immunes, some won't, some do transfers with ultrasound, others don't, some do clexane as a blanket rule, others don't. Each clinic thinks what they offer is the best. I figure it's important to chose what feels right for you.

Multivits were also encouraged by my clinic. Folic acid is recommended for all anyway and vit d has been shown to play a role in fertility by some studies. Low iron can also affect fertility.