IVF June 2017

[Avocadosmoothie]

Hello, is anyone due to start IVF In June? My consultant has put me forward to start IVF, my next appointment is April 26th and if I start on long protocol I would start stimms late May and egg retrieval would be mid June. Would love to hear from someone on the same path!

Hi all, can I join?

Husband and I have been ttc for 5 years and I have pcos.

Started our 1st round of ivf, we're on short protocol. Hubby injected me for the 1st time last night. Is anyone else on merional, if so have you experienced any side effects?

Anyone on the same sort of timings? Would like a buddy, feeling a bit overwhelmed with it all.

X

Welcome katherine! It is very overwhelming- lots of support on here though. I'm on long protocol half way through 8 days of stims then scan and bloods this Wednesday. This is our first try after husband's vasectomy reversal failed, we're doing ivf and icsi - I'm 39, we've been given a 30% chance of success but definitely feeling more positive than we have in 3+ years!

Veinarde I'm on menopur as well. Not noticing anything really except a bit of tiredness and low level headache and nausea at times but that could be dehydration as I'm not very good at remembering to drink water! I don't find it burns, where are you injecting? I'm doing abdomen and I have plenty of protection round there!

Hi Katherine, welcome! I am not too far from you. I had my 4th injections tonight. I am on a short protocol with Menopur which I understand is the same as Merional. I get no side effects with exception of tiredness and minor headache. I have my first scan tomorrow will be interesting to see what's going on there :) I have polycystic ovaries and elevated LH/ FSH ratio which doesn't allow my eggs to mature properly for natural conception according to my consultant. Have been TTC for more than 2 years and finally getting ivf done. What dosage are you on? How is your clinic managing OHSS risk, did they mention it? Are you taking Metformin?

Scott, I'm also injecting into my belly fat :) but I think I might have been unlucky hitting a muscle or a nerve. Burns so much!!
I am also feeling very positive about the process, my consultant says with my egg maturation issues I had almost zero percent chance for natural conception and my GP told me to just continue TTC as they couldn't diagnose! I wish I went to see a specialist sooner and didn't waste so much time!

Welcome Katherine!! That's been a long journey for you, wishing you so much good luck.
Well done with the injections ladies! Each day is a day less to do!! You may already know this but are you pinching your 'tummy fat' and inserting needle in to pinched bit? This should prevent you hitting anything. I didn't get any stinging but I wasn't using Menopur. You let go of the pinched fat before pushing plunger. Sorry if you already know that.
Well I'm 4dp5dt now and time is dragging soooo slowly... The progesterone is giving me so many symptoms, it's so evil!
Hope everyone else is well xx

Hi Veinarde! I'm on Bemfola and metformin. I'm expecting CD1 probably tomorrow and the injections have arrived so I should be good to start. I don't think anyone else in the group is on Bemfola? I've been started on the lowest dose and going to have a scan on Injection day 6 to try and monitor for OHSS. Slightly worried I already have 40 follicles!

Thanks for letting me join

Veinarde Think they are the similar sort of thing from what I can grasp from the diary we've been given from the hospital. I had a nap which is very unlike me so just wanted to check if anyone else was experiencing tiredness, I'm also getting headaches but that's it so far. My first scan is on Thursday so, we're only a few days apart I think. Did you get diagnosed quite quickly with pcos? I'm on 150 of the merional, how about you? They've spoken to us about it and given us information on it. I have read that people are on metformin to minimise it but, our clinic hasn't mentioned that to me. I was n metformin for a year a couple years back to try and help us conceive naturally, but it didn't work. Are you on metformin at the moment?
Sorry to hear you might have hit something, we had the same issue in my leg on the first injection. The burning feeling is not nice!

Thanks Scottishgirl Yes, it's been a very long journey, which is why I think I feel a bit overwhelmed with how quickly it's moving now, as it was so slow before.
We were told about the pinching but, not about letting go afterwards so we'll definitely be trying that later. Thank you
Sorry that it seems to be dragging for you and that the side effects are evil!

Is this everyone's first attempt on ivf or not?
Sorry if you've already spoke about this, I've read through the thread but there's so much and I can't remember everything haha!

Scottish, when are you going to test? Not tooooo long to wait!

Veinarde is your first scan tomorrow? Have you been taking Metformin? Have you had any pain/discomfort at all? I've just started my period so tomorrow is 'day 1' and I guess I'll start injections on tues. they're in the fridge all ready to go!

Katherine, yes pinch, needle in, let go, inject. Hope it works well for you!
Avocado, good luck for starting on Tuesday!! Time flies now. Very excited for you x
As for me, I was so utterly stupid and tested today at 5dp5dt... Of course it was bfn, and I know it's too early to test but I've been really upset today, I just have a gut feeling it hasn't worked and have done from moments after the transfer. Top tip - DO NOT TEST EARLY!!!!

Good evening ladies :)

I had my first tracking scan today (day 5 stim). They've noted total of 38 follicles - 18 left ovary, 20 right ovary. However it wasn't all too scary - only 9 were measuring around 10mm, the rest were all random ranging from 4 to 8mm. I am on a low dosage of 150 iu Menopur so it seems to be working fine. Very interesting to see how those follicles will develop in the next few days! Next scan is Wednesday!
I added Cetrotide from tonight as well. Scottish, thanks for advice regarding the injections, I was pretty much doing what you describe but still get burning sensation. I must be very muscular in my tummy hehe although it is clearly not visible!
Hope you had a nice weekend and managed to get your mind off 2WW!

Interesting having PCO/S Avocado, you've been put on FSH- only drug, whereas Katherine and myself have FSH and LH combo drugs. I wonder if it has any difference. I am taking Metformin and it is really upsetting my tummy but what wouldn't you do to avoid OHSS! Apparently it helps.
Avocado how exciting you are starting on Tue! Good luck! So far I haven't had any physical discomfort at all, only tiredness and very minor headaches.
Katherine This is my first IVF, unfortunately my diagnosis has been unexplained for more than 2 years, only recently I was told that my infertility is likely to be due to the egg maturation issue with PCO and hormone imbalance. I am not typical PCOS as I am slim and have regular periods.

Oh Scottish!! I can totally understand how impatient you get! I would be the same! Just try not to think of it too much! Hope you will get your positive in few days time xxx

Hi Katherine, this is my first ivf cycle. I am also using merional. It's day 7 for me and so far I've been feeling a little emotional, had some tiredness and a headache last night. Since day 4 I have had quite a bit of pressure in my pelvic area. I'm hoping this is good news that my follicles are growing ! I hope you find merional OK. Ivf is such a roller coaster of emotions!

Well I'm now on day 7 of stims with a scan booked in for tomorrow and Wednesday. The next step for me will be EC. This is the part I'm most nervous about if I'm being completely honest. This will be my first ever procedure. My clinic will be using sedation (morphine and valium) and I hope it works OK. How did you find EC Scottish? Macarena?

I hope everyone is doing well with their injections and good luck to the ladies during their tww! X

Hi everyone...

I'm also on day 7 of stims - very similar to you Laura, I've got first monitoring scan tomorrow and a second one on Tuesday. Not felt too bad so far but had some twinges in pelvic area today, so hoping that's a good sign. I just want to be reassured tomorrow that I'm injecting right!

Scottish - completely understand the need to test and I'm sure I'll be the same. Fingers crossed for you in a couple of days though.

Veinarde - sounds like things are going really well and they have everything under control. Hope you're feeling ok.

Good luck for tomorrow avocado.

And welcome Katherine. First round here too. It's good to have somewhere to join others going through it all at the same time.

Hope everyone else is well xx

Thank you ladies, please learn from my stupidity...

Laura, egg collection was fine for me as my clinic used general anesthetic. I wasn't prepared for the pain and discomfort afterwards though. Probably not the same for everyone but I couldn't stand straight for a while, basically hobbled like an old lady! By day 3 I suddenly felt back to normal again. In saying that I never took any pain killers, probably would have been much better if I had! Please don't worry about it, there's the excitement of how many eggs are collected etc to keep your mind off things, and feels like a great achievement afterwards as you're almost there by that point. Good luck!!

Oh and the feeling of fullness, I guess from all the bloating. Eat little and often afterwards. I tried to eat normal size meals and was really difficult!

Hi everyone!

Scottish - I'm sure it would be too early to get a BFP. Maybe leave it a few more days and try again? Is there anything you can do to take your mind off it for a while in the meantime? Supper hard, I know! It's certainly not over yet - i'll keep my fingers crossed!

Veinarde - Glad you're feeling ok so far. Which day did you start taking the Metformin? 9 10mm follicles sounds promising, it will be interesting to see how many of the smaller ones grow these next couple of days. Did the doctor comment on your chances of OHSS based on that scan? Did you have your estrogen levels measured?

Laura and Lostworkerbee - not long to go until EC now!

Katherine - I am 6 days behind you! With PCOS are you expecting to need to freeze after EC? I have PCO and have been told this is a possibility. Do you have high AMH and AFC?

X

Hi ladies - I'm going through my very first IVF cycle and so wondered if I could join the party?!

I'm on day 6 stims now, short protocol using Gonal-F and I started the Cetrotide this morning too. I had a blood test today but no mention of any scans, is this normal?! I have very high AMH so I'm very wary of my levels.

Hope everyone is well today and feeling positive! x

Hi vox! My clinic said I needed scanning from day 6 of injections because of high AMH and AFC. Which clinic are you with? How high is your AMH?

Hi Avocado! Mine was 6.2 ng/ml and my baseline count was 39. I'm with Guys Hospital. They actually called about 5 minutes after I posted my message;

They want me to drop my Gonal-F from 150 to 100, and go for bloods and a scan on Wednesday. She didn't say anything more than that, so I'm hoping it's nothing to worry about :s I have been quite worried that I might have ovulated already!

Hi Vox, that's good you heard back. I think the OHSS warning sign comes from your estrogen level so perhaps you don't actually need the scan too! My AMH is 56pmol which i think is around 8ng/ml. My most recent follicle count was 40 and 34 before that so you, Veinarde and I have v similar results! Did the hospital tell you your estrogen level? I'm pretty worried about OHSS, I've heard its v painful. Plus it means a delay if you need to 'freeze all'. Has your doctor told you much about whether you are likely to get OHSS/need a freeze all cycle? My doctor just says we need to wait and see which I guess is true! I think it's the Cetrotide that will stop you ovulating now so don't worry about that! Have you had any pain/discomfort so far? Apart from the injections of course!

Wow, good to know I am in good company with such similar counts! They have said I am very high risk for OHSS and so they suggested we sign up for the E-Freeze study. It's only a 50% chance of selection to have things frozen and then wait 3 months before transfer, and we'll only be put forward if we get a good number of embryos, but it could buy some time to let my body recover a bit first. That said, I'm so impatient, I don't know if I want to wait any longer!

No real discomfort, though I am pretty bruised from a few of the Gonal-F sites. Luckily my sister is a nurse and gave me some pointers over the weekend, so the last few have been much better.

What trigger are you all going to use? I was told the standard one is hcg and that it would "tip me over the edge"! I was sent an Otrivelle pen but I think that's the one I can't use.

Vox - I just had a look and my trigger is Pregnyl which is HCG, eek! I'm not sure what my dose is though. I may ask about that next time I'm in.

I've just had a scary call from a nurse..... I've been prescribed 2 grams Metformin a day which she described as 'huge'. She said usually patients start low and work up but I will go straight to 2 grams a day. I've been googling and it sounds like this is going to make me feel awful!

For those taking Metformin.... what dose did you start on? Did you start low and gear up? Have you had bad side effects?

Thanks!x

Avocado, I started on 500mg Metformin with evening meal and it still made me feel awful! You meant to increase the dosage when side effects settle.

Lauralife, lostworkerbee , thevox we all seem to be not too far from each other! I am on day 6 stims today as well. I think Katherine and scott are also stimming early stages. Good luck to those having scans in the next few days!
My clinic is not using general anaesthetic for EC, it will be local only. I'm a bit nervous about that

avocado my Dr said so far everything looks under control regarding OHSS. I will get estrogen measured in Wednesday, it will also be very important scan day - I will be told when my EC will be!
What are you going to do with Metformin?