OHSS following ET- tell me it gets better!

[MissusBeee]

I started getting OHSS symptoms at 6 or 7dp5dt (Nothing before then) and now at 9dp5dt, my symptoms have got even worse and I'm off work today- don't worry, I've been to my clinic and had a blood test, waiting for a call back this afternoon with results.

My question is, Has anyone experienced this and what can I do to help it? How long does it last? If pregnant/ not pregnant?

What's adding to my concern that I was due to start a new job today and had to call in sick ;(. Not a great way to start and I'm concerned about how I will manage it if I need more time off... it is terrible, terrible timing!

So, any stories of OHSS that started this late?

Oh dear... Personally, I didn't have a fresh transfer to avoid OHSS. Unfortunately, pregnancy hormones make OHSS worse so it gets progressively worse as more hormones are produced and can drag on for a few weeks. Luckily, it can usually be managed on an outpatient basis with only the most severe cases requiring hospitalisation. Make sure the clinic are looking after you and have given you guidelines on do's and don'ts and what to look out for/when to go to A&E if symptoms worsen.
I was also given Cabergoline to prevent severe OHSS but I'm not sure if it can be used in pregnancy so perhaps worth asking your clinic about.
I hope you feel better soon!

And congrats on the pregnancy! :) I don't think it'd be possible for you to get symptoms now unless pregnant ;)

Thanks JoJo, so there may be a silver lining to this! Sorry to hear that you suffered with this too. I had no idea it was this bad 😩 I will put together a list of questions for when I speak to the clinic this afternoon. I'll definitely ask about cabergoline (or anything they can do really).

I'm sure I'll feel better once I've spoken to the clinic and have a plan, just imaging the worst at the moment.

I got a mild case of OHSS from stimming (they took 31 eggs!!) so after EC we were advised to freeze embryos and have a FET once my ovaries had calmed down. Which is what we did (and all okay now). They gave me drugs as well to shrink everything back and get rid of the fluid.

They gave us a lot of info about OHSS at the time. It's much more common in IVF because of all the stimming drugs but if there was any hint of it at EC, they prob would've told you and advised against continuing with ET at that point? (Because pregnancy exacerbates existing OHSS risk).

Did you have two embryos put in? There is a higher chance of OHSS/more severe OHSS with a twin pregnancy. (For that reason if we'd ignored advice about FET and gone ahead they would've refused to transfer two embryos).

If you're not pregnant, I would guess that this wouldn't be happening?? So in that way hopefully good news!! But OHSS can potentially be serious in rare situations so get advice from your clinic. I would've thought they'd scan you too. My understanding was that I it will persist as long as you're pregnant because it's hormone related. No idea what treatments they I can do during pregnancy?

It might still be be something else giving you these symptoms. Pregnancy itself plus IVF drugs (depending what you're taking) can cause all sorts of funky symptoms can't it!

I hope it all turns out okay for you. Shit timing with new job but can't be helped, you never would've expected this!
Good luck

I was hospitalised with it. I had it because it had worked and I was pregnant. I'd put money on you being pregnant too...

I was put on fluid drips and clexane injections. It was awful but i didn't care once I knew why!

Absolutely RugbyBoots, definitely never expected this. I don't have any of the risk factors for OHSS either so was especially surprised. (Am old, normal weight,

Yeah the only risk factor I had was that they collected so many eggs. Didn't have it Cycle 1. And didn't realise I had it Cycle 2 until they picked it up pre-transfer. As I'd felt ropey at various points from all the drugs. Had never even heard of OHSS at that stage.

Tbh I'm just as bloated now (several weeks pregnant post ET) as I was when my ovaries were like balloons with OHSS. As soon as they transferred actually, I inflated like a whale. Def don't have OHSS now but I'm on a really massive dose of injections/pessaries/oral progesterone meds (and clexane because of prog increasing DVT risk), which I believe is responsible for the bloating. I couldn't honestly tell the difference between the two time points as I feel very similar. Wait and see what the tests say and then you can get advice on what to do to look after yourself :)

Thanks everyone for the advice - timpani, you're experience sounds horrible although great that you ended up being pregnant.

Rubyboots, that's a long time to be so uncomfortable, I hope it eases soon.

It's been a long wait for the clinic to call back/ although I've been reassured they will today. At least I'll have some idea what's going on tonight...

Finally spoken to my clinic and I am pregnant! I know you all told me, but was still a shock to me. Unfortunately, I also have mild ohss so need to make sure it doesn't get worse. Going to collect something called clexane tomorrow and get some more info!

Thanks for your support today, at least it's ultimately for a good cause!

Congrats!