Pain during Embryo Transfer

[duckhouse]

Hi,

From most of the experience i have read, everyone says that ET is a non event.. i had FET cycle 1 and underwent pain and discomfort when the consultant was struggling to find cervics..it was more painful than pap smear and the fertility nurse had to warn me multiple times to keep my bump on the bed and not move but i couldn't help the pain:. Wondering if anyone else has gone through this ? And is there a way to make the experience better ? In my failed cycle review comments, consultant wrote that transfer was tricky but she feels that would not have caused the failure ( as vague as that). My clinic doesn't use ultrasound for ET or ask to keep bladder full.

I was put to sleep for my ET. Speaking to friends who weren’t (on the NHS), it seems pretty horrible.

@JoJoSM2 Does sedative have any impact on the success of transfer as consultants don't offer the option upfront ?

Also how soon could you leave the clinic after transfer.. do they hold you back for long ?

My IVF was private and I think that you generally get sedated when you go private but NHS treatments need to be more cost effective.

I don't know if it has any impact on the success of the transfer but it definitely lowered the stress levels for me. When I came to, I was greeted by a nurse with drinks and snacks and left probably an hour later.

I had three transfers, one successful and two failed, and neither was more than uncomfortable, and most of that was from the full bladder. I never heard of sedation for transfer, only for retrieval, and I know several people who have done ivf in different countries.
I have heard that transfer can be painful if the uterus is tilted. Maybe that’s something you can ask about?

Just to add, I went private and every imaginable extra was available for a price, but sedation for transfer was never mentioned.

At my clinic sedation is available for NHS and Private, if you request it you pay, it the Doctor feels it's needed the clinic/CCG cover the cost, I have endometriosis and transfers were always difficult for the consultant so had 2 with sedation at their request and 2 without, no affect on success rates, always left the clinic quickly unless it was after a sedation

Oh sorry, I think I've been talking nonsense. I had sedation for retrieval but not the transfer. I think it was just a bit of discomfort.

I'm onto my 2nd cycle and for my 1st during the fresh transfer I had it without sedation. I found it so uncomfortable that for my 2 FET I asked for sedation.

Now onto 2nd cycle and will hopefully be asking for all my transfers to be done under sedation.

I too found the transfer very uncomfortable. I was told ‘it’s just like a smear or a scan’ - it wasn’t. I think next time around I will ask for sedation.

.....although thinking about it, not sure how sedation would work with the full bladder 😬

If your transfer is difficult it’s likely an issue with your cervix - have you had it checked to see if it’s narrow/tilted? I have a narrow vaginal canal (uterine abnormality) and have embryo transfer under sedation as otherwise it would be too painful for me.

@Youngatheart00 it's empty bladder for sedation. Full without.... Or at least that's what they do at the hosptial im at. ☺️🌟🤞 Fingers crossed for you

Ah I see, well that’s a relief! Having visions of embarrassing myself quite spectacularly!

@crumpets124 interesting - I’m pretty sure I DO have a tilted cervix, remembering a prior smear test.

I also have a tilted cervix, so asked for a mock embryo transfer first. I found I could tolerate it but couldn't stay absolutely still! So I have had all embryo transfers under sedation - the consultant said it makes no difference to success rates.

In my clinic they still want a full bladder for transfer, so the first time I had it they just put the cannula in early and gave me a drip until my bladder was full. The two goes after that I drunk a bottle of water just before the cut-off point when you can't drink anything, then managed not to wee so I had a full enough bladder without a drip. My bladder was very full and it did cross my mind that I might wet myself while sedated, but didn't (as far as I know) - didn't have a wet gown at least, and still needed a wee when I woke up .

I have a tilted cervic too and all my previous transfer have been painful except last one which wasnt too painful.. i give credit to pre transfer accupunture which relaxed me..however i guess sedation is cheaper option than accupunture and i will go for sedation next time. I have had no sniff of bfp so far and always wonder if its my odd cervic which causes implantation to fail .

My consultant doesn't see any reason why its a failure everytime .. she is planning to do a hysteroscopy this time to understand why 😐

Yes, I've had three embryo transfers so far and no BFP. I wonder whether the cervix could be the cause, as my womb lining is always very good - although my embryos were all graded 5BB so not the best quality. It's not something the clinic have mentioned though.

Good luck for the hysteroscopy - hope you get some answers

@Holly147 i guess 5BB is considered to be good quality.. i had a 5BB transferred too and my consultant said it is a good quality. I have same case.. lining is always good and embryo grade is good so there is no clear reason for back to back failure. I plan to start wheat grass for next cycle.. just trying something new 😐

When is your next cycle planned ?

@duckhouse my fourth (and last) embryo from my first cycle was due to be transferred this week, but didn't survive thawing unfortunately. So I'm now waiting for a follow-up appointment, and possibly another funding application, before I can start a new cycle. Fingers crossed it all happens quickly!

The consultant I spoke to this week said it's just bad luck, which I suppose it could be as the general success rate for IVF is fairly low.

When are you starting your next cycle?

we went private and i had the egg retrieval under sedation (standard) and the ET without sedation. even though the private clinic offered us options for nearly everything, they never mentioned sedation for ET.
I had an ET twice, one felt like a smear test the second a bit more uncomfortable but the discomfort was so short I wouldn't think I' d want sedation for that. both times the same doctor.

so i don't think its a NHS vs private thing?

@Holly147 i will hopefully start in Mar if everything goes as planned.. this is my last funded cycle and for the next one (if required and likely seeing my history) consultant would have to file an application again for funding. I hope your application processing happens soon.. have they given any timeline ?

I called up my clinic on Friday and apparently the consultant forgot mentioning hysteroscopy in her notes so nothing has happened... i really want to understand why implantation is failing for me again and again.. wonder your case is similar.. what does your consultant say ?

Thanks @duckhouse. No, they haven't given any timeline unfortunately, but I'm going to email to nag them tomorrow as they are notoriously bad at organising anything! The consultant hasn't said anything - I did ask what could be causing the failures but they just said it was bad luck. They don't seem to think there's any issue, as they said we should just try again with another cycle. Four embryos seems a lot for it to be just bad luck though.

How many transfers have you had?

@Holly147 i have had 2 transfers so far.. both frozen. Had a fresh cycle but transfer was cancelled due to OHSS.. so in all 3 cycles and loads of medicine in my body 😐 my consultant did say that if i am not successful in next one which means my funded attempts finish..she is happy to request for more cycle funding.. i wonder if that is possible though ?

I don't know much about normal IVF funding sorry, as we're having PGD so slightly different. But as far as I know, as far as funding is concerned one cycle means one egg collection, and then transfers of as many embryos as you get from that. I've had one egg collection and three embryo transfers and that counts as my first cycle.

I don't know if this would be applicable to you, but after my first medicated transfer I switched to having natural embryo transfer cycles (someone suggested it on here), meaning no drugs at all, which is nice! I just asked to have them and the clinic agreed as I ovulate regularly. All you have to do is ovulation testing at home (and a scan to check follicles and womb lining), then they work out the transfer day from that.

I had a mock embryo transfer so they had a rough idea how it was going to go -no issues. On the day of actual transfer it was full bladder with an ultrasound. If they aren't getting you to have a full bladder or using an ultrasound then how can they get the location right to do it? Plus try not to cause you discomfort. I have never heard to sedation for embryo transfer?