Anyone doing ivf at 40+

[lucieloos]

We're considering doing a couple more rounds of ivf at 40.5 years old. We have 2 children already but still feel someone is missing.

Is anyone else starting or already having treatment at 40+ and would like to share the journey?

For me I seem to get pregnant and get to 8-9 weeks every time so pgs is a must . I can imagine I’d have a number of day 5s potentially . I definitely wouldn’t want any of those implanted without checking now . My clinic isn’t a fan of pgs but , for me mentally , I literally can’t do the same as I did before . Before my last mmc , pgs wasn’t even on the table for ivf as I was happy to put whatever looked good in . With my af , amh etc it’s probably likely I’ll only get 1-2 eggs max to test though (and it’s expensive!) but I simply can’t go through what I did before. The pgs is over 96% accurate and if you get mosaics ( depending on severity) my clinic will allow them to be put back but anything with an obvious chromosome issue won’t be. That would give me a lot more comfort in pregnant after what I’ve been through in the last 18 months ( although even pgs normal can mc it’s reduced chance) . @Anxiousbuthopeful it depends if you need that reassurance or if you are ok to just proceed without , there are small risks with error rate 2-4 %, damage potential on freeze /thaw etc xx

That sounds like quite good stats! This Belgian doc I am with says PGS is 85pc accurate, with a 15pc error rate which has kind of put me off. He didn’t give me an attrition rate for day 5 culture, freeze/thaw etc. Could it be that different clinics have different accuracy stats for PGS and his is particularly poor?!

I think different clinics do , it also depends on the technology used, my clinic uses next generation testing , there’s an older form which is less accurate . Check what form your clinic uses. There’s a really good overview here , which outlines the pros and cons

theduff.co.uk/pgs-testing-ivf/

Hi there! So I have spoken to another two clinics (IVI in Spain and Barcelona IVF) who both suggest a) a different protocol to see if anything changes and b) day 5 culture and PGS. My doctor says that I am lucky to get 4 good day 3 embryos a go, and that they stick, and that the only issue is egg quality and that I can either persevere (with low odds) or go for egg donation. I am not sure whether to change or not. On the one hand it hasn’t worked so far so I would like to try a new approach, but on the other I have gotten to positive pregnancy tests both times so why change what doesn’t seem to be broken?

@Anxiousbuthopeful what protocol do they have you on at the moment? You might do well trying lower dose stimms to get better egg quality. My clinic had quite a good success rate with that for older ladies.

I take Orgalutran for the first three days, then Elonva (which is one injection that lasts for 7 days) and then I top up with Meropur for a couple of days before my Gonasi trigger shot. This other clinic would change to a Meropur + Gonal F stimulation and also use a different trigger.

@Anxiousbuthopeful I've never heard of elonva before. More familiar with gonal and menopur. I cycled at reprofit in Czech Republic which can work out quite a bit cheaper.

That sounds interesting @lucieloos! Were they good?

Well we got my son from there. There is a certain doctor I would recommend. He was good and I liked him.

@Badgerismyname also went there aged 40 and had success first time.

I did - am now 38 weeks. I can’t remember if they quoted me a success rate of 10 or 15% but I had 5 mature eggs collected and all made it to day 5, one was implanted and 4 in the freezer (didn’t test anything). Obv I could have just been very lucky and the one they happened to implant was the only normal one. Tbh will never know as am unlikely to use the others.

I don’t know those drugs either, my protocol was also gonal f and menopur.

Unfortunately the Czech Repblic is not v accessible right now due to Covid...

Oh wow @Badgerismyname! How wonderful and ALMOST THERE! I am starting to feel a little bit hopeless, to be honest. Have been quoted a 5% success rate per cycle by one of the Spanish clinics, at this point I wonder whether natural conception may be almost as likely!

@Badgerismyname - did you do anything else which you think may have helped? I also have crap hormonal values (low AMH, the rest seems ok...)

And @lucieloos - if you could recommend the doctor you thought was good I might try to get a (fourth) opinion...

Hi everyone! I’ve managed to start my next cycle today. Same protocol different doctor also due to Covid. Going to Barcelona this time around. Terrified.

@Anxiousbuthopeful it was Dr Pavel at Reprofit. You would probably need to contact a coordinator first and see if you could discuss it with him. It sounds like you are sorted now though! Wishing you lots of luck in Barcelona.

Thank you @lucieloos! Eeek round three. So hard not to get disheartened but trying to stay positive. How are you feeling?

@Anxiousbuthopeful yes stay positive you have had implantation every time so far. I'm ok just very nauseous constantly. I've booked a scan for Monday to see what's what!

I am so excited for you! Let us know how it goes.

@Anxiousbuthopeful yes will do!

Wow @Anxiousbuthopeful how do you cycle so fast ! Even starting is dragging for me. Best of luck 💜 good luck @lucieloos too I know how nerve racking it all is x

Thanks! It is super stressful trying to get all this done so quickly. But I feel that this year is galloping by and that my chances are declining by the day.... bleee

@Anxiousbuthopeful that’s great you’re back on it! I think all the waiting makes it even more stressful so much better to not lose any time. You’ve got to be in it to win type thing, cheesy as it is.

Tbh I did very little to prepare for my last cycle, I started taking ubiquinol, maca and spirulina tablets (from limited internet research!) but I think I only started them about 6 weeks before so can’t imagine they had any effect! I never eat amazingly well (I love sugar), and I obv cut down on caffeine and alcohol but didn’t cut out until I actually started the meds. I just tried not to panic and to hope for the best. Someone has to have success, it could easily be you. 🤞🏻🤞🏻

Fingers crossed!

Hi @lucieloos - how are you getting on? Have you had your appointment? And @Sunshinelove8, when are you meant to start again? I have my first monitoring appointment tomorrow, convinced will have no follicles at all etc etc. Trying not to stress out but somehow it gets harder every time...