What IVF meds are you taking?

[ChatWithMe]

Hi there.

I'm wondering if I should do long or short protocol after one failed short cycle. I have low AMH of 6.5.

I'm reading up on medication names.

For my IVF cycle I took: the oral contraceptive pill for 2 weeks, then after a 5 day break and bleed I took stimulation injections called Fostimon (FSH). A few days later I added an antagonist injection to prevent premature ovulation called Fyremadel. After 2 weeks of injections I took one HCG trigger injection called Ovitrelle. I then had egg collection and later embryo transfer.

Basically, I wonder about trying long protocol and finding out about meds like Buserelin. I also want to try Menopur instead of Fostimon. I definitely want to switch Ovitrelle out for Pregnyl (to use human derived rather than animal derived).

So if I hear from you all about specific meds you took and what protocol you were on I might feel more comfortable making changes.

I also want to know what the cost difference is between meds for long protocol vs short protocol.

Thanks!!

I have low AMH for my age too and also poor quality eggs

I did 2 cycles of short protocol last year
Bemfola from cycle day 2 and then added cetrotide from cycle day 6 with either an ovitrelle teiggr- egg collection cycle day 12 or 13. Periods came back very quickly so able to do more cycles much quicker

This time I am doing natural modified IVF as if you have low AMH there is no point forcing your body to create loads of eggs which it wouldn't do naturally as they'll just be low quality. So this time I take tamoxifen tablets from cycle day 3 and do low dose Bemfola every OTHER day - egg collection day 12 with an ovitrelle trigger

So far on the first round of a 3 cycle package of this natural modified ivf I have got 2 good quality embryos frozen which is the same number I got from my full cycles but better quality x

Congrats itwasalovelydreamwhileitlasted - that's good news you got some good quality embryos waiting for you. Do you do all three cycles before starting transfers or do you transfer then go to next cycle if no BFP? Thanks for your input. I googled tamoxifen. From what I read I reckon it's similar in some ways to letrozole. I have not tried it but could be a possibility in the future. We only have two more tries so it's racking my brain trying to decide what route to take. I like the idea of natural modified IVF. Sounds positive.

Hi @ChatWithMe yeah I have to do 3 egg collections but I can do them back to back due to the low level drugs and then transfer after the 3rd one

I think tamoxifen is a bit like clomid in that it makes you produce more follicles - it usually for women who don't ovulate regularly but my clinic (Create) has had some success on using it where egg quality isn't great so agreed to me doing it

I'm lucky in that they listen to me and we come up with a protocol together

Are you paying privately or via the NHS?

Hi itwasalovelydreamwhileitlasted thanks for your viewpoint, it's been helpful. I was lucky to have our 2 year old son from our only free NHS cycle. So now we've been doing private fertility treatment since Feb 2019 with no success yet. We've spent about £11k and by the time we do one more cycle with current clinic we'll have spent £19k. I am thinking we should try the 3 cycle package with ICSI at Create if the next cycle unsuccessful as it does sound good. With ICSI and all the meds and stuff it looks like £11k accordingly to website so that brings us precisely to the £30k we agreed at the start. Plus it's an 8 minute walk from my husband's job (he might change jobs but hard to know at this point). He's against Clomid as a child in our family born via Clomid has autism. When do you get to do your first embryo transfer? Like May? I bet you can't wait :-)

I have a DD too but naturally conceived

We ll have spent £30k by the end of this 3 cycle package - for the natural Modified package with ICSI including the support package (all the scans and blood tests etc) freezing and one transfer and all the drugs was £13.5k

This is our last "go" at it as it feels like life has been on hold for so long now. We've been trying since DD was 1 but had 5 miscarriages and 2 ruptured ectopics in the last 2.5 years

I'm with Create Birmingham and found them really good - we've stuck with them through all our IVF as our lack of success certainly hasn't been through lack of trying on their part and they also supported us through a naturally conceived miscarriage. Because I work away a lot I've had scans at their St. Paul's clinic and had an egg collection there too (their St. Paul's clinic has just been named as Having the best success rates in London)

I think we ll be transferring mid March as with this protocol periods come back straight away and you don't have to wait to have a period in between starting each cycle - so far my egg collections have been spaced exactly 4 weeks apart x

Wow what a journey itwasalovelydreamwhileitlasted! I'm really hoping this is your year! Thanks for recommendation and cost. Best of luck for March transfer and ?April testing day :-)

Anyone else happy to share the meds they're taking and what protocol they're on? (Plus, if you've done both protocols then what's the cost difference between the two in your experience). I know there's so much variety in IVF treatments so just curious how they differ...

Not sure how much help this is but I did a short protocol cycle with menopur in August last year. My AMH was on the low side at 9.2 age 35. As it was my first cycle I don’t have anything to compare it too but I didn’t suffer any side effects. I stimmed for 11 days and for the last 5 I also used orgalutran to prevent ovulation. I did end up at risk of ohss but that could have been the dosage - 8 days at 300 then the rest at 375. Although I was very closely monitored with both a scan and a blood test on days 1,5,7,9,10 and 11. We had a lower fertilisation rate of 7 out of 20 eggs so likely some were immature. However we got 4 day 5 frosties and currently 19 weeks following a FET.

We paid about £9k in total for the cycle, drugs and subsequent FET. About £3k of this was drugs. We don’t live in the UK though and I know we paid a lot more for the drugs than we would have in the UK as I priced them at the time but couldn’t find a way of getting them out here.

Thanks Betsyboo87 - £9k for a baby sounds like a good deal to me ;-) I've not heard of that medication orgalutran but I'll look it up. Have heard of Menopur of course. Dose of 375 sounds high but it paid off. You ever have frosties for a sibling :-) Good luck with your pregnancy x

Hi

I'm due to start my ivf treatment In a few days just waiting for the nurse to ring about injecting bemfola. Is there any good videos to watch on injections for bemfola and cetrotide as I'm a bit nervous as it will be my first time ! Does anyone know of ivf working first time with PCOS they have said the egg quality is good.

Hi, I'm due to start my NHS cycle later this month. I'm 40 and my last AMH test was 12.8. They're whacking me on max dose short protocol due to my age and lowish reserve.

450 Menopur from day 1, then add in 0.25 cetrotide from day 5, trigger with gonasi.
I'm also taking Fragmin throughout for blood clots as there's family history.

@Griff2020 I have PCOS, I had my first round of NHS short protocol IVF in March and I'm currently 24+4 pregnant. I'm lucky to have 3 frosties too. I was 36 when I had IVF, 37 now.

@Pinktruffle that amazing!!
I'm hoping it works first time for me even taking metaformin isnt great. I've had two early miscarriages when I conceived naturally so I'm hoping that doesnt happen either.

Have you got any suggestions on what to watch for the injections?? I've only got a leaflets for bemfola

I only seem to be on gonal F 112.5 dose for short protocol stims. My AMH is 42 and risk of over stimulation

@Griff2020 Thank you! I miscarried when I conceived naturally too. I tried Letrozole for nearly 9 months but had no luck. We were very lucky with our IVF, I hope you are similarly blessed.

@Pinktruffle did you take anything like baby asprin as I've read alot of people who previously miscarried took that and was full term. But obviously I could have miscarried because of something totally different but just thought I'd ask. I did ask the consultant and they said the chance of miscarriage does go down as they chose the best embryo etc

@Griff2020 No I wasn't given that, I dont think mine was a blood clotting issue. As I have PCOS I think it was more likely to be egg quality or hormonal imbalance. I used progesterone pessaries (which are given after IVF anyway) for the whole of the first trimester. My clinic usually recommend for you to stop after a successful 8 weeks scan but I insisted on continuing as I'd had bleeding.

Ohh yeah I havent been tested for it so mine was probably the Same. I've been given some progesterone pessaries but I dont know how many I havent checked. So can you ask for more, how long did you use them for ??

I asked for more at my 8 week scan and was given enough for the whole trimester. I was told to lower my dose to once a day once I got to 12 weeks and finished them at 13 weeks.

If I remember correctly, you are usually given enough for your TWW and if you test positive, they give you a prescription for more.

Did anyone feel like they was going to be sick and stomach ache with ivf meds I feel so bad