Embryo Banking Support Thread / PGS wait

[ForeverAintEnough]

Hi all, I’ve just name changed but I’ve been on here loads and chatting to many of you under different user names ( irrational fear of being outed!). I wondered if there was interest in a ‘no transfer happening’ group? So those doing embryo banking or PGS or whatever.

I’ve just done one round of embryo banking and found the normal threads difficult with discussion of hoping for a Christmas pregnancies etc.

We are unfortunately taking the long way round with 3 rounds and no transfer. It looks like my first transfer might not be until June 2021.

If anyone wants to jump on feel free!

About us: Me 34, DH 36, TTC 3 years. Both male and female issues. x3 rounds of IVF all failed. Moved clinic to Lister for 3 rounds of embryo banking and PGS. One round of embryo banking just finished with x3 blasts sent off for PGS testing.

@Rosemarypots exciting to have meds arrive! Best of luck. Let's hope it does work out and then you won't have to worry about it!!

I'm due to start the next FET whenever I get my next period (after this current bleed) but my cycles can be as long as 60 days after a chemical so we shall see. Hence there's nothing to lose by seeing Mr Shehata in the mean time.

@Rosemarypots thank you and good luck with your batching cycle. Keeping everything crossed for you.
@Janefx40 thanks so very much for being enthusiastic on my behalf, I really appreciate it. Especially as it still all feels extremely anxious and a precarious time to me. The line on the test continued to get darker today so lets see how the coming days etc go. I don’t know when my blood test would be or what the next steps are. I am officially due to test on 14DP5DT which is Tuesday 8th. So I assume if the test holds I will call the clinic booking reception and maybe they will give me a blood test appointment and nurse etc. but not sure of timing.

I really wish you the very best for your next transfer and hope it comes round quickly. I hope the Dr follow up helps and goes well too. Is Mr Sehata your consultant?

@Sarahk20000 when I started my FET they offered me an Hcg blood test which was scheduled for 2 days before the official home test date 12dt5dt. If you are anxious you could do bloods although tbh nothing really relieves the anxiety. The more information you have the more you need. I do understand how you feel. I felt the same.

My consultant is Mr Theodorou. Mr Shehata is an immunology and recurrent miscarriage specialist that you can see alongside x

@Janefx40 I hope the consultation with Dr Sehata proves helpful. Keep us posted on it.

Ah I see on the HCG bloods. They didn’t offer me that but said to do a urine sample test 14DP5DT and then call them if positive for a BHCG and progesterone blood test plus nurse appointment and intralipids. I see another covid test coming 😞 I assume also they may offer a viability scan in the next few weeks but don’t know timing etc. I was going to ask the lady who cleans my flat to come back (have been paying her since the pandemic started but kept avoiding calling her due to the constant ivf cycles) but am now getting nervous again due to another covid test. Do you know the deal on vacuum, house cleaning etc in the 2ww? The leaflet they give doesn’t say much beyond no heavy lifting. My husband literally does nothing and I can’t convince him but don’t what to exert myself if I shouldn’t be. And I totally get your point of just wanting more information and being anxious. I need to not give in to the anxiety and just accept that whatever the outcome will be will be in the future. No amount of anxiety in between or information seeking is going to change it most probably. Sorry I feel I keep using this forum for my outpouring of anxiety and over thinking. I have a big week coming up at work so better get my head in gear.

@Sarahk20000 I'm sure the vacuuming would be fine but my advice would be not to do anything that you might question later. Best to just chill and book the cleaner for the day after your next PCR test x

@SarahK20000
Hi. I understand the anxiety. I was exactly the same but found that testing less helped me. When I got pregnant, I had to tell CRGH at 14dpt and then book a 6 week scan. I did not have a blood test as they were not offering it at that point.

I worried about lifting. I agree though that you need to relax as much as you can. The first trimester I felt really sick all the time so didn’t have much energy anyway. I would take one day at a time.

I’m pleased for you. Keep us posted.

@Janefx40

Hi. Sorry for the delay in responding to messages. I’ve been going up for frequent scans this week for second retrieval. I’m stimming an extra day this time as I have some smaller follicles. I was so upset as not doing so well this time, but I’ve been very anxious due to the delays. I have 13 follicles this time.

Do you find it difficult to speak to the clinic? I know before that if I had a few questions my consultant would respond but now I have to book consultations all the time. Sorry for the moan but it all adds up and sometimes I find the consultation goes so fast that I could not take in all the information.

How are you doing? It’s good you have another point of contact at CRGH.

@Ivfhoper

How are you doing? I’m stimming an extra day this time for second retrieval. I have another scan tomorrow. Hope things are going well. All the best for your next retrieval. We might be there the same day! Good luck

@Janefx40
Hi. Also good luck with your appointment with Mr Shehata and your next FET.

Hi all, reading your good tips in here. I will soon have my FET from NHS and then moving to another clinic. Was considering Lister or CRGH with Access Fertility 2 cycle package. I can’t decide between the 2 clinics. CRGH seems to be £2k more expensive and wondering whether it is any better than Lister overall. Also can’t decide whether to do embryo banking now at the age of 40 as I want to have 2 kids or I should do them one by one. So many decisions to be made. AMH is average and we have a male factor. I don’t think we can afford PGS. Thank you for your tips 😌

@K8dferXdder. If your FET is unsuccessful I personally would embryo bank as egg quality can decline significantly every year.

@Janefx40 yes IVF definitely sucks whether you get your hopes up or not. The thought of 2ww wait fills me with dread, I know I’d be a wreck whatever the result.

@K8dferXdder I would 100% do a banking round or two before doing anymore FETs at age 40, if the NHS one doesn't work. Even if you just want one child that'd be my advise tbh- but a million times more that's my advice if you want 2! x

@Janefx40 and @2021ivfagain thank you for your advice. @2021ivfagain I hope your scan today went well and the follicles are getting larger. Keeping my fingers crossed for your round.
@K8dferXdder I agree with the others 2 banking rounds seem a minimum for 1 child let alone 2. As at our age a higher percentage of blastocysts have chromosome abnormalities (and that percentage will keep going up if you went one by one) we need the higher numbers to transfer (or test if you were doing PGS). Good luck with your current FET round 😊

@SarahK20000
Thanks for your kind words. I’m not expecting to do as well as before and I’ve had to change my mindset this time. Did you ever have a bad/not so good cycle? It’s very difficult this time around. I wish my passport issue could have been sorted earlier or at least if the clinic could have told me in more time. I hope I’ve not missed my chance. Sorry for being negative.

@2021ivfagain totally understand and am sorry you are feeling this way and having to face a potentially lesser successful cycle. My experience has been that the cycles with the most eggs don’t always translate into the most blastocysts. My last cycle with 17 eggs ended up with only 1 fertilised egg. The ones with 12/13 eggs yielded better outcomes and resulted in 6 eggs fertilising each time so it just felt so random. 2 of my 4 cycles were a complete right off with no blastocysts at all. 2 were fine so I think it is just luck of the draw sometimes. 3 of the cycles had identical protocols so can’t even attribute it to that. But I wouldn’t let lower numbers drag you down too much yet as they can still convert to a reasonable number of blastocysts. Fingers crossed for you. sending you lots of positives vibes.

Hello everyone, I just wanted to join this thread since I've just started embryo banking at CRGH like many people here I see. My first round (ICSI with IMSI) resulted in 6 eggs, 5 mature which all fertilised. (Waiting to find out about day 3 embryos tomorrow). I have a DD who is 2, conceived naturally and quickly though after two miscarriages. DH also has high DNA fragmentation. I have okay AMH (12) but high FSH (15) so I'm doing the oestrogen priming protocol which brought my FSH down. Embryo banking is obviously a prolonged process and a roller coaster, so it would be great to share info with people on this thread. Good luck to everyone!

@SarahK20000 and @Janefx40
Hello
I had the worst IVF cycle ever yesterday. Nothing fertilised. It was the same cycle I took dhea. My cycle in November was excellent. I’m giving up hope. I’ve been crying a lot today as I don’t know what to do. I think it’s the dhea and stress. I’m taking a few months off from batching to improve egg quality and get dhea out of my system. I don’t know what to do.

Do you know how long it takes for dhea to leave my system? I stopped during stimming but then took one tablet yesterday and one today. I will not take more dhea. I will take wheatgrass again as that has always been good.

Sorry for being negative. This process is so hard.

@2021ivfagain I am so sorry to hear about your failed round. What was your testosterone level for this round -can you get a blood test to see? I found my levels dropped quite quickly when I stopped taking it - within a month I think. You can monitor with bloods until you get back to the level your testosterone was at before you started.

Sending you

@Dochas1211
Thanks for your message. I don’t know what it was. I tested my dhea before taking it as it was 14.5 which was quite high for my age group. I was told that because of my age I should take it but I know it affected my body and now I’m going to waste more time getting better again. I feel emotionally worn out. I’m sorry.

My consultant believes the dhea did not affect it but it’s the only thing that has changed. It’s good to know the level was reversed after a month. Thanks for that.

How are you getting on?

@2021ivfagain I’m really sorry to hear that. I tnink your consultant was very remiss in getting you to take it with normal DHEA levels. When I was on it I had to get blood tests every month to make sure the levels weren’t going too high as if they are it can impact on egg quality. It should be out of your system quickly enough. I hope you are ok and doing something nice for yourself. It’s hard when a round results in nothing. I’ve been there myself.

@2021ivfagain I'm really sorry this round has failed. Are you with CRGH? I've told them I don't think their approach to ignoring testosterone levels when recommending DHEA is right, and that they seem to be an outlier as a clinic. I've also said it seems inconsistent, given they're so obsessed with progesterone levels.

I'm currently taking DHEA and have now tested myself three times to track my levels. One of the nurses has actually asked me to record my approach to testing and how I've tweaked my dosage each time, and has said she's going to speak to the consultants about it. Hopefully that might play into some change in some way.

Well done @Rosemarypots I don’t get why clinics just say oh take it - it’s a hormone not a supplement. They should be doing the kind of monitoring you are doing when they advise/ prescribe it.

Thanks @Dochas1211. I've raised the rationale for testing levels with my consultant before in a previous round, and she wasn't interested. The nurse who wants to take it further said she'll try one of the other consultants if mine doesn't engage. She seems pretty switched on lots aren't.

@Rosemarypots @Dochas1211
Thanks both of you.

I am at CRGH. My cycle in November was really good but I was told my next cycle might not be so I became anxious and was persuaded to take dhea. Dhea gave me migraines, affected my mood and sleep. I feel like my body is failing me. I wanted to give my son a sibling but I think I just have to have an open mind that it might not happen. I do have a lot of stress in life with caring for my mum and dad and the last month has involved calling ambulances and calling hospitals.

I was annoyed that I had to wait to do the cycle end of January due to earlier Christmas closure. Also, I had booked a September consultation and had to cancel as my passport expired even though I was a returning patient. I had success at 38 with my son who is now 14 months old. I had to rush and get a new passport and cancel my September consultation and change it to October. That meant I could only do one cycle before Christmas.

If anyone has any advice on how to reduce stress and improve egg quality, please let me know. It’s never been an issue before.

@2021ivfagain so sorry to hear about everything you are going through 😢 with a little one and parents who need your care I can imagine it is quite stressful. Stress is manageable but I am also not very good at that. I find listening to webinars or reading online stuff helps me cope better. Also because I work (not sure if you work), thinking about work and data and stuff I am doing, helps me distract from everything else. Talking to other people about other things also helps you realise there is more to life than what you are going through at the moment. But I would say maybe get some counselling sessions. Your GP should be able to offer you for free if not from your Ivf clinic or if you have private medical insurance. Wishing you the best, stay strong 😚