First time IVF - don’t know where to begin, any advice?

[Twtls123]

Hi, I have two children from a previous relationship but my husband and I have been trying for over two years and have had all the tests and have unexplained infertility. We were given the go ahead for IVF but I really didn’t want to go down that route (I was sure it was just a problem with me being stressed at work or things not being exciting in the bedroom effecting my hormones, anyone else felt this?) but as time has gone on it’s getting harder and harder each month and Im starting to realise that I might need to accept we have to do it. The main thing I’m scared of is how the medications will effect my moods, I have a history of depression and anxiety and I worry they will ‘upset the apple cart’ and it will effect my whole life, I can’t even take the pill. Can anyone give me any advice on that and also any advice on going abroad for ivf? Or access fertility? We’re both self employed so the lockdowns have stripped us of our life savings so we would really struggle to afford what we’ve been quoted so far, let alone if we have to do it more than once.

Hi

I can't offer advice on going abroad but I'm sure someone else will be along to help with that.

Regarding the meds I think it depends on what protocol they put you on and what meds each protocol entails. I think the long protocol involves down regulation (basically shutting your ovaries down first) and takes a few weeks longer than a short protocol (what I did) the meds for me were fine ! Honestly they didn't send me mental like I thought but everyone is different. We had a freeze all so I'm due to start taking the second lot of medication soon for the second half of this cycle to prepare for the transfer - so I may be in for a shock mood wise ! All new to me so I couldn't say yet.

We have used access fertility, we chose the 3 cycle 50% refund. The refund packages are subject to a medical review that they receive from your chosen clinic.
They are worth the extra money though I think as from our first round we got 9 embryos, all those have to be transferred before starting a new round (so you effectively have lots more goes in one round)
Hopefully someone else can give some more info as I said I'm still new and learning myself .

Good luck in your journey 🤞🏻

@Twtls123 I was worried about the meds, I’m a fairly highly strung person under normal circumstances and the OCP had made me very snappy in the past. But I didn’t react at all! You wouldn’t even know I was taking the meds during my fresh cycle. Someone had mentioned that those having IVF described moodiness etc far more often than those on the meds to donate eggs, so perhaps more a psychological impact of the process rather than the medications.

I’m with access fertility 2 cycle no refund package, at my age it’s £7,300 and you pay for medications on top of that (get a private prescription and get it from Asda it’s cheaper). If you call access fertility they will give you the pieces for each package for your age. I have a high follicle count and got 9 blastocytes in my fresh cycle so the package I’m on should work well for me. If you’ve got a lower follicle count you may want to try one of the refund packages. IVF is expensive and someone in these threads said they had to live like they had a kid for a year, budgeting for childcare etc and had the money in a year.

@elsaesmeralda you’re the first person I’ve found that also got 9 blastocytes from a cycle! It would be interesting to hear your story :)

Hi @Gardenlady543 great to hear you got such a good number too.

I was shocked personally, I have pcos and also my partner had a low sperm count so I was feeling pretty negative going into it but we both got super healthy for about 4 months before we started treatment, which I believe was the key for us to be honest !
We had to have icsi for our cycle.

Have you had any transfers yet?

@elsaesmeralda Oh wow good job!

I have a AFC of 34 (not PCOS though, just randomly very high), so they had to stimulate me quite lightly, wow it hurt as my ovaries grew! I got 12 eggs, all were mature and all fertilized with IVF and we ended up with the 9. I put it down to me and my husband being lifelong vegans, so agree with you on the healthy lifestyle comment!

This was our fresh cycle in November, unfortunately the good news ended there, I started reacting to progesterone the night before the transfer. My specialist said we had to stop everything but as a compromise she agreed to transfer the least viable blastocyte, unfortunately it was unsuccessful which was a shame as I felt it was my little underdog. The plan is to do our first FET this month with hopefully the best blastocytes this time! Have you had any transfers yet? When’s your next cycle due?

@Gardenlady543 wow that is high considering no pcos!
Mine was 22 I think? One ovary had a lot more than the other, which was funny as I always felt the opposite ovary twinge every month around ovulation!!
Sorry to hear it was unsuccessful ! But at least you have some left. That's what I'm trying to tell myself if my first transfer doesn't work. Can I ask how you reacted to the progesterone ?

I'm also due a fet this month, actually have a planning appointment tomorrow to go through the meds etc. I'm excited but trying not to get my hopes up!

Popping in as I noticed mention of AFC. Mine is also 34 and I'm due to be on lowest dose of drugs next month for my first IVF.

Is having a high AFC like 34 a sign of PCOS? Nothing has ever been mentioned to me that it may be that. I'm 'unexplained' so trying to find any kind of answers/reasoning.

@Gardenlady543 sorry forgot to mention I got 17 eggs, 16 mature and 11 fertilised with icsi

@willithappen not sure if it's indicative of pcos by itself. Do you have any other signs of it?

@elsaesmeralda I had a symmetrical rash on both my arms and it got worse when I took the progesterone pessary. I was changed to lubion but I still had skin reactions, with a rash on both thighs after the first dose, after a few days it eased as if my body got used to it. It could be a rare condition called progesterone hypersensitivity, it can cause anaphylaxis so I have an epipen and I have no idea how I’ll react when I start the progesterone again, so I’m quite apprehensive. I also ended up bleeding from 8dp5dt so that can indicate the progesterone was too low, so just massive issues with the progesterone all round!

Oh yeah I think we’re in a great position, if needed I will have all of these 8 transferred and I can then have another fresh cycle. I feel if this package doesn’t get me pregnant then nothing will. We’ve tried naturally on this month off, my specialist likes a month break inbetween anyway and it would make things easier if it happened naturally! I’m due my period and starting the meds next week, are you in the January IVF thread on here, if not you should come over!

@willithappen ah a fellow 34er lol, a high AFC in itself doesn’t indicate PCOS, it’s one of the diagnostic criteria but you would need to have high testosterone and either not ovulate or have long cycles.

They would have tested progesterone to make sure you ovulated and usually it’s normal to check other hormones too, plus your specialist should have asked about your cycles, so if it’s not been mentioned I wouldn’t worry. I was concerned about OHSS as a high AFC can be a risk but I was closely monitored and I was fine in the end. I did get lots of pressure in my groin area, so make sure you don’t plan to do too much, lying down was the most comfortable for me. I did really well with low stims, I only needed 8 days. I’m hoping you have a similar experience!

@Gardenlady543 thank you so much that was such good info!
Nothing has been said to me about it, no. Bloods confined ovulation and I have a pretty regular 28 day cycle too. I have quite a light period though and it only lasts three days with only 1.5 of that being 'flow'

So much to look into and think of isn't it! I'm due to call clinic when I get my period this month then on day 21 start northisterone tablets. EC looking like 26th Feb so fingers crossed!

Thanks again!

@Gardenlady543 really!! Well I've learnt something new today ! I hope this time you're okay on it I really do. I don't know slot about this process at all especially this part of the cycle, so if you start bleeding early then basically you know the transfer hasn't worked ?

I said the exact same thing to my partner! If I don't get pregnant from possibly 9 transfers then I don't think it's meant to be! So frustrating as I had my ds 6 years ago, accidentally but obviously wanted and have been ttc coming on 4 years now. The consultant thinks I've always had pcos and my son was pure luck, he was that one good egg that we managed to catch!
Yes we've also tried naturally this month, thought why not? I'm cycle day 24 now and on cycle day 20 I had a tiny amount of spotting which is very unusual for me, I'm thinking it might have something to do with the egg collection and trauma or something.
Yes I am on that thread, I try to keep up but get lost sometimes lol

@willithappen my periods are the same! I think my whole life they have only been 3 days and I basically get one day of heavier flow, another day of medium and then spotting the day after. They have got progressively painful as I’ve got older though. Having a high AFC is great for getting a good result for IVF and I’m sure they will closely monitor.

@elsaesmeralda yeah early bleeds are basically the period coming early, the progesterone should hold it off, so if it does happen it can be an indication that the progesterone dose isn’t high enough. My clinic are adamant that in a fresh cycle the body naturally produces progesterone, but I know my body and there was no signs of progesterone in it (stools turned loose again and breasts felt normal). I was reading about a girl who had an allergy to progesterone and they put her through natural FET and gave her hcg to ensure she naturally produced the progesterone, so may have to look into that if I react again. My specialist wasn’t sure if access fertility cover natural FET, but I can’t see why they wouldn’t, apparently if a cycle is cancelled more than once you just have to pay a fee (no idea what that fee is though). That sounds like some good signs in this cycle, I agree about the body being out of sync, like you I only get a ovulation twinge on one side (the left) and I’ve convinced myself it was on both sides this cycle and I’ve released a lot of eggs!

@Gardenlady543 oh I see! Must have been pretty devastating seeing that bleed 😔 I'm trying to convince myself I won't be symptom spotting etc but I think I'm lying to myself ! The hcg thing sounds interesting and definitely worth researching.

Here's hoping we both naturally ovulated this month and it worked, imagine that! This month though I didn't feel any ovulation pains, but about 5dpo lots of cramps in my lower back and hips so I've no idea what's going on lol it's all different to the usual and I am blaming it on the drugs and egg collection

@elsaesmeralda I was devastated on 7dp5dt in my fresh cycle I had these cramping pains I’d never ever had before that radiated into my lower back and I was absolutely certain it was implantation, the bleed starting as spotting and I was convinced it was successful, this was on a Friday, I called the clinic I mentioned there was a small clot in it and I asked about the progesterone dose and they said don’t increase it. I really think it tried to implant and the progesterone wasn’t high enough hence why it failed. When it turned into a full on bleed I was in a right state.

You know I thought we’d try naturally and I wouldn’t get hung up this cycle but I totally am. I have never ever had a positive pregnancy test so not sure how I manage to convince myself it could happen every month!

@Gardenlady543
Oh that's awful I'm sorry you went through that! I know how devastated I am each month naturally ttc so bracing myself for the extra heartache from a failed transfer.

I've had my planning appointment today and been walked through what happens so it's all becoming abit real now. Bit nervous. Now I'm worrying about my lining not thickening up! Didn't realise that with a fet it doesn't get as thick

@elsaesmeralda so true, we went with IVF after 12 months because I could face it, it got worse every month. Oh that’s interesting about the lining, something new for us to worry about with the FET then lol!

@Gardenlady543 it's just awful isn't it. I also find it very lonely. My two friends who know don't really get the difficulty, one friend has had two babies since I've been trying so it's very easy to compare and get all worked up, but I have to remember and tell myself that everyone's situation is different.

Oh tell me about it! I've had a frantic google 😅