Five failed IVF attempts

[ttcsince2017]

Hi All,

I just wanted to reach out to the mumsnet community and see what options I should explore.

I am 32, have endometriosis and have had five failed IVF cycles.
We collect a good number of eggs each time approx 12. However, the embryos are either highly fragmented, not dividing as expected, slow growers or poor quality. I have had a mix of day 3 transfers and a day 5 transfer with embryos which haven’t quite reached blastocyst. None of my embryos have ever reached blastocyst so I haven’t ever had any to freeze either.

I have tried combinations of Accupunture, fertility massage, healthy eating, supplements as recommended by “it starts with an egg” but nothing has made a difference so in my recent cycle I just decided to go with the flow instead and have a balanced diet with folic acid, vit d and coQ10.

I have been on a prostap followed by a combination of menopur and gonal f recently 450ui but still had no luck.

There are no Male factors as we have done all the tests.

Does anyone have any advice on what we should think about next please.

Xx

@Curious92 apologies for the late reply. I am going for is natural modified IVF this time. Just had my egg collection and they retrieved 5 eggs. Just hope they fertilise now

@ttcsince2017 Good Luck and Hope for the best 💐
I visited my doctor today and he suggested to go for second round of IVF and I asked him what will be different this time and what he understood from my previous cycle.
He said this time we will go for long cycle and will try to get and transfer two embryo at the same time.
I actually don’t know how long cycle is different from short cycle and will it work or not

@ttcsince2017- really curious as to how your natural modified IVF cycle ended? I'm about to give it a try

Hi @Namechange8787,
I’m afraid I’ve had no luck so far. I have just had a laparoscopy for endometriosis and then will try my third cycle in a few months time

@ttcsince2017
Thanks for replying. What a rollercoaster. Did you get any embryos from your natural modified cycles? x

@Namechange8787 nope, it was heartbreaking :(

I can only imagine. I'm so sorry. I'm sure you've heard of the book 'it starts with the egg', thought I'd mention it just in case x

I see you have from your first post, sorry. I couldn't conceive until I used thriva.co to get ALL the tests done. I realised my TSH was higher than it could be, my b12 was nuts, my liver wasn't perfect and my omega3 to omega 6 ratio was off the charts. Low omega 3, high omega 6. I took charge, researched supplements and brought all my levels to normal over 6 months and towards the end of this time conceived naturally by surprise. I also used bromelein that cycle (took it for a few days after realising i was pregnant). Sadly the bean didn't stick past 8 weeks, but I think all that helped with conception, or maybe it was just that during that time i wasnt trying to conceive!!

During this time my focus was on getting my body to optimum levels for a future ivf attempt so the pressure was off a bit. Coincidentally I started weekly accupuncture 4 weeks before I conceived to help me with headaches I was getting pre period, so maybe that also contributed.

Anyways, I'm now at that future IVF attempt after a failed IUI but hope all I did to help me conceive naturally and the continuing of weekly accupunctire like last time makes this successful. My accupuncturist is also going to put me on 'womb herbs' which is Chinese medicine I think. Best of luck to you. Dont give up X

There is always the donor egg option. But it's a big decision.

I would've considered adoption or surrogacy

Did you have any luck? I’m in the same position lots of rounds, lots of eggs anything from 12-21 but they fragment badly - I have a very small amount of endo

Firstly I’m so sorry to hear this @ttcsince2017

I’m not sure where you are based, but I would consider booking even just a consultation with Colin Davis at The Evewell Clinic in London for a case review. Colin is actually an endometriosis specialist and still does a lot of technical gynae surgeries (including mine last year). And he’s pioneered certain endometriosis surgical techniques etc. He headed up the NHS St Bart’s IVF clinic in London before founding the Evewell.

As I understand it, he’s quite unusual because gynaes apparently lean towards technical surgery/general gynaecology OR fertility. When obviously they are both linked so it’s strange there is that distinction. So he really is good regarding underlying factors and bringing it all together. I’ve continued with him for IVF after my surgery. And he’s helped my friends with some really complicated situations. I would consider even just booking a consultation with him to look at your case and get his view on what he would do, even if you decide to continue with a more local clinic.

I went to see Colin in August and he spotted my endometriosis immediately which had been missed by so many doctors. It was visible even on just the ultrasound, ridiculously! And I’d had all this trouble with terrible “bladder flares” for two years that were giving food poisoning type symptoms. I had surgery with him in October, did the egg retrieval my first period after the surgery in November (as he advised). Was planning to do an FET in February but accidentally got pregnant before and miscarried, I’d been advised to wait for a transfer as the best way to optimise outcomes for my case. Horrible but I hadn’t gotten that far pre surgery ever.

I can tell you more about what my egg retrieval protocol looked like if you are interested but I would ask Colin specifically what he would recommend for you and your case. I’m just gearing up for the second attempt at the FET now.

Also there’s a book Heal Endo by Katie Edmonds which is really good. 200 linked medical studies. I started taking 600mg NAC 3 times a day as recommended and my endometriomas did actually decrease in size. Also she recommends 6mg melatonin a day for egg quality / protection for endometriosis (again backed by studies)

Good luck xx

@ttcsince2017 recommend the Evewell as well.

For egg quality your doses are far too high. I was on the same and two rounds got zero fertilisation. Fast forward to Evewell and made blasts and 2 euploids.

Follow Emma the embryologist on IG and message her, she’s great!