Stick with clinic or change to a new one?

[Veex21]

Hi, just looking for a bit of advice.

I had NHS treatment at a clinic 5 years ago. Really good response and ended up with 3 blasts. One was my child and the other two I transferred 2 years ago which ended up working first time as well and I got pregnant with twins. I lost them at 19 weeks.

I wanted to try again and decided to go back to the same clinic as self funded as we had success there the previous times.

We had to start from scratch as we had no embryos. I didn't respond well to the treatment (same protocol but one of the injections was different). They wanted to leave me to stim a bit longer but it was coming to the weekend so i had to have egg collection. They saw around 16 follicles on the scan but on the day only collected 6. 4 fertilised but none made it to blast. (There was a slow grower on day 5 but it didnt turn into a blast).

So back at square one. They said the reason could be due to egg quality (I'm 35) or if I didnt take the medication ( i did).
I want to take 3 months and take supplements and get exercising more eating better etc but not sure if i should change clinics.
I wasn't entirely happy there this time just because i dont think i responded well, always different doctors and majority of time I don't even think I read my notes.
Not sure I should try again here or go somewhere else. This would be the last time I try. The cost here is around £4800 for 1 cycle and frozen transfer.

Sorry it is so long.

What protocol did you do a d what was your stim dose? Could it be upped? 6 is a lower but still reasonable number of eggs tbh and you do seem to have a good fertilisation rate plus 35 is young in IVF terms.

Has your partner had a repeat SA? I believe DHEA and testosterone gel can help egg quality but a change of protocol could help too.

Perhaps it's worth a second opinion at a private clinic? I would have thought you have a very good chance given your previous success.

I've got a DD from my fourth round and have just started another cycle. We have changed from short to long protocol and I'm terrified of not responding well as we've only ever got 4-5 eggs in our previous rounds 😬

I had antagonist short protocol I think. My amh and all the other tests came back normal. I think they expected me to have good results so I really dont know what happened.

They said if we go again they would up the meds and give fsh and not add LH this time.

I have ordered q10. Will look into dhea and testosterone.

Congratulations on your little girl. Where are you at with your new cycle?

You sound similar to me in that I have good AFC and AMH don't respond as well as expected. It's frustrating.

Not sure if the DHEA and testosterone are more applicable for much older ladies but it's definitely worth an ask. I don't think they offer them up front but will assist if you bring it up.

I did my first down reg jab last night. So much easier than starting my first cycle.

You were obviously very lucky having your child on your first cycle. How many cycles are you prepared to do this time?

We've agreed up to four but tbh I don't think I'll be able to stop then if we aren't successful. I have 37 year old eggs now though as opposed to them being 35 last time around so I think we may need to do a few more to get there.

What did they change for you on your fourth round to conceive your daughter?

Good luck for this cycle! It is good you have decided on four goes again.

I have pcos so not sure if the testosterone is recommended for me.

My partner only wants to do one more go. We have just spent 5k and then it will be 5 more and he says that should be the end because how much money should we keep losing. I would keep going money dependent.

It was a freeze all and aspirin was added. I down regged beforehand and I had a lap and excision of endo before the transfer too.

The doctor said he can't say really why that transfer worked and the others didn't. Tbh I think it mostly comes down to finding that lucky egg.

There's no harm in trying somewhere new. Especially if you aren't happy. I get the impression that two cycles can be very different and future goes can produce better and more eggs sometimes so if you do it again, try and stay optimistic. I know it won't feel it but you are still young.

Do you think it'll be hard agreeing with your other half about what to do?

Are you at the same clinic? Will you do the scratch and aspirin as well?

I really do not know what to do. Maybe they will learn from last time and try something different. New clinic will start from scratch. Pros and cons of both!
I am not happy about trying just once. I'd keep going depending on money.
Why did you choose four times?

Hi @Veex21 - I contemplated changing clinics and had kick off discussions with two new ones, and visited one of them. I decided to stay in the end but felt like I could make an informed decision because I had properly explored it. So I would definitely recommend speaking to a couple of the clinics you are thinking of. Best of luck.

@Veex21 I am at the same clinic, yes. We considered changing doctor after our third failed transfer where I spoke to another doctor at the clinic (who said he wouldn't do much different) so we stuck it out and the following transfer worked.

Like you say, a big benefit for us staying with same doctor is he knows everything about us. I also have every confidence with our clinic.

I'm doing the aspirin again. Won't have a scratch. Also having pred, inhixia too. Basically the same as the cycle that worked apart from doing a freeze all because I'm turning 38 this year and they take so long...

Definitely won't do any harm getting a second opinion. Good luck to you!