6 week fitness challenge before IVF

[ChristmasJumpers]

Hi all, we've been referred for IVF for unexplained infertility. We have a consultation with the IVF doctor on 12th October and as far as I know can get started as soon as I start my next cycle after that.

I want to get my body as physically healthy as possible and have the opportunity to do a 6 week bootcamp starting 27th September.

My questions are:
Am I going to put my body under too much stress and physical change with a bootcamp prior to starting infertility drugs?

Am I underestimating the time it takes to get started on IVF after the initial consultation (all investigations have already been done to diagnose unexplained infertility)?

The last thing I want is to put off IVF for a cycle because I'm still doing a bootcamp. But equally I don't want to skip the bootcamp only to find out I can't start IVF until the new year 😭

I am sick off ttc dictating my plans!!

I think it's very unlikely the IVF will clash, as you will be on week 3 of the boot camp when you have the first consultation. Your specialist will need to see results of certain investigations before you start: hormone blood tests, a sperm analysis and a US, which you may have had. My clinic also insisted on a hiv and hepatitis test result as well as a chlamydia swab. So factor in time for them if you haven't had them.

If you agree to go ahead with the IVF then it isn't a fast process, I was on a short protocol, if you do this you will get your bleed and I think it was around CD18 that I started 10 days of suppression meds, which are like birth control (so that isn't going to have any impact on activities). Then you wait to bleed once you stop them which takes 2-5 days and that's when you start the stims injections, once you're in this phase I wouldn't recommend any strenuous activity, your ovaries will get big and you could risk a torsion. But I think even if your clinic rushes you through and sets everything up really fast, you would have finished the boot camp several weeks before you start the stims.

My advice is to do the boot camp, it will be good for your health, plus if you start putting things off then IVF will be a lot harder. I say this as someone who started IVF a year ago, you might get lucky and it might work straight away, but I would advise you to expect it to take 3 transfers. My clinic insist on a month off inbetween transfers, so 6 months of not doing the things you enjoy won't be any fun.

@gardenlady543 thank you! It's all still so confusing for me as its my first round and everyone's timecard are different but I think you're right, even if I did get started ASAP, I wouldn't move into stims until long after the 6 weeks!