IVF/FET Jan/Feb 2022

[Juno231]

I know I'm a bit early but knowing that I get to start in January I think I'll go mad just twiddling my thumbs until then.

With Christmas clinic closures I think there's a fair few of us around waiting for Jan to start, so hopefully we can gather here for support in the mean time?

About me - 33 years old (although I turn 34 in Jan!), TTC#1 for two years with unexplained infertility. Am due to start my first ever round of IVF in January (NHS). I've been told I'll do short protocol and in terms of next steps I've got a trial embryo transfer in two weeks' time, and both OH and I have to get blood tests done in Dec. I can order my meds from the pharmacy in Dec as well so got that to look forward to ha.

I'm currently predicted to start my cycle on the 31st of Dec which would mean having to wait a whole cycle due to the new year bank holiday getting in the way. My cycle can vary by a few days though so I'm really hoping CD1 actually comes a day or two later!

Hi @Lee2022

Congratulations on your pregnancy!

Not sure if you realise but this thread is for people starting IVF in the new year and therefore not yet pregnant….. although very hopeful!

Best of luck with your soon to be new arrival

Hello I hope you don't mind me joining? 32, Male infertility, ttc 2 and a half years now. I did short protocol in the summer but had to abandon my cycle (NHS) then had various shit storms so due to start long protocol in Jan. AF should be coming on Friday. Not looking forward to long protocol as I found short hard enough. I'm NHS in London and this clinic is shocking, stats are below national average and they are the best out of a bad bunch in my catchment area. Nice to meet you all!

@PcosSOS I would absolutely get a second second sample, we did a first and it was just below average on something then did another and hubby's second sample was great...nhs didn't pass that on so had us down for ICSI but when he did his sample on EC they said it was a great sample...and has been ever since! Mistakes can be made so defo push for a second sample!! Sorry to hear it's taken 4 years! I hope with all the talk of fertility recently that progress is made! Until you get to actually having IVF, no one seems to know the importance of pushing things through quicker for us!

@AskAda sounds like a nightmare! Is that the only clinic the nhs could refer you to? I hope you have a better experience with this round!

@Coops0406 Thanks, we did push for a second sample but as our referral was only a 2.5 month wait we just had it done there in the end. The sample was slightly better with Morphology at 2% but not enough to avoid IVF or ICSI. I'm relieved though that everything seems to be ok with me so far though and the clinic are lightning speed compared to our GP, probably as it's been such a long road already and it's pretty conclusive what the problem is. I start short protocol on 1st week ofJan - all things being well!

@AskAda I'm sorry to hear your clinic have been a nightmare! I'm in SE London - it's still such a shock how processes seems to vary so greatly across the country and even across London. I hope your round this time goes well! x

@PcosSOS I’m in south east London too, who are you with? I’m with Guys.

@Coops0406 it was uncomfortable but they said it went well. There's not much evidence on it but I'm willing to try it all.

@AskAda sorry to hear the short protocol didn't go to plan but fingers crossed the long protocol will.

Is anyone at CRGH in London? It's been a very quick and smooth process so far with them so I'm hoping it stays that way.

It also looks like there's a few of us starting that first week in Jan! Is anyone else currently taking norithisterone or anything else to induce a bleed?

@thislittlebird I'm with Kings, as it's been so long already we basically just went with whoever we were given. I'm happy so far though, the staff are lovely and everything has been like clockwork so far. How are you finding Guys?

@PcosSOS I got to choose between Kings and Guys and I chose Guys because it’s much easier for us to get to. They’re really nice so far but it’s been very slow. I understand Kings has been much quicker and on time. I was told in August that it would be a 2-3 month wait for treatment and now here I am starting in January, all being well. I suspect my doctor is also a little inexperienced and I’m a bit nervous about that, but it is a teaching hospital so I shouldn’t really be surprised.

@thislittlebird I think that sounds sensible with all the scans and everything to make the journey the least stressful as possible, Lord knows theres enough to stress about already. We've been trying for around 4 years (though the first year we were just seeing what happened tbh) so by the point of our referral my attitude was 'just put me somewhere and I'll do what I'm told' haha.

Has anyone been offered/done PGT-A testing? We were sent an email about it and are looking into doing one fresh transfer untested and then testing the rest as they'll be frozen anyway (assuming we actually get any to transfer that is!). It's all a bit of a minefield but we are keen to do a transfer as soon as possible as I work away from home a lot of the time and have had to push quite a lot of my work back to be able to stay in London Jan and Feb.

@PcosSOS yeah, and I've had some private ovulation induction treatment whilst waiting which involved a lot of travelling across London to Chelsea for scans at the Lister. I wasn't thrilled, it gets tedious fast and takes half of your working day.

Four years is a long time, I would be the same. We started trying in Oct 2019, so it's been over 2 years now but I'm 38.5 and keen to get moving.

I work from home mostly so being in London isn't an issue. Because I have high AMH I may need a freeze all so there will be no transfers for me until at least March or April. If I don't have any symptoms of OHSS February would be possible, but I'm not expecting it. I'm not planning to do PGT-A but I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it after transfer number one, if we have anything to transfer :/ Guys haven't mentioned any 'extras' at all, I'll settle for an email confirming my meds for now!

Hello everyone,
Hope you don't mind me jumping on this thread too! Im due to start IVF in February. In Scotland so lucky to get 3 cycles on the NHS. I'm 31 and been TTC for 2 years. Officially the diagnosis is 'unexplained/some anovulation' because I have irregular periods. I've had what feels like about a million progesterone tests done! Tried letrozole for 6 months but no success sadly. I did ovulate regularly on it but my progesterone never gets very high which worries me slightly! Just crossing my fingers that IVF solves the problem!

@Bec18x I think I'm the same! Willing to try anything! 🤣

@PcosSOS I have done PGT-A and will be doing it again on the next cycle for embryo banking. It's expensive but I have found out that 3 of the 5 frozen ones were aneuploid and wouldn't have worked! So having had 2 fails I know I couldn't endure 3 more potential fails or miscarriages when it can be avoided. For us it was massively important as I'm 39 so realistically only 30% of my eggs would be viable, and each time one is put in and it fails, the time to the next one is approx 3 months so I would be here 15 months later, still not pregnant and with 5 fails, and possibly getting too old for IVF. I don't think it would be as important to us if I was 30-35, but time is not on my side 🙁 also, all my embryos have been graded very good so it just tells you so much more.

@truetotal that's great you get 3 rounds!! I think I may be similar to you in terms of irregular cycles but apparently now not pcos and some endometriosis...I had to have the maximum dose of meds to push my very stubborn follicles! Hoping you have a positive IVF story

Hello 👋 I'm now top of waiting list for IVF in Aberdeen, first video appointment middle of January. Just waiting on our consent forms coming through. Can anyone in Scotland give me an insight as to what they go through during the video appointment and how soon after do you start meds?

Hi there,

Hoping I could join you on this thread? I'm due to start my third ivf cycle (frozen this time) either this month or next month.

We're into our third year ttc, and two failed ivf cycles. This is my first frozen cycle and I'm a bit confused about the protocol.

There are two options. One is to start Buserelin on day 2 and the other is to start it on day 21. It all depends on whether my cycle is usually regular (less than 35 days) or irregular (35+ day).

I know that I'll be on the Buserelin for a maximum of 21 days, whatever day I start. Where I get confused is: what happens after that? Do I get a withdrawal bleed? Does the Buserelin restart my cycle? Do I then count another 14 days (approximately) to estimate embryo transfer day?

@EasterBunny7

Hi there.

So im on my 2nd cycle starting Jan

Going to be injecting bursellin, and I've been told with the 21 days I will have a bleed. I think it takes over your cycle and whe they scan you after the three weeks your lining should be thin.

Not sure on the transfer ? You won't be having stims with it being frozen ? Is that right. So will you not just start progesterone to thicken the lining in preparation for them going back in. .

Hope it goes well

Seems lots of us are starting in Jan

@Coops0406 So sorry to hear you had two fails last cycle and wishing all the best for this one! I'm thinking the same for PGT-A testing, the heartache over the past 4 years has been enough. I've never had a positive in all that time so looking to do as much as we can to give us the best chance of it working. Do you remember how much the testing was? I know it's different in every clinic but finding it really hard to get an idea of the pricing at Kings. We were sent info on being involved in a clinical study for it, which would obviously be free but theres no guarantee we'd be in the control group (who don't have PGT-A) or the testing group.

@thislittlebird I've only just found out my AMH - 18.3 but I have no idea how that compares to anything or if it's in pmol/L or ng/mL. Wishing you an OHSS free cycle!

@PcosSOS I would assume that’s in pmol, the numbers in ng/ml are a lot lower. Mine had been 31 and 36 when I’ve had it tested, but the doctor we saw was mostly worried by my age which was all a bit odd. Yes, I’m 38 going on 39, but she literally looked at a spreadsheet and wanted to put me on the highest dosage of drugs . I protested and said no, because I’d spoken to two or three private consultants who all agreed low to medium dose was the way to go, at least initially, for me with my age + AMH.

Do they not display PGT-A testing prices online?

Thanks so much for getting back to me.

I had to get in touch with my clinic today as I was hoping to start my ivf within this cycle but the clinic will shut until late January to fit fire doors, of all things :( :(

I had my January cycle cancelled last year too. It is just not a good 'time' to get ivf done around xmas/new year. eyes rolling

I've been given two options. I can still start in this cycle but I have to be on buserelin for 3 weeks (plus 9 days), which could have side effects due to prolonged usage. (The extended usage will cover the period they'll be shut and can't do scans or transfers). Or, I can wait for my January period and be on Buserelin for 9 days (plus 9 days), the standard protocol.

It would mean I either have embryo transfer early February or late February depending on which one I choose.

I'm unsure what to do! A part of me is eager to get things started. Three weeks feels like such a long time when every month wastes away without a positive outcome. On the other hand, I'm put off by side effects from prolonged usage. Has anyone used Buserlin and had to deal with cysts?

Hi everyone,

Hope its ok for me to join too?

Im going to be starting my 1st IVF cycle in Jan, il be doing long protocol. Im 32 and we have MF so will be having ICSI. Starting Buserelin late jan on day 21.

Could anyone tell me what to expect with the bleed that happened whilst on buserelin? I get very bad period pains and i'm worried about only being allowed to take paracetamol for the pain during the treatment.

Look forward to chatting with you all xx

Hi @Gigi89x

Congrats on your first cycle! I remember being really excited at the prospect that I would finally get some help after trying to conceive naturally for so long and failing.

I'm going on Buserelin in January too so I'm curious about similar things to you. Will keep an eye out on the responses.

Is anyone else finding the added COVID anxiety really hard to deal with on top of everything else?

@PcosSOS yeah, I was chatting about this to my acupuncturist today. I really hope it’s not delayed, I think my clinic have already been suffering with staff shortages etc so it’s a real worry.

@PcosSOS the PGT-A was £1185 plus £305 per embryo tested, which was 5 for us so £2710 on total 🤦🏾‍♀️ would be great if you could get on the clinical study for it!!

@thislittlebird i'm 39 and my AMH is 20...they seemed to think it was quite high so put me on a dose of 225ui meriofert which was quite a good dose but was still a worry of OHSS. That was a number from a spreadsheet too! That didn't actually do anything because apparently I have very stubborn follicles so then went on 450ui which had much better results and was borderline for OHSS but luckily that didn't happen. The age worry is that most of our eggs at our age will not be genetically stable, I think they said to me only about 30% would be viable! So then the more eggs you get the more numbers of viable eggs. In total I had 17 eggs and from that although 6 very good embryos, only 2 genetically stable and viable!

@Coops0406 stubborn follicles are annoying! I have responded to Letrozole well and quickly so I’m hoping my follicles are somewhat malleable, fingers crossed. Private doc was going to put me on 150 and 225 Meriofert on alternate days, but the nhs doc is putting me on 150 gonal f after I talked her down from max doses. Either way, I don’t want to start on the highest doses, seemed a bit mad to me considering the risk. I kind of expect to get a lot of eggs but not great quality, we’ll see!

Hi @PcosSOS

I too am with Kings and start in Jan.

I have my baseline and nurse appointment next week.

I am also worried about the covid situ…. Although I think they will try very hard to keep things moving this time. Also staying home will help with appointments and scans etc.

Which consultant are you under? How have you found them so far?