Residual follicles cause issue with FET? Ovulating late unexplained? Short luteal phase? FET issues

[tulipsandsnow]

Hi all, wondering if anyone has had anything similar to what I'm having right now.

I did first ever IVF last month. It was a planned freeze-al cycle with PGT-A. Got one fair quality and one poor quality euploid blast

Plan was to go straight into a natural FET the following cycle (no trigger- waiting for natural LH surge since I always have one). But, things haven't gone as planned. First, for my baseline there were a bunch of 'residual follicles' on the scan that they said were simply the follicles from last cycle that had been punctured to remove egg that filled with fluid and hadn't faded away yet. They said they could see the difference between the old and new so it was no issue and was normal. So I tried not to stress. But then, I was scanned on cd8 and cd10, and the biggest follicle and lining both was just 'stuck' not making any progress for a few days. I've been monitoring with strips as for the last year I tack my ovulation with strips each month so I know generally what cycle day I get the LH surge. In the last year I've gotten LH surge cd 14, 15, or 16 (with two months as outliers- one on cd12 and one on cd19). But the thing is, the lines keep getting darker gradually before goes totally positive, whereas now I'm on cd16 and line still isn't dark enough to suspect it will be positive tomorrow.

I have a scan tomorrow and so will be able to see if even though no LH surge yet follicle and lining are still growing or not. But I'm just trying to wrap my head around what's going on and wondering if anyone as had anything similar happen and then had success, or if FET got called off, what your doctor said about it all etc.

Also, I'm worried that even if I do finally get big enough follicle/lining/surge...about having too shot of a luteal phase, which isn't good for implantation surely? I can't take progesterone FYI- it triggers vicious migraines. So can't just rely on progesterone to cancel out anyting bad about a shorter luteal phase :(

Hi I had this after doing back to back egg collections with no period - the third cycle I had residual follicles left over which was throwing my hormones / progesterone and estrogen out of whack - it took ages to ovulate - I usually ovulate cycle day 13/14 as standard but it ended up being around cycle day 25 and I had a 40 day cycle overall until I got next period. Happy to say the next cycle was back to normal. I know it's frustrating and upsetting as you plan in your head you are going to transfer and could be pregnant within 2 weeks and it's hard to delay it but embryos are so precious (especially euploid ones) that I wouldn't want to risk transferring one if it wasn't the optimal conditions x

Hi @tulipsandsnow. We've spoken before -congrats on your euploid blasts!

My ivf cycle 2 years ago was a freeze all due to ohss. I had a scan a month after and was told my ovaries hadn't settled yet and I had to wait another month.

I went back a month later for a scan around the time I was expecting to ovulate (26 day cycle, ovulate day 13 almost every time). They said it looked like I wasn't near ovulating. I was so confused and thought maybe I wouldn't ovulate at all. They booked a scan for the following week and I kept using OPK (digital because I can't cope with line guess work).

I got the surge on the morning of the follow up scan and the scan confirmed it. I almost declined to go ahead with the FET because my cycle was so weird (I'm normally very regular) but the nurse assured me everything looked perfect on the scan and that it would be a waste of a perfect opportunity. My FET went ahead and was successful. Natural FET too, no progesterone.

Let us know how your scan goes.

@Holskey thank you SO MUCH for your reply- not just because it is a delayed ovulation on an FET that worked out, but because no progesterone at all either (which it seems to be really rare to find- natural FET for most people seems to mean natural OTHER than progesterone, which seems to be done by almost default in most UK clinics!)

So how may days late were you past cd13 in the end?

@tiggerwhocamefortea thank you for your reply!

I am not quite sure am going to miss the cycle, as the consultants are adamant that the residual cysts aren't actually secreting any hormones and aren't really a problem at all. They think the delay in ovulation is just from the general hormone shift from IVF, and as long as the dominant follicle gets to a good size and the lining is good thickness/tripled up, and also that the blood test confirms ovulation from progesterone levels...that there will be no reason not go ahead.
I'd have preferred to just not have any left over follicles and ovulate when expected, but I also don't want to miss a chance to transfer when the consultants themselves want to AND my next chance to transfer would be February (and on a personal/situational level the timeline of pregnancy would be a lot harder if got pregnant February or later rather than now). :/

The scan today showed a follicle that hadn't actually showed up before on the right ovary being at 14mm, and the lining at 7.2mm and tripled...the follicle they previously thought was dominant that was stagnant/not growing was on the left, and has since faded. Another scan tomorrow which will be cd18. Really hoping I get an LH surge on home kit tonight or tomorrow morning!

I can't remember the exact delay because I've since deleted the app I used to track my cycle at that time. From my calendar, the scan I had when I expected to ovulate (but they said I wasn't about to ovulate) was 01/11 and the scan on the day of positive opk was 06/11, so it was 5 or 6 days late for me. Doesn't sound like much but I've never had a cycle that long in over 20 years of periods and it really freaked me out at the time. I've since discovered (on here) that lots of people have a longer cycle or two after egg collection. I have to assume it only messes with the follicular phase and not the luteal phase, and ovulation onwards works as normal??

Also, it's great that you'll have a progesterone test for extra reassurance. 2 FETs and nobody has checked mine. Hope you get your surge soon 🤞

Hi there,

During my second stimulation I developed some cysts and I was at risk of OHSS so we froze everything. For the same reason we didn't trigger with hcg because my E2 was at 4000. My period came 2 weeks later. The next cycle I was supposed to do FET but during my baseline scan on day 3 they discovered a lot of cysts (residual follicles and corpus lutem cysts) so we cancelled everything. That cycle was the longest, my period came on day 36. Stimulation can mess up your cycle so don't worry too much about your surge.
The following month I did a natural modified cycle (I needed estrogen for lining thckness and progesterone). The lead follicle developed very slowly, I ovulated on day 15 I think and we went ahead with the transfer, but unfortunately it was a BFN.
Fast forward this month, I was supposed to do FET with stimulation protocol (i have issues with thin lining). After 8 days of 1 vial of menopur daily I developed a cyst (30mm) in my right ovary that has ruptured and is still bleeding. I had to choose between continuing with transfer or cancel the cycle. I chose the latter. My doc said it was ok to transfer, but I don't want to risk anything. It is our last embryo after two failed transfers.
I guess we just need to be patient, this journey is full of unwanted surprises.
I hope you get your surge tomorrow!