ERA/EMMA/ALICE Testing Thread 3

[Janefx40]

Hello all,

This is a continuation of the ERA/EMMA/ALICE Testing thread.

New posters are welcome. On here you will find a group of women who are either doing these tests or have done them already and are further on the journey

This is the friendliest and most supportive group so feel free to join and post

Xxx

@Yuliaaa thank you, I appreciate your words💛 it is so crazy isnt it, my grandfather fought against the Russians in two wars and would propably turn in his grave if he heard what is going on right now 😤

Does 9days5dpot equal 14dpo? How much do they want the hcg be then, around 100?

@Yuliaaa We are on the same time Romania and Finland by the way🤗soon bed time already!

Hoping that @Gardenlady543 is ok after the scan💜

@Janefx40 I'm glad I'm not the only one, it looks like IVF hormone changes and hypothyroidism can both cause hair loss so I may just need to suck up that this is happening and try and resolve the issue after. I'm worried that hair loss treatment could affect things. I had looked into learning PRP and with my centrifuge I could probably do this to help in the future.

My scan didn't show anything new which is a good thing, I still have a paraovarian collection and the 2 fibroids are still there, I'm going to have a 3D scan later this month to try and better see the location. There was a bit of fluid in my uterus but I'm only CD5 so I guess that's not too bad. I'm still getting the ovarian pain no idea why.

@Yuliaaa I'm sorry to hear your dog has been poorly, I'm a big dog person ❤️

@Violette22 he was a brave man your grandfather. 💜
Yes, It is 14DPO. I am not sure how high they want it because the only time when I had a "positive" result, it was 6 and two days later 0, so at that point it didn't matter. The next transfer was 0 on day 9. I was too scared to ask to be honest.
I didn't know we are on the same time zone 🤗. Yes, time to sleep soon! Have a good night! 🤗

@Gardenlady543 glad the ultrasound went well and showed nothing new!
Dog seems to be feeling better and hopefully he will improve by tomorrow.

@Gardenlady543 glad ultrasound was good. If your hair loss is caused by hypothyroidism then things could improve after. Mine isn't curable but it isn't that bad. Like I say, most people wouldn't notice!

@Yuliaaa I did wonder about your name because I'm really involved in the Ukraine hosting scheme over here and suddenly everyone in my life seems to be called Yulia 😂!

Sending you and @Violette22 all solidarity and hoping your countries stay safe. These are difficult times for so many people.

I'm a bit worried about my lining. I just had my period and it was super light. It was a 29 day cycle too so should have been heavier. I've never had a lining issue so now worried the Humira has done something weird to me. I will just have to hope it's a random one off! There is always something xxx

Thank you for your solidarity @Janefx40 @Yuliaaa 💛

Im happy to hear your scan went well @Gardenlady543

Sorry to hear about the lining issue @Janefx40, I hope it is just temporary. Have you consulted your doctor?

I listened to the podcast episode that was linked here with Dr Shehata in it. He sounds like such a knowleadgable and nice guy!! 🤓I want to be his patient too! I actually emailed his clinic earlier this year about the immune testing. But I got the impression that if you become his patient you need to visit him every 2 weeks in a pregnancy. So I guess he doesnt offer services partly remotely...I would be intersted in a model where I could fly abroad for the immune testing and then have the scans and other stuff in my home country.

He thinks the Chicago tests get ruined on the way from Europe to US so I am now questioning getting the chicagos through Greece...

Which ones of you here are Dr Shehatas patients again? Do you know about his success rates with recurrent losses? It gave me some hope when I heard him speak in the podcast about his patients that have had 15 to 20 losses...at least He seems to be hopeful and offer help even after many losses, I need a doctor like that please😍

I'm a Dr Shehata patient @Violette22 his success rates are about 80-85% unfortunately I'm in the 15-20% bracket as I've had 2 losses with him. But I've found he is invested in trying to get us there.

@Janefx40 I'm sorry about your lining issue 😔 are you seeing Dr S this week for a review? 🤞 It's nothing serious. Will you be planning your FET soon?

@Gardenlady543 I'm pleased your scan went well. What's your next steps?

@seven201 are you due a review soon?

I've chatted to dh and we think we're going to go at superovulation next cycle, eek. Will contact the clinic tomorrow. Feel hope creeping in and that's a dangerous place to be.!

Hope everyone is OK xx ❤️

Im sorry about your losses @VenusStarr and happy to hear he has faith and support for your situation 🙌is he trying something new for your next time? Im sure you have mentioned it, my appologies for not remembering.

Wow, his success rate seems really good 😲It is crazy how here no doctor believes in the immune things, althoug the clinic were I am gives intralipids (blindly) just like Dr S said..

Do you know if Dr Shehata tests for DQ Alpha stuff? Dr Dimitri thinks it might be our problem.

@Janefx40 thank you for the good thoughts! 💜
Indeed, Yulia is a common name in Eastern Europe ( actually the romanian version is Iulia or Iuliana). It is so kind of you to help those in need.
I am sorry to hear about your lining, I hope it is just a random thing and it has nothing to do with the treatment.
Sending all of you big hugs!

Hi all. Sorry I've been awol for a while. I don't think I can catch up at the moment. I will try and follow from here ish.

Big big love to everyone.

No news for me. I'm on norethisterone waiting to start a FET in the next couple of weeks.

@Violette22 just jumping in to ask if you’re sure they offer Chicago tests in Greece. Serum called them Chicago tests when I was there but I got the results next day so assume they did the equivalent in their own lab.

I’m deciding between doing immunes with Dr S vs my clinic (who use a local lab for bloods). I live 400 miles away so visiting every two weeks would be logistically quite tricky for me. Is that a requirement @VenusStarr?

@MyEasterEggs I'm with Dr Shehata too. I'm going to start my first round with him soon but I've gone through all the testing and have my treatment plan. If you need intralipids it's every 4 weeks until something like 26 weeks (can't remember the exact timing), but I don't think you need additional testing as you go along. Although I guess it depends what issues are found. I have high alpha something, high activity of natural killer cells and something else immune related, so it's intralipids, steroids, humira (already done that) for me.

Anyone watched this? A friend sent me the photo of it. I think I'll watch it at some point this week.

@MyEasterEggs just looked it up. It's week 4, 8, 12 and 16 for intralipids.

Good to hear from you @seven201 hope you're OK ❤️ I've not seen that, will try and watch.

@MyEasterEggs I'm in the Midlands, so it's about a 6 hour round trip when we go down. In the early weeks /during FET you're there every couple of weeks. It does get tiring. I think the biggest gap is 12-16 weeks where you have your last scan / discharge (feels like a dream!) you stay on meds til 16 weeks I think.

Thank you @Violette22 hes adding in gcsf injections (neupogen) but he doesn't test for DQ Alpha but I think @Gardenlady543 said that it's a treatment for that (but I've not been tested). Really hoping it's our magic bullet. I'll try it out nect month on a medicated cycle 🤞

Hi Ladies,

Before I say hello properly, we need a new thread so here it is

ERA/EMMA/ALICE Testing thread 4 www.mumsnet.com/Talk/infertility/4542058-eraemmaalice-testing-thread-4

Xxx

I hope the neupogen is the answer for you @VenusStarr . I usually have a neupogen wash (?) in my uterus about 5 days before transfer, to try and help my lining a bit, but my ivf dr said it could help implantation in other ways. When is your period due (so you can get started)?

Thank you!

Thanks for adding me to the new thread @Janefx40 🤗

The neupogen sounds interesting! Do you know if Dr S doesnt believe in Dq alpha @VenusStarr ?

Iam getting my blind intralipids as I write this. Decided to also get hcg done, it terrifies me 😢😫

Sorry about the previous, I have posted the same to the new thread aswell

Hello all,

I was wondering if anyone had any advise.
I’ve just had my ERA results and it’s says it’s pre-receptive and that I need to get another biopsy confirmed with 6.5 days of progesterone? Has anyone had this result? Is another biopsy worth it or can I just do a transfer at between 6 and 6.5 days because anyways you get a +/- 3 hr window?
waiting for my Emma and my Alice just showed secretory endometrium and negative CD 138, is that all it shows?
thank you all in advance really appreciate any replies 💕

Hi all,

I hope you don’t mind me joining.

Im 34, husband 35 - we’ve been trying to conceive since 2016. Unfortunately in 2017 we found out my husband has Sertoli cell only syndrome and produces no sperm. Made the difficult decision to use donor sperm and started ivf in 2018. I had no known fertility issues and naively thought this was our answer!!!

I have had 6 cycles of IVF - all transfers have been day 5 good quality embryos.

2018 - 3 fresh transfers and 1 natural FET - all BFN.

Had general tests for RIP and NK cells and all fine.

July 2020 - natural FET resulted in my 1st ever BFP - empty sac at 7 week scan and I miscarried at 9 weeks.

November 2020 - natural FET - another BFP - empty sac at 7 week scan and I miscarried at 10 weeks.

May 2021 - another fresh cycle. Best ever cycle and 4 day 5 embryos - transferred 2 and froze 2. 3rd BFP - miscarried at 6 weeks.

August / November 2021 - 2 frozen transfers - both BFN

Up until end of last year was told ‘bad luck’ and keep going. We did consider ERA before last fresh cycle but because I’d achieved pregnancy I wasn’t sure!!

Fast forward to now - another fresh cycle in March 2022. Planned on PGT-A testing but only got one suitable embryo and it was frozen. Transferred 2 poor quality embryos but knew that wouldn’t work! Had the ERA / EMMA / ALICE. ERA and ALICE fine but EMMA showed 0% good bacteria and I think he said 60% bad. I haven’t seen the report yet as he rang me late on to discuss! I presume this means 0% lactobacillus. I’ve just started 14 day course of metronidazole- 400mg three times a day. Then it will be probiotics for a month before another biopsy.

Ive been reading this thread all week. I’m looking at buying some probiotics now and have found the comments really helpful! Any advice / support anyone can give me is appreciated. It’s been a really long journey and I have mixed emotions about finally finding an ‘issue’. My consultant is optimistic we can fix it and that this is the cause of my implantation failure / miscarriage. Seems a bit too good to be true though??

I feel sad I’ve wasted so many embryos but when I first became pregnant everyone thought that was a positive so we didn’t look at doing more tests. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and I guess I can’t dwell too much on what we didn’t do sooner.

Sorry that was a longer post than I intended!

Molly

Hi @StillTrying10000 i am currently wondering where to start. I was considering seeing dr shehata as read a lot about him but also keep seeing Emma/Alice tests. Does he administer those or is that totally separate?
thanks!

Hi @ChickenT2b we are currently on thread 5 as this one is full. Check us out below

ERA / EMMA / ALICE testing thread 5(!) www.mumsnet.com/Talk/infertility/4605024-era-emma-alice-testing-thread-5