IVF / FET March/April 2022

[AliceAbsolum]

Thought I'd start a thread for those starting rounds in the next few months.

I'm 36. TTC for 6 years. This will be my 4th transfer. It's a double embryo FET in Cyprus.

Welcome welcome 😁

Hi ladies
I did not cry having my stims last night!
I swore a bit but it's progress!
Headaches more of a dull ache today with paracetamol.

@AliceAbsolum thank you I will look into that today- it's a nightmare having a needle phobia.

@SamTTC I've started mixing strawberry flavour protein powder into yoghurt for breakfast, then I have eggs for lunch and fish for tea.

I think the headaches are a mixture of things-

• I always had hormone headaches when I ovulated so that is definitely a factor.

-high protein diets can give you headaches and I made sure I had over 60g yesterday

-I've given up my favourite fizzy drink which was high in caffeine but yesterday I gave them all up to make sure I'm drinking enough water- caffeine withdrawal can cause headaches.

• I felt blurrgghh yesterday so didn't eat any chocolate.

So I think my body is like WTH!

@HJen22 thanks for the summary, it's easy to lose track, so this is great :).

Thanks for the summary @HJen22

I've been lurking away - nothing to report here. I started norethisterone yesterday so I've another week or so to go before stims.

@HJen22 amazing summary!! Very helpful!

@PMAmostofthetime well done for getting through the stims last night! That’s a great achievement. Can I ask why you’re focussed on protein? Is this something everyone should be doing? I’ve only ever used protein powders when doing a lot of fun work. Hopefully I don’t sound too silly asking xx

@PMAmostofthetime ha autocorrect there!! Was meant to say gym work not fun work 🤦🏻‍♀️

@Somatronic I'm so sorry I missed you! That's great you've started norethisterone and not long until stims now. How are you feeling?

@PMAmostofthetime that's fab news, well done you! I really can't imagine how hard the process is for someone with a needle phobia! You are doing amazing.

Yeah there is a lot going on in your body and sounds like the headaches could be down to multiple things! I hope the paracetamol is helping! Is your scan tomorrow in the AM?

@Steph2345 not silly asking at all- I had no idea it was a thing either.

Yesterday at my scan there was some fluid near my right ovary, so they are concerned about OHSS.
They told me high protein diet so around 60g a day and 2-3 litres of water a day will help to prevent it.
Otherwise I was eating what I wanted before that as let's be fair it's not a nice process and I feel like fine one minute and icky the next. The only thing I changed before this was cutting down on my favourite soft drink as I drank at least 3 litres a day and wanted to do it before I started stims as well let's say it made me moody enough without extra hormones.

@Somatronic that was the point I joined the thread just before Northesteroine. Hope it's going well for you?

@HJen22 my scans mid day tomorrow- I'm hoping they tell me to trigger Thursday and EC Friday but I'll take Monday too. Just hope I've not got OHSS but if so I know I have done everything possible to prevent it with my protein and water intake.
I was shocked after they were done last night, I was like I didn't cry! I say thanks to my OH every night as I'm sure it's more traumatic for him that me the way I react. He was like your getting better.

Oh my gosh @HJen22 that is super helpful and amazing haha! A nice and lively thread we have here, it's easy to get lost.
How are you feeling now? You've stopped progesterone and everything right? What is your mood going into this month's break - do you have any projects planned or just going to take it easy?

@LT103

@PMAmostofthetime oof yeah all of those things totally explain the headaches. Poor you. :( It can be so debilitating. But well done for getting through the stims last night, you're so close now!

@LT103 I can only empathise, the fyremadel does stop you from ovulating, but at this point the drugs will have made you so hypersensitive to your body that every little sign feels like ovulation has started! I remember the day before trigger, my ovaries stopped hurting altogether, and I was soooo sure that meant ovulation was over and done with. It didn't. :) these drugs really mess with us so much more than we think.

@Steph2345 sounds like our situations are fairly similar. The good thing is that a low number of follicles =/= a low fertilisation rate, so absolutely nothing is determined. They say "all you need is one," and it's TRUE, even though it's super hard to believe when you're in the thick of it. There is definitely a little bit of follicle envy going on for me haha, but I think that's totally normal. When is your EC planned?

[quote HJen22]@Bobtat welcome to a great bunch of ladies, here to support you every step of the way!

@PMAmostofthetime I hope you are feeling a little better?

So remind me where everyone is at,

@LT103 @PMAmostofthetime and @Steph2345 are stimming and coming up to EC

@AliceAbsolum in Cyprus and preparing for your double embryo FET

@Hopingforamiracle11 you're waiting for ET,

@Brightertimesahead you are preparing for your FET

@Ems123456789 is currently in the TWW after Saturday transfer

@SamTTC you're waiting for AF to begin meds for your FET,

@Coops0406 higher dose of oestrogen and waiting to start progesterone for FET

Apologies if I've missed anyone or said the totally wrong this as to where you are at; after my drama filled week last week I want to make sure I know where you are all at and can return the support and kind words you have all given me along the way x

[/quote]
@HJen22 im at the same stage as @SamTTC. Period is due to start next weekend.
Im planning to call my clinic on thursday to advise them i have 10 days left before starting my period, so i can get booked in for my baseline scan and pick up my meds. Im counting down the days!!! so excited!

@PMAmostofthetime Glad the injections were easier last night.
Protein is a pain - I used to eat Fage yogurt. 10mg of protein per 100mgs

I've just started spotting. Never happened before, before transfer. So I whatsapped my frenchman :) and he said it happens don't worry and the Dr will check everything with the scan tomorrow.
Could be quite a long day if I have the intralipid infusion. I looked that up and its water, egg, soya and glycerine....really? Does that really help immune problems and miscarriage? Seems a bit odd to me.
Plus its calories! Intravenous calories you don't even get to eat, what a nightmare! lol

@PMAmostofthetime fingers crossed tomorrow then tell you trigger and then EC booked. And a day off the meds in between!!

@SamTTC I'm doing ok thanks lovely. It's my birthday next week so we've booked a couple of nights away at a little cottage (it has deer, Pygmy goats, alpacas, chickens, peacocks so I'll beyond excited as I love animals) and I am trying to eat well and exercise. I'm feeling a little fragile today and cried. We've got our nurses call 7th April for scheduling so I'm assuming it would be end of May before we start but that's ok. I've also got to fit in a smear before that (going next week) which I'm hoping to god comes back on as last time i had to go for a colposcopy which was a three month wait. I'm scared if I don't the nurse or Dr will bring it up as I only just got away with it last cycle cos it was due March.

@SUMMERTIME02 I'm sorry I missed you; I wasn't too sure where you were at. Great news you're close to starting! It feels good to get going after waiting!!!

@AliceAbsolum haha whatsapped your French man! I'm glad he was able to reassure you that's fine and you'll get checked at scan tomorrow! I'm sure a podcast I listened to spoke about that, it's a crazy amount of cals isn't it! But I hope that it helps! Will you have more than one?

Good afternoon everyone, hope you are all doing well with your journeys and fingers crossed for anyone coming up to egg collections/transfers. I'm due to start norethisterone tomorrow for 10 days then baseline scan booked in for 4th April, starting stims on 5th. Any tips for norethisterone tablets? Are they better taken in morning or at night?

@HJen22 no worries at all! I felt like a voyeur so I said I'd better say something in this thread!

@AliceAbsolum that intralipid ingredient list is quite mad. I listen to a podcast about IVF that a clinic here puts out and they have no time for intralipids, embryo glue, uterine scratch etc (sorry I probably have those names all wrong) but it's hard to know isn't it?

@Autumn245 You're at the same stage as me - I only started Norethisterone yesterday. I've been taking them at the same time I take my metformin tablets in an effort to remember them, so usually one after my lunch and one before bed. I wasn't given any specific instructions.

@PMAmostofthetime sorry I responded to you in my previous post but it disappeared. I'm getting on fine - felt tired and hot and weird yesterday evening. I fell asleep on the couch very early. Then today I felt like a migraine might be on the way but thank God it didn't appear. I'm bracing myself for migraines because I've suffered from hormonal migraines since I was prescribed Dianette 3 or 4 years ago for PCOS. Horrible things.
Fair play to you for doing so well with the stims injections! Amazing. I'm trying not to think about injecting myself yet. I had to do it before when I was on letrozole and I hated it.

@Autumn245 so sorry I missed you too! That's great you're starting soon too! I took norethisterone for 10 days too. I took all 3 at the same time in the morning as to not forget. I found it better to take them with or after food, they made me feel sick if I took them on an empty stomach

@Somatronic I'll be taking 3 a day and was told to take all 3 together but other than that wasn't given a time. Have you had any adverse reactions so far?

@Hjen22 no not at all, I've been awol since the first page I think! Feels good to finally be getting starting though. I may have to take them with dinner then as I'm up at half 5 for work so tend to skip breakfast and eat later during work day. I've just checked back a few pages and im so sorry to hear your first cycle didn't go as planned, hopefully it's not too long a wait before you get started again.

@Autumn245 I've just remembered you're Aberdeen too aren't you! Any questions I can help cos that's where we are! I cannot express enough how lovely the Drs and Nurses are!

Thank you, it was a bit of a nightmare. But I'm hoping we can take lots of lessons from it and hopefully we'll be starting again soon!

@Autumn245 my norethisterone I had to take just twice a day so it was easy for me. one in morning and one at night.
It still baffles me that everyone’s protocol is so different for the same outcome!!

@HJen22 yes I'm aberdeen! Its nice to know there is someone who has been to the same clinic as each one does things so differently don't they. Glad to hear the staff are nice too as it makes the process better in a way and less stressful if that makes sense?

@LT103 it is quite crazy that everyone is so different, and like how do the clinics know which meds will work best for each individual. I'll be on 150 of Gonal-F. Then add in Cetrorelix from day 5.

@Autumn245 it reminded me when you said three a day cos that was what I was on, and some are only on two! Yes it really did help, I seen quite a few nurses and all were lovely and the Dr and Main Consultant were just so amazing and kind. Oh and the embryologist we had, Michael, was so sweet.

Even Aberdeen do different, my friend was on Gonal-F too but I was in Menopur, but the same cetrorelix. It can depend on your diagnosis and things I presume. Maybe menopur is for a lower AFC but I'm really not sure, that's a guess. They both do the same and stimulate though!

Are any of you ladies thinking of using any add ons for your transfer? I've paid for embryo glue this time, i know there's been mixed reviews on it but i am willing to give it a shot.

@HJen22 it possibly is different drug for different AFC as at my hycosy scan I had 29 follicles total, so fairly high! I've been told I'm going to be on the lowest dose to try and reduce the risk of OHSS, which worries me so glad they are taking precautions, but I'm also worried that my dose won't be high enough to get decent sizes follicles and mature eggs. I can't win with my thinking haha.

@summertime02 this will be my first cycle so I'm unsure about which add ons my clinic use as standard, I have however heard positive feedback on embryo glue from people i follow on Insta. Hopefully someone here with some more experience can help guide you.

@PMAmostofthetime that’s really interesting! Glad they have some ideas on how to help you with the OHSS before it gets to be too much.

@SamTTC I really get what you mean about follicle envy! And I know it’s silly but sometimes I just think “if I just had a few more…”
Hopefully we have eggs in all of the follicles we’ve got and hopefully those eggs are superstars. I’m back in for another monitoring scan tomorrow with a possible EC on Friday.
How many cycles of IVF have you done?

No tears tonight and the headaches not so bad now. So taking that as a win!

@AliceAbsolum that must have been a worry, at least they have reassured you about it.
That's so unfair about the calories- but At least it's intravenous and you have not got to drink it- as it sounds simple bit yuch.

Good luck tomorrow-
Let us know how it goes. My OH eats the cage yoghurts so I've stolen some of his-
Thanks :)

@Somatronic I have suffers with them too due to my cycle but I have unexplained fertility mainly because they can't get in there to see what's happening because of my pinhole cervix.
On Northesteroine I felt tired and crampy with mild headaches that went with paracetamol. On stims they have gotten worse but only the last 3 days they have been really bad and not gone with paracetamol-
I used a kool and soothe strip to go to sleep yesterday and that helped and ice on the bottom of my neck. I've been really hot and I'm always cold. They have gone again today but I've eaten lots of protein and some fat so I think it may have been the diet that was making it worse-
So keep that in mind in case it helps with yours.
I can not inject myself my OH has to do it. I ice the area for 10 minutes ( over my top) before the injections, it's helps me calm down and makes it less stingy. I also shower before them so I don't have to use the antibac wipe as the first night I used that I thought I would never convince myself to have another one- of course there was no other option but in that moment there was no way.

@Autumn245 I took one morning, one night my box said 3 a day but my clinic said only 2 was needed.
Take them with food if they can cause nausea otherwise and drink lots- I didn't and my clinic said that's what made her feel icky.

@SUMMERTIME02 I'm NHS on my first cycle so not been offered add on's bit I read on another post someone used the glue and are having triplets!

@Steph2345 I have a scan tomorrow so we may be EC twins good luck.

For anyone reading my moaning- it's ok you will get through it, aside from my moaning I will absolutely do this all over again in a heartbeat- I hate needles I have a huge phobia, the headaches are not nice because I can only take paracetamol, and I usually have prescribed migraine meds, but it's doable and these ladies have helped me through. No one in work aside from my boss knows and none of my friends of family know so these ladies have really helped.
Hope we all get BFP's very soon.

@Autumn245 my AFC was 29 too and I had a low protocol for that reason but I just taken trigger tonight and on my scan I 1had over 30 follicles ranging from 6-21mm there and a good spread with no signs ohss so far so don’t worry too much. Just need to see what I get at collection! 🤞

@SUMMERTIME02 my clinic didn’t really encourage any add pjs so I haven’t taken any this time but this is my first round.

@Steph2345 good luck with scan tomorrow. Hope you get a date for collection!

@SUMMERTIME02 there is was talk on another board or a few ladies using embryo glue, maybe worth asking them - it was the IVF feb/March 4 thread.

@Autumn245 trust in the clinic and your protocol and I'm sure you will get lots of mature eggs! Oh I know, it really is hard not to think and worry about every single thing!

@PMAmostofthetime @Steph2345 good luck with your monitoring scans today! I hope you both get your EC booked in!

After having terrible terrible sleeps for far too long I took two antihistamines last night that knocked me out. Only problem is I'm now absolutely shattered and struggling to wake ho. Not a long term solution; I don't like popping pills and they need to be IVF friendly so will maybe speak to my GP or the clinic xx