Failed FET possible lining issue??

[Emilypp]

Hi everyone

I just wondered if anyone has ever been in the same situation as me? I've had two failed frozen embryo transfers, but I felt like I knew they had failed before the test! This is because for the last few years (since a missed miscarriage) I ALWAYS get cramping on cd20-22 before AF arrives around day 29/30. Shortly after my FET on cd18 the cramps came like they always do every month about a week before AF. My period is very light and short so I feel like there is a problem with my lining. Every time I have brought this up with my clinic I get told my lining looks fine and thickens up nicely. If that is the case then why do 5AA embryos fail to implant? (plus the years of trying naturally of course!) Any advice from similar experiences would be a massive help, thank you! X

Have you heard about nk cells and how they can affect implantation? There's an implantation clinic at Coventry hospital that specifically tests and treats this. It was my issue and treating it resulted in my older child and my current pregnancy

@DaffodilSunshine Thank you so much for this! I've just googled and found an article on tommys that was very interesting! I'll definitely have a look into it. Thanks again x

Microbiome was what seemed to fix things for me. I didn't do the era test but took antibiotics and a shed load of probiotics prior the next transfer. May be coincidence but now pregnant with twins following 5 failed transfers in a row of "better" embryos. Do you have any embryos left? If so don't be disheartened if they are a lower grade, my worst ones worked!

@whatcangowrong Huge congrats on your twins! Thanks for the info, this is definitely worth looking into as I've always had gut problems so it could actually be related. Do you mind me asking which probiotics you took? Also, how did you get the antibiotics? Did your clinic prescribe them for you? Thanks again x

I did it all a bit haphazardly but this is what I did:

Got this test through a nutritionist called Melanie brown, all consultation was via post and email.

invivohealthcare.com/products/diagnostics/vaginal-ecologix/

However it was a bit contaminated with blood as it arrived late and I'd just had egg collection. So wasn't sure it would work. So then I went off to the gum clinic as felt something was a bit off. They said their test showed no good bacteria or bad but I got lucky as the doctor there had had ivf and we had a bit of a chat and she said let's zap it anyway with metronidazole. You can actually get this from online pharmacy if you say you have had a test for bv. So I took that and then for good measure also doxycycline (online pharmacy - claimed chlamydia 😂). I was in full self medication mode by this point as my doctor didn't think anything was wrong but I was fully fed up with paying £2-3k per Fet and having them all fail.

Then I did Symprove - probiotic drink. Optibac for women tablet. Course of canesflor vaginal thing (from boots) and then this other probiotic called invivo bio femme v containing crispatus. The nutritionist told me to put one up the fanny and take one orally. Basically I OD'd on probiotics. Not all v scientific but I got lucky next time 🙌

The alternative if you think this might be the key is the Era Emma Alice but it costs an absolute bomb and takes at least one cycle to do. I wanted to be pregnant yesterday and so my diy approach was quite good. There are other antibiotics that might have been better but the two I took are quite general ones that are suitable for the relevant region.

I got the invivo test back after I'd been to the gym clinic and it suggested I was on broadly the right track...

Can't remember how long I did this for but I started the probiotics before finishing the antibiotics and I probably did a few weeks of it before my next transfer and kept taking them for a while after. But you'd need to check eg the canesflor and what they say re that and transfers I think.

@whatcangowrong Woah you went all out!! I can see why though, I keep thinking I'm wasting my embryos and money and not getting anywhere. Thanks sooo much for all the info, think I can just about get my head round it x

Have you had your progesterone and estrogen levels checked post transfer? If you had a decent lining which was tri laminar then that's why the clinic would have proceeded but worth checking progesterone and estrogen too

@doingitforthegirls I did a medicated cycle so the last scan was a week before the transfer and showed my lining at 8mm which they said was good for that point in time. Then the progesterone pessaries and estrogen tablets should have taken care of the rest for me. They didn't offer a check of both of these levels at any point, maybe I should ask next time? I was really freaking out that my lining was already breaking down on the day before transfer as I had cramping. I asked for one last scan to see if my lining was still ok but they assured me it would be! Thank you for the reply x

Hi there,
I understand your frustration but as a veteran at IVF there is not always a reason for good quality embryos to fail. Quality can also vary depending on your clinic and the embryologist. I always got cramps, on positive and negative outcomes. If the scan is showing a good thick lining then it’s unlikely to be a lining issue. You can have an ERA to see how receptive your endometrial lining is. It’s a simple biopsy that may put your mind at rest, but in my experience you have to go through quite a few transfers to get that positive test. Good embryos sadly don’t mean pregnancy. NK cells are a difficult one, my doctor thinks the tests for these are just another way to get more money. I’ve researched it and tend to agree but again, if it helps put your mind at rest you could try it. Some of the tests can be done at your GP. I think it’s a bit of a placebo but that’s just my opinion, there will be many others that say it worked so why not.
IVF is a numbers game, you have to be pretty lucky for it to work on the first, second or even third go. It took 4 transfers for me to get a positive. I had 9 transfers and 3 pregnancies, all miscarried at 11 weeks but that’s because I was over 40. My eggs looked perfect but all had chromosome issues as I had them tested after my losses.
Good luck, keep going. How many embryos do you have? You are doing everything you should be doing.xx

Hi all,

@whatcangowrong looking at bio femme v, did you do one vaginally and orally the same day or alternate?

thanks

Same day I think! More the merrier!!

I've just have news that my third FET failed. The last one I had ended in a miscarriage. We have one embryo left. I feel like such a failure that this keeps failing. I know so many people that have been successful, what am I doing wrong?

hi OP @Emilypp was there an update. I am going through the same issue. Light periods after MMC and ivf implantation failure.

@AnxiousPoster so sorry to hear this. I am commenting so I can follow the thread too as also had a few transfers now and no implantation