Short protocol IVF treatment

[Tofusmum]

Hi everyone, I am due to start my IVF treatment and as a first timer, I am nervous, excited yet scared off all the treatments/needles due to come!

I do not know of anyone who has been through IVF therefore I am feeling lost and would love to get opinions/advise on what to expect. Ideally from beginning to end of IVF procedure. From the moment I received the medication in the post till the very last stage (which I am unsure off). I have been to a teach appointment however that all went in one ear and out the other as there was ALOT of new information to take in within 3 hours of my appointment! I have the booklet and URL links to watch but I’d feel more at ease if I can speak with someone who has gone or is going through similar IVF treatment as myself.

My medication consists of Bemfole/Centrotide/Gonasi/Progesterone

Thank you so much for taking your time and effort in reading/commenting on this post, much appreciated!!

Hi,

I had my first embryo transplant on Saturday so now in the two week wait. It was our first cycle too so happy to answer any questions. For me, the process was:

-lose weight to target bmi
-attend clinic for baseline blood tests
-start tablet medication think it was 9 days
-wait for period to start
-phone clinic on first day of period
-arrang appointment for more blood tests
-start 1 injection per day
-2 days later add in another injection per day
-attend clinic for scan to check follicle growth
-scan every other day until follicles reach 17mm
-booked in for egg regrieval
-phone call the next day to tell me how many had fertilised
-phone call 3 days later to confirm how many had developed
-booked in for embryo transfer
-instructed to wait to do pregnancy test and then phone them with results

HI @N27 , thanks for responding!

I am on ‘waiting for 1st period” , how were you injecting yourself or did your partner do them for you? I am more anxious at injecting myself than the actual surgeries aha!

Are there any ‘heads up’ or advise you can give me regarding the whole procedure or things to bring I.E to the surgery/transplant.

How long would you say the whole IVF treatment duration took for you? It sounds as though there is alot to do and take in at the same time in such a short amount of time!

I started the tablets 18th June, started period 4th July so injections started 5th july

my partner injected me, he was nervous and I hid my face with a cushion so I couldn’t see what he was doing. They weren’t painful, a little uncomfortable. A friend advised us he was probably putting the needle in too slow and he just needs to stab it in like a dart board. I must admit when we tried that I hardly felt a thing it was much better!

no need to take anything to the procedures they put you in hospital gowns etc

Hope you don’t mind me jumping on, currently waiting for period to start and feeling the same as you OP. It’s all happened very quick (very pleased about that!) but left me feeling unprepared. Trying not to overthink things! Hope you’re doing ok today.

@N27 noted! It’s the needles that I’m worried about! Did you experience any signs/symptoms at all throughout the process?

@GrapefruitGin Welcome! , I have re read the booklet/ watched YouTube videos and checked my medication so many times! But I still feel as though I am unprepared.

@Tofusmum Mainly just bloating. After my first dose of fyremadel I was quite sick the next morning but then it went away x

Hi. I did short protocol recently with Create. I started my period on 18 April, injections on 19 April and we had egg collection on 2 May. Transfer on 7th then TWW. So really it was all rather quick.

When you start medication you'll then get booked in for monitoring scans. I had about 5 so be prepared for that being a pretty full on week. I had a blood test at each one.

For egg collection I found it ok but definitely take it easy for a couple of days after.

Regarding injections I was super anxious, you just have to work out what works for you. For me I wanted to do them myself as I was in control. My biggest tip is pinch your skin HARD. Then it doesn't hurt so much. I was so nervous about the needles but honestly they weren't that bad.

Wishing you lots of luck x

@Tofusmum me too. I think we will have to have faith! The second injection to stop ovulation looks a little more complicated than the first.

@Sxd515 I’m with create. This is all really helpful, thank you.

Hey I’m sorry to jump on but I’ve been struggling to lose weight in order to start IVF, we had a consultation with a nurse in May and I was at my target weight and since then we’ve had a telephone consultation with the doctor to confirm the ivf protocol that we will be following and now we have received a letter to say that I’ve to call the clinic on the first day of my next period to start the ivf treatment which is all great however my weight has crept back up a bit 😬😭I am obviously trying to lose the weight again but I’m consumed by fear that when I get back to the clinic they will weigh me and I will still be overweight and the cycle will get scrapped 😓do you think they will weigh me again before issuing any meds?

@MrsMacttc this was exactly me. I found it so hard to lose the weight. I had to go to the clinic for a bmi check before they would issue my treatment protocol which it sounds like you’ve already done. I phoned the clinic on the first day of my period and started injections, I was weighed when I went for a blood test and scan but wasn’t weighed before egg retrieval. They told me a little bit of gain is fine as long as it doesn’t shoot up.

my worry now is that if this cycle doesn’t work I know I’ve put on again and worried it will take ages to get under threshold again!

Thanks for sharing, I’m hoping and praying that they will let me start next month as planned 🤞🏼I hope that your cycle works out, how are you feeling so far? It is so hard I lost the weight at the start no bother but it’s the last few kgs that I struggle to keep off, they said my bmi had to be under 30 and as of right now it’s sitting at 31 so I’m not hugely overweight , I know they have criteria for a reason and I will hate myself if we can’t go ahead because I can’t lose these last 3/4kgs but it’s just soooo bloody hard 😭

@Sxd515 Thanks for the tip!!

Apologies if this is TMI, I wanted to ask about sexual intercourse, did anyone feel comfortable having protected sex or try? I have re read the booklet and it has advised that my partner cannot ejaculate 2-5 days before egg collection treatment. (Which if I calculated judging by the info in this thread, egg collection is beginning of week 3 ? Usually 10-14 days after the final injection?)

Did anyone else’s partner had to do a sperm sample for the treatment at all? I have told him to cut down on alcohol as he loves to socially drink and incorporate folic acid, ready for the semen collection.

I properly assume with there being a lot going on inside our bodies that I won’t be in the mood or want to jeopardise the process/treatment by having intercourse.

@Tofusmum I have to be honest that during treatment I definitely didn't feel like I wanted sex at all. So we decided not to. I just felt like my body wasn't my own and I was being constantly poked and prodded those few weeks. But if you want to go for it in line with their advice, everyone is different!

@Sxd515 my partner has had to give two samples so far as the first came back abnormal. He is due to do another one on retrieval day of course. We’ve been told to abstain from unprotected sex but he needs to ejaculate every few days. We are using condoms. Was a bit contradictory going to the till at Tesco with mens fertility vitamins, folic acid and vitamin d for conception for me and a box of condoms, we did have a giggle about that! In prep my OH has cut out all alcohol, cut right down on caffeine, eating a high protein diet plus keeping his nether regions as cool as possible so no heavy exercise and no hot baths.

@MrsMacttc im sure they’ll let you go ahead. We had to go private so I had to get to a bmi of 35 which I found hard enough, I don’t think I would have been able to get to 30!

our cycle seems to have been a success, we got bfps yesterday and today so busy hoping it stays that way! X

@Tofusmum EC for me was 36 hours after trigger and 3 days after last injection so we would abstain when we had a scan so for example if we had a scan on Monday we would abstain after Saturday as EC could be the Wednesday and if we were told scan on Wednesday at the Monday scan we would abstain from the Tuesday it's important that you don't go over the 5 days x

Hi all, I'm just wondering if I'm out this month based on dates - I'm on the short protocol and got my period last Tuesday and phoned the hospital as instructed and was told to wait for them to call me back before starting injections. They didn't call and each day I called to be told they are short staffed and someone will call me asap. I imagine the injections need to start in the first few days? They're now not open until Monday which will be day 7 of my cycle - does that mean I missed the window this month?

@KateAlva HI Kate, have you received a call yet? I have just started my period and rang up and the receptionist advise I will get a call in 72hrs however I would of thought I would get a call by end of today to start injections tomorrow morning on second day of cycle.

I was assume if they are short staff and cannot accommodate at this moment and have not rang you, I would think that yes you may have missed you window and might have to call again next month cycle. But I could be wrong. Perhaps give the hospital a call back to ask?

I have been told I am unable to start the treatment as my smear results have not come back yet which is a shame. Did everyone else had to have an updated smear as well before starting the treatment?

I took the test two weeks ago and the nurse advised that I will get the results within a week, as we aligned the smear appointment/results to be completed before day of first bleed but in this case it hasn’t so I will have to wait till the next cycle !

Heyy I started down reg 16/7, tonight is my last tablet then I need to wait for AF so that I can have my baseline and start stims.

That’s great news! Is this ur first cycle? X

@MrsMacttc yeah this is my first cycle - I don’t know how I feel about injecting myself though my husband doesn’t like needles so I’m on my own for stims (though I’m pretty sure he will be there for moral support)

I’m on day 7 now, as silly as it sounds I’m still struggling to get to grips with the injections. My OH has done most of them but on the odd occasion I’ve had to do it, I get anxious and mess up by either not pushing the end down fully or not leaving it in long enough. I’m really fed up of these already!

P.s. I realise on my last post I tagged the wrong person, apologies. I’m all over the place, clearly!

This was a very helpful list! Thank you for sharing!!
xx