Cycle cancelled just prior to egg collection - too many follicles

[Jupiteer]

My first ivf cycle has been cancelled at short notice as I have too many Follicles (40) and my oestridiol levels are too high. They said even with busrelin trigger it would be too risky.
I'm absolutely gutted. And so swollen and sore.
Has this happened to anyone else?
How long did it take for the ovarian pain to go away once you stopped the meds?
Did it work next time with a lower stimulation dose?

Sorry to hear that... hope you get some time to recover from it. Did the clinic not monitor you from the beginning? I was on mild ivf and at the first scan (day 6) my bloods showed quite high E2 level (2000+ i think) so they reduced my stims immediately.

Yes I was they reduced the stims twice but my level still ended up over 20 thousand. They said I am a hyper responder.

Then probably have a discussion with your clinic and see if they've got any suggestions. It should be an issue they encounter from time to time so they should have experience dealing with it. Probably worth seeking a second or third opinion by asking a few other clinics as well. Good luck!

Hi @Jupiteer i’m so sorry to hear your experience on this - so much to put your body through to not get a final result. It’s not the exact same situation but I was put on a very low dose of stims by my clinic 75ml or whatever when most people would be 150-225 and after 5 days they had to cut in half to 35.5ml and still then my E2 level went above 20 - they monitored me really closely every day and coasted my medication for 4 days (no stims) which bought down my E2 level to 12000 and we went forward with egg collection and I ended up with 12 eggs (less than I’d thought or hoped for but got 6 excellent/very good quality embryos out of it). I did have to move to a freeze all round because of the chance of OHSS which was dissapointing but definately the right thing to do to let me recover. I’d really talk to your clinic about planning for mild stims, coasting and a freeze all round next time round - I did a lot of reading on it and it does seem to be a good approach for over responders. Let us know how you get on with your clinic and hope your ok and recovering well.

Thank you @katerose2022 and @AM08 for your kind replies.
I am feeling very sorry for myself as was meant to be having EC today but I'm basically bed ridden with massive painful ovaries full of eggs that are being wasted ☹️
Although having read about others who ended up in HDU with OHSS I can see why they pulled the plug. I just hope the follicles go away soon. The clinic said I can try again in a few months with a different drug and smaller dose 🤞

Thank you for sharing your experience AM08, I have looked through a lot of forums in the last few days and struggled to find many people in the same boat at all. I'm glad your EC went ahead and 6 embryos is amazing! Good luck for your FET whenever that may be. x

@Jupiteer This might not be helpful but my clinic says the first round is always a learning round and that most clinics have better success second time round when they know what works and doesn’t work for you - hope you get plenty of rest and those ovaries come down soon! My nurse said lots of protein, lucozade and salt and vinegar crisps were good for OHSS 😂😂

I had egg collection in December and transfer is now in a week and a half so fingers very much crossed - so ready to just get on with things!

Best of luck with everything and hoping to hear more about your journey soon x

Hi

@AM08 can I ask how long you normally have to wait for the transfer after a freeze all cycle please? x

Hi @SummerS2 of course, so for me period was about 12 days after egg collection, then there is a month of down regulation until your next period, then 19 - 20 days of prepping the womb lining for transfer - so roughly 2 months 5 days after egg collection you’d have your transfer on a freeze all round, it’s quite a long process

Thank you for the reply, sorry for slow response! It’s confusing because some places I’ve read it can be after 1 cycle, some don’t down regulate.. but I guess it’s based on the individual. Thanks for your help!

Sorry meant to tag you in above @AM08 😊

@SummerS2 i think it depends on what they want to achieve, for me it was for hormones to regulate so they could ‘take control of everything’.

@Jupiteer Hey I know this is a ghost topic but I’m just wondering how you got in the end? I am now on my second cancelled ivf cycle due to over responding and as you state there’s very little online re this. I’m feeling very disheartened that this is my second ivf cycle and still haven’t made it to egg collection. Would love to hear if you’ve had a successful round?

@Willard89 @Jupiteer I know someone who has had 57 eggs collected (and made 32 or 34 embryos)… I was surprised that the clinic went on with the collection in this case but it turned out fine.

Hi all
I'm happy to update this thread with a positive outcome - I now have a 4 week old baby from my second cycle 🙂
@Willard89 I'm so sorry this has happened to you again, it's so painful both physically and psychologically.
I looked back at my paperwork so I can tell you what my protocol was.
The first cycle (cancelled) was started on 150iu of Menopur which was reduced twice but still ended up with too many follicles and oestridiol level of over 20 thousand. That happened in January... When the cycle was cancelled I stopped the stimulation drugs but continued with the Ganirelix to stop me ovulating. This was on a Friday, the pain from the swollen ovaries did get worse on sat and sun and I was using a heat pack and taking over the counter painkillers plus codiene. By Monday it was improving and then it resolved fairly quickly and I was back to work by Wednesday. I had to continue the Ganirelix until my next period which took a few weeks and seemed like forever. Once the period came it was Feb, and I started another cycle with the next period in March.
The second cycle I had Gonal-F instead of Menopur and they were very cautious. I started on a low dose of 80iu and had regular monitoring. The first week pretty much nothing happened at all and the dose was increased slowly. The second week I was on 112iu and started to respond but slowly. I ended up having to stim for 3 weeks in the end as the dose was low and it took a few days of 150iu for the follicles to respond. I went to egg collection with 16 follicles and got 10 eggs 🙂 my oestridiol was normal that cycle but I cant remember what it was. I had previously been told I'd need a freeze all due to my over response the first cycle but they then changed their mind and said I could have a fresh cycle as my response had been normal the second time around. From the 10 eggs we had 7 fertilise and 4 blastocysts.
I had a fresh transfer and 2 weeks later found out it had worked!
I did get mild OHSS after the transfer and felt pretty rubbish with swollen ovaries again and nausea which lasted several weeks. In hindsight maybe a freeze all would have been good but at the time you just want to get on with it as quick as possible and obviously am so grateful that it worked.
I hope this helps and I have everything crossed they will find a protocol that works for you, I am confident they will xxx

@Jupiteer hi, so happy for your happy ending!!!! I am in the same boat. My cycle got canceled due to many follicles. I was wondering how long it took for the follicles to disappear after your cancelled cycle?

thanks,
daryna

Hi @Darynkapl
Sorry this has happened to you, it's so painful both physically and emotionally.
For me the pain resolved a few days after the cycle was cancelled, within a week I felt pretty much back to normal I think.
I can remember the clinic told me to wait until my next period and then that would signal that the follicles had gone. I didn't have another scan until the period after that when I was prepping for my next IVF cycle, and by then everything looked back to normal.
Take care of your self 💕