ERA EMMA ALICE testing thread 7

[VenusStarr]

Hi all. We're on our 7th thread! Really hoping for some more positive news in the coming months.

Inconclusive 😩 think its lingering trigger. Ffs. Will stay on meds and check tomorrow but think it's a big fat fail.

@VenusStarr I am sorry it wasn’t a clearer answer - how many days ago was the trigger?

@thislittlebird ugh that’s rubbish. But remember it could be that hormones are changing for other reasons. I hope you’re not feeling too bad and can hold some hope.

@Faithhopelove83 will be thinking of you on Tuesday.

I am off to my AFC scan soon. It’ll be good to see if I like this private ultrasound clinic anyway, as I will likely use them quite a bit given my clinic doesn’t want to do much monitoring.

Hey @Enfys23 it's 12 days past trigger now. First time I did this, I tested at 9 days past and was still positive but no line on test day. The test has dried clearer. But it is a massive head🤬 I mean is it supposed to be clearer at this point or is this what I'd be expecting?! Argh. I don't know. I guess I could be 10-11dpo today.

Goof luck for your scan. Hope you like them.

I think 10-11dpo could still be faint. I would not expect trigger to still be an issue at 12 days. Maybe try with second morning urine? @VenusStarr it really is, I wish it could just be a clear answer for you.

thank you ❤️

I've got some easy at home tests as well so maybe I'll check later. Only got 1 frer left and some early clearblue. I have not missed this 🤯

Let us know how you get on @Enfys23 xx

@VenusStarr inconclusive is not a negative! I really hope line gets stronger over next few days. I’d be all over the FRERs at this point to be checking! I hope this is your time.

@Enfys23 good luck for your AFC scan. Re DHEA, there are some sources that say it helps with egg quality rather than quantity, and vice versa. I know this is a baseline so not relevant right now but something to keep in mind later on. AFC can vary a bit month to month too. Good to get your baseline testosterone and DHEA-S levels done. I’m still angry with your clinic for the lack of monitoring in general.

@clhiu best of luck for TWW! You’ve been really wise to do upfront checks like mock cycle, etc, ahead of using this embryo. Hope it pays off!

Thank you @Enfys23 ❤. All the best with your AFC today! I hope it goes well x

I'm sorry about the migraines and the worry that's causing @thislittlebird . My hormones were all over the place after both fresh IVF cycles/transfers, must have been from the stimms. I hope it's something like that. Or even a positive hormonal sign. Do you know if you only get them when hormones drop or could you get them when hormones surge? I feel for you, as the 2ww is bad enough without migraines on top. I hope it's not a bad sign and that this is your time x

@VenusStarr I'm sorry the test is messing with your head, I completely understand. But I agree with @Enfys23 that I wouldn't expect it to be the trigger 12 days after. It would normally be about 10 days. So I would tentatively take it as a BFP. You're still quite early, so the line may well be feint at this stage. I hope it gets progressively darker over the coming days x

@VenusStarr 10dpo is very early still, I think you need to see how things go over the next few days.

@VenusStarr so sorry you find yourself in this crappy limbo!! Hard not to think the worst in this situation and not to lose your mind in the process, but I totally agree you must test again tomorrow or even in a couple more days and see, try booking HCG bloods too if still faint. I have everything crossed for you 🤞🤞🤞

@thislittlebird the dreaded migraine, I’m sorry to hear that. I can tell you I woke up to a migraine too 😒 and in my case it’s also been a really bad sign in the past so feeling very negative too right now. Having said that, at least once for me, it wasn’t a direct sign of issues so we just have to try being kind to ourselves and see what happens on OTD, but impossible not to be discouraged I know 😔. I just really really hope for you this one time it isn’t.

@Enfys23 good luck with the AFC count!

Hello everyone. I'm pretty silent these days but still following and wishing all good things for you all. Hello to the newer people who may not know me.

@VenusStarr this is tentatively good news. Dr S's test day is crazily early. As you know the earliest an IVF clinic would test is 10 days past transfer or 17 days past trigger and that is only ARGC. Most would test later than that. You would expect the line to be faint.

I once tested out my trigger and I am very sensitive to meds so they tend to linger in me. Hoping I can attach my trigger test from 12 days past trigger. Totally blank. This was a BFN cycle btw.

Anyway don't want to say too much as you'll be dealing with this in your own way but I am hopeful that this is the start of something x

Love to everyone else x

Thinking of you all in your 2WW/OTD. It is such a tough time @VenusStarr @thislittlebird @clhiu

@CailinInUK really appreciate your anger on my behalf.

Well scan was useful in so much as to prove importance of baseline scan. I’m day 3 and there were two follicles (one on each ovary) over 10mm at this stage. I guess these could affect if this was my actual IVF cycle and I was starting stims now. Hard to really say what AFC is with these two here. He counted 4 follicles in total over the two ovaries, but he said unlikely accurate AFC with these two bigger follicles present. I’ll get the official report emailed in a bit.

12 days past trigger

@clhiu I've had migraines in both positive and negative cycles. In a normal month I get them about 4 days before a period. I have spent a lot of times over the years trying to understand specifically which hormones are causing them so I can predict what it means. For a long time I thought it was a drop in progesterone - it could be but hasn't prevented positive cycles if so. But also my research has only suggested that it's complex and not given me many answers.

@Janefx40 thank you for the advice, I know deep down it could be many things and correlation doesn’t always mean causation. In my experience with the NHS, when I called the midwife or EPU to tell them I was worried they were very dismissive and didn’t contemplate any links with possible MC or even suggested a drop in hormones, they just told me to take paracetamol if they they got too uncomfortable and that apparently they’re very common in pregnancies, but don’t mean anything most of the time 🤷🏻‍♀️.

It anybody is interested in pregnancy headaches a likely to find this useful, I started this thread during my 3rd pregnancy. It’s not very active, but people do drop in from time to time
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/pregnancy/4455992-Can-a-headache-be-a-sign-of-impending-miscarriage?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share

Trying hard not to overthink but it's hard. I definitely would feel this was positive if I hadn't done the trigger, it's just too borderline for me. Although you have reassured me a bit @Janefx40 I definitely didn't have trigger left the first time I did superovulation. Thanks for popping in and commenting. I just wish it was clearer or a definite negative. Dh can't see it, but he also said it should look like the picture on the test and it doesn't 😒 I've taken the pred again and done cyclogest this morning. Guess it won't harm for another day.
I just had real hope yesterday for the first time in a long time and now I feel stupid 😪

@VenusStarr Keeping my fingers crossed for you.

@clhiu I just want to say when I was pregnant with my son I had really bad nausea which in the first trimester caused severe headaches where I had to use head strips and paracetamol. I would have to have naps in the day and struggled to work. But when I was younger I used to get more headaches than I do now. So it can be due to hormones, but I think in pregnancy headaches are normal. I felt so sick I couldn’t brush my hair very well, clean my teeth and open the fridge without gagging. I couldn’t even use my phone without feeling travel sick or getting a headache.

@VenusStarr that's not out out, fingers crossed for tomorrow.

@Enfys23 glad the baseline scan proved useful! So odd your clinic won't do them.

@clhiu on the plus side for you, that migraine was way too early to be a miscarriage sign I'd say. For me, it never seems to bode well. Every time I've got one I've counted myself out and been proven right a day or two later. This one is a bit earlier though, so maybe @Janefx40 is onto something and that it can go both ways. I don't think most medical folk and doctors understand much about migraines, they're not the most common pmt issue in my experience and most women don't seem to suffer from them.

@Janefx40 I'm taking it as a positive that you've had cycles with migraines go either way. The one time it worked it was a headache only and then a chemical a few days later. Seems to be drop in oestrogen or progesterone for me, my progesterone was never especially high naturally. Not that I can know for sure.

Forgot to add, I just felt awful yesterday. 4dp5dt I was having a massive eczema flare up, then 5dp5dt I was feeling sick/hot/hungry/generally awful with flushed face. Better today but a mild headache remains. Every cycle (chemical and fail) seem to result in a 5dp5dt headache or migraine for me, and I don't really understand why that day would be the headache day.

@Gardenlady543 Could I just ask if with the vaginal probiotics do you ever have times when they do not fully absorb? I’ve been using Flora femme at night and a different probiotic in the morning, but this morning the Flora femme hadn’t absorbed properly with canesbalance. It came out in a clump. I can only assume I’m getting drier due to the fact it’s cd14 and I might have ovulated just before.

I have gynoflor but worried about when to use them. They only have Estriol 0.03mg in them but they help with glycogen more due to lack of oestrogen. I felt really good for most when I started taking Vaginal probiotics after antibiotics but when it does not absorb properly symptoms start to come back.

Bit worried now as been reading about follicular cysts and general consensus seems to be they don’t impact on antral follicle count. So that is a bit concerning that the sonographer could only find 4 in total (which includes the big two) over the two ovaries. It really does seem odd my FSH and AMH (which while low isn’t out of normal range for my age), and AFC and response to stims don’t match up. I guess I’m just going to have to wait now to see what the day 2-5 scan in May shows (which my clinic actually plan to do after being on the DHEA a few weeks).
Am also worried they’ll still not agree to baseline scan in June but if it’s a month like this one what’s the point starting stims?!

I just had a thought perhaps starting the DHEA mid cycle had some influence on those follicles and the reason they’ve formed these cysts….Sorry for being abit crazy and posting loads 😳

@Enfys23 really sorry you’re worried. Have you had many AFC scans in recent past? Wondering if this (4) is the norm for you or not? If two were over 10mm, there might be a few that are hiding behind them, depending how thorough the sonographer was. Were those two big ones definitely cysts or just the dominant follicles for this month?
I can’t recall if you’re NHS or private and how many stim cycles you’ve had. Either way, it’s actually unethical of the clinic to not do a baseline if you’re concerned about whether it would be worth proceeding or not. I’d be demanding a baseline scan.

@2021ivfagain I seem to be fine with absorbing the vaginal probiotics, there is always a discharge of powder but not as a solid mass. I found the clotrimazole pessaries can come out not absorbed at all though. Do you have any vagibiom that is not dry or powdery and should absorbed better if you are dry.

@Enfys23 I find ovarian cysts a minefield someone told me they become cysts when they are over 30mm, I know my 25mm follicle/cyst was called both but when triggered it released an egg. I also had a 10mm follicle after triggering but that was gone by the time the bleed came two weeks later. Will you do a scan at baseline before starting stims as well?

@ChickenT2b how are you doing today?

@CailinInUK thank you. The clinic have never done an AFC on me. They say they just use the AMH. I thought they did one when I had my initial scan and Hycosy in 2021 but clearly not; there was so much info that day I forgot to ask. So no idea what my usual AFC is.
I think they’re probably just dominant follicles persisting from last cycle but as I’m day 3 of new cycle they should be gone by now? And I guess could impact on stims if same happens in June? (Rhetorical questions by the way, I don’t expect anyone to answer for me here).
Private with CARE and a 100% CARE refund package, and I’ve said I’m willing to pay extra for monitoring if that’s the only way they’ll do, so I really don’t get the resistance.

They had no intention to @Gardenlady543 as they said it would be done when we check after 6 weeks on DHEA in May🤷🏻‍♀️. I’m going to keep asking though. It’s all I can do.