ERA EMMA ALICE testing thread 8

[Gardenlady543]

@2021ivfagain @kerrym87 @Janefx40 @seven201 @thislittlebird @Spin101 @Enfys23
@CailinInUK @BewilderedBee @Loz2467 @Lori2022 @VenusStarr @clhiu @Faithhopelove83 @APSR @ChickenT2b @Mina209 @IVF22 @Lizzybeth1988 @AM08 @Fluffykins33 @Sar1010

Continued in from thread 7 :)

That’s great @Spin101 it will be useful reference for sure.

So a mixed bag for my scan. Lining wise I am so pleased. 8mm! Viagra must have helped. I also did lower dose enoxaparin (20mg) from day 5. I stop both on trigger day tomorrow then onto 40mg enoxaparin after EC. She said lining looked really nice and textbook too. I did ALL the usual thin lining advice too and upped vitamin E to 400iu twice a day. Follicle wise I have 3 around 19-20mm and 3 around 13mm. They think the smaller ones will catch up a bit with another dose of Gonal F today and tomorrow. It’s very similar to my previous stim response. My right ovary barely does anything. Hope quality and euploid rate at least helped by DHEA. Trying to remember it only takes one.

@Spin101 I do regular yoga and it's not recommended for certain poses such as cobra. Sometimes hatha yoga or relaxation may be ok but they advised me not to until about a week after

@Enfys23 6 potential eggs isn't bad at all and I'm definitely for quantity over quality, since DHEA helps with that you stand a good chance to get a few euploids and multiple shots at a transfer. I hope the 3 slower catch up and you get a good outcome on EC. When did you say that's penciled for?

I had my tracking scan today and the doctor appeared a bit disappointed that there's probably just going to be 2 eggs from this round of Letrozole, when she was hoping for 3, also one is quite a lot bigger than the other. Triggering tomorrow night then starting Pred and Cyclogest on Monday. She said if I'm unsuccessful for the next round she'd increase the dosage of Letrozole. She was happy with my AFC, given my latest AMH she expected it to be lower, but said it's indication of a decent reserve still.

Thank you @clhiu ❤️they phoned this afternoon to confirm I’m triggering tomorrow too, then EC Monday morning. I then increase my pred dose and start the higher dose inhixa, and start Cyclogest and Lubion.

That is good news about your AFC. 2 is still good. And at least there’s a plan for next time if needed. Wishing you well x

Thinking of you @Gardenlady543

@Enfys23 we're trigger buddies then, how nice. Good luck on Monday ❤

@Enfys23 great news about your lining! What has it been in other cycles? I think your 13s have a good chance of yielding mature eggs by trigger tomorrow night, based on studies I’ve read. Hopefully you’ll get six. As @clhiu said, it’s about quality too so hope DHEA has helped with that. I’m guessing I’ll have a similar number.

@clhiu all the best for this cycle and if you need another one, they can up your dose. My AFC is also higher than my AMH indicates.

My first scan is Day 8 on Tues. I could’ve had a Day 6 scan but as it fell on a Sunday, opted for Day 8.

Thanks @CailinInUK 🙏🏼that’s good to know. Let us know how your scan goes on Tuesday.
I've had lots of issues with lining - anywhere from approx 3.5-6.5mm generally in previous transfer/cancelled(because of thin lining) cycles.

@Enfys23 that's a great lining! Will you be doing a transfer in this cycle?

@clhiu I have a high AFC and my letrozole response has always been rubbish, I get an initial good response and then my body decided one follicle will lead, one time all but one disappeared, the next time all disappeared! It was the antagonist that really ruined things I think, but letrozole didn't seem for me either.

All fine with me yesterday, except the technician was pretty brutal and had me wincing for 20 minutes, at one point I was going to say enough.

@Gardenlady543 that is so good to hear. Horrible about the technician though!
Yes will be aiming for transfer. After our first cycle experience I don’t want to assume we’ll get eggs or embryos but hopefully. We (DH and I) were even discussing yesterday if there’d be a case for transferring more than one if we get more than one embryo given lining is best it’s been and struggle we have to get it there. What have people’s experience been of the decision and discussion around number of embryos transferred? Bearing in mind we’ve been advised not to PGT-A before given age and fact we don’t usually get many eggs/embryos.

@Enfys23 some people (like me) do best with stims for lining so it's not that surprising that the collection has resulted in a very good lining. How old are you?

@Gardenlady543 35, I can see NICE do say 2 could be considered in 3rd cycle onwards. My previous identical stims though (bar DHEA, clexane and viagra as add ons) I barely got to 6mm, they tried adding estradiol between EC and ET in second fresh transfer as lining had deteriorated further between trigger and EC but was never convinced lining was right.

@Enfys23 I think the euploid rates would be very good at your age so a double would be risky, I know it sounds like two shots of implanting, but I think if one implants it's likely the second would two. I would do one and then if it doesn't work look at a FET similar to mine with low dose stims.

Thanks @Gardenlady543 makes perfect sense. I don’t want to risk twins if possible.

Thank you all on guidance around yoga. I’m going to take it easy for a few days and do light yoga at home and return to classes next week I think or maybe after testing.

@Enfys23 So pleased for you and hope the 13mm follicles make it too. As you say it only takes 1!

@Gardenlady543 how frustrating regarding the technician. Glad the scan went well!

Thanks @Gardenlady543 , I’m a little surprised since I was growing so many big follicles on alternate days of Meriofert for the FET less than 3 months ago, but yeah, I guss it’s just like every other IVF drugs, some people respond well to it and some do not. The strange thing is I’m getting just as much poking and pulling pain down there as I did when on Meriofert so thought that’d be a good sign, go figure!

Bad sonographers are the worst! You’d think in such a delicate situation they’d be trained to handle people properly. At my early 6 weeks scan in my 4th pregnancy with the NHS I had this really rude dismissive woman, who clearly resented people like me getting early scans and clogging her schedule, before even putting the wand on my belly she warned me that there may be nothing, that could be an ectopic and that if I’d gone even just one day earlier they wouldn’t have been able to see anything and I’d have beeb wasting her time. Even after finding a gestational sac and heartbeat (at which point she changed her tune for a brief moment) she was like ‘see you in 6 weeks’ and insisted there was no merit in having a scan every 2, even if I qualified for it. She refused to give me any measurements, saying they don’t give them till the 12wk scan and when she handed me there report there it was clear as day, blatantly too small. Anyway, awful experience and really no need when someone’s already is such a sensitive situation.

@CailinInUK yes the good thing about naturally cycles even with superovulation is that they cost a fraction of what IVF does and you can literally keep going with minimal disruption - that’s as long as the Pred doesn’t throw my cycle out of whack 😅. Good luck with the scan on Tuesady 🤞 x

@clhiu reading your message made me feel 😠 why do people do jobs like this when they have zero compassion?! I’m sorry you had to go through that experience. I think we should all feel comfortable asking for someone different but I know it’s easier said than done

Oh gosh @clhiu that sounds awful, I am counting myself very lucky that my first scan I had when I was so anxious I had the nicest person who understood my anxiety and did everything possible to reassure me. I guess maybe this is an NHS thing, I feel like I've had to manage everything myself privately, I had to chase up registering, they didn't tell me my thyroid results which was dangerous and incredibly lucky I happened to test myself privately, I chased this scan a lot and then didn't have a great experience. What dose of letrozole did you take this time round? I think I took 5mg for 5 days from CD2. Is low dose stims an option for the future? Think I only got one follicle on that too but it released a really good amount of estradiol and my lining was good.

@clhiu that is unforgivable! I’m so sorry you had this experience.

@Spin101 , @Enfys23 , @Gardenlady543 thank you, I really could have done without that ❤.
Yes I think it must definitely have something to do with being NHS, knowing how difficult a time they were having back then and how over-stretched and under-funded they are, at the same time, it's really not ok to take it out on patients, especially those in a difficult situation. Having said that, all other NHS sonographers I had have been very kind and empathic, including the ones who diagnosed my two MMCs. I considered putting a formal complaint in against that one, but decided it wasn't worth it on top of all the stress I was going through and everything else at the time. I decided after that pregnancy that I would get all my scans privately the next time I fell pregnant, but I would still need an NHS midwife and have some scans with them as I couldn't afford to go private with giving birth. After 2 MMCs were diagnosed at the same hospital in the same room however, I really don't want to have to go back there, if and when the time comes, I will ask if I can go to a different hospital.

@Gardenlady543 I was on 7.5mg from day 2 to day 6. Based on follicles count and size, she seemed very optimistic that just upping the dose to 10mg for an extra day should do it to make 3 eggs, but we'll cross that bridge when it comes to it. There's been no mention so far of low dose stims with gonadotropins, but I will suggest it at my next appointment is this round fails. Do you happen to know if diphenhydramine 15mg is likely to have a negative impact on male fertility and sperm quality? I'm a little bit worried my husband started taking it regularly almost a year ago, almost every night as he suffers with anxiety and insomnia. He was already taking it when I became pregnant last, but he'd only recently started, and he was taking it when we did the egg collection round although they said his sample was very good and we had good fertilisation rates. He wasn't taking it at the time he had his DNA frag test, which came back as low fragmentation and no issues there, but I'm wondering if now there could be a problem there due to the prolonged use, but I cannot find much information online.

@clhiu I emphasise with your husband because I take it daily too! I know in women it's fine as they use it in the antihistamine protocols and people stay on it throughout pregnancy. Even though Dr Gorgy told me the less medication the better and my fertility specialist told me I should stop it. I'm scared to in case it's helping and I also need to sleep and I'm only just weaning off steroids now after 3 months and wouldn't have been able to sleep without it. I had a quick search and can't really find anything on men either. If he needs it to sleep though I'd be worried about what the insomnia and lack of sleep would do. 15mg is quite a low dose, I take 50mg, I didn't know it came in 15 I've only seen 25 and 50. He could try other things, melatonin is pretty good as it uses the same hormone in the body. I have no idea why it's not used more in the UK, it's prescription only and only in certain cases, so rarely prescribed instead sedatives are used. I know fertility doctors often prescribe melatonin so women can sleep during IVF cycles.

@clhiu Good luck with your cycle. I used vagibiom once on transfer day and also 2 days after. To be honest, I found it did not lower ph much. When I took two Flora femme (one morning and one evening), that is when my ph has started to improve. Also, it does say it can be used in pregnancy and when conceiving, you just need to get advice.

@CailinInUK Are you near egg retrieval?

@Gardenlady543 Sorry scan did not go so well with sonographer.

@Spin101 Good luck.

@Enfys23 Good luck with those 6 eggs. That is a good result and at 35 most will be normal. You have a lot in your favour especially with a good lining. I did my first double transfer at 38. Two implanted and one survived which is my 2.5 year old. In 2020, I only had two blastocysts so I transferred both due to age and not having much luck with transferring one. I transferred two this time as I was 40 when I did the egg retrieval even though better results than when I was 38 nearly 39.

I have been asked to do a high vaginal swab to test for BV. Problem is very few test for atopobium vaginae. I’m seeing an improvement with two Flora femme a day but it’s costly.

I have had implantation twinges from 2 days after transfer. I had two hatched blastocysts transferred as I did at 38, so hoping at least one has stuck. I’m just worried that a BV infection could ruin things. Just taking it day by day.

@2021ivfagain I really hope things go well, have you decided when you will test?

@Gardenlady543 Only testing 14dpt so on Tuesday 25th July. I have had implantation twinges but trying to keep my feet on the ground. Not looking forward to test day. Did you get implantation twinges? I did with my son. They transferred two hatched blastocysts.

@Gardenlady543 Worried that an infection could affect things. I really need canesbalance which is safe in pregnancy but they won’t let me take it. By early evening, my discharge symptoms come back.

I hope you don’t mind but I have sent you a private message as well.

@2021ivfagain I don't think I got anything different but in the 2 week wait I did get indigestion like I've never had in any 2 week wait, I think I got ovary pain after but after the 2 week wait.