First time IVF tips - the basics

[foreverttc23]

Hi everyone,

I'm due to start my first round of IVF at the end of November. I know the clinic will walk me through step by step what to expect medically but I'm wondering if those of you who have been through it can share any tips you found helpful.

E.g., any dietary changes to improve chances of implantation, anything to make the injections/medications easier, anything I should or shouldn't be doing socially (besides the obvious drinking, smoking etc - it will be Christmas period so wondering how much (if any) socialising I should be doing).

Basically anything that you wished you had known beforehand or glad that you did/didn't do.

I feel like so much of this journey is out of my hands so looking for anything I can do myself to help!

Thanks 😊

Anyone? 😅🤞🏻

I have nothing to offer but seems like our timelines are going to be similar! So jumping on to see what advice you get! 😂

Jumping on to! Waiting for our first consultation appointment

Good luck

1st cycle (NHS): Didn't think to do anything especially different as was completely ignorant! Husband had 2 big cups of caffeinated coffee everday. Cut out alcohol completely and tried to eat healthy - collected 16 eggs, 4 fertilised by IVF

2nd cycle (Private): No alcohol, ate healthy. Husband started drinking decaffeinated coffee. I also had traditional chinese meds (TCM) + accupuncture - collected 10, 4 fertilised by ICSI

3rd cycle: This happened after a failed FET. I didn't drink but didn't try to be especially healthy. Also ran out of TCM and didn't bother with accupuncture as I didn't find it relaxing but a time waster. I remember I was also emotionally drained and generally in a bad mood this cycle - collected 4, 1 fertilised by ICSI

Last cycle: After 1-2 months' break. No alcohol (although I did get permission to have a few drinks during the priming stage and I had more than 2!). I managed to get hold of more TCM (meds are from Malaysia and I had friends bring them over), and made my husband take them too. There should be TCM shops in the UK if you want to look into that. No accupunture and ate really healthy. I cut out ALL processed foods apart from chocolates, and made sure my husband did the same. Ate a lot of nuts everyday. Also drank 'womb tea' (you can buy this from Amazon) daily - collected 9, 8 fertilised by ICSI

Your diet defo plays a big part, and also take all the vitamins advised by your doctor. Drink lots of water, keep active. The man needs eat a healthy diet too as it takes 2 to make a good embryo.

All that said - I have had 1 ET (2BB) and 1 FET (3BB), the ET implanted but lost very quickly; and the FET euploid did not implant. Currently on my 3rd transfer and in my TWW so not sure if this one will stick yet... it was a 5AA embryo this time 🙏.

Good luck!

Thank you @VSRCM. Really hope this cycle goes well for you!!

And best of luck to you guys too @missmoosh @waitingforourmiracle

Daunting but exciting...I hope!

For my initial couple of cycles I didn't know enough about supplements. Please make sure you and your partner are taking the right supplements. I think supplements would have helped us in getting better quality embryo earlier in the attempts.

Hormones wreaked a havoc on my gut health. If you are suffering from constipation, putting progesterone pessaries is another headache. Please find a suitable pro biotic to help. Optibac Bifido helped me a a lot.

During TWW, once I was recommended some walking as blood circulation is said to help in implantation.

In case your are prescribed Clexane injection, icing the location before injection works wonders.

All the best xx

@Arewetherenow Please can you let me know what supplements you took? So far we've just been told folic acid & vitD for me and zinc for my partner
In the past we've tried all the pregnacare, conceive plus, procieve but nothing ever made a difference x

@waitingforourmiracle We have MFI with sperm DNA fragmentation.
He was recommended:
vit B complex: first thing in morning
Wellman
selenium+ zinc- Can get from H&B- taken after a heavy meal
vit D 4000 Iu - after a heavy meal
lycopene: 10 mg

Don't think he took all of these, I remember he was consistent with Vit D and Selenium and zinc.

I was 37 years and egg quality was of concern;
methylfolate: 800 mcgm
Omega 3: 1000 mg
Coq10:300 mg
Alpha Lipoic acid: 300 mg
Vit D 2000 IU - after a heavy meal
Vit B complex: first thing in morning- I took this after breakfast, with others.

In addition to these, I was taking Raw Prenatal from Garden of life and pro biotics.

Just add on- I was also on levothyroxine as my thyroid was not in the range to get pregnant. Please make sure it has been checked. It needed to be less than 2.5 for successful implantation and growth. This was also identified after 2 attempts.

I stopped Coq10 and Alpha lipoic acid after embryo transfer. No one had asked me to. My understanding was these 2 are recommended for egg quality and hence didn't make sense to continue after the transfer.

Hope this helps xx

@foreverttc23 there’s a great book called It starts with the egg, which has chapters on supplements, diet etc and is a really good read.

that being said, I honestly wish that someone had told me at the start (we started IVF in December 2020 and have a 2 year old and going through it again for #2) to lower my expectations about the whole process. This is meant kindly! IVF can be an absolute slog and it’s a numbers game at the end of the day. I would say that your support network, husband or partner and this forum are all super important in staying sane. Personally I wouldn’t stress too much about a few glasses of wine because there’s enough stress already as you go though this! Be prepared for lots of waiting - between appointments, waiting for results, waiting to test etc. I found that the things that I could control helped me, so being super organised with my meds for example.

wishing you lots of luck!!! I’m happy to try and answer any other questions x