IVF / ICSI January 2024

[VenusStarr]

Hi, is anyone due to start IVF / ICSI in January? We're going to do a 3 cycle package. I was hoping to start in December but hadn't realised Christmas closing would be so early! My clinic won't start fresh cycles after 30 November - my af is due any day now.

Got my protocol consultation next week, we've been doing lots of tests and my baseline scan. My husband was very sick earlier the year and we've now got MFI (low motility) and borderline sperm dna fragmentation. I've had recurrent miscarriages, combination of natural and ivf pregnancies, low amh, fibroids, adenomyosis... I've got immune issues so will be on extensive meds when we get to transfer. Trying to bank some embryos as this is our last go 🙏

Trying to see the wait as a positive to give us time to get the supplements in our system and eat well.

If anyone fancies joining me on the wait, please do 🙂

Plan is to continue on with what I’m doing and go back in on Tuesday for a scan to see if I can do EC on Thursday. Not sure what to think tbh, but trying to see this first go as a trial run. I’m lucky to get 3 rounds on NHS in our area

Hi @180monkeys
My GP initially said I was fine because my TSH was 4.7 and their normal range was up to 5. I asked to speak with another GP at the surgery and expressed they needed to be knowledgeable in the field of TSH levels required for IVF. Was then booked in with a lovely GP who totally got it and prescribed me Levothyroxine. I thought I'd only need it for now for ivf but she told me that as my mum had an underactive thyroid and because my (don't quote me on this) TS something level was also off maybe TS3... I'd need this for the rest of my life. So I got a medical exemption certificate and get all my prescriptions for free woohoo!!! I also thought I'd suddenly have loads of energy and lose loads of weight but alas I'm still tired and podgy but with the added bonus of feeling super tired and a bit dizzy if I forget to take my Levothyroxine

@Becky105 that was great you were able to speak to one who was more knowledgable about IVF! None of the ones at my practice seem to know anything about it and I have to tell them every time.

it’s strange how it makes everyone feel different as I never had any symptoms when mine was 4.7 but I only got the test done because a fertility consultant told me too then it came back a bit high and I still don’t feel any different when taking the levothyroxine or when I forget to take it! Ah that’s interesting about being on it forever maybe I will be too then.

I’m in Northern Ireland so we don’t pay for our prescriptions anyway but that’s great you’re able to get for free now. Are you going through ivf currently?

Hey guys for anyone that's done ivf before I'm wondering if anyone's had a similar experience today iv been cramping on and off all day with dull back ache I'm 2dp3dt is this normal??? it's not meds im on as I haven't had any side effects since starting them on Saturday! could this be a sign somethings working or body healing from ET. Thanks x

@IVF23 congratulations 🎊 that looks like a good strong line!

@Cloclo93 thank you!

@xbiscottix hope you are doing ok. It’s really hard to have any certainty about what the symptoms are due to, as progesterone does have lots of side effects like cramping etc, and everyone has different symptoms/lack of. All I can recommend is try to just take it easy as much as possible and try not to overthink the symptoms- I know it’s easier said than done as the tww is harrrrd!

I haven’t retested since OTD 11dp5dt as I don’t want to become obsessed with lines. Not sure if that’s a good idea or not 😬

Hi everyone,

My egg collection is tomorrow! Finally have a day off from injections, which I’m so happy about as ganirelix made me non-stop nauseous and caused me to vomit a few times. I finally managed to eat properly for the first time in 3 days yesterday.

Will pop back in tomorrow to let you know how it goes.

Have a good weekend all :)

Trigger warning TMI

@IVF23 hiii thanks the cramping has subsided it wasn't as bad as the other day I'm getting cramps here and there yesterday i had a wet feeling went toilet to check and has cm mixed in with light pink blood was literally a tiny bit . Then later on in the evening had the same thing but was brown. I dunno if that's a bad thing iv just got to wait, I did some research it did say implantation bleed but iv never experienced that before so i dunno.
Iv also been testing out my hcg so been taking a test every morning it's finally out of my system today hope all is well with you.
When do you have your first scan.?

@xbiscottix I think that looks like a good sign? Something is happening in there!

Ladies are any of ye taking Fematab? I have to start taken it a week before my peroid I'm wondering is it related to my low AMH 🙃

That sounds absolutely miserable, @Copenhagener

Good luck for tomorrow and I hope you feel much, much better.

I am going quietly mad googling symptoms and wondering if I should test early. Results day on Wednesday which isn’t that far away but also is so far away!

@180monkeys I'm just transferring our donor sperm from our old clinic to Guys and St Thomas which has held us up a bit but then we should be good to go.

I was the same as you, never even heard about TSH levels or thought about my thyroid until we started our ivf journey 4 years ago. I'm only on 25mg of Levothyroxine but yeah if I forget to take it I feel sluggish by the end of the day and then often the next day I get 5 mins of feeling dizzy just after I eat. I also had some weird sort of dejavu feelings when I first started taking it, but luckily that was only for a couple of months.

Good luck with collection tomorrow @Copenhagener

@xbiscottix hopefully it’s a sign of implantation bleeding 🤞🏻 My scan is 2 weeks today 3rd Feb

@potatosconelover it goes so slowly doesn’t it. Hang in there

@xbiscottix I have had 3 failed transfers and I can honestly say I felt really different every time. There was no one thing that stood out as a certain indication. The first time, my sense of smell was heightened, my boobs were sore. Second time no symptoms at all really. The third time loads of cramping and a bit of spotting here and there and all of mine led to nothing... At the exact same time I was speaking to loads of people on here and following their journeys and people with the exact same symptoms had successful pregnancies. Try to be kind to yourself and not analyse every little thing because mothers with more than one child also say that each of their pregnancies can have very different symptoms.

@Becky105 hopefully it won’t take too much longer to get it transferred. Everything just seems to drag on so much when you want it done now doesn’t it.

ah that’s really interesting I’ve been pretty good at taking it so far so will try to stay on top of it as don’t want any side effects. I’m taking the 25mg as well. Has your consultant always been strict about your TSH level being below 2.5 before transfer? Some sources I read say 2.5 and some say 3. I’m just waiting on my consultant to sign off my blood results from my GP so hoping it won’t delay us.

Hi everyone, hope you are all doing okay.

I had my 1st egg collection yesterday, and today I am very bloated and incredibly nauseous and dizzy (tried to leave the house and had to come back and get into bed). I wondered if this is normal, and if anyone else had this?

I was a OHSS risk but didn’t overstimulate and used Ovitrelle trigger, so they have said I can actually do a fresh transfer.

Has anyone else had these symptoms and been able to go on and do a fresh transfer?

Hi @Twomumfamily I would say that given you're really bloated, dizzy and nauseous you are almost definitely overstimulated. I was too, and they tested my levels before letting me do a fresh transfer.

Please phone your clinic and tell them about these symptoms. Mine put me on blood thinning injections, they might want to do the same for you. OHSS can start after retrieval, you need to be on the lookout for things getting worse.

I hope you feel better and can rest. X

@Twomumfamily Maybe it's the effects of the sedation, but phone your clinic!! X

@potatosconelover Thank you, I’ll give the clinic a call ASAP in the morning, I didn’t know if I was being dramatic. I thought it might be from the anaesthetic too, but it’s been over 24 hours since I had it.

Thank you for the advice and reassurance, hopefully they can check my levels on Monday, fingers crossed it will be okay. I hope you didn’t have it too badly?

Yep, staying in bed tonight and hopefully it will have passed by tomorrow slightly!

If it gets any worse do they have an out of hours number you can try?

I think I only realise now, a week later, how bad I felt at the time! It wasn't severe OHSS, but enough for them to put me on the blood thinners. I remember after my egg retrieval they said something about 10,000 being the level of oestrogen (or whichever hormone it was) that was like the danger zone for OHSS, and I was at 15,000. My ovary had haemorrhaged before egg retrieval, I think the OHSS made something burst. That was quite sore.

Hopefully you feel much better with rest, but have a rummage in your notes and see if they have an out-of-hours number you can ring if it does get worse. Better to have it handy.

Interesting to hear about symptoms. I'm day 3 after egg collection and I feel that I have a hypersensitivity to my skin. Especially around the hips. Some mild discomfort as well but nothing too bad. I can see that my estrogen levels were at 15000 on Monday.
Had a call from the clinic this morning. 14 eggs retrieved on Wednesday, 9 were mature, 6 fertilised and all of them are still in the run and looking good! Which I'm very pleased with.
However as they told me on egg collection day, due to my progesterone levels, a fresh transfer is not advised so they recommend a freeze all at day 5 if possible. Any experience about a FET? Last time I had a fresh transfer so I'm a bit ignorant as to how it works and what to do to prepare my body for it.

@potatosconelover I have managed to dig out an out of hours number, thank you for the heads up, if anything gets worse I will defo give them a call (better to be safe than sorry) - always feel bad making a fuss! My Oestrogen levels were 8000 which is why they let me use Ovitrelle, but that was on day 12 and retrieval was day 14 (no bloods were taken). I’ll defo push for some more bloods in that case to see where they are at now. Oh gosh a haemorrhaged ovary sounds incredibly painful, I hope they gave you extra meds and recovery didn’t take too long!!

@Loute02 Ah I’ve not had skin sensitivity (or at least not yet) hopefully it won’t last too long for you. Brilliant news about your update today - is that the day 3 update? Strangely we don’t get a day 3 update, just a fertilisation number and then go in for transfer and hope for the best! So I think no news is good news our end as at least they have one to transfer hehe.

4 days post transfer and I’m not feeling very optimistic anymore 😞 Last time I had heart burn 3 days after - something I only get when pregnant. I know it’s super early but my body always reacts very fast to pregnancy.

I dreamt I had a positive pregnancy test last night and felt disappointed to wake up.

@IVF23 @Cloclo93 i hope these are real signs and not signs of progesterone side effects. Tww is a real mind game

@Becky105 I totally iv had 4 pregnancies and never symptoms spotted with any of them. When I was TTC naturally I could of sworn I was pregnant a few times symptoms spotting is a lot of mind games. thanks for the advice x

@FETFirstTimer heyy what day transfer did you have? I'm currently 5dp3dt and iv had load of symptoms from cramping, implantation (I think ) and now tender breast all of these could be side effects from the progesterone I'm currently on. Try and stay positive until you test 🖤 when is your test day ?

@xbiscottix 5 day blasto & I feel no different. First fresh round was successful until my MMC & I had a moment of severe cramping then symptoms began the following day so it sounds pretty hopeful for you! On that round I had a very strong positive 6 days post transfer on a Clearblue.

I feel totally normal apart from mood swings but that could be PMT/progesterone 🙃

Egg retrieval is done!

I was the first to be seen at 8.30am, and I was super anxious. The sedative tablet they gave me did nothing at all. They agreed to put some sedative in my IV drip along with the morphine.

It was a mixed bag. My bladder hadn’t emptied enough, so they tried to empty it fully with a catheter before we started and that hurt like hell. I started involuntarily shaking and crying, which slowed things down until I’d had more morphine and sedative and they could continue.

The actual egg removal was fine! I had local anaesthetic and didn’t feel that beyond a tiny sting. Didn’t feel the needle in my vaginal wall. The nurses and doctor were kind; but it was quite overwhelming having 5 people running around me. When I’m stressed I can’t really talk, so it was hard when they were trying to talk to me about the eggs coming out and show me on the screen in a broken mix of languages - I did not care at all. I ended up covering my face with a jumper and left my boyfriend to handle the talking in their own language. They must’ve thought I was so weird, but it was the only way I could stay calm.

I was conscious and awake for it all, though a bit woozy.

I had 10 eggs ready, but unfortunately they couldn’t access 2 of them, so we ended up with 8 in total collected. The nurse was trying to contort my ovary to get access, and it was very unpleasant, so in the end they gave up on those 2, which is a shame.

Here, they don’t inform you day-to-day about fertilisation, so next I’ll hear is Friday, when I’ll know how many Day 5s made it through. If we have one, I’ll have my transfer on Friday afternoon.

Came home and slept, and I’m luckily not in pain at the moment, just a little cramping.