Second round IVF anxiety

[Moose106]

Hi all,

I had a disappointing first cycle - 7 eggs, 4 fertilised, 0 blasts. I’m 41 so the results are not that unexpected, but it seems like a significant egg quality issue as none of the embryos really got going at all and didn’t make it past the first day or two.

For round 2 my consultant suggests quite a similar protocol, slightly higher stims to try to get more eggs, IVF instead of ICSI as we don’t seem to have a sperm issue. He doesn’t see the benefit of trying anything very different like DHEA or human growth hormone to try to improve egg quality, just says there’s nothing we can do about that at my age.

I’m torn between trusting that he knows what he’s doing and wanting to at least try something different so we know we gave it our best shot. We’re paying privately and if this round isn’t any better I don’t think we could go again with such little hope.

Anybody have more success on your second cycle with a very similar protocol? Or change something that you feel made the difference for egg quality?

Thanks ladies!

Slightly different but for our first egg collection we got 4 eggs. Three made it to blastocyst but low quality and all came back from pgta testing as abnormal.

Second cycle, the only thing they changed was to slightly increase stims. We got 10 eggs this time, 9 fertilised and all 9 made it to blastocyst.

I am a similar age to you. So both rounds were pretty different, and not much had changed in terms of treatment or what I did with my diet etc. So some of it is just getting a bit luckier in some rounds than others. It’s so hard to just trust in what they’re saying, especially when you just don’t feel like you have control over any of it. Co enzyme Q10 is believed to help with egg quality, so maybe start taking that.

Really hope you have a much better second round.

I’m 39, unexplained secondary infertility. My first round was also disappointing.. 8 eggs, 5 mature, 1 fair quality embryo to transfer on Day 3 which failed. I’m in the middle of round 2 so outcome is TBC however after egg collection yesterday they got 12 eggs, all mature and 10 have fertilised so I’m over the moon. As well as my protocol being completely changed (none of the same meds as round 1) I threw the book at it this time, literally.. the book is “It Starts With The Egg”. After reading it I did the following for 3 months prior to egg collection:

• In addition to the pre-conception multivitamin and omega 3 I was already taking I added extra vitamin d, b12, coq10, magnesium and melatonin.
• I reduced my exposure to plastics - bought oils, mayo, peanut butter, etc. in glass rather than plastic, and I bought BPA and paraben-free tupperware for food storage.
• Switched to a natural fabric softener and wool dryer balls instead of dryer sheets.
• Cut out fragrance from skin care/toiletries and only wore perfume occasionally.
• Stopped burning candles/wax melts at home.
• Cut out alcohol (had the odd glass of wine)
• Cut out fizzy drinks and white bread as much as possible (my consultant said if there was a choice between a fizzy drink and a glass of wine, have the wine!)

There are a lot of things to try outlined in the book but the above were the things I found easy to do. Who knows what, if anything, I did made any difference, maybe it was just the change of protocol. Also, we did ICSI this time even though there doesn’t appear to be a sperm issue but after our fertilisation rate was so low last time it was recommended. And obviously we still don’t know if it will work this time around but our chances are a lot better than last time. Definitely recommend reading the book, if nothing else making the changes above made me feel like I was doing something rather than just waiting around if that makes sense. Wishing you all the best xx

Hi OP, I am similar age and have done 6 collections in total. The last was a duo stim abroad (Prague). The results were different each round so don't be disheartened just yet.

1st - long protocol, 16 eggs, only 3 fertilised via IVF, 2 blasts
2nd - mild, 10 eggs, 4 fertlised via ICSI, 2 blasts
3rd - mild, 4 eggs, 1 via ICSI, 1 day-3 embryo
4th - estradiol priming, mild, 9 eggs, 8 via ICSI, 3 blasts
5th & 6th - estradiol priming, mild, collected 15 in total, 8 via MACS ICSI, 4 blasts

I found the UK advice cautious, recommended dose of vitamins at the lower end. I have been on all the recommended supplements + chinese herbal meds. The best round(s) we had was when both my husband and I ate healthy (literally no processed food) and he also took the chinese meds.

I'm surprised your consultant advised IVF instead of ICSI as for our age the process does need a little more intervention (I was told my eggs might be refusing the sperm, I have the NK cells). It's not 100% true you can't do aything about your eggs (unless you have none!). Also, the sperm takes over from day 3 and I honestly feel too much pressure is put on the woman when it takes 2!

I was advised to take:

• Folic acid 800ug
• Vit D 4000IU (husband also on this)
• Oral and vaginal probiotics
• Co enzyme Q10 1000mg (husband also on this)

I self-prescribed 3mg melatonin as read that helps egg quality.

We also substitute butter/any sorts of oil with extra virgin olive oil.

So hang in there!

Thank you ladies so much for the replies. Knowing that things can change quite a bit from cycle to cycle has really helped me to feel a bit better going into round 2 and stop panicking!

I’ve bought It Starts With The Egg, made some diet changes and added all those vitamins over the past month. I at least feel like I’m doing all I can. Starting stims in a few weeks so hopefully there’s some improvement.

Hope things work out for you all and that you had some positive results from this round @GabbyGal

Thanks @Moose106 we ended up with 5 embryos but my TSH was a little high so we were advised to freeze them all, having my bloods checked again this week so will hopefully be starting prep for a FET soon. But we are delighted with our 5 embryos, our doctors were shocked that this round was so successful compared to the last round. Fingers crossed your second round will be more successful too xx

I’m so delighted to hear that @GabbyGal. Best of luck with your upcoming FET!

I have low reserve due to natural aging of eggs, I am similar age to you. My first round was almost cancelled as we had 3 potential eggs which ended up being 5 eggs in the end, of which 3 made it. Cycle 2 we had 6 eggs, 5 embryos made it. I am doing one last cycle and then PGT-A (we know we wont be doing more than 3 cycles) to up our chances although no one ever knows the outcome.

The thing to remember is that most women are unlikely to get 15+ eggs at 40+ so it will be quality over quantity. And it may take several cycles to get good results (I know it’s painfully expensive).

Agree with lifestyle changes. I am on coq10 600mg and DHEA 75mg. I take melatonin only during stimulation phase.