ERA EMMA ALICE testing thread 10

[Gardenlady543]

Last thread is maxed out... happy for anyone new to join to chat about anything ERA EMMA ALICE or pretty much anything else fertility investigations and treatment related

@2021ivfagain @Enfys23 @clhiu @CailinInUK @Loz2467 @Mybabydream @ChickenT2b @kerrym87 @Sar1010 @thislittlebird @APSR @VenusStarr
@Dochas12111 @SallyLovelady @Lyrabee @Lauralozzle @Sera9 @Twigg12 @Wren123 @Summerishere83 @Vicky81B

Does anyone know of available probiotics that are safe in pregnancy? I have been told to take till my test day but the biocare intrafresh say they’re not safe in pregnancy. Is vagibiom safe? How’s everyone getting on?

@NiftyAmberLionhave u had the Emma test where it lists the probiotics at the back? The way I viewed it was if the testing company were recommending them they should be ok for pregnancy but I can’t say that for certain. I used vagibiom and avoided intrafresh for the same reason as you, as I heard they wasn’t safe.

I had the test yes but my consultant just told me to take them and what it showed, I didn’t get a report. Is vagibiom on their list? Have you had any success doing the probiotics? I’ve been doing oral ones too so I feel like I’ve done all I can!

@NiftyAmberLion I have been absent here for a time. I took unscented Vagibiom throughout pregnancy apart from just after transfer and everything was fine. I also took lactovaginal which is not as good and needs to be taken with balance activ for maximum effect but wait a month or two after transfer.

@NiftyAmberLion Lactovaginal was approved by my ivf consultant when I shared the list of ingredients. It must be kept in the fridge when you get it. You can store at room temperature but does not last as long. I kept in the fridge door so it did not get too cold.

Great thanks, I think the vagibiom I have is unscented and I will also get some lactovaginal then!

I was recommended these https://naturaldispensary.co.uk/products/Biome_Her_30_s-10005155-0.html by a nutritionist to boost Lactobacillus crispatus pre transfer, which was successful, I'm now alternating these with optibac pregnancy and once the Biome Her run out will stick with optibac

I was also using intrafresh pessaries on advice from my ivf clinic but stopped these pre transfer

Ok that’s interesting they said to stop pre transfer. I feel like the advice on all this is pretty inconsistent. Thanks I’ll have a look at those probiotics if I have to do another round but really hoping not, I’ve got about three different types of oral ones at the moment, it’s the vaginal ones that seem hard to source or know what’s best!

They actually didn't tell me to stop, they said I could keep taking it after transfer, but I didn't feel comfortable to once I'd got a positive test result as the pack says don't use when pregnant. I went with the advice from the nutritionist on the oral probiotics instead, which are safe to use and I felt would probably do the job!

Yeh makes sense I’m also too nervous to use when it says not to. Great to hear you had success though!

Hello ladies. Please can I ask whether people took vaginal probiotics in the run up to FET? I’m on day 6 of my FET month and I took a vagibiom yesterday and today and I’m stressing. Is it ok to do that? Thanks x

@Diamondpearl123my consultant had me take them as soon as my period stopped every day until day of FET, then made me continue taking them every day after FET until pregnancy test.

Thanks so much for responding @lemons44 . Was that the vagibiom you were on? And you were ok to take it every day? I think I might get irritation from that x

@Gardenlady543 @2021ivfagain Hi ladies please can you both help me as I know you have been on here for a while. I did Emma/Alice may last year which showed bad bacteria, I treated and did two transfers but both failed probably because the microbiome still wasn’t right. I started testing and treating via fertilysis instead and managed to get to a good microbiome. Transfer failed again.

Im now I’m with Gorgy for immunes but microbiome has gone bad again just as I’m about to do transfer ☹️ just been on co-amoxiclav for 10 days to treat enterobacteria. That’s gone but now I have staph in the uterus. Fertilysis are saying I dont need to treat but I’m not wiling to transfer with bad bacteria again.

I feel totally on my own trying to manage this because CRGH my ivf clinic are telling me no more Emma/Alice testing and they wouldn’t pay any attention to fertilysis results. What do I do? I think fertilysis might still prescribe something for me if I ask again but not sure what given I have already done 10 days co-amoxiclav? I’m starting to think I need to find a UK doctor that takes the microbiome more seriously, any suggestions? I already have vagibiom pessaries that I can use x

Yes @Diamondpearl123i used vagibiom daily. This is a bit TMI but I realised that it only agitated me the first few days because it was hot so when I inserted the pessaries they were soft and some was getting on my vulva/vaginal opening which then caused insane itchyness. In the end I put them in the fridge half hour prior to use which made them firmer and then for good measure I would wash myself with a clean flannel and tissue so that absolutely none of it got on me after inserting them. This stopped any irritation and I was fine.

I am also was CRGH and I am surprised they won’t let you redo the Emma / Alice? What consultant are you with.

@Diamondpearl123will Dr Gorgy not prescribe antibiotics? If not the fertilysis doctor can do international prescriptions I think but will likely charge you for a consultation. My friend saw Clarewell clinic who treated her for ureaplasma, but they wanted their own vaginal swab to confirm before treating.

what about treating your partner? I’ve read that can be a cause. Are they just not repeating it because they feel it won’t help? Does anyone know why it’s a lot cheaper to do a repeat Emma / Alice than the original one? My transfer failed so need to redo it.

@NiftyAmberLion - sorry to hear you transfer failed.
King's Fertility does EMMA/ALICE test as well, and it's cheaper than CRGH. Although Kings doesn't do NK Cells test.
@Diamondpearl123 I recently did 2 DAYE tests and didn't detect bad bacteria, but showed Lactobacillis "depleted" level, so I was a bit concerned. CRGH said vaginal microbiome does not necessarily correlate with uterine microbiome. Waiting for my re-test of EMMA/ALICE, guess it will show whether this is true or not!

@lemons44 Thanks for responding. They are really good tips. Just to check is it this vagibiom you are using? https://vagibiom.com/products/vaginal-probiotic-suppository-fragrance-free

Im with Dr Serhal. To be fair I did the Emma/alice three times with him. He spoke to the consultants about my failed transfers and they all agreed that he had done more than enough and no more testing. So I feel totally alone now that the fertilysis is showing bad bacteria because they will not want to know. Deep down I think I probably need to move clinics to get a fresh pair of eyes on my case but it will just be more time and more expense ugh

Thanks very much for your response. Yes I’m hoping I can get a fertilysis proscription, they just take absolutely ages these days. People are waiting 2 weeks+ for a prescription and months for consultations. I might look into Clarewell clinic as well as it might be nice to have a doctor in the uk managing my case. Not sure how good Gorgy is on the microbiome stuff

I’m at the lister but debating moving clinics after 3 failed transfers. I think it’s £200 for a repeat but £995 for the original test there

CRGH charges full price for an Emma/alice retest if you have had a failed transfer inbetween. Is that what other clinics do?

Oh really, to be fair I’ve not booked it yet so maybe they will charge me full price - I don’t get the logic of that though how does a failed transfer change things

If you are doing IVF with a male partner what tests have they had done? I recommend a check for a varicocele and if one is found then a sperm dna fragmentation test and possibly an embolisation. I got 7 eggs from my first round and my first transfer failed. Second didn’t survive the thaw despite 95% success rate. Have just transferred an average quality embryo and awaiting the result of that. In the meantime my husband has been found to have the above issue (despite a normal basic semen analysis) and we are awaiting his embolisation. If you do decide to see a urologist I cannot recommend Professor Jonathan Ramsay enough if you have any budget to stretch to him.

Actually the one I took looks slightly different. Think maybe the ones I used are the non fragranced ones?

https://amzn.eu/d/iWZ8wbl