IVF October 2024

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Hi 👋
I'm due to commence IVF next month (injections to start 2nd October).
Thought I'd start a group for anyone going through the same thing at the same time to support each other ☺️
🌈

Great news @Anon645. What dose of oestrogen are you on?

Hi all

I've just started my injections. I'm on the antagonist protocol. Had my baseline scan today all looks ok so far 🤞 3 more scans booked in for next week and hopefully egg collection the week after.

@Anon645 good luck with your trigger shot! For my first round I had to do it at 1 am!

@Purpleflowers17 I only ever took estrogen tablets and progesterone pessaries for my transfers.

I'm on 8mg of oestrogen.

And I start my progesterone suppositories and pessaries on Monday 😭😭 (alongside continuing 8mg oestrogen )

Hey everyone! Mind if I join? Starting my injections today.

Last cycle I had Gonal F and Menopur - pretty terrible results, no euploid embryos from 8 fertilised.

This cycle I am having Provera and Menopur.

Worried as both have Menopur that I'll have the same terrible results again...
I'm late 20s, unexplained infertility.

Maybe depends if it’s fresh or frozen transfer? As seems to a mixed bag I will speak to clinic on Monday when I am there with the nurse.

@Anon645 good luck with your trigger shot.

@naomimn welcome! Sorry to hear the first time wasn’t the result you were looking for. I have been told the first time is often a bit of luck and helps them adapt your plan for the next cycle. Fingers crossed for you 🤞🏻

@ButterscotchBabe thank you. Sorry to hear it's your 4th cycle too. I'm exactly the same - did 3 cycles at one clinic and now moved to another clinic for my 4th. Completely different protocol and throwing everything at it 😂 how are you feeling with it being your 4th?

@Anon645hope your trigger went well yesterday.

Anyone else on long protocol? I'm taking buserelin - nearly a week of it now. Surprisingly feeling okay so far - I thought this might be the one IVF drug that gives me bad side effects!

Mine is day 10 I think @Ru19

@Lozzy000 I see you're now on long protocol, were your previous 3 cycles all short protocol? Long protocol didn't work for me but hopefully it will for you! My history:

Cycle 1 - long protocol, 300iu stims, after being shut down ovaries didn't wake up, cycle abandoned
Cycle 2 - short protocol, 300iu stims, 5 eggs, 1 left to transfer, bfn
Cycle 3 - short protocol, 225iu stims, 3 eggs, total fertilisation failure

I'll be doing short protocol again this round but with much higher stimulation doses, my clinic goes up to 600iu! We tried lowering the dose of stims and that had a worse result, so this time we're increasing it. Do you know what stimulation dose you'll be on?

@ButterscotchBabe really interesting! What's your AMH? Mine was 4 pmol when tested 2 years ago. With AFC of 7 (I think). So ive always struggled to respond.

Round 1 - short protocol 450IU of Bemfola. 4 eggs, 2 average quality blasts. Transferred together, had a chemical pregnancy.

Round 2 - short protocol 450IU of gonal f and Menopur. 2 eggs, 1 average quality blast. Transferred BFN.

Round 3 - shot protocol, 450IU gonal f. 1 egg, didn't fertilise. So no blasts to transfer.

This round will be long protocol. I've also been prepping with DHEA and growth hormone. I'll be on 225IU of gonal f for 4 days then move to 200IU of provergis. My new clinic are not using such high doses this round, to see if the quality is better (IF we even get any eggs with the low doses). And I'll be taking steroid as apparently this helps respond better to stims. It really is trial and error isn't it. What works for one person, doesn't work for the next!

When do you start? Really hope this round goes well for you x

Hi

I was just wondering if anyone who has been on the short protocol can advise what to expect in terms of energy / productivity levels for the 10- 14 dayd of meds/jabs?

I'm going off the assumption I get to start in a couple of weeks, so will have to start planning, I manage my own work diary but usually have to do one or two field days per week, these can be anywhere in uk so can sometimes be out of house from 7am till 9pm and take a lot of mental energy as I have to really be on the ball. I could probably get away with avoiding any visits and just working completely from home for a couple of weeks, but don't know if I'm being a bit dramatic doing that or if I should just carry on as normal ?

I would say you'll be fine for the first few days and it gets progressively harder. I'd be more concerned for not planning much around the days you may potentially have egg collection.
For me they say it could be days 9-14 of injections and I only made very cancellable plans for those days...

@Purpleflowers17 that's what I've been told... that the first round they see how you respond and then subsequent cycles they adjust meds to something that may suit you more

@wateringcanface it really depends how the stims make you feel. The first few days you should feel fine, but as you get closer to the collection you might start to feel tired and uncomfortable. Having done 3 cycles already, where I worked throughout, I'm taking a full 3 weeks off work for my 4th cycle, just to see if it makes a difference. I didn't feel unwell on stims, it's just that this will likely be my last cycle, so I'm trying everything..... I wouldn't push yourself - even if you feel fine - it's just not worth it given it's just a couple of weeks of your life. Take it easy and be kind to yourself xxx

@Lozzy000 my AMH was 1.2 a year ago and AFC is 6, I don't think I'd dare have my AMH tested again 😂🙈. That's a shame that with an AFC of 7 and stims of 450iu, you only got 4 or less eggs, did some of your follicles not contain eggs, or did some of them not grow?

Great that your new clinic is willing to try some different things - DHEA, growth hormone and steroids, it definitely gives you hope that this round will be more successful. I've been taking DHEA, Ubiquinol and other vitamins for past 4 months, wasn't taking any of these before, so I really hope they make the difference along with increasing the stimulation dose 🤞🏼🙏🏼.

I start as soon as my period arrives (this clinic goes with your natural cycle), which is due end of this week or beginning of next week. How long have you been down regulating for?

@ButterscotchBabe I feel exactly the same - I dare test my AMH now 😂 I had 6 follicles growing on my first cycle - the other 2 were just too small at egg collection - my follicles never seem to grow at the same rate - only a couple respond. I'm not too sure on my other cycles - I kind of just left my consultant to it!

We're on a very similar timeline - I'm waiting for my cycle to start - which should be any time now (think the buserelin is delaying it a bit). I've been down regging for 7 days now and taking growth hormone for 26 days. Really hope my ovaries wake back up.

Really hope our changes in protocol and all our prep (I feel like a pill box from all the vitamins 😂) make a difference for us! Be interested to hear your vitamin regime! My new clinic recommended soooo much whereas my last clinic just told me to take vitamin d and folic acid! X

@Lozzy000 have your clinic said how often they'll scan you? When I did the long protocol, they did one baseline scan after period and then nothing for 10 days, so it was impossible to rescue. Hopefully they'll keep a close eye on you and could increase stims if response is looking low. The downreg could help your follicles grow at the same rate, as they'll all be starting at the same time.

Haha I know how you feel! I actually have a big pill box, 7 day week with 3 compartments for each day. I take 12 tablets a day 😩 looking forward to not having to take all these anymore! So I'm on 25mg DHEA (last day today), 600mg Ubiquinol, 1000mg Omega 3, 2000iu Vit D, 250iu Vit E, 400ug Folic acid, 250mg Vit C. What's your regime? 😂

@ButterscotchBabe I'll have my first scan day 2/3 then the next one day 5/6. After that I'll have one every 2-3 days until trigger. So hopefully like you said, we can change things up if I'm not responding. And yeah you're right about the follicles hopefully starting at the same size too with the down reg - hadn't thought of that!

My vitamins are very similar!! 25mg DHEA, 600 ubiquinol, 2000 omega 3, 2000 vit d, 1000 vit c, 800 folate, and I'm also taking a pro biotic (optibac women's one) and melatonin. Only vitamin e that I haven't been taking... was that recommended by your consultant? Guess it's too late to add that in now 😂 xx

@Lozzy000 that's great they'll be scanning you regularly, your clinic sounds quite similar to mine... are you at ARGC by any chance?!

Haha actually the consultant didn't recommend Vitamin E 😄 but I started taking it after reading it starts with the egg book, I let them know and they were fine with it xx

@ButterscotchBabe I'm at the Evewell. I did think about ARGC though - I've heard it's intense but gets results and ultimately that's what we want on cycle 4! Went with Evewell due to some recommendations and so far they've been very good. How are you finding ARGC? X

@Lozzy000 yes it's daily or every other day blood tests and scans! Not ideal when I don't live close 😄 but needs must! So far ARGC have been great haven't got any complaints, weirdly treatment there is very personal and not personal at the same time. When you visit you're on a conveyor belt of ladies, they don't give appointment times they'll see you when you're next in line. But they monitor your bloods and hormone levels so closely and will make tailored changes to your medication, on a daily basis if necessary. I needed a big change in approach to have hope again!

Glad things are going well at Evewell and thats reassuring to have a recommendation for them 😊. I'm in an ARGC support group and some people there have recommended Evewell!

Had my scan for my FET this morning and my lining is 15mm. Should get a phone call this afternoon giving me my transfer date and telling me when to start progesterone.

Just had the phone call. Transfer is next Tuesday and progesterone starts on thursday

@Hopingforno2in2024 15mm is great! Best of luck for next Tuesday 😊

@Hopingforno2in2024 15mm is perfect! Great that you've got the transfer all booked in 🙌🏻

@ButterscotchBabe that's great to hear you're having a good experience so far! A tailored approach is the most important - I'd rather feel like a conveyor belt in the waiting room and a tailored approach, than personal feel but on a basic protocol. I barely had any blood tests at my last clinic - only to test progesterone levels at transfer, once when they thought I might ovulate early, and once when I had a cyst!

X

I agree that personal is better. My clinic don't seem to personalise much and I have had to fight them on things due to it. With my egg collection cycle they didn't want me to come in for a scan until CD11 but I pointed out that I am an early ovulator so they agreed to bring me in CD8. My follicles were doing so well at that scan that they didn't even let me go home to start the cetrotide and I had to have it there in the clinic to prevent ovulation.

Then with my FETs they wanted to me to be on 12mg of Progynova straight away which is the maximum dose. I fought them hard on that as the higher doses do come with higher risks and I have never had an issue with my lining. 4 months later they agreed to 6mg and I have reached 15mm on that so clearly 12mg was not required!