Egg collection pain

[Sep88]

I had my first egg collection yesterday. The anaesthetist said I’d probably drift in and out of sleep, I might feel uncomfortable but shouldn’t feel any pain.

There were 3 other women in my section that had the procedure before me. They were wheeled back in either asleep or very woozy. I heard one woman talk to her partners about 20 minutes after saying she couldn’t really remember it.

I felt alert (if not a bit drunk/ uninhibited) all the way through. Husband commented on how alert I was. I remember swearing and shouting and at one point being asked not to wriggle up the bed. It was intensely painful and I asked for more drugs. However, the pain subsided very very quickly once the procedure was over and all the hospital staff were amazing.

I’ve never had a procedure with anaesthetic before. I just wondered if what I experienced was normal? I’m aware I’ll probably need more cycles, so wondering if this is something I should flag up to my clinic? Thanks!!!

Oof that sounds terrible! I know some clinics don't do sedation and have a local or something, which I couldn't stand! I had sedation and for me I was fully knocked out, I said oh I think it's working as it went in the cannula and I was out, woke up in another room. So for me it was more like general anaesthetic as I've had that before for an operation. Can you have a follow up with your clinic so they can up the dose potentially or confirm what they actually used?

That sounds really difficult, sorry you had to go through that. During my first egg collection I can remember feeling some pain but it was almost like I wasn't too bothered about it. I did mention that the second time and they said they could up the sedation which they did and I can't remember feeling anything. Fingers crossed if you need further egg collections then they can up the dose!

I was fully conscious for mine, I remember the conversations we had, I remember the doctor explaining the stages and what she was doing, I remember watching someone put the eggs into a little shoot thing and then they walkie talkied over to someone to make sure it was received. I remember talking about my job and then being in pain and them giving me gas and air and the sedation nurse holding my hand. I remember being wheeled out and then asked if I wanted a hot water bottle. What I don't remember is the actual feeling of any pain, I remember puffing on the gas and air, and complaining of pain, but I don't remember feeling it, what I do remember is feeling super relaxed and having a great nap afterwards. - I am not particularly anxious about doing it again if I must.

I was fully awake for mine other than feeling slightly tispy, and remember each follicle being extracted and them saying which ones had an egg. They struggled to get the angle right om one ovary so had to insert the needle a second time. I could feel absolutely everything they did and was crying in pain throughout the whole procedure. Even when they were pressing against ovaries with Wanda I was in pain. I had been given Temazepam & Fentanyl which is meant to be a strong drug but it didn't work on me.

Thanks for all the responses! Much appreciated! I know I had Fentanyl, but didn’t ask what the exact dose/ combination was.

If this is what I need to do to get pregnant I will go through the procedure as many times as it takes, but obviously, I don’t want to suffer unnecessarily! I’ll send my clinic an email 👍

@Sep88 I don't think it's common to feel anything during the procedure. Another girl I know that had IVF at the same clinic as me said she didn't feel anything and was quite out of it during her egg collection.

I’ve had quite a few egg collections (in the UK and Spain) and have never been awake for any of them (nor would I want to be).
I would ask for more drugs.

I had conscious sedation for mine which made me dosey but i felt a lot of pain. Was aware of all the punctures, heard all the communications between the team members and the embryologist shouting EGG each time one came through. They seemed surprised I was in pain and increased my dose, but i was still in pain. The team were lovely, supportive and apologetic though. I then slept for ages and they seemed surprised I wasn’t up and about when they needed my bed for the next person.

i had a lot of pain in the 2-3 days that followed, and bleeding, but I also developed OHSS which didn’t help. I think I was quite traumatised as kept playing it all back in my mind for weeks afterwards.

i mentioned the pain to the doctor while doing my first FET and he said there’s another drug they should try if there’s a next time as I shouldn’t have experienced pain like that.

swore afterwards I could go through it again but that was already 6m ago and I probably would if I had to…!

I've had 3 egg collections and don't remember a thing about any of them, other than waking up feeling woozy and well rested!

Ask for stronger drugs. They should give you a proper sedative.

Just had the sedation nurse call me up to tell me I remembered wrong. That I handled the pain and shouting was a good way to deal with discomfort. I did remember correctly about being asked not to wriggle, but that was when they were cleaning me up and it was anxiety rather than pain. I told her I remembered it being painful. But she basically told me I was wrong?! She said I repeated myself durning the procedure which shows I have lapses in my memory. I said I’d go through it again, but was just flagging it as I don’t feel like I had a normal experience. Apparently only 2% of people remember conscious sedation. They won’t knock me out next time but could give me more painkillers- which was all I wanted to hear really. It all felt a bit passive aggressive. I told her I was really happy about my care and I understood that everyone reacts to the drugs differently. I even thanked her for stroking my hand because I remembered it being comforting. But feel a bit alarmed to be told I wasn’t in pain when I clearly remember it being very painful 😬

You are all very lucky. I had two rounds of egg collection and where I live currently (The Netherlands) they don’t believe in general anesthesia. So they did local. It is of excruciating pain and the fact that I did a second round of it shows how much I desire an other baby. By the way I was also operated for uterine polyps ( prior the pregnancy) and they wanted to do that also with just local anesthesia. But my husband put his feet down and said no way. Finally they agreed to do it with general anesthesia but at the end of the operation the doctor commented that Dutch women can handle it without…

@Sep88 what right does she have to say you didn't feel pain and remembered wrong?! How rude. I do hope if you have to go through the process again that they will give more drugs so you don't feel it. The pain certainly put me off wanting to do a full round again but I would if it came down to it. I currently have 3 frozen embryos and hoping we don't have to use them all.

Thanks @Autumn245 💛 fingers crossed we don’t need to!