IVF / ICSI June 2025

[GLizzie88]

Hi All!

I might be early to it here, but thought I'd start a threat for anyone who knows they'll be going through it in June this year!

I'm based near Sheffield, and will be going through the treatment in sheffield. I'm 36, will turn 37 during the treatment. We've been through one failed round last August, so we've spent the time since getting further private checks done, and now we're ready for the next round. We came back as 'normal' on the nhs tests, but we found other things with these private tests! We've had all of our follow ups, catch up consultation appointments. Next appointment is our nurse appointment on the 5th May, then after that it's waiting for my next cycle to start at the very end of May / beginning of June.

From the further tests we've had done, I'm now on thyroid medication to bring my thyroid down to fertility recommended levels, my partner had DNA Frag & Oxidative Stress tests done and we've made improvements based on the results of these. I've also been having some acupuncture, which I've also feel has helped my sanity!

Please share your stories and hopefully we can all support each other during this. I'm much more nervous this time, even though I know we're better set up than we were last time.

@Hopeandfaith1990ive not felt too bad so far, had some nausea today but we’ve just got home from a 5 hour drive from Scotland so it’s most likely just travel sickness!

I’ve had no bruising yet either, I’ve been injecting really slowly though so I’m hoping maybe it’s just cos of that? After I had DD I had to have tinziparin (blood thinner) injections for 6 weeks after my C section and had horrible bruising after that! I wouldn’t worry if you’re not bruising, as long as you’re making sure you’re getting all the medication administered just think yourself lucky so far lol xx

Ok that makes me feel better thank you!! So hard not to compare and I know all journeys are very different. I will count myself lucky as you say - I've got a scan on Weds morning so hopefully will know if I've been doing it right by then haha. Are you on any other RPL meds? I take Hydroxychloroquine daily and a few other things around ovulation (which I'll now just take after a hopeful transfer) xx

@Hopeandfaith1990I take just the usual Folic acid, vit D, B12 and CoQ10. Nothing else for RPL has been advised really as they aren’t sure what’s causing them, all my tests came back pretty normal.

I’ve got a scan tomorrow morning to see how follicles are coming along so I’m hoping I get a bit more information from that as to when egg collection might be.

are you planning a fresh or frozen transfer? Xx

@LimeBird and @Miraclemuma03 I’m sorry to hear that you have had such a tough journey so far. Let us know how we can support and wishing you all the very best for this round.

@Hopeandfaith1990 I’m also on Fostimon (and Meriofert) with no bruising or side effects so far (day 3 of injections today). Agree about the mixing, yesterday I went to draw up the Fostimon and then saw there wasn’t any medicine in the vial. I can’t tell if it wasn’t there or a tiny drop had come from the mixing needle and it had already dissolved… I used a new one to be on the safe side but it’s made me aware to check each vial before I start for peace of mind!

Thanks everyone for your lovely messages - sorry my injection post sounded a bit braggy, I think I was a bit overexcited. 🙈

Hope everyone is feeling well and having a great day!

@cakeislife1234 Yes that sounds similar to my supplement regime - not sure how much of a difference it makes but in for a penny! I got diagnosed with high natural killer cells after my 4th loss and am on a pretty high autoimmune protocol for them. The research on it is quite limited but the anecdotal success rate is pretty high. We're doing PGT-A testing so we will be doing a frozen (hopefully) after they're tested. I'm too scared to assume we'll get any embryos yet! I know that probably sound silly ha x

@Gosia19 Oh wow that's so weird about the empty vial.. Yay I'm on day 3 too! Definitely not braggy! Glad it's going well for you. x

@KittyIIV I am flying to Prague on Wednsday, I still can’t quite believe it!

@Limmers14 good luck for your EC tomorrow!

@FluentTealGuide I have been vegetarian my entire life have lately have been trying to increase my protein intake, mainly because I have started strenght training rather than for IVF but I am trying to keep the good habits even though I am not exercising at the moment because of the stims. I like the Jason protein bread, it has 10g of protein per slice, it has a weird texture but it’s edible, I usually have it with cottage cheese or houmous for the added protein. For a snack I like greek yogurt or Skyr with some oats and fruits. I also try to eat pulses at least once a day, I love adding red lentils to soups because once blended you can’t taste them. I also buy the
Profusion protein mince, I like it because it’s soy free (I have nothing against soy but am just trying to diversify my sources of protein and I already eat a lot of tofu).

@Hopeandfaith1990 I have not had any counselling for PGT-A yet, was it to discuss the fate of the future embryos? Before this round I have done the thrombophilia screening and karyotyping (still waiting for results) but I decided against the NK cell test because the other test were already more than 1000£. I am now having second thoughts and thinking maybe I should have done these tests too. I guess I could still do them if the other ones come back normal.

@LimeBird, I know how you feel, I only had one embryo from my January cycle that I miscarried in March, so I am less and less hopeful. I am trying not to put too much pressure on myself for this cycle as it is really outside of my control. I try to see this new cycle as a potential chance to have more embryos which is exciting!

Thanks for the recs on protein sources. I’m aiming to include eggs in one meal every day and just bought a selection of protein yoghurts from the shop for my mid-afternoon snack. (Started with Alpro salted caramel protein dessert to ease myself in, as I’ve tried those super thick nordic yoghurts before and did not enjoy 😅, although I totally forgot about it and had to hoover it up right before I rushed out the door when I finished work.)

I’m off to the midlands for my sister’s wedding tomorrow for a few days. It’s a bit of a rush around and hectic fitting it around work, but I’m hoping the solo break will help me sort-of relax before I start injections (hopefully Friday).

I only realised yesterday that Ovaleap and Ovamex are brand names for these so we are basically on the same! How did your scan go today? 🤞X

I bruise like a peach and I haven't had any bruising either but am on different meds. I really don't think you need to worry you are doing just fine! x

Scan went pretty well, about 14 follicles growing they just want them up to 17mm so 2 more days of stims and egg collection is Friday, so trigger shot Wednesday night. Just waiting for the clinic to call me tomorrow with the exact time I need to do my trigger shot. Started to feel really rubbish this afternoon though, nausea and diarrhoea so hoping that passes by Friday!

how are you getting on with injections etc? Any side effects? Xx

@FluentTealGuide enjoy the wedding!

@cakeislife1234 14 follicles is great! I hope you will feel better by Friday!

I have finally received the results of our karyotypes and the thrombophilia panel and thankfully everything is normal.

I guess my 2 miscarriages were probably due to aneuploid embryos as we didn’t test them for my 2 previous IVF cycles.

That’s amazing well done you! Must be a relief to hear. So exciting - only a few more 💉 to go. Sorry to hear you’re feeling rubbish. I had nausea from day one which I kind of got used to. But I have constant feeling of the swolleness in my abdomen. I heard that the Ovamex was a bit “nippy” but I didn’t expect it to be quite so sore! Started that yesterday and today we moved to injecting my thigh instead which I think was better as today not feeling so bad. Can’t wait to have my scan on Wednesday just to know that (hopefully) everything is going in the right direction Xx

That’s fantastic news about the karyotypes, bet you’re so relieved!!! X

That’s amazing news!!! 🤩

All that protein sounds great @FluentTealGuide

Had my egg collection today and very pleased with how it went. It was so quick and efficient with such a kind lovely team.

The doctor advised we do a freeze all to minimise the chances of OHSS. He said he wants my body to return to normal. I was disappointed at first but thinking about it, I’m glad to have the time to exercise again and feel a bit more like myself.

This extra time means we can do some PGTA testing. Anyone had it done in previous cycles before?

Hi @Limmers14 sorry to hear you've got a little bit of a wait - great to focus on yourself for a bit though.

Just curious, did you know you had OHSS before the egg collection? I'm at a higher risk of it and can't get that part of it off my mind atm .

I'm reading all of you updates and wishing you all the best - im waiting for my period which is due a week today. Going to be a loooong week I think.

Also haven't heard anything about my medication delivery which is stressing me out.

Thank you!! I probs sound so silly haha but as a first timer I'm worrying about everything - even convinced myself I might be ovulating at CD5 today 😅

Hi all, hope you don’t mind me jumping in! I should be starting with the injections on 8/9 June.

This is my first experience of IVF, trying to conceive #2 (#1 v luckily conceived with no issues but since then almost 2 years of trying and lots of tests later, we’re unexplained).

AMH is good so also at risk of OHSS like some of you ladies!

Has/is anyone supplementing with melatonin?

@YellowTack The PGT-A appt basically goes through all possible outcomes/eventualities and teaches you how they interpret and assess the embryos. Really quite cool and the technology is amazing. Good luck with the test results. Jury is out on NK cells it seems but the doctors I've been under for recurrent miscarriage really believe in this protocol and have had good outcomes so I figure is can't hurt... Who knows really.

@cakeislife1234 yay 14 follicles! Super good luck for this week.

@KittyIIV I've a scan on Weds too and like you just want to know its all going in the right direction.

@Limmers14 Sorry you've a wait but OHSS sounds pretty gnarly so if you can avoid it its probably worth it. I'll be doing PGT-A so expect the wait but I haven't done it in the past.

@HelloPippa0 Welcome! I take melotonin every day for sleep - only recently learned it has TTC benefits. I take between 3mg-6mg. I used to take 10mg when my insomnia was really bad but most often take 6mg now. x

@CloudyIvy55 so the clinic told me I could be at risk due to a high AMH and my age (34) so they just monitored me during scans. I was never told I actually had it. I drank tonnes of water, coconut water and ate a lot of protein. Not sure if that helped me but it’s what the clinic recommended. My stims medication didn’t change at any point. I did have to take a lower dosage trigger shot because I had so many follicles and they didn’t want to risk OHSS developing.

Today, I haven’t been told I have OHSS but the clinic seemed surprised that I don’t feel ill so they’ve encouraged me to rest and will call me tomorrow as OHSS can develop. I’m still bloated, feel tired and a bit headachey but fine otherwise. The freeze all is because according to the doctor “you were poked with a lot of needles today” 😂

@Hopeandfaith1990 thank you! I only took 3mg for a bit but it delayed my ovulation and freaked me out a bit! I ovulated as soon as I stopped taking it. But I’ve heard with IVF it’s great as ovulation is induced anyway, so I will try it!

@Limmers14 very interesting to hear your experience on the (maybe) OHSS, hopefully nothing develops. Did they recommend the coconut water, high protein and water for it? Or was it general advice? My clinic haven’t said anything!

@HelloPippa0 I’m with the Lister at the Portland Hospital and their general advice to everyone from what I saw is 2-3 litres of water a day, sipped continuously, not big glasses at once and lots of protein. I aimed for 60g minimum a day. I included coconut water myself as it’s just a really hydrating drink. They also had me cut off caffeine and alcohol completely and I was only allowed walk for exercise. I hope it all goes well for you!

@HelloPippa0 and I’ve also been doing seed cycling. Not sure if that’s helped regulate my hormones? My clinic didn’t mention it, I got the advice from an acupuncturist last year!