July IVF/ICSI/FET

[DeeKel]

I didn’t see a thread for July IVF yet. I am due to start stims around 18Jul with estrogen priming starting the week before that. Collection will be the end of July all going well.
This will be my second IVF and I will be using ICSI. I will be 40 during treatment and 41 come collection. I have a child from my first IVF 3 years ago. Since then I had a chemical pregnancy Dec 2024 with my only other embryo from my 2022 cycle and a failed IUI in Feb this year.
I found the discussion board really helpful and supportive in my first IVF round as we all understand the crazy ups and downs of this rollercoaster. Wondering if there are any others with similar timing?

@violetmoon my nurse told me that for the hcg trigger (ovitrelle) it would be around 2 weeks post retrieval (are you taking anything to prepare for the fresh, estrogen or progesterone?). For the non-hcg trigger I ended up taking due to risk of OHSS two different nurses told me 2-5 days and 5-10 days respectively and it started on day 5 for me.

Edited to add: I would call the clinic

@Waitingforday6 I did the hcg trigger to keep the option of a fresh open and I'm on progesterone. I've taken it every day , although on ocassion I've fell asleep and woke up around 4 or 5 am and taken it.
I'm not sure why I'm spotting. Ive had no pain for days but I have had a little pain in my ovaries last night when I move. Feels like a over stretched type pain.
I'll be speaking with them tomorrow morning so I might mention it to them just to rule out any possible infection from the retrieval

@DeeKel how are you getting on? Do you think you’ll be able to go ahead with another transfer?
I wanted to start my next cycle without delay however, my clinic wouldn’t accept that the cycle had failed until day 12. By that point it was day 3 of my period so too late to start again for this cycle.
I’ve just requested my file so I can approach another clinic for a comparison and they’ve said it could take 20 days to produce the report.
Really hope it’s not that long as I’ve booked in a consultation with a clinic in Greece next Wednesday.
I really want to get started by October at the latest. I suppose what I’m saying is your body/ outside factors might dictate what you have to do.

@StorkVisit I got my beta back and it’s 18 so I’ve to stay on the meds until I go back Thursday and hopefully by then it will
come down to below 5. I had to make an emergency appointment with my GP
today as I noticed more clots in my legs. I’m on blood thinners now and to be honest it’s really made me rethink everything. To prevent the clots I’ll need surgery that they recommended getting once I’ve finished having kids or I risk the venous insufficiency coming back so it’s kind of a catch 22. I’m not happy to put my health at risk to try for a second child when I have a toddler that needs me. I think as much as I would like to add to my family I want to make sure I am here for the family I have already. So I’ve had ups and downs and tears today. Im not making any rash decisions though and will give myself time to process it all. Crappy day but tomorrow is a new one ❤️

Im sorry you are faced with this decision. With having the blood thinners shouldnt this help with the blood clotting disorder so that you can safely move on to another pregnancy once you get it all under control? I only ask bcos when im pregnant i too also have a blood clotting disorder and have to be on blood thinners, I also have other factors that require me to be on blood thinners and I have never been told that my health is at risk or i cant have more babies as long I keep up with my injections and stay on my medications. Can you talk with your FS and go through all your option before giving up completely on your dream to extend your family?

@DeeKel I don’t envy the decision you have to make. I think at the moment I’m set on having one baby (or twins if a double embryo transfer takes). I’m 39. Never had a positive pregnancy test and one baby is everything I’ve dreamed of.
id have liked my child to have a sibling but im not sure it’s realistic given my age and fertility difficulties.
I think in your situation I’d try to just take things one step at a time and see how you feel at each point. I’d also press the specialists for answers on risk etc.
I don’t think either option is wrong. Hope the right answer for you becomes clear.

Hi everyone I’ve been away on holiday this week so have just looked at the chat. My heart goes out to you, @DeeKel i was thrilled to see you got a positive and I’m so sorry it didn’t work out, sending you lots of hugs. As storkvisit said, try to take one step at a time with all these hard decisions.❤️

Care fertility have suggested an antagonist protocol for my second try, apparently better for low amh? Anyone have any experience of this? To be honest I didn’t even know there were these “shorter protocols”…I feel like such a novice in all of this.

i hope everyone is doing okay xx

@Bloop123 I had a “short protocol” last time. I triggered on day 9. I’ll be able to give you more info tomorrow. This cycle didn’t work and I’m meeting with care to look at next steps.

@Bloop123 I did a short protocol. I took Progynova from 7 days before my estimated first day of period until the day before stims, then started Gonal F injections a few days after my period, then added in Cetrotide injections to prevent ovulation 6 days after that. Gonal F was 10-12 days (12 in my case), I stopped it the day before the trigger shot. I then had my final Cetrotide followed by the trigger on the same day. In my case I had a freeze all due to highish AMH so took the Buserelin trigger. Ovitrelle was the alternative trigger for fresh for me. Let me know if you have any other questions. 🙂 @violetmoon as I was typing this I remembered that I think I read somewhere that Progynova before your period and up until stims can lead to a more evenly distributed follicle growth so if you didn't take it and if you go again definitely ask about it.

I had a short protocol first time round. I took 300 ius of meriofert and triggered on 9 day. My endometrium was 13.5cm.
Care have recommend a short protocol again but upping the dose to 450 ius.
They have said that I would have my scan on day 9 but would likely trigger on day 10 instead.
We used ICSI last time as my partner’s original sperm sample had a low count (and just informed today a low motility) though stats were much better on transfer day. We only got 5 eggs and only 1 blast.
My AMH is 6.2 and I had 7/8 folicles.
Because I bled from 4 days before the OTD I’ve been told I’ll likely get injectable progesterone. (Clinic don’t do bloods for progesterone).
I’ve asked if we can do a double embryo transfer (.if we get more than one blast this time). I forgot to ask this in the consultation so I’ve messaged since.
My Question is, is anyone in a similar position to me e.g a small number of blasts and have they been put on/ a tried a similar protocol?
I’m meeting with a prospective clinic in Greece on Wednesday and I want to get straight in my head what I think we ought to be doing.

@StorkVisit did they explain to you why short protocol is their preferred? you’re very similar to me, my amh is also 6 pmol, I had 10 follicles at trigger but many too small, got 4 eggs and 1 blast. I also bled from ~3dpt. This time I’m doing short, I’m going to have a scan on day 6 of stims as my lining was only 6.7mm at trigger last cycle, so they will likely add oestrogen they said. But I think I may ask for injectable progesterone - is it much more expensive do you know?

we got 5 eggs. There were 7/8 follicles were big. The doctor just said in terms of my folicle count and AMH, 5 eggs was ok.
only 1 fertilised properly so she was hoping tweaking protocol (increasing meriofert from 300-450) we might get more blasts.
Basically they think that what they did last time wasn’t too far off.
My lining was 13mm. I haven’t been given prices yet. I’m a bit disappointed as I want to compare against another clinic in Greece. They can’t see us until Wednesday and I think it’ll be too late for me to get my meds to start for my next cycle.
Are you using Care? They aren’t planning on adding in oestrogen or doing blood tests.

Wow your lining was more than double mine- hopefully the estrogen will help, I’ve always had a pathetic lining, I’m sure it must be linked to my spotting. Yeah I’m using Care, as they’re so much quicker than my previous clinic but they also didn’t seem too bothered about the progesterone bloods - but I may straight up just ask for the injectables. 🤷‍♀️ have you heard good things about ivf in Greece? Good luck on weds!

My friend’s sister had IVF in Greece. She said the clinic were fantastic. You see a doctor for each appointment. They prescribe estrogen and progesterone. She had 2 monitoring scans during stimming and she had bloods to check progesterone levels. They seem to use AI incubation as standard and she paid 4000 euros plus meds so it feels like you get more and pay less.
im just really hoping that Greece don’t suggest a widly different protocol as I think I’d be super confused.

@Bloop123 do you mind if I ask how many cycles you’ve had? Have they always been with Care? I’m wondering whether to go to Greece or whether to buy a multi cycle package.

@StorkVisit - wow that does sound better. My sister’s husband is Greek and it does sound like good health care over there.

I’ve just had the one cycle, and in my area you only get one try with nhs funding sadly, it was long protocol. So now I’m switching to Care, and they’ve suggested short protocol. I’ve mainly switched because they are soo much quicker in terms of waiting lists, my original clinic is nhs led and I wouldn’t get to try another cycle until the new year. 🤯

how many cycles have you had? The consultant didn’t suggest multi cycle to us last week..but maybe it’s something we’ll consider if this time doesn’t go well..if we can scrape the pennies together!

We only get one NHS cycle too. My clinic work alongside access fertility. 1 cycle is about £8000 plus meds, 2 cycles is 11,800 and 3 is £18000 (this is for icsi) you can pay 12 months interest free or you can get a loan and take it out over 7 years.
They also offer a refund option where if you pay for 3 cycles and it doesn’t work, you can get a refund. So many options, it gets confusing.

Have any of you used DHEA? How many mg did you take?

I used DHEA along with all other usual supplements for around 4 months prior to EC, I dont think it helped me with quality as we only retrieved 2 eggs this round (I have low AMH) 1 made it to blast however this cycle failed for me unfortunately.

@StorkVisit I used 50mg DHEA

I’m catching up with everybody’s news, I’ve had a lovely 2 weeks of not even thinking about IVF before I go back to work next week. My post-cycle bleed was rough, it was 10 days long with a 4 day migraine but thankfully it finished at the end of last week so this week I’ve been able to go swimming again. I’ve also managed to go back to the gym so feeling much more normal. I have an appointment with the clinic in early September to discuss what we need to do for embryo transfer.

Reading your discussions about different clinics with interest. It’s hard for me to judge as all my embryos were frozen on day 3 but I have been reflecting that on my ARGC cycle I paid almost 3x as much and had daily, sometimes twice daily scans and blood tests but ended up with the same number of eggs as my much cheaper cycles where they keep the medication the same. Of course those embryos might be better quality but that could be due to the supplements I took, Zymot or even AOA. So it seems to me there might not be much they can do to change egg numbers (my AMH was 18.5 when I started 2 years ago and is around 17 now).

I’m going to go to Greece for my next cycle. It feels right for me. Everything is doctor led. I’ll be able to WhatsApp the doctor. It’s £3300 instead of £10,000 per cycle here and they will be doing more in the way of monitoring.
is anyone else starting again in late September/ early October? Do you want to keep in touch?

@StorkVisit really glad you’ve found something that’s right for you! :) I’ve got my planning appt on Thursday this week but looks like I’ll be exactly the same, early October time. I’d love to stay in touch! Are you doing long or short protocol? x

Good luck @StorkVisit and @Bloop123. Greece sounds like a great idea with the cost and standard of care you'll receive 😊 I am not going for another round at the moment but attempting a transfer in October/November time.

@Bloop123 it’ll be long protocol. They’re doing things quite different to my previous clinic.
My doctor also says he always does a frozen 5 day transfer and will transfer two embryos if the quality is average or less. (Due to my age),
I’ll be in Greece for just over 2 weeks and going back in November too.
@Waitingforday6 if I had more embryos I think I’d have opted for a transfer too. We only had one so have to start again.
I wish you both (and anyone else’s who’s trying again) the best of luck