Mild/moderate OHSS after EC?? Afraid of telling clinic… :*(

[jenjen40]

It's our first IVF, I had collection on Friday the 2nd of Sep, everything went well on the day, 18 follies collected, 13 eggs, 6 were fertilised under normal IVF procedure.

But the whole area where my stomach, liver and bowels are, has been feeling extremely bloated (and gradually getting worse) since Saturday, the day after collection. (Ovaries/Uterus area seems to be a lot more comfortable compared to the upper abdomen.)

It’s like when you eat too much, you would feel uncomfortably full, but this is like 10 times more than that sensation. I can’t straighten up my back when I walk or stand up, and have been walking 5 times slower than my normal speed to avoid impact on the bloating area.

I am on Cabergoline as my clinic said I’m on the end of a higher risk to develop OHSS, cos my E2 level was very high at the final progress scan: 23000 pmol/L (UK standard unit), or 6265 pg/mL (US standard unit).

(TMI warning) So far I can still wee normally, very light colour cos I still try to drink as much fluids as I physically can (although difficult because of the bloating!!!). No breathlessness - so that’s a good thing.

Tomorrow (Monday) we’ll hear from the embryologist to let us know how many embies made it to Day 3, and whether or not we need to go in for transfer or wait till Day 5.

I’m just afraid of telling my clinic about my symptoms which would sound very much like a mild or moderate OHSS, and there’s a possibility that they would cancel the fresh transfer and freeze our precious embies… (I’m 40 this year, not sure if my egg quality is good enough for them to survive the freezing process…)

But at the same time I’m not entirely sure if it’s safe for me and the embies if I do get a BFP and these symptoms get worse… (If the pain stay the same like this level I can definitely get on with it, but if the pregnancy HCG made it worse, I don’t want to make it unsafe for the pregnancy…)

What should I do??? I was thinking about going to A&E to get a scan so I might know the severity of it, but can still have an option of ‘’NOT’’ informing my clinic if it’s only mild OHSS, so won’t risk our chance for a fresh transfer?!

Any advise or sharing of experience will be much appreciated!

xxx

[LHow81]

Personally I would tell the clinic. 8 is a great number they'll always transfer your best embie you could be losing your best chance of it working because of the OHSS. Hopefully it'll be such a mild case they'll feel it's fine to transfer but I know I'd always worry if it ended in a BFN without me having informed them that I'm somehow to blame. My one and only FET ended in my BFP. Hope you feel better soon xx

[Hollibob]

I know it would seem disappointing if you have to freeze, but you need to be in the best possible health for your little one being transferred. If they are strong enough to get to freeze, then they stand a very good chance at thawing.

I had very mild OHSS before collection in our first round, I didn't even know, it was found during the blood test and I was also given Cabergoline.

I hope you are resting as much as possible?

[Mantaray75]

You must tell your clinic. I am also 40 and had to have a freeze all due to high progesterone. It was upsetting at the time but meant that my body was ready for the embryo and we got a BFP.

If you are developing OHSS then its not worth the risk to get pregnant. You don't want to go through the whole process of IVF and not give your little embies the best chance.

x

[KatiePW]

Hello....if it helps your symptoms sound exactly like how I've felt since EC. I had mine on Thursday but yesterday felt slightly better. I thought it was just from the procedure as no issues going for a wee x

[Medeine]

Hi JenJen, I had my EC on bank holiday monday and then ET last Friday. I was feeling completely fine after the EC, but started getting slightly bloated and very mild crampy type feeling in the lower abdomen since starting on the pessaries on day 2 - so I thought that was due to the progesterone (and the nurse did say this is a common symptom of the pessaries). However, when they scanned me before the ET, they were surprised how large my follicles were and started talking about OHSS and all the do's and don'ts... and they also said they can freeze all the embies and reschedule the ET if I wanted to. In the end, we went for the ET cos I was very ready for it (I was already lying on the table!) and wasn't feeling bad. But over the weekend the bloating feeling got worse and although I do not regret my decision to go with the ET, I am a bit nervous now about getting into the OHSS zone!

Sorry for the ramble, but I guess what I'm saying is that you really should talk to the clinic about it, because they will probably be able to guess there is some OHSS underway when they scan your abdomen for the ET anway. Good luck! Let us know how you get on Xx

[Hope823 in reply to Medeine]

Hi Medeine. Not sure you are still reading these posts as your post was 5 years ago. If you are, please let me know if its ok to message you private. I wanted to ask you something as your situation is identical to mine

[Medeine in reply to Hope823]

Hiya, I don't read this forum anymore but your message came through in my email yes, feel free to message me. You might have seen my other post from back then, because it turned our with really bad ohss! I survived though, but with very unpleasant memories...

[Kell27]

I would tell the clinic - your body is maybe trying to tell you that you might need some time - I know it's hard but you got to make sure everything is right; you've had great results so far

[HowCome]

Hi, def talk to your clinic... sounds familiar, I had my first fresh cycle last autumn, felt ok until EC, but think the bloating had been creeping up, and there may be an effect from the anaesthetic. Your clinic may not think your symptoms are a problem. But your best chances of success are to give them an accurate picture of how you fell, and let them assess. Scan, test etc, and tell you their recommendations or your options.

I want to rush too, as i am 43, on third go, but they just found a cyst at my down-reg scan, so waiting for test resuots, then prob wait gor cyst to go down, then go in for aspiration if needed, prob have to wait yo recover before stim... IVF=Waiting Game!!

PS Wow, 13 eggs, 6 fertilised without icsi, and at age 39... sounds good.

Good luck!