Advice please from other ivf warriors

[penny24]

Hi everyone

I’m needing some advice on my next step. I am 34 and have endometriosis, 2 failed rounds of ivf, no Male factors. My current clinic says there is a possible egg quality issue but they are not sure so both myself and oh are on supplements to help. Round one I only produced 5 eggs (100% fertilisation, day 3 transfer) round two 8 eggs (5 fertilised, 1 immature and day 5 transfer but looked like a 4 day embryo) no frozen in either round

My question is do I go with my original clinic who can offer time lapse photography (had this for round 1 but still bfn), embryo glue and do a higher dose of drugs in the hope I get more eggs (although I have been warned there may be more abnormal eggs) OR go a different clinic which offers mild ivf so likely less eggs but is a THIRD of the price but doesn’t offer any extras like time lapse photography or embryo glue. The cheaper clinic is further away. If you produce less eggs in a mild ivf then are they likely to be better quality?

Any advice welcome, thank you x

[Cinderella5]

Hey, Im not sure if I would go with the higher drug regime as Ive read some articles about it affecting the egg quality too. I would give the time lapse photography if its not inlcuded either as its not going to help your egg quality and is expensive. I think I'd concentrate more on trying to improve your egg quality. Have you asked your clinic about DHEA? I know that you are young so it may not be suitable however (I am older), I felt that it helped with my egg quality although I didnt get a BFP. Also Coq10/ubiquinol is suppose to help egg quality. I cycled with a girl on here and we have stayed in contact and she didnt do great with her egg quality but took some of the above things which appeared to help and she is pregnant with twins. She doesnt have endometriosis but might be worth a checking out. You can check out her profile..... Lucyloo81 . I would discuss anything you're considering before you start taking it. Also free to check out my older posts when I started out. Best of luck!xx

[penny24 in reply to Cinderella5]

Thanks Cinderella

After my last failed round I started on:

Ubiquinol 300mg once

Vit d 4000iu (been tested and I’m low)

Pregnacare

Royal jelly 500mg once daily

Dhea 25mg three times daily

Pqq 20mg once daily

Oh is on condensyl once daily

My clinic recommended condensyl for oh rather than the sperm fragmentation test but didn’t recommend any supplements for and just said to take it if it made me feel better. So I read ‘it starts with an egg’. We are not quite sure what’s causes the poor embryo quality. Other ladies have poor quality embryos put in and get pregnant so I’m now wondering if I should spend the money on getting the NK cells levels tested. I asked my clinic about it and he poo poo’d it but I think it’s because I was nhs then and now I’m private x

[Cinderella5 in reply to penny24]

Think that you have absolutely everything covered in there, you must be rattling!! Ha ha ha Your hubbys sperm sounds pretty good to be honest if you are getting 100% fertilisation rates though you never can tell for sure I guess - I asked my consultant and new clinic about that and they said they thought it was more my eggs and having now done donor eggs and got fantastic results we know this is the case for sure. My hubby got told to take vitamin C and Coq10 also but his sperm count is low and we cant make it better so not a lot we can do. Our NHS embryologist did say that a blastocyst (educated guess) of the best chance but he has seen poorer quality embryos take so not to get too hung up on gradings. Hmm its up to you about the NK testing, I guess if you have the money it might be worth a shout but not a lot of consultants believe in it. Im just away to have lots of biopsies/hysteroscopy, bloods and immues as we've had 3 good embryos and 2 excellent ones put back with nothing. Not sure if they'll find anything, might just be bad luck so far as I do think a huge amount of this is like playing the lottery....!! Tough decisions!xx

[DianeArnold Partner Nurse Fertility Network UK]

Hi penny24. I will leave the others ladies to tell you their experiences of difference protocols, but if it is any help to you, I do have a couple of lists of questions I could send you to look through before your next appointment. If you email me in confidence to [e-mail] I will send them to you. Good luck whichever way you decide to go. Diane

[penny24 in reply to DianeArnold]

Thanks Diane, I think you have already sent it to me but thank you

Could you tell me; Am I correct in thinking that higher doses can create poorer quality eggs ? Thank you again x

[DianeArnold Partner Nurse Fertility Network UK in reply to penny24]

Hi penny24. Higher doses just make your hormones work harder, it doesn't mean your eggs will be a problem, as the stimulation drugs are getting your follicles large enough for eggs to get into them when you have your trigger shot that releases them. Unfortunately, we can't choose what pops into the follicles, and can't see until they are under the microscope. Good luck with whatever you go with. Diane

[penny24 in reply to DianeArnold]

Thanks for the reply Diane

Makes sense x

[DianeArnold Partner Nurse Fertility Network UK in reply to penny24]

xx