3rd round IVF short protocol this time!

[Cesci]

Hi everyone - been a while since I posted - I’m about to start round 3 of IVF , first failed. Second miscarriage at 6 and half weeks 😥. After a review from last time as I’m 38 and low AMH they have decided to do short protocol IVF - mainly as they have done low and highest doses of stims and result has been the same - only 3 eggs each time ... I also didnt respond well to buselrin as got cysts so they want to go straight to stims this time. I’m feeling nervous /excited about different approach this time - any one else going through / had success with short protocol?

Thanks so much xx

[KiboXX]

Hi Cesci,

I did three rounds of long protocol, always struggled with embryo quality. We switched to short protocol for our fourth and we got much better results, I’m currently 9 weeks pregnant from our first transfer from that.

Hoping it has the same effect for you! Xx

[Kwags in reply to KiboXX]

Congratulations! Thanks for sharing your experience.. I'm also waiting for a review after a failed long protocol cycle. We will be suggesting short protocol as both long ones we did didn't have great results (although we got our lovely daughter from the first try but there was nothing to freeze and really low numbers). I hope the consultant listens and agrees to a change in approach as doing it the same way doesn't make much sense to me.

[KiboXX in reply to Kwags]

Thank you 😊

I felt exactly the same! We ended up changing clinics and changing protocols. We had nothing to freeze on any of the three long cycles and we got three in the freezer on our first short cycle. I really feel it made a big difference to quality for me xx

[Kwags in reply to KiboXX]

This is super encouraging.. I pray we have the same response from the short protocol. We'll also consider clinic change after the review with them. I'm feeling more positive already seeing that it's worked for you xx

[Cesci in reply to Kwags]

Really hope they listen to you I’m sure they will , and totally agree a new approach is needed sometimes . I feel positive they are trying something new - I was also reading the other day that sometimes the long down regging with long protocol and putting body into menopause is like driving 100 miles an hour down a road and then slamming breaks on!! Which can’t be good for our bodies - at this point I just really really want it to work, we all do - it’s such a support reading positive stories on here xxx

[Cesci in reply to KiboXX]

Oh wow that is best news and huge congratulations - hope everything going well with your pregnancy and not long now till 12 week scan . It’s a long process and so happy you have had this finally with your fourth, thank you that’s really positive news! I’m trying to go into this with positivity and this has really helped xxx

[KiboXX in reply to Cesci]

Thank you! Glad I could help, sending you lots of positive vibes and luck for your new cycle 💪🏻♥️ xxx

[Tiger321]

Hi Cesci sorry to hear about your miscarriage that must have been tough xx I’ve just started stimming this evening on short protocol of menopur and gonal F, this is my 2nd cycle had a successful first cycle 5 years ago on short protocol and now have 4 yr old daughter. Good luck xx

[Cesci in reply to Tiger321]

Ah we are nearly same timings!! I’ve on day 2 of stims on bemfola at moment and then switch to menopur - have scan on 6th to see how going. Have everything crossed for you and hope you are feeling okay xxx

[Countrychic]

Hi Cesci, sorry to hear about your miscarriage, how devastating for you. My first round, we were on long protocol, using buserelin and we had a really poor response and had nothing to transfer. We changed to short protocol and used gonal f and had a much better response, we had two good quality blastocysts. Unfortunately, we got BFN after our first transfer and are waiting to do FET. However, I did have twice as many eggs at collection (3 on long protocol, 6 on short). Also the embryos were much better, first round we had nothing to transfer, our best one appeared to arrest at 4 cells, eventually made it to 8 cells but then arrested. This round we had three embryos, one stopped developing at morula stage but other two were good quality embryos. I found the short protocol really easy compared to the long protocol. I had horrendous side effects during down regulation, short protocol was really quick. Good luck with your next round.

[Cesci in reply to Countrychic]

Thank you so much, and really hope your FET goes well have everything crossed. That’s so positive you had better response to short protocol and amazing you got two good quality embryos .

I really hated down regging too - buselerin made me feel really awful and every time I went for scan they would see cysts which they thought may of been caused by the buselerin, made it hard to count the follicles and last round we thought I had 13 mature follicles but when they did egg collection there was only 4 eggs - two of which made it to blastocyst. We transferred both and that was our pregnancy followed by miscarriage - I didn’t know how to pick myself up after that, but it’s amazing how time heals us - and now I feel excited to see what happens with this round- but nervous as well. When do you think you will have your FET? Xxx

[Countrychic]

It is definitely a bitter/sweet process, exciting opportunity but devastating when it doesn’t go to plan and there is absolutely no way to predict how it will go. Hopefully this round will work out well for you and give you a happy healthy baby. I can’t imagine how difficult coping with the miscarriage must have been. You are such a strong person going into your next round with such positivity.

I think our FET will be 3rd or 4th week in March. Taking the dreaded buserelin just now and like you, it makes me feel horrendous. All I want to do it sleep and my head is permanently pounding! I literally get all the side effects. Tried to do a natural cycle (to avoid down regging) but my lining only got to 6.4mm and consultant wanted it to get to at least 7mm so abandoned the cycle. Really wanted to avoid a medicated transfer but obviously want to give our frozen embryo the best chance so living my life like a sloth/pigmy hippo at the moment 😂

I don’t remember the exact timeframes with short protocol but sure it only took about three weeks. When are you due to start your next round? Hopefully you will get more mature eggs this time around, sounds like there is the potential to get more if you had 13 follicles. Best of luck xxx